

John Lewis's first electoral success came in 1981 when he was elected to the Atlanta City Council.

In 1977, John Lewis was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to direct more than 250,000 volunteers of ACTION, the federal volunteer agency.
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Under his leadership, the VEP transformed the nation's political climate by adding nearly four million minorities to the voter rolls. Lewis went on to become the Director of the Voter Education Project (VEP).
JOHN LEWIS PHONE NUMBER GA REGISTRATION
After leaving SNCC in 1966, he remained active in the Civil Rights Movement through his work as Associate Director of the Field Foundation and his participation in the Southern Regional Council's voter registration programs. Alabama state troopers attacked the marchers in a confrontation that became known as "Bloody Sunday." That fateful march and a subsequent march between Selma and Montgomery, Alabama led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.ĭespite more that 40 arrests, physical attacks and serious injuries, John Lewis remained a devoted advocate of the philosophy of nonviolence. Along with fellow activist, Hosea Williams, John Lewis led over 600 marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama on March 7, 1965. In 1964, John Lewis coordinated SNCC efforts to organize voters' registration drives and community action programs during the "Mississippi Freedom Summer." The following year, Lewis led one of the most dramatic nonviolent protests of the Movement. Lewis, at the age of 23, was one of the planners and a keynote speaker at the historic "March on Washington" in August 1963. Phillip Randolph, Martin Luther King Jr., James Farmer and Roy Wilkins). (The other Big Six leaders were Whitney Young, A. By 1963, he was recognized as one of the "Big Six" leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. SNCC was largely responsible for the sit-ins and other activities of students in the struggle for civil rights.ĭespite his youth, John Lewis became a recognized leader in the Civil Rights Movement.

Lewis risked his life and was beaten severely by mobs for participating in the Rides.ĭuring the height of the Civil Rights Movement, from 1963 to 1966, Lewis was the Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which he helped form. In 1961, John Lewis volunteered to participate in the Freedom Rides, which were organized to challenge segregation at interstate bus terminals across the South. As a student, John Lewis organized sit-in demonstrations at segregated lunch counters in Nashville, Tennessee. For more than forty years, he has been in the vanguard of progressive social movements and the human rights struggles in the United States. Memorial Award.Īt an early age, John Lewis developed an unwavering commitment to the Civil Rights Movement. Kennedy "Profile in Courage Award" for lifetime achievement and the National Education Association Martin Luther King Jr. John Lewis is also the recipient of the John F. Non-Violent Peace Prize and the NAACP Spingarn Medal. John Lewis is the recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious Martin Luther King, Jr. He has also been awarded numerous honorary degrees from colleges and universities throughout the United States, including Clark Atlanta University, Duke University, Howard University, Brandeis University, Columbia University, Fisk University, Morehouse College, Princeton University and Williams College. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Religion and Philosophy from Fisk University and he is a graduate of the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee. He grew up on his family's farm and attended segregated public schools in Pike County, Alabama. John Lewis was born the son of sharecroppers on Februoutside of Troy, Alabama. Described as "One of the most courageous persons the Civil Rights Movement ever produced," John Lewis has dedicated his life to protecting human rights, securing personal dignity and building what he calls "The Beloved Community." He has displayed a sense of ethics and morality that has won him the admiration of many of his colleagues in the United States Congress.
