Sometimes I hear people saying nothing has changed.
But for someone to grow up the way I grew up in the cotton fields of Alabama
to not be serving in the United States Congress,
makes me want to tell them, "Come and walk in my shoes."
John Lewis grew up in rural Alabama at the height of segregation and Jim Crow.
And at a very early age, he understood the inequality
between African Americans and white Americans in southern society.
He was inspired to do something about that.
He initially wanted to become a minister.
So he came to Nashville, Tennessee as a young adult to study theology.
He quickly, however, became sidetracked because he came to Nashville
at the very moment when many African-American and white students in that city
were organizing to desegregate lunch counters and businesses in the downtown movement.
John Lewis quickly found his way to the members of the Nashville Movement
and that redirected his entire career.
That's when he signed on to become a movement activist and joined the marches and the protests there.
What makes John Lewis so significant in any history of the Civil Rights Movement is
that as a result of this decision that he made in Nashville to dedicate his
life to social activism, he was present at practically every major event in the
civil rights era of the 60s.
For example, he became involved in the Freedom Rides in 1961.
A bus was set on fire in Anniston, Alabama.
We were beaten and arrested and jailed,
but we helped bring an end to segregation in public transportation.
Congressman Lewis, John Lewis, was and is a very courageous man.
He was willing to be arrested and to go to jail for things
in which he believed--epitome of nonviolent protest--for something he thought was right.
You know true equality and social justice.
Another action that John Lewis was involved in is the famous march in 1965
from Selma, Alabama, to the State Capitol in Montgomery.
Members of SNCC, along with members of the SCLC, led by Dr. King, Andrew Young,
decide to march very visibly from Selma, this very small
town that no one had ever heard of, to Montgomery in order to call attention to
the need to protect the voting rights of the black people and the poor people of
the state of Alabama.
I happen to believe, and I truly believe this, that the vote is precious,
almost sacred, in a democratic society.
It is the most powerful, nonviolent instrument or tool that we have and we have to use it.
When people come together and pull their political power, they can determine who is the
mayor, who is the police chief, who's the governor, who is the congressperson,
and who's the President of the United States.
John Lewis was invited to give a speech
at the very important 1963 March on Washington in Washington, DC.
The March on Washington is a proud moment for John Lewis, not only because he gets to stand
before the nation talking about what it means to be a member of the movement, but
also because he comes on as a prelude to Dr. King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
Those who have said be patient and wait, we must say we cannot be patient.
We do not want our freedom gradually, but we want to be free now.
What distinguishes his leadership in the movement is that John Lewis always emphasized
working collaboratively with other individuals and groups and building
coalitions between groups, bringing majority-black groups together with majority-white groups.
Well, John Lewis is a member of the House of Representatives for the state of Georgia today.
And in that capacity he continues using some of the strategies and tactics of the Civil Rights Movement.
...the time for silence and patience is long gone.
We're calling on the leadership of the House
to bring common-sense gun control legislation to the House floor.
Give us a vote!
He has carried that mantle over many, many years in the United States Congress.
And he has represented his district here in Atlanta exceedingly well over time.
He's still very much devoted in his capacity as a civic leader to issues of civil rights and human rights.
Very much devoted to themes of tolerance and bridging
difference in his work today.