John Lewis: Hero of Mine

 I was reminded of my moments with John Lewis when I read Sally D’s post yesterday, commemorating the 55th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, honoring John Lewis’ life. John Lewis will always hold a special place in my heart.  

In 2015, when a colleague and I were in Washington, DC to advocate for support for the National Writing Project, we came across John Lewis’ office in the halls of Congress.  Even seeing his name on the office door gave me chills.  John Lewis: what a courageous and remarkable civil rights icon. I thought we should just go in, and see if we could see him – and there he was – a small man in person with such a big hold on history. He took us into his office and showed us giant framed black and white photographs on the wall, pictures of him with Martin Luther King and several other civil rights activists.  There were pictures of him on the Edmund Pettis Bridge and Bloody Sunday; he was 25 years old then. It felt like being face to face with history. After we talked about his extraordinary life, we took pictures with him, and he was so personable and friendly.  After that experience, we just sort of stopped by the next year to say hello.  He and his staff were working on getting the third March book published. They gave us copies of March, and we walked away thrilled again.  

My third John Lewis meet-up was at Nassau Community College, where the Long Island Writing Project is housed. The college-wide read that year was March and John Lewis was invited to campus to give a speech.  The audience, made up of young college students and older professors, were in awe of him and his courage. (Needless to say, we were old friends by then.)

When I watched his televised funeral in my living room this past July and “We Shall Overcome” played, my tears flowed. He was a real person to me, and a real hero in a world sorely lacking of real heroes. He fought his whole life for equality and justice. He was bloodied on the Edmund Pettis Bridge on that Bloody Sunday all those years ago but he never stopped fearing arrest or being bloodied again.  He was a noble, sweet man who lived out hard-fought beliefs that changed history.  In that beautiful Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, he was honored by four former presidents. Obama called him “a man of pure joy and unbreakable perseverance.” 

Here’s to you, John Lewis.  May your courage continue to light the way forward.