Today we pause to honor the life and legacy of one of America’s most actual patriots, Representative John Lewis. A man who not only bore witness to history but also helped shape it with his courage, conviction, and unwavering commitment to justice.
John Lewis began his life of public service as the third Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, leading the charge for voting rights from 1963 to 1966, most famously as one of the original Freedom Riders and the youngest speaker at the March on Washington.
He continued that work as a member of the Atlantic City Council from 1982 to 1985. In 1987, he entered the United States House of Representatives, representing Georgia’s 5th Congressional District, a position he held until his death on July 17, 2020. From 2003 onward, he also served as the House Democratic Senior Chief Deputy Whip, consistently using his power for the greater good, not for personal gain.
I had the distinct honor of meeting Representative Lewis when he was the keynote speaker at MCLA’s graduation. He also received an honorary doctorate. I was introduced to him as the President of the NAACP Berkshire County Branch. He shook my hand and thanked me for my service.
I had to laugh. I said to him, “No, Sir. I need to thank you. You are the reason I’m here. You are the reason I do the work I do. It is your shoulders that I stand on”.
That day, he left the graduates and all of us with a charge. “Go out there and make good trouble”.
That message has stayed with me ever since. And I strive every day in my role as an advocate for justice and equality, to live up to it.
John Lewis devoted his life to service for the good. He marched so we could stand. He stood so we could lead. And he led so we could live freer, more dignified lives.
On this anniversary of his death, let us recommit ourselves to the kind of trouble he believed in -the kind that bends the arc of the moral universe just a little closer to justice.
Thank you.
Dennis L. Powell
President, NAACP BCB
In the photo (left to right)
NAACP Berkshire County Branch Executive Committee Member, Dr. Shirley Edgerton; Congressman and Civil Rights Activist, John Lewis; NAACP Executive Committee Member, Dr. Frances Jones-Sneed; NAACP Berkshire County Branch President, Dr. Dennis Powell; Chair of MCLA Board of Trustees Mohan Boodram; former NAACP Executive Committee Member Jereome Edgerton.