Remembering John Lewis, Civil Rights icon and teller of truths
Few political leaders who successfully transition from activists to lawmakers do so without losing the fire and focus on the causes that brought them to prominence. But Civil Rights icon and U.S. Rep. John Lewis, the 17-term Georgia Democrat, was that kind of rare leader, never wavering from his original mission, to see that Black people in America were treated justly, equally, and with dignity. Unlike other icons of the Civil Rights era whose deaths years ago compressed their memories into historical abstractions for later generations, Lewis was a living, breathing, outspoken testament to the nation’s enduring mistreatment of African Americans. From the Freedom Rides he took to desegregate buses, to the body blows he endured at Selma, Ala., and elsewhere, to the stirring words he summoned to push for bold change, to bearing witness at moments of national triumph and setback, Lewis came to embody the nation’s physical, political. and spiritual...