American hero Representative John Lewis is dead

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Jul 18, 2020

Rep. John Robert Lewis, a Georgia Democrat and civil rights icon, died Friday. He was 80 years old. He served 17 years in U.S. House of Representatives.

ABC News:

Quote
Known as the "conscience of the U.S. Congress," Lewis continually represented Georgia's 5th Congressional District, which includes most of Atlanta, since taking office in 1987. His cancer diagnosis in December 2019 did not interrupt that streak.
"So I have decided to do what I know to do and do what I have always done: I am going to fight it and keep fighting for the Beloved Community. We still have many bridges to cross," he said in a statement at the time.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/john-lewis-congressman-civil-rights-icon-dies-80/story?id=68033988&

https://abcnews.go.com/US/video/civil-rights-icon-rep-john-lewis-dead-80-71854819

CNN report: https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/17/politics/john-lewis-dead-at-80/index.html

emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Jul 18, 2020

John Lewis was a great man, a mensch who will be deeply missed. He leaves a rich legacy as a pioneer and leader in working to bring truth to “all men are created equal”.

For those who haven’t seen it, here is Joe Biden’s statement. Biden’s words brought tears to my eyes. This is what I want from a president.

“We are made in the image of God, and then there is John Lewis.

How could someone in flesh and blood be so courageous, so full of hope and love in the face of so much hate, violence, and vengeance? Perhaps it was the Spirit that found John as a young boy in the Deep South dreaming of preaching the social gospel; the work ethic his sharecropper parents instilled in him and that stayed with him; the convictions of nonviolent civil disobedience he mastered from Dr. King and countless fearless leaders in the movement; or the abiding connection with the constituents of Georgia’s 5th District he loyally served for decades.

Or perhaps it was that he was truly a one-of-a-kind, a moral compass who always knew where to point us and which direction to march.

It is rare to meet and befriend our heroes. John was that hero for so many people of every race and station, including us. He absorbed the force of human nature’s cruelty during the course of his life, and the only thing that could finally stop him was cancer. But he was not bitter. We spoke to him a few days ago for the final time. His voice still commanded respect and his laugh was still full of joy. Instead of answering our concerns for him, he asked about us. He asked us to stay focused on the work left undone to heal this nation. He was himself – a man at peace, of dignity, grace and character.

John’s life reminds us that the most powerful symbol of what it means to be an American is what we do with the time we have to make real the promise of our nation – that we are all created equal and deserve to be treated equally. Through the beatings, the marches, the arrests, the debates on war, peace, and freedom, and the legislative fights for good jobs and health care and the fundamental right to vote, he taught us that while the journey toward equality is not easy, we must be unafraid and never cower and never, ever give up.

That is the charge a great American and humble man of God has left us. For parents trying to answer their children’s questions about what to make of the world we are in today, teach them about John Lewis. For the peaceful marchers for racial and economic justice around the world who are asking where we go from here, follow his lead. For his fellow legislators, govern by your conscience like he did, not for power or party. He was our bridge – to our history so we did not forget its pain and to our future so we never lose our hope.

To John’s son, John Miles, and to his family, friends, staff, and constituents, we send you our love and prayers. Thank you for sharing him with the nation and the world.

And to John, march on, dear friend. May God bless you. May you reunite with your beloved Lillian. And may you continue to inspire righteous good trouble down from the Heavens.

Joe Biden”

allnurses Guide · Jul 18, 2020

1 hour ago, emtb2rn said:
John Lewis was a great man, a mensch who will be deeply missed. He leaves a rich legacy as a pioneer and leader in working to bring truth to “all men are created equal”.

For those who haven’t seen it, here is Joe Biden’s statement. Biden’s words brought tears to my eyes. This is what I want from a president.

“We are made in the image of God, and then there is John Lewis.

How could someone in flesh and blood be so courageous, so full of hope and love in the face of so much hate, violence, and vengeance? Perhaps it was the Spirit that found John as a young boy in the Deep South dreaming of preaching the social gospel; the work ethic his sharecropper parents instilled in him and that stayed with him; the convictions of nonviolent civil disobedience he mastered from Dr. King and countless fearless leaders in the movement; or the abiding connection with the constituents of Georgia’s 5th District he loyally served for decades.

