Congressman Lewis: “Vote!”

They buried our friend Georgia Congressman John Lewis Thursday afternoon following one of the most moving home going services you will ever see.

Congressman John Lewis

As I think about Congressman Lewis, I can’t help but recall how much it meant for him to see people not only register, but go vote.

Before the nation’s Voting Rights Bill was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, many people lost their lives trying to register to vote. One of those was Jimmie Lee Jackson, who was wounded by an Alabama state trooper in Marion, Ala., on the night of Feb. 18, 1965 and died in a Selma hospital eight days later.

Jackson’s death made John Lewis, who was not yet in Congress, more determined to see that the Selma to Montgomery voting rights march succeeded.

Years later, on Sept. 25, 2008, then Congressman John Robert Lewis, speaking to a group of journalists over the American Black Radio Network as that year’s presidential election neared with then Sen. Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee, talked about the importance of voting.

Below is an excerpt from that radio interview.

As this year’s presidential election nears, even though Congressman Lewis is now deceased, I hope you realize how much he wants all of us to not only be registered, but vote as well.

To listen to the interview excerpt, press the play button on the following toolbar:

Congressman John Lewis: radio interview, September 25, 2008