John Robert Lewis, U.S. Representative for Georgia, was born on this day in 1940. Prominent civil rights activist, Rep. Lewis is considered to be one of the “Big Six” leaders of the Civil Rights Movement”, along with Martin Luther King Jr., Asa Philip Randolph, James Farmer Jr., Whitney Young and Roy Wilkins1. A Freedom Rider, with integral roles in the 1963 March on Washington and1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, where he sustained a fractured skull when severely beaten by state troopers, Lewis continues his commitment as an advocate for social justice, equal rights and peaceful, yet fervent protest for social change3. His accolades include, the only John F. Kennedy “Profile of Courage Award” for Lifetime Achievement, granted by the JFK Library Foundation and the Medal of Freedom awarded by President Obama in 20114.
“We may not have chosen the time, but thetime has chosen us”. –John Lewis
To learn more about Representative John Lewis, visit https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Lewis-American-civil-rights-leader-and-politician and http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-movement/videos/john-lewis-civil-rights-leader
1. https://www.thoughtco.com/men-of-the-civil-rights-movement-45371
2. https://www.biography.com/people/john-lewis-21305903
3. https://johnlewis.house.gov/john-lewis/biography
4. https://johnlewis.house.gov/john-lewis/biography
Barbara Jordan, lawyer, educator and the first African American Congresswoman from the South, was born on this day in 19361 A fierce advocate of civil rights and known for her “rousing oratory style”, she was also the first African American to deliver the keynote address to the Democratic National Convention2.
“We are a people in a quandary about the present. We are a people in search of our future. We are a people in search of a national community”. – Barbara Jordan
To learn more about Barbara Jordan, visit http://history.house.gov/People/Detail/16031 and https://www.biography.com/people/barbara-jordan-9357991
1. http://blackhistorydaily.com/black_history/barbara_jordan.html
2. http://diversity.utexas.edu/barbarajordanstatue/history-of-barbara-jordan/