YouTube download / AP video / John Lewis, who carried the struggle against racial discrimination from Southern battlegrounds of the 1960s to the halls of Congress in the new millennium, has died. He was 80. (July 17)
By HENRY FREDERICK / Headline Surfer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- John Lewis saw the massing of Alabama state troopers armed with gas canisters and nightsticks, flanked by troopers on horseback within his field of vision as he led a procession of protesters in a march towards the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., on March 7, 1965.
Lewis, then just 25, like many of the hundreds of protestors endured a violent beatdown in what became known as the Bloody Sunday march. It was the shocking footage shown on television across the nation that put Lewis on the map as a Civil Rights icon and later propel him to a seat in the US Congress.
Political leaders near and far today are paying homage to a titan of the Civil Rights movement - Congressman John Lewis, who died Friday night of pancreatic cancer. He was 80 years old.
"John Lewis, the modern personification of courage and moral leadership, has taken his heavenly reward," Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry. wrote on his Facebook page.
Political leaders near and far today are paying homage to a titan of the Civil Rights movement - Congressman John Lewis, who died Friday night of pancreatic cancer. He was 80 years old.
"John Lewis, the modern personification of courage and moral leadership, has taken his heavenly reward," Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry. wrote on his Facebook page.
American flags were ordered to fly half staff at the White House and other federal facilities across the nation.
Noticeably silent was President Donald Trump who spent the morning playing golf, according to national media reports,
Trump finally recognized Congressman Lewis' passing in a tweet just after 2 p.m. that read: "Saddened to hear the news of civil rights hero John Lewis passing. Melania and I send our prayers to he and his family."
Vice President Mike Pence released a statement early Saturday morning that read in part, “While John Lewis will be rightly remembered as an icon of the civil rights movement, for me he was also a colleague and a friend. Even when we differed, John was always unfailingly kind and my family and I will never forget the privilege of crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge at his side on the 45th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. ”
Congressman Michael Waltz, the St. Augustine Republican whose district includes Daytona Beach, said in a tweet this morning of his Atlanta, Ga colleague from across the political aisle: "I'm deeply saddened by the loss of this great leader. May we always remember the legacy he leaves behind."
Waltz added, "Sad I will never be able to take him up on his invitation to march with him in Selma."
Congressman Michael Waltz, the St. Augustine Republican whose district includes Daytona Beach, said in a tweet this morning of his Atlanta, Ga colleague from across the political aisle: "I'm deeply saddened by the loss of this great leader. May we always remember the legacy he leaves behind." Waltz added, "Sad I will never be able to take him up on his invitation to march with him in Selma."
Former President Barack Obama wrote a lengthy statement on Congressman Lewis' passing and his legacy, which read in part: "In so many ways, John’s life was exceptional. But he never believed that what he did was more than any citizen of this country might do... Considering his enormous impact on the history of this country, what always struck those who met John was his gentleness and humility. Born into modest means in the heart of the Jim Crow South, he understood that he was just one of a long line of heroes in the struggle for racial justice.”
Some other prominent political leaders with statements on the passing of Congressman John Lewis:
• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell - “I will never forget joining hands with John as members of Congress sang We Shall Overcome at a 2008 ceremony honoring his friend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It could not have been more humbling to consider what he had suffered and sacrificed so those words could be sung in that place.”
• Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi - “John Lewis was a titan of the civil rights movement whose goodness, faith and bravery transformed our nation – from the determination with which he met discrimination at lunch counters and on Freedom Rides, to the courage he showed as a young man facing down violence and death on Edmund Pettus Bridge, to the moral leadership he brought to the Congress for more than 30 years. ”
• Former President George W. Bush - “Laura and I join our fellow Americans in mourning the loss of Congressman John Lewis. As a young man marching for equality in Selma, Alabama, John answered brutal violence with courageous hope. And throughout his career as a civil rights leader and public servant, he worked to make our country a more perfect union. America can best honor John’s memory by continuing his journey toward liberty and justice for all.”
• Former President Bill Clinton & Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton - “From a small farm in Alabama, to life-risking service in the civil rights movement, to three decades in Congress, he was always ‘walking with the wind,’ steered by a moral compass that told him when to make good trouble and when to heal troubled waters. Always true to his word, his faith, and his principles, John Lewis became the conscience of the nation.”
• Former President Jimmy Carter - “He made an indelible mark on history through his quest to make our nation more just. John never shied away from what he called ‘good trouble’ to lead our nation on the path toward human and civil rights. Everything he did, he did in a spirit of love. All Americans, regardless of race or religion, owe John Lewis a debt of gratitude.”
• Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms - “The City of Atlanta’s Congressman Lewis is an American hero and one of the pillars of the Civil Rights Movement. Congressman Lewis was also revered as the dean of the Georgia Congressional delegation whose passionate call to “make good trouble” became a generational rallying cry for nonviolent activism in the pursuit of social justice and human rights.”
As noted in USA Today, Congressman Lewis, an organizer of the March on Washington in 1963 along with Martin Luther King Jr., had been battling Stage IV pancreatic cancer since December.
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Henry Frederick is publisher of Headline Surfer, the award-winning 24/7 internet news outlet launched 12 years ago that serves greater Daytona Beach, Sanford & Orlando, Florida via HeadlineSurfer.com. Frederick has amassed more than a hundred journalism industry awards in print & online -- more than than all other members of the working press combined in Central Florida since the mid-1990s. He earned his Master of Arts in New Media Journalism with academic honors from Full Sail University in 2019. Having witnessed the execution of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Florida's death chamber and other high profile cases, Frederick has appeared on national crime documentary programs on Discovery ID and Reelz for his investigative reporting and cops & courts breaking news stories.