Local civil rights leaders mourn the death of Congressman John Lewis
Several North Carolina civil rights leaders are mourning the death of Congressman John Lewis on Saturday. He was the youngest and last survivor of the Big Six civil rights activists led by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. that had the greatest impact on the movement. He died at 80.
Lewis’s announcement in late December 2019 that he had been diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer — “I have never faced a fight quite like the one I have now,” he said — inspired tributes from both sides of the aisle and an unstated accord that the likely passing of the Atlanta Democrat would represent the end of an era.
Social justice leaders and politicians were reflecting on Lewis' life on Saturday. His work was an inspiration to many across the state.
"Courage, conviction, the Conscience of Congress," North Carolina Democratic 1st District Congressman G.K. Butterfield tweeted. "Congressman John Lewis was an American hero who epitomized the true spirit of the Civil Rights Movement.”
Butterfield is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and previously served as chairman. He was an advocate for civil rights and helped found the Wilson Branch of the NAACP, according to his website.
Floyd McKissick Jr., former chairman of the North Carolina Legislative Black Caucus, an attorney and a former member of the state Senate, also lamented the death of Lewis.
"I was saddened to learn this morning of the passing of Congressman John Lewis, who was an icon of the Civil Rights Movement," he wrote in a statement.
"With his passing, we have now lost all 10 Civil Rights leaders who spoke at the historic March on Washington on August, 28th, 1963, when Dr. King delivered his now famous 'I have a dream' speech," he said.
McKissick is the son of civil rights activist Floyd McKissick Sr., who was a close friend of Lewis and worked with him in fighting for civil rights during the 1960s.
"His leadership and advocacy for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties for all must be continued by each of us who admired him but, more importantly, embrace the principals he fought for," McKissick Jr. said. "He will be missed but never forgotten."
Rev. William Barber, the former state NAACP president who now co-chairs the national Poor People's Campaign, said he was inspired by Lewis.
Barber and Lewis celebrated together the 50th anniversary of the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 2015.
“Lewis was faithful unto death to the beloved community, and his life calls for us to do the same," Barber said in a statement. "I will remember that Rep. Lewis, in the face of injustice, spoke unflinchingly, stood unrelentingly, lived completely and died nobly.
“Let’s never forget the unwavering words he spoke at the march on Washington and that he lived out in the face of violence on the Edmund Pettus Bridge: ‘To those who have said, ‘Be patient and wait,’ we must say that we cannot be patient. We do not want our freedom gradually, but we want to be free now.’”
