John Lewis: Profile of a Civil Rights Legend

According to data collected by the New York Times, somewhere between 15 million and 26 million people participated in Black Lives Matter demonstrations in more than 500 locations.2 Journalists covering these protests found themselves on the front lines like never before: In his powerful graphic novel memoir March, Lewis recalled growing up on a farm and honing his skills as a young orator by preaching to the family chickens.5 School-and particularly the access to the outside world provided by books, newspapers, and magazines-became a central focus of Lewis's young life, with him often running away from the family farm to avoid chores and attend class.6 At the age of 15, Lewis first heard the words of Martin Luther King Jr. in a sermon on the radio; Lewis recalls: "Dr. King's message hit me like a bolt of lightning. Shortly after Boynton, civil rights activists began a campaign to "complete the integration of bus service and accommodations in the Deep South"14 by testing service providers' compliance with Boynton and Morgan v. Virginia, an earlier Supreme Court decision that found segregation on interstate buses and trains was unconstitutional.15 To do so, Lewis and other members of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) embarked on a series of "Freedom Rides" to challenge ongoing practices of racism and segregation.16 On May 4, 1961, Lewis and 12 other Freedom Riders left Washington, D.C., on two buses bound for New Orleans, Louisiana. Once the buses arrived in South Carolina, the Freedom Riders began encountering violent reactions to their refusal to observe segregationist practices; in Rock Hill, South Carolina, Lewis and his colleagues were beaten and arrested for using whites-only facilities, despite the Supreme Court's ruling in Boynton.17 In Alabama, local officials gave the Ku Klux Klan permission to beat and harass the Freedom Riders: One bus was firebombed, and several passengers were beaten while fleeing the burning bus.18 At another stop, Lewis was attacked and left unconscious in a pool of his own blood outside a Greyhound Bus terminal in Montgomery, Alabama.19 Ultimately, Lewis and several of his fellow Freedom Riders were incarcerated at Parchman Farm, the Mississippi State Penitentiary, for nearly a month for participating in the Freedom Rides.20 John Lewis remained steadfast.