Or perhaps it was that he was truly a one-of-a-kind, a moral compass who always knew where to point us and which direction to march.

It is rare to meet and befriend our heroes. John was that hero for so many people of every race and station, including us. He absorbed the force of human nature’s cruelty during the course of his life, and the only thing that could finally stop him was cancer. But he was not bitter. We spoke to him a few days ago for the final time. His voice still commanded respect and his laugh was still full of joy. Instead of answering our concerns for him, he asked about us. He asked us to stay focused on the work left undone to heal this nation. He was himself – a man at peace, of dignity, grace and character.

John’s life reminds us that the most powerful symbol of what it means to be an American is what we do with the time we have to make real the promise of our nation – that we are all created equal and deserve to be treated equally. Through the beatings, the marches, the arrests, the debates on war, peace, and freedom, and the legislative fights for good jobs and health care and the fundamental right to vote, he taught us that while the journey toward equality is not easy, we must be unafraid and never cower and never, ever give up.

That is the charge a great American and humble man of God has left us. For parents trying to answer their children’s questions about what to make of the world we are in today, teach them about John Lewis. For the peaceful marchers for racial and economic justice around the world who are asking where we go from here, follow his lead. For his fellow legislators, govern by your conscience like he did, not for power or party. He was our bridge – to our history so we did not forget its pain and to our future so we never lose our hope.

To John’s son, John Miles, and to his family, friends, staff, and constituents, we send you our love and prayers. Thank you for sharing him with the nation and the world.

And to John, march on, dear friend. May God bless you. May you reunite with your beloved Lillian. And may you continue to inspire righteous good trouble down from the Heavens.

Joe Biden”

Thank you emtb2rn and NRSKarenRN!

I remember the day in 1963 three of us and one friend's mother, who was attending college, joined the Student Nonviolent Coordination Committee (SNCC). We heard John Lewis, President of SNCC, speak. All of us worked for civil rights. One friend went to Mississippi the next Summer to register voters. Last night when the announcement of his death I got out my button. My husband said, "I remember you showed that to me before we married. I couldn't take a picture of it, but found one on line. There were many versions. This is like mine:

allnurses Guide · Jul 18, 2020

MLK with Harry Belafonte and Tony Bennet, who marched from Montgomery to Selma with John Lewis and Martin Luther King Jr.:

BelafonteMLKTonyBennettin1965_mlb8_zpsef

Just months after we joined SNCC:

allnurses Guide · Jul 18, 2020

I think some of us may wany to hear and sing this song today.

Satchmo just months before he died:

Bernice Johnson Reagon, the woman with the long necklace was at a meeting in a Negro movie theater when she was 15 years old. KKK riders in vehicles and guns drove around the theater. The people inside began singing and Bernice, with her amazing alto voice, sang "We are nor afraid".

Just a few years later I got to attend a nonviolence training. Bernice led the singing of "We Shall Not Be Moved". It is one of my cherished memories. If not for me siting in a living room on the floor with my back against the sofa with a full bladder and no room to get to the bathroom without stepping on someone it would have been perfect.

Decades later I left a healthcare meeting and was driving through a fast food restaurant. I heard on the radio that the police who beat Rodney King were found "Not Guilty" of excessive violence. I automatically sang "We Shall Not Be Moved". I knew then there would be violence.

On the way home I saw ladies who worked at local stores at a bus stop. Because the radio news said buses were not running, I took five of the home. They stayed at our crowded house for two days until the National Guard had most violence stopped and the buses running. We watched TV in horror.

https://www.britannica.com/event/Los-Angeles-Riots-of-1992

allnurses Guide · Jul 18, 2020

allnurses Guide · Jul 19, 2020

Should Edmund Pettus Bridge, the site of Selma’s “Bloody Sunday” be renamed? Dorothy Tillman was there, she says no

Dorothy Tillman joined Martin Luther King Jr’s Southern Christian Leadership Committee at the age of just 16 in Montgomery, Alabama...

... She participated in the culture shifting protest on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma that pushed for voting rights for blacks...

