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QUEENS WEEKLY, AUGUST 9, 2020
Queens Congress members honor
life and legacy of Rep. John Lewis
BY BILL PARRY
The man known as the
“Conscience of the Congress”
had a profound impact, both
professionally and personally
on three House members
representing Queens.
Civil rights titan Congressman
John Lewis, who
represented Georgia’s Fifth
District in Congress for 34
uninterrupted years, succumbed
to Stage 4 pancreatic
cancer on July 17 at the age
of 80. Queens Rep. Gregory
Meeks served with Lewis
for 22 of those years and told
QNS he cherishes the time
he spent with the “apostle of
nonviolence,” who had been
the last living member of the
Big Six civil rights activists
who organized and marched
with Reverend Martin
Luther King Jr.
“He was a remarkable
man and his funeral in Atlanta’s
Ebenezer Baptist
Church was a celebration of
the man and his life’s work,”
Meeks said following the
July 30 funeral and burial.
“I walked in full of sorrow
and I walked out thanking
God for knowing this man.
The funeral was a wonderful
tribute to a great, great man.
The ‘Boy from Troy’ may
have been small in stature
but he was a giant. He was
always quiet and humble but
if he was speaking from the
House floor he roared like a
lion.”
Lewis was best known
for leading the 1965 “Bloody
Sunday: March across the
Edmund Pettus Bridge
where he had his skull fractured
after he was beaten
by Alabama state troopers.
At age 23 he was the youngest
speaker at the Lincoln
Memorial during King’s
“March on Washington.”
“It speaks to his legacy
that three former presidents
— Obama, Bush and Clinton
— spoke at his funeral, and
a fourth, Jimmy Carter sent
along a statement as he is
in poor health,” Meeks said.
“Here was a man who was attacked
with billy clubs, had
bones broken and was spit on
so many times yet he never
held bitterness towards his
attackers over the years. He
just tried to show love and for
that, he changed America.”
Congresswoman Carolyn
Maloney, who represents
parts of Queens, served with
Lewis since 1992 and called
him an incredible civil
rights leader and an even
better man.
“I’m grateful to have
stirred up some good trouble
together on the House floor
during our sit-in against gun
violence, a movement which
spread to cities across the
country. It was just one in a
million ways he inspired the
next generation of activists to
never stop fighting for justice
and equality,” Maloney said.
“It was an honor to join him
during many of his yearly
trips to Selma, Alabama, to
retrace his and Martin Luther
King Jr.’s steps across
the Edmund Pettus Bridge
as we not only honored the
movement that they started
but also rededicated ourselves
to the mission of racial
justice. I will cherish the
memory of joining him and
President Obama there to
mark the 50th anniversary
of the march.”
Queens Rep. Grace Meng
called Lewis a giant and
an icon of the civil rights
movement.
“He was a remarkable
and courageous human being
who fought and bled for
equality and justice,” Meng
said. “He never stopped being
an activist. One of my
memories I have of John
was sitting with him on the
floor of the House when he
led that sit-in protest to push
for tougher gun safety laws.
It was serious. It was peaceful.
It was positive. It was
impactful.”
Meng cherishes a photo
of Lewis and her two sons
Brandon and Tyler to remind
herself, them, and future
generations of how hard
people fought for civil rights.
“It is a reminder of the
past and future good trouble.
John had such an impact on
my life and the lives of millions
of people throughout
our nation,” Meng said. “He
was a hero to so many of us.
He believed in and fought
for a better America and we
owe him an immense debt
of gratitude for all that he
did for our country. We must
be fearless like him. John’s
legacy and the inspiration
and change he helped to create
will never be forgotten,
and I will always cherish the
friendship that we had. I ask
all Americans to keep him
and his loved ones in our
thoughts and prayers.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry
by e-mail at bparry@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone
at (718) 260–4538.
Congressman John Lewis was remembered as a fearless civil rights icon by three of his Queens colleagues.
Photo by Gary Osborne/REUTERS
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