John R. Lewis
John Robert Lewis is the U.S.
Representative for Georgia’s 5th district, where the Democrat has
been serving since 1986. The 5th congressional district of Georgia
includes a majority of the city of Atlanta. During his tenure, Mr. Lewis has
been noted as one of the most liberal members of Congress and a staunch defender
of human and civil rights. Prior to joining Congress, Mr. Lewis played a
pivotal role in the American Civil Rights Movement.
John Lewis was born and raised in
Alabama, and experienced many racist moments during his youth. During his
childhood, members of the Ku Klux Klan attacked the church that he and his family
attended. Mr. Lewis also recalls regularly seeing signs that promoted
segregation, and being turned down for many things during his childhood, such
as a library card, because they were reserved for white people. John Lewis also
attended a segregated public school and was denied admittance to Troy
University because of his race. This caused him to reach out to Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr., which began his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement.
Mr. Lewis is often lauded as one of the main leaders during the Civil
Rights Movement, along with Dr. Martin King Luther, Jr.. Prior to gaining recognition
as a member of the “Big Six”, Lewis participated in several nonviolent
campaigns and became Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
(SNCC). During his tenure, the SNCC was very successful in carrying out
nonviolent campaigns against segregation.
While he was attending Fisk University in Nashville, Lewis participated
in the Nashville sit-ins, a nonviolent campaign seeking the end of racial
segregation. Mr. Lewis also became one of the original members of the Freedom
Rides campaign, which consisted of mixed racial groups traveling on interstate
buses to the south to protest against the South’s non-enforcement of the ruling
in Boynton v. Virginia. During the
Freedom Rides, Mr. Lewis was oftentimes beaten because police in the South did
nothing to protect the protesters. Both of these campaigns brought credibility
to the American Civil Rights Movement, and because of that, John Lewis became
an active leader in the movement, and played a crucial role in planning and
speaking at the March on Washington at a very young age (23). Mr. Lewis is
currently the only speaker still alive from the March, and recently celebrated
its 50th anniversary.
John Lewis began his congressional career unsuccessfully in 1977,
when the 5th congressional district of Georgia became vacant due to
Andrew Young’s nomination as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. In
1977, Mr. Lewis ran against Wyche Fowler and finished second in the election.
After four terms, Fowler vacated his seat to run for the U.S. Senate, giving
Mr. Lewis the opportunity to run again. In 1986, John Lewis won the
congressional seat and has not looked back since. He has run unopposed five
times since being elected in 1986 and has never had an opponent receive more
than 31% of the vote.
Currently, Mr. Lewis is the Senior
Chief Deputy Whip for the Democratic Party in leadership in the House. He is
also a member of the House Ways & Means Committee and its subcommittees on
Income Security and Family Support, and Oversight. Mr. Lewis has also been a
member of the House Committees for Budget, Interior and Insular Affairs, Public
Works and Transportation, and Select Aging. During his tenure, John Lewis has
fought for the ability to protest and was notably arrested for protesting the
genocide in Darfur outside the Sudanese Embassy in Washington D.C.
Mr. Lewis
continues to fight for racial equality in the United States today and is a
prominent force behind such legislation. The experiences he endured during the American Civil Rights Movement have given him much authority in the eyes of other members of Congress. In recent years, Mr. Lewis has supported
revising the National Voter Rights Act of 1965 as well as national healthcare
reform. John Lewis believes that, “we have a moral obligation to lead this
nation into a new era where healthcare is a right and not a privilege,” which
continues to promote his work towards equality in the United States.
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