... m With a petition gaining signatures calling for the name of the bridge tot be changed, Tillman says she’s against it. In the clip she describes that day and why she thinks it’s important to retain history...

https://wgntv.com/morning-news/should-edmund-pettus-bridge-the-site-of-selmas-bloody-Sunday-be-renamed-dorothy-tillman-was-there-she-says-no/

allnurses Guide · Jul 19, 2020

Movement to rename Edmund Pettus Bridge brings controversy

7/3/2020 Thousands gathered in Selma, Ala., in 1940 to dedicate a new bridge in honor of white supremacist Edmund Pettus, a Confederate general and reputed Ku Klux Klan leader. Just 25 years later, the bridge became a global landmark when civil rights marchers were beaten at its base...

... Today, with thousands protesting nationwide against racial injustice, a years-old push is gaining steam to rename the Edmund Pettus Bridge in honor of Rep. John Lewis, who led the 1965 marchers on “Bloody Sunday.” But the idea is drawing opposition in Selma, including from some who marched with Lewis that day...

https://www.MSN.com/en-us/news/us/movement-to-rename-edmund-pettus-bridge-brings-controversy/ar-BB16jhxA

allnurses Guide · Jul 24, 2020

I read in a different thread where a member complained that even at the workplace he had to listen to people mention "Black Lives Matter". When he responded by saying, "All lives matter" he was treated in a way that seemed hateful. He also recommended people should, "Just keep quiet. I think that is probably good advice for work where our focus should be on our patients. But he probably doesn't understand that saying "all lives matter" communicates to some Black people that their lives don't.

While I've feared for my son I never lost a family member to a drive-by or police killing.

BUT if a White person feels attacked and hated because he or she said the wrong thing perhaps imaging going through what most minority children experience. As a little girl my two aunts, mother, grandmother, sisters, cousins, and a lady our Grandma met on the train had a two hour layover in Amarillo, Texas. (No men and the oldest boy was eight) Grandma decided to walk the two long blocks to the church where our mother was Baptized. Two White men blocked our way saying, "Even a N***** knows to step down in the gutter when a Texan walks down the street". Our Mom, her sister, and her brother's wife were very good looking women then. She had us hold hands and said looking up at them through he long lashes, "You poor things. You just don't know no better. We will pray for you. We held hands on one side of the walk and said the Lord's Prayer as hey walked past us on the sidewalk.

Later when age 11 my lifelong friends and I walked to and from school together. We wore a raincoat because older boys in cars and on bikes threw eggs and rotten tomatoes at us while calling N*****, and N***** lover. It was a rare day when that didn't happen. Neighbors often came out of their homes to apologize and promise to look out for us. That went on for six school years. We are old ladies now and still friends.

Just two of many stories. The hateful looks and speech could not then be stopped. Also it was the 1950s going into the 60s, we were girls, and no one had a gun. AND some of those boys later apologized.

Other kids at school were teased for being fat, stuttering, having socks that wouldn't stay up, or were said to have "cooties". Thinking back I think many others suffered insults too.

Maybe the nurse who felt hate will someday realize that he just said the wrong thing because "Black Live Matter" first said after the killing of Eric Garner was shown on TV repeatedly. It really means, "Black lives matter TOO!"

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Jul 24, 2020

Many events will be broadcast on national networks.

John Lewis funeral schedule and things to know - AJC.com

https://www.ajc.com/news/john-lewis-funeral-schedule-and-things-to-know/DI6SFGFDGVGM7CBHJORODC6HB4/

allnurses Guide · Jul 25, 2020

47 minutes ago, NRSKarenRN said:
Many events will be broadcast on national networks.
John Lewis funeral schedule and things to know - AJC.com
https://www.ajc.com/news/john-lewis-funeral-schedule-and-things-to-know/DI6SFGFDGVGM7CBHJORODC6HB4/

Thnk you for this Karen. I plan to watch as much as I can. I was only in the back of an auditorium when John Lewis gave a speech 57 years ago, but find myself quite emotional at his passing. I feel bless that I was able to do my small part for civil rights in the sixties.

Our son's wife's grandmother is a hero in our family. She sat in as a White woman at a Woolworth's lunch counter every other Sunday while her ex- husband had the kids. She was in the synagogue on Saturdays. She protested with us for Safe Staffing Ratios.

Soon after passing the CCRN exam I got to attend NTI in Atlanta. A fellow nurse came with me to the MLK memorial. We looked into the Ebeneezer Baptist Church where they were having Alzheimer's day care.