Rest in Power, John Lewis. A true American hero.
President Obama said it best in 2011 when bestowing Rep. Lewis with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, “Generations from now, when parents teach their children what is meant by courage, the story of John Lewis will come to mind — an American who knew that change could not wait for some other person or some other time; whose life is a lesson in the fierce urgency of now.”
May this next generation of freedom fighters honor his life, legacy and unwavering courage to keep waking up and getting in "good trouble" along the march towards realizing his dream, which though from the March on Washington with MLK in 1963, couldn't be more relevant and urgent today. 57 years later:
“By the force of our demands, our determination and our numbers, we shall splinter the [systemic racism and racial injustice] into a thousand pieces and put them together in the image of God and democracy. We must say: ‘Wake up, America. Wake up!’ For we cannot stop, and we will not and cannot be patient.”
You may be physically gone, but your spirit lives on, and I hope that we can do your life and legacy proud.
[Image Credit: Andrea Mohin in The New York Times]