John Lewis says the actions of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. inspired him to find a way to get in the way. Lewis talks about how their relationship started with a letter he sent to Dr. King at 17 years old. He recalls Dr. King’s speech at Riverside Church on April 4, 1967 as his most powerful, and being with Robert Kennedy when Dr. King was assassinated.
John Robert Lewis was elected to Congress in 1986, serving in the United States House of Representatives for Georgia’s 5th Congressional District. He held several leadership positions in the House, including Senior Chief Deputy Whip, and was a member of the House Ways and Committee as well as the Congressional Black Caucus. He began his career as a civil rights organizer in 1960 during the Nashville sit-in movement and as a Freedom Rider. He helped plan the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and rose to national prominence after he and Hosea Williams led the 1965 Voting Rights March from Selma to Montgomery, where he and other peaceful protestors were attacked and beaten on the Edmund Pettis bridge. Lewis has received multiple awards for his work, including the John F. Kennedy “Profile in Courage” award, and a National Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2010. He wrote multiple best-selling books and continued his work in Congress as a human and civil rights advocate until he passed away on July 17, 2020.
From the HBO / Kunhardt Film Foundation (KFF) Documentary “King in the Wilderness” that follows Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the last years of his life: from the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 to his assassination in 1968, through personal stories of the people who were around him.
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John Lewis, Board Member, SCLC
Interviewed By: Trey Ellis
Interview Date: May 18, 2017
Chapters:
00:00 Meeting Dr. King and it’s Impact
08:25 Riverside Church Speech
10:34 Dr. King’s Assassination
15:41 Poor People’s Campaign
18:04 Bobby Kennedy and Wiretapping
21:44 Riots After Dr. King’s Asssassination
24:24 Black Power
26:27 Nonviolence and Unity
31:41 Dr. King’s Legacy
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