Full Raw Transcript of President Obama’s Eulogy for John Lewis.

 

James wrote to the believers

consider it pure joy

my brothers and sisters

whenever you face trials of many kinds

because you know that

the testing of your faith produces

perseverance

let perseverance finish its work

so that you may be mature and complete

lacking nothing

it is a great honor

[Music]

to be back in

ebenezer baptist church

in the pulpit of its greatest pastor

dr martin luther king jr

to pay my respects to perhaps his finest

disciple

an american whose faith was tested

again and again to produce

a man of pure joy

and unbreakable perseverance

john robert lewis

to those who have spoken to

presidents bush and clinton madam

speaker

reverend warnock robin king

john's family friends his beloved staff

mayor bottoms

i've come here today because i like so

many americans

owe a great debt to john lewis

and his forceful vision

of freedom

now this country is a constant work in

progress

we're born with instructions

