John Lewis: Demise Of Congressman, We Have Lost A Giant.
Lawmakers, international leaders, agencies and celebrities reacted Friday night time to information that Rep. John R. Lewis, D-GA, the civil rights icon who fought for racial justice commenced. Lewis, an organizer of the March on Washington in 1963 together with Martin Luther King Jr., had been fighting Stage IV pancreatic cancer on account that December. The congressman becomes 80.
His family stated in a statement Friday night time Lewis, who represented Georgia, "turned into venerated and respected as the conscience of America Congress. He turned into a stalwart champion inside the on-going battle to demand to admire for the honour and well worth of every human being.”
Here is a examine how he is being remembered:
Former President Barack Obama: "In so many ways, John’s life becomes exceptional. But he in no way believed that what he did become more than any citizen of this USA might do On his Inauguration Day in 2009, Obama signed a message to him “Because of you, John." Our own legacy plays out in the sort of meaningful, extraordinary believing inside the possibility of remaking this united states we love until it lives up to its complete promise," the declaration.
“John Lewis turned into a titan of the civil rights motion whose goodness, religion and bravery transformed our state," the declaration continued. “Every day of John Lewis’s life become devoted to bringing freedom and justice to all. As he declared 57 years ago at some point of the March on Washington, standing within can not rest till freedom and justice exist for all of the people.’
"How fitting it's miles that even within the closing weeks of his struggle with cancer, John summoned the strength to visit the non-violent protests wherein the most modern technology.
The Congressional Black Caucus
"The international has lost a legend; the civil rights movement has lost an icon, the City of Atlanta has misplaced one in every of its maximum. Advocated a new technology of activist to “communicate up and speak out” and get into “excellent trouble” to maintain bending the arc toward justice and freedom," the announcement continued. Former President Bill Clinton and previous Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Mayor of Washington, D.C. Muriel Bowser
Bowser, who changed into joined with the aid of Lewis a little extra than a month ago at Black Lives Matter Plaza in D.C. In what might be his closing public appearance, tweeted, "We have extra paintings to do however we would now not be in which are without John Lewis. May he rest in power, and might we humbly and boldly stroll in his footsteps."
Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
And we're all better for the "excellent trouble" he made."Congressman Lewis’ vicinity a number of the giants of American records changed into secure before his career in Congress had even begun.
“The Senate and the state mourn the lack of Congressman John Lewis, a pioneering civil rights chief who put his lifestyles on the road to fight racism, promote identical rights, and bring our country into greater alignment with its founding principles," the announcement reads.
Martin Luther King III:
"John Lewis was an American treasure he reminded each people that the most effective nonviolent device is the vote. Our hearts feel empty without our friend, however, we discover consolation knowing that he's loose at last," King tweeted. His father and Lewis were near friends. Lewis remained the closing surviving member of the Big Six, which included King, James Farmer, A. Phillip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, and Whitney Young.