In his own words: John Lewis on civil rights and his life's work
This hour, we remember Rep. John Lewis by listening to his own words. To mark the 50th anniversary of "Freedom Summer," and the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, civil rights icon Lewis was invited to speak at the 2014 Aspen Ideas Festival.
He said: "Speak up. Speak out and get in the way. Get in trouble. Good trouble. NECESSARY trouble. That's what I've been doing for more than fifty years and I will continue to do it."
And he said young people “have an obligation, a mission, and a mandate to push and pull and not be satisfied.” But he urged all people not to “tear down,” but to “build.”
The chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Lewis was the youngest speaker at the 1963 March on Washington, and there are none still living. He served as a Democratic congressman from Georgia since 1987, and died Friday at the age of 80. Gwen Ifill of the PBS Newshour was the moderator. She died in 2016.
Lewis is the author of a three-book series of graphic novels titled, "March."
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