Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 17 March 2005 — Page 14

Page 14 • The Muncie Times • March 17, 2005

Continued from Pagell Organized in the manner of what the blacks were fighting for, but chaos in the way it was handled. The white men couldn’t tolerate a group trying to take them over. They thought they were the only ones that belonged; no one else deserved consideration. As the young man started to gain confidence in his beliefs sue to the support, he was brutally beaten on Edmund Pettus Bridge. The young man was slapped, whipped, scarred, spat upon, disfigured, but only temporarily destroyed. That young man has turned into one of the most successful figures still left today on the civil rights stage. That man is John Lewis, a Democratic Congressman for the 5th Congressional District of Georgia. All Congressman Lewis wants is equal rights for all races and ethnic groups and he has used his power to put his feelings into his peers. John Robert Lewis was born in Troy, Alabama on Leb 21, 1940 and was destined to fight for civil rights issues. As a young man, he began to form groups that would march into cities in the area to protest the fact that African Americans were not allowed to vote. Later, as a college student at the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee, he organized sit-in demonstrations all around the United States of America during the early 1960s. He was recognized by all important figures due to his early work in the SNCC and his youthful ways stood. He was recognized among civil rights activists as one of the "Big Six,” which included Martin Luther King, Jr., Whitney Young, and three other established and older leaders. At the "March on Washington," he was a keynote speaker at the Lincoln Memorial. His speech there was considered one of the greatest civil rights speeches of all time and would’ve been the best except for one reason. Right after

Lewis’s speech. King, Jr. gave the "I Have A Dream" speech which stole the limelight from Lewis. However, Lewis and King, Jr. were best friends and basically sidekicks. They developed an extremely close relationship based on their values and their backgrounds. They both stood for civil rights and were raised in the Baptist Church. They linked unbelievably. John Lewis, in an interview with National Public Radio (NPR), said, "...I can heat him saying now... when you strengthen your back...no one can ride you. He said stand up and say no to racial discrimination." John Lewis knew from the start that when he got involved with King, Jr., he was in for a long ride. Still to this day, he remains extremely loyal to him. "Today, Martin Luther King, Jr. would be the undisputed moral leader in America. If he were here today he'd say that we are majoring in minor things." Obviously, King, Jr. and Lewis didn’t waste time on minor things. They went after the most important issue that faced America at that time. John Lewis also was determined to move people around the country regarding the civil rights issue. The best way, he thought, to do that was to get in the government. As do most politicians, he didn’t succeed in his first try. No on thought that he would make it up to the top like he did, except for one person. John Lewis was that person. Lewis, due to his previous and amazing self-confidence, was extremely respected from the start. He was appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1977 to lead a group call ACTION, which is the nation’s group of over 250,000 volunteers. He then became a member of Atlanta’s City Council in 1981 and was the advocate for equal ethics in the government and a leader in neighborhood preservation, which made home more

suitable for families that lived in them. Later, he was elected to Congress in 1986 to represent Georgia’s 5th Congressional District and he’s still there today. In Congress, he uses his platform to rise above the common man and take human life to another level. All he has ever wanted is to make things equal for everyone. He is a part of many different congressional committees and boards that all stand for what he believes in. Those groups include religious and black rights. Also, he uses his way with words to write books on civil rights. The book he authored, along with Michael D’Orso, called Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement highlights the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and provides information on how he thinks we, as a culture and nation, can totally reconstruct the nation’s feelings on racism.

Now, as Representative John Lewis sits in his office in Washington, D.C., he can reflect on what he’s done for our country. No, he wasn’t an infantryman who fought overseas to preserve freedom. No, he wasn’t a martyr for his cause. He fought the war the Americans were fighting among themselves. He dealt with the issue of color and race and never thought twice about it. He fought for what he believed in and used his power as a leader and congressman to help change our nation’s look on racism. All he wanted was an equal nation. He hasn’t achieved it yet, and he probably never will. But at least he has changed many people’s conscience, both black and white, and made us think about how we treat people. A person who changes another person’s mind on a controversial issue is a true inspiration and leader. That is exactly what Representative John Robert Lewis did.

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