John Lewis was laid to rest in Atlanta today, after succumbing to pancreatic cancer on July 17 at the age of 80.
The civil rights icon was the youngest and last survivor of the Big Six civil rights activists, a group led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. that had the greatest impact on the movement. He was best known for leading some 600 protesters in the Bloody Sunday march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, where he was knocked to the ground and beaten by police.
Lewis spent his whole life fighting for civil rights — and wanted to make sure the cause lived on after his death.In an essay he wrote shortly before he died and that was published in The New York Times on Thursday, Lewis implores younger generations to keep fighting, telling them, “Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.”
He asked that the essay be published on the same day as his funeral, which was being held Thursday at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta where he worshipped and his mentor, the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., preached.
FILE – This June 16, 2010 file photo, Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., participates in a ceremony to unveil two plaques recognizing the contributions of enslaved African Americans in the construction of the United States Capitol on Capitol Hill in Washington. Lewis, who carried the struggle against racial discrimination from Southern battlegrounds of the 1960s to the halls of Congress, has died. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi confirmed his passing late Friday, July 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
“Though I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe,” Lewis wrote. “In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.”
Lewis also recalls what he learned from King, whose sermons he had discovered while scanning the radio dial as a 15-year-old boy growing up in then-segregated Alabama.“He said we are all complicit when we tolerate injustice,” Lewis wrote. “He said it is not enough to say it will get better by and by. He said each of us has a moral obligation to stand up, speak up and speak out.”
Here’s a collection of pictures from the past week, from a horse-drawn carriage carrying his body over the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, to lying in state at the nation’s Capitol, a memorial at Troy University in Alabama, and his funeral today at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta where former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush spoke.
Family members embrace at the burial service for Rep. John Lewis at South-View Cemetery in Atlanta Thursday, July 30, 2020. (Alyssa Pointer/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
Family members place flowers on the casket of Rep. John Lewis during the burial service at South-View Cemetery in Atlanta Thursday, July 30, 2020. (Alyssa Pointer/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP) ATLANTA, GA – JULY 30: Lavonia Morris cries for civil rights icon, US Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) outside of Ebenezer Baptist Church on July 30, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia. Former President Barack Obama will give the eulogy for the late Democratic congressman and former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton will be in attendance. Rep. Lewis was a fierce voting rights advocate, contemporary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and a Georgia congressman for three decades. (Photo by Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GEORGIA – JULY 30: Former President Barack Obama gives the eulogy at the funeral service for the late Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) at Ebenezer Baptist Church on July 30, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia. Lewis, a civil rights icon and fierce advocate of voting rights for African Americans, died on July 17 at the age of 80. (Photo by Alyssa Pointer-Pool/Getty Images) A mourner stands outside Ebenezer Baptist Church during the funeral for Rep. John Lewis at , Thursday, July 30, 2020, in Atlanta. Lewis, who carried the struggle against racial discrimination from Southern battlegrounds of the 1960s to the halls of Congress, died Friday, July 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) John-Miles Lewis places flowers on his father’s casket at the burial service for Rep. John Lewis at South-View Cemetery in Atlanta Thursday, July 30, 2020. (Alyssa Pointer/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP) Mourners stand outside Ebenezer Baptist Church during the funeral for Rep. John Lewis at , Thursday, July 30, 2020, in Atlanta. Lewis, who carried the struggle against racial discrimination from Southern battlegrounds of the 1960s to the halls of Congress, died Friday, July 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) The Rev. Darryl Caldwell speaks as the casket of the late Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., lies in repose during a service celebrating “The Boy from Troy” at Troy University on Saturday, July 25, 2020, in Troy, Ala. Lewis, who carried the struggle against racial discrimination from Southern battlegrounds of the 1960s to the halls of Congress, died Friday, July 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) Ga Breedlove waits for the casket of Rep. John Lewis to arrive at the state capital as Lewis will lie in repose, Wednesday, July 29, 2020, in Atlanta. Lewis, who carried the struggle against racial discrimination from Southern battlegrounds of the 1960s to the halls of Congress, died Friday, July 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) A man holds his hands on his head prior to a memorial service to honor the late Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., in the Capitol Rotunda, Monday, July 27, 2020 in Washington, Lewis will lie in state at the Capitol for two days before being laid to rest in Atlanta. ( Michael A. McCoy/Pool via AP) ATLANTA, GA – JULY 29: Fraternity brothers and members of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity surround the flag drapped casket of former US Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) as he lies in state at the Georgia State Capitol on July 29, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia. Lewis, a member of Phi Beta Sigma, will lie in state at the Georgia State Capitol in one of the last ceremonies to celebrate the Democratic congressman before he is buried. Lewis, a Georgia congressman for three decades, was a fierce voting rights advocate and contemporary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Photo by Jessica McGowan/Getty Images) A mourner pauses by the casket of Rep. John Lewis lying in repose at the state capital, Wednesday, July 29, 2020, in Atlanta. Lewis, who carried the struggle against racial discrimination from Southern battlegrounds of the 1960s to the halls of Congress, died Friday, July 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) The casket of Rep. John Lewis moves over the Edmund Pettus Bridge by horse drawn carriage during a memorial service for Lewis, Sunday, July 26, 2020, in Selma, Ala. Lewis, who carried the struggle against racial discrimination from Southern battlegrounds of the 1960s to the halls of Congress, died Friday, July 17, 2020. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) Onlookers watch and snap photos as the body of Rep. John Lewis makes the final crossing over the Edmund Pettus Bridge, site of the historic 1965 voting rights marches, on Sunday, July 26, 2020 in Selma, Ala. The congressman from Georgia and civil rights icon died July 17 at age 80 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
A carriage carrying the body of Rep. John Lewis finishes the final crossing over the Edmund Pettus Bridge, site of the historic 1965 voting rights marches, on Sunday, July 26, 2020 in Selma. The congressman from Georgia and civil rights icon died July 17 at age 80 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP) Justin Mayes spreads rose petals representing blood shed on the bridge for the final crossing of Rep. John Lewis over the Edmund Pettus Bridge, site of the historic 1965 voting rights marches, on Sunday, July 26, 2020 in Selma, Ala. The congressman from Georgia and civil rights icon died July 17 at age 80 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
