Page 12 - BHM Program 2021

Congressman John Lewis

1940-2020

“Good Trouble.” It became something of a catch-phrase in 2020 after the death of
Congressman John Lewis.

“Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America,” the

activist-turned-Congressman-turned-conscience of the nation once advised young
people.

Lewis lived his life making good trouble. He met Rosa Parks at 17 and Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. at 18. He organized lunch-counter sit-ins as a college student and was

a Freedom Rider in 1961. He was beaten, arrested, and jailed but never gave up. He
served 13 terms in Congress and was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

“Ours is not the struggle of one day, one week, or one year,” he said. “Ours is not the
struggle of one judicial appointment or presidential term. Ours is the struggle of a
lifetime, or maybe even many lifetimes, and each one of us in every generation must
do our part.”