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>> GOVERNOR KEMP, DEAN SMYRE, JOHN MOUTH, AND TO THE FAMILY,
SOME 85 YEARS AGO, THE GREAT
LAKES AND HUES WROTE OF A
PROMISE AND PAIN OF AMERICA.
LET AMERICA BE AMERICA AGAIN.
LET IT BE THE DREAM IT USED TO
BE.
BE.
BE. BUT
BE. BUT IT BE THE PIONEER ON THE
PLANES, ACHING A HOME WHERE HE
HIMSELF IS FREE.
AMERICA NEVER WAS AMERICA TO ME.
LET AMERICA BE THE DREAM THAT
DREAMERS DREAM, LET IT BE THAT
GREAT, STRONG LAND OF LOVE,
WHERE KINGS NOR TYRANTS
THAT ANY MAN BE CRUSHED BY ONE
ABOVE.
ABOVE.
ABOVE. AND NEVER WAS AMERICA TO ME.
I'LL LET MY LAND BE A LAND
WHERE LIBERTY IS CROWNED WITH
NO FALSE PATRIOTIC REEF, BUT
OPPORTUNITY IS REAL AND LIFE IS
FREE.
FREE.
FREE. EQUALITY IS IN THE AIR WE
BREATHE.
BREATHE.
BREATHE. SOME FIVE YEARS AFTER THESE
WORDS WERE WRITTEN, A
DESCENDENT OF THE ENSLAVED, A
SON OF SHARECROPPERS, WAS BORN.
AND THE WORDS OF THE LORD
RESTED UPON HIS LIFE, BEFORE I
FORMED YOU, I KNEW YOU IN THE
WOMB.
WOMB.
WOMB. BEFORE YOU WERE BORN, I
SANCTIFIED YOU.
SANCTIFIED YOU. I ORDAINED YOU A PROPHET TO THE
NATION.
NATION.
NATION. AND THIS PROFIT, OUR PROFIT,
CALLED UPON AMERICA TO BE
AMERICA AGAIN.
AMERICA AGAIN. SO WE GATHER HERE TODAY AND
WHAT WAS ONCE A STRONGHOLD OF A
CONFEDERATE FEED TOGETHER,
BECAUSE THIS PROFIT LIVED AND
THIS PROFIT MADE JOHN LEWIS LOVE
. LIKE SO MANY, I HAVE
AND ABIDING ADMIRATION FOR
CONGRESSMAN LEWIS.
CONGRESSMAN LEWIS. AND I'VE HAD IT MY ENTIRE LIFE.
I WILL SEE HIS LOVELY LIFE WIFE
LILLIAN, WHEN SHE CAME INTO MY
MOTHER'S HAIR SALON TO HAVE HER
HAIR DONE.
HAIR DONE. SHE WAS A BEAUTIFUL AND LOVELY
WOMAN WHO HAD LOVE AND
AFFECTION FOR JOHN MILES,
EVIDENT IN EVERY CONVERSATION
THAT SHE HAD WORK I KNEW
CONGRESSMAN LEWIS AS THE MAN WHO
WORKED WITH MY AUNT RUBY
LORENZEN.
LORENZEN.
LORENZEN. SHE DIED AT THE AGE 26, LEAVING
A TWO-YEAR-OLD SON BEHIND, EACH
TIME I SAW THE CONGRESSMAN, HIS
EYES GLISTENED WITH TEARS WHEN
HE SPOKE OF HER.
HE TOLD ME STORIES OF BEING BE
IN WITH HER, AND GOING TO JAIL
TOGETHER AT ROCK HILL, SOUTH
CAROLINA.
CAROLINA.
CAROLINA. HE ALWAYS MADE SURE TO ASK
ABOUT HER SON.
ALABAMA LEGEND AND AN ATLANTA
ICON AND AN AMERICAN HERO,
CONGRESSMAN LEWIS COULD TAKE
TIME TO LET ME KNOW, TO LET ALL
OF US KNOW, THAT WE MATTER TO
HIM.
HIM.
HIM. I
HIM. I DON'T THINK WITH
HAPPENSTANCE, IN HIS FINAL LOOK
APPEARANCE, HE VISITED THE
BLACK LIVES MATTER MURAL IN
WASHINGTON DC.
WASHINGTON DC. IT WAS AROUND THE SAME TIME I
JOINED HIM ON THE CALL WITH
PRESIDENT OBAMA, AND THE OBAMA
FOUNDATION FOR MY BROTHER'S
KEEPER, UNTIL HIS LAST DAYS, HE
WAS CALLING UPON AMERICA TO BE
AMERICA AGAIN, IN HIS WORDS AND
HIS DEEDS.
HIS DEEDS. I WAS DEEPLY MOVED A COUPLE OF
DAYS AGO, WHEN HIS CHIEF OF
STAFF, MICHAEL COLLINS, SHARED
WITH ME THAT THE CONGRESSMAN
WAS INTENTLY WATCHING THE NEWS
OF ATLANTA AND PROUD OF THE
LEADERSHIP THAT'S BEEN SHOWN.
SO, GOVERNOR, WHEN THE GOOD
TROUBLE CONTINUES, KNOW THAT IT
WAS WITH A BLESSING OF
CONGRESSMAN LEWIS.
AND
AND ALTHOUGH THE FIGHT FOR LIBERTY AND EQUALITY CONTINUES,
CONGRESSMAN LEWIS REMINDED US
TO BE HOPEFUL, TO BE OPTIMISTIC
, AND TO NEVER LOSE A SENSE OF
HOPE.
HOPE.
HOPE. OH
HOPE. OH LET AMERICA BE AMERICA
AGAIN, THE LAND THAT NEVER HAS
BEEN YET AND YET MUST BE THE
LAND WHERE EVERY MAN IS