John Lewis, a figure in the American civil rights movement and who had a long and famous career in Congress, died of stage 4 pancreatic cancer. and elected Democrat in the House of Representatives, died Friday, July 17, at the age of 80.
The death of “One of the greatest heroes in American history” was announced by the President of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, in a press release.
” John Lewis was a titan of the civil rights movement whose kindness, faith and bravery transformed our nation. (…) May his memory be an inspiration so that, all together, we act in the face of injustice, that we “cause good troubles, necessary troubles”. “
John Lewis’s memory moves us all to, in the face of injustice, make “good trouble, necessary trouble.” May it be a… https://t.co/1hLSAhgRGV
– SpeakerPelosi (@Nancy Pelosi)
A giant “
President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton greeted the elected Democrat in the House of Representatives, a “Giant” become “The conscience of the nation”.
John Lewis was a traveling companion of the famous pacifist pastor Martin Luther King, who was assassinated in 1968. The son of sharecroppers, who was the youngest and the last surviving of the six great civil rights activists, was alongside the Reverend Luther King Jr. at the August 1963 rally in Washington, where the latter gave his famous speech “I have a dream”.
He also participated in the Selma protest marches in Montgomery, conducted in the state of Alabama (south) in 1965 in the name of black voting rights, which marked the struggle for civil rights in the United States. During one of these marches, on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the protesters were attacked by local police and John Lewis, who led some 600 protesters, suffered a skull fracture.
John Lewis turned to politics in 1981, when he was elected to the Atlanta city council. Since the end of the 1980s, he held a parliamentary post.
The announcement of his death came just hours after the death of Reverend CT Vivian, another civil rights leader who died early Friday at age 95.
Fierce opponent of Donald Trump
Following the election of Donald Trump, he refused to attend the presidential inauguration ceremony in January 2017, declaring that he would not. “Not considered a legitimate president”.
Donald Trump then replied on Twitter, believing that John Lewis “Better spend some time helping her constituency, which is in a terrible state and disintegrating (not to mention the crime that is plaguing her)”, attracting very strong criticism.
