Getting In ‘Good Trouble:’ American Civil Rights Leader John Lewis Remembered

 

America lost an extraordinary leader Friday when Congressman¹ John Lewis died of pancreatic cancer. He was 80 years old.

The lawmaker representing Georgia fought for civil rights for most of his life. He was the last living member of the so-called "Big Six" activists², a group that included Martin Luther King, Jr.

A son of Alabama sharecroppers, his place in the leadership of the 1960s campaign for Black equality had its roots in that difficult life on the farm.

Lewis was the youngest member of the Big Six. He helped organize the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. He spoke³ to the huge gathering⁴ in the nation's capital shortly before King gave his famed "I Have a Dream" speech.

King's speech marked a turning point in the civil rights struggle. But the struggle was still far from over. Two years later, police beat Lewis bloody⁵ and broke his skull⁶ as he led hundreds of marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama.

The violence came to be called Bloody Sunday. Television images of the violence helped unite national opposition⁷ to racial oppression.

Leaders in Washington felt the pressure. The 1965 Voting Rights Act passed five months later. The law barred racial discrimination in voting, acts of which were widespread across the South.

Lewis returned to that bridge many times following his election in 1986 to the U. S. House of Representatives. He often took along lawmakers from both major political parties so they could see where the attack took place.

Lewis earned respect in Washington from Democratic and Republican lawmakers. Many called him the "conscience of Congress."

And, he was a guiding voice for a young Illinois senator who became the first Black president.

"I told him that I stood on his shoulders," former President Barack Obama wrote in a statement marking Lewis's death. He added, "I told him I was only there because of the sacrifices he made."

Lewis was 23 years old when he joined King to plan the March on Washington. He gave a fierce speech at the event to hundreds of thousands of demonstrators.

But it was not as fierce speech he had planned to give. Lewis agreed to make several changes to soften⁸ the speech under pressure from President John F. Kennedy's administration and others. But he still spoke strongly and without compromise for social revolution.

In early 1965, Lewis led hundreds of demonstrators in a march in his home state of Alabama. They planned to walk 80 kilometers from Selma to the capital, Montgomery.

They did not get far.

Police blocked them on a Selma bridge. The police used clubs to beat protesters, fired tear gas at them and rode into the crowd on horseback. Many marchers were sent to hospitals. The nation was horrified⁹.

"The sight of them rolling over us like human tanks was something that had never been seen before," Lewis later wrote. "People just couldn't believe this was happening, not in America."

The 'boy from Troy'

Lewis was born on February 21, 1940, near the small Alabama town of Troy. He attended segregated¹⁰ public schools.

He was a teenager when he first heard Martin Luther King, Jr., speak on the radio as a young clergyman. They met after Lewis wrote him seeking support to become the first Black student at his local college. Lewis went on to go to college in Nashville, Tennessee, instead.

Soon, the young man King called "the boy from Troy" was organizing sit-ins at whites-only restaurants and volunteering as a Freedom Rider. Lewis suffered many police beatings and arrests in the fight against segregation¹¹ around the South.

Lewis helped form the Student Nonviolent Coordinating¹² Committee, or SNCC. He led the powerful group from 1963 to 1966 and continued civil rights work and voter registration¹³ campaigns for many years. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed Lewis to lead ACTION, a federal volunteer agency.

Lewis refused to attend Donald Trump¹⁴'s presidential inauguration¹⁵ in 2017. He argued that Russian interference in the election process made it unlawful. Lewis also did not attend presidential events that followed, including the yearly State of the Union speeches presented before Congress.

Trump was criticized for his lack of public comment after Lewis's death. Fourteen hours after the news broke, Trump wrote on Twitter: "Saddened to hear the news of civil rights hero John Lewis passing. Melania and I send our prayers to he and his family."

Trump also ordered all flags to be lowered at the White House and federal grounds and buildings on Saturday.

Lewis announced in late 2019 that he had pancreatic cancer. "I have never faced a fight quite like the one I have now," he said at the time.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, spoke about Lewis Monday on an American news show. She said she had talked to him the day before she died.

"It was a sad one," Pelosi said of their talk. "We never talked about his dying until that day."

Lewis was known for getting into what he called the "good trouble" of activism. In June of 2018, he wrote on Twitter: "Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble."

Earlier, this year he had a similar message of support for Black Lives Matter demonstrators around the world.

"Justice has, indeed, been denied for far too long, he said. "Organize. Demonstrate. Sit-in. Stand up. Vote."

I'm Caty Weaver¹⁶. And I'm Ashley Thompson.

Words in This Story

sharecropper -n. a farmer especially in the southern U.S. who raises crops for the owner of a piece of land and is paid a portion of the money from the sale of the crops

conscience -n. the part of the mind that makes you aware of your actions as being either morally right or wrong

segregated -adj. divided in facilities or administered separately for members of different groups or races

despair -n. the feeling of no longer having any hope

optimistic -adj.having or showing hope for the future: expecting good things to happen

1 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

2 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

5 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

6 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

7 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

8 soften   

v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和

参考例句：

• Plastics will soften when exposed to heat.塑料适当加热就可以软化。
• This special cream will help to soften up our skin.这种特殊的护肤霜有助于使皮肤变得柔软。

9 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

10 segregated   

分开的； 被隔离的

参考例句：

• a culture in which women are segregated from men 妇女受到隔离歧视的文化
• The doctor segregated the child sick with scarlet fever. 大夫把患猩红热的孩子隔离起来。

11 segregation   

n.隔离，种族隔离

参考例句：

• Many school boards found segregation a hot potato in the early 1960s.在60年代初，许多学校部门都觉得按水平分班是一个棘手的问题。
• They were tired to death of segregation and of being kicked around.他们十分厌恶种族隔离和总是被人踢来踢去。

12 coordinating   

v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
• He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的，难道我们不去请他？ 来自电影对白

13 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

14 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

15 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

16 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。