"He, as much as anyone in our history, brought this country a little bit closer to our highest ideals," former President Barack Obama said of the longtime congressman and civil rights legend.
Thursday on Political Rewind, Congressman John Lewis will be laid to rest today. His funeral begins later this morning and is to be attended by friends, family and state and national leaders, including former President Barack Obama.
We discussed the life of Lewis with three young leaders who say they stand ready to advance the causes Lewis fought for his entire life.
The late Georgia congressman's body lies in state in the Capitol Rotunda. The public viewing for the "conscience of the Congress" is being held outside through Tuesday amid the coronavirus pandemic.
In 1965, John Lewis was nearly killed as he led a group of protesters across the Edmund Pettus Bridge to protest racial discrimination in voting. On Sunday, his body crossed that bridge one last time.
The late Georgia congressman was celebrated Saturday morning at "The Boy From Troy" memorial service in his Alabama hometown. "It's up to us to keep his legacy alive," his great-nephew told mourners.
Since the death of John Lewis on July 17, tributes, photographs and stories of the beloved civil rights leader — who became known as the “Conscience of the Congress” — have proliferated across media. On Second Thought takes a moment to remember John Lewis, and airs a clip from the congressman’s interview with Chuck Reece of The Bitter Southerner podcast.
Visitors will file by the the Capitol and be required to wear masks because of the coronavirus. Lewis' family urges people outside of Washington, D.C., to pay tribute virtually.
While the late Rep. John Lewis is not someone whose shoes are easy to fill, state law requires the Democratic Party of Georgia to replace him on the November ballot.
The party's executive committee voted Monday to select party chairwoman Nikema Williams, a state senator whose Atlanta district partially includes the 5th Congressional district that Lewis represented for more than three decades in the U.S. House.
GPB political reporter Stephen Fowler joined All Things Considered host Rickey Bevington to explain the speedy process.
State Democratic officials vote overwhelmingly for Williams on Monday. Lewis had represented the majority-Black and Democratic district, which includes Atlanta, since 1987.
A state law required a quick timeline to identify a replacement for John Lewis on the ballot. More than 100 applied, five were named finalists and a committee chose the party's chairwoman, Nikema Williams, as the nominee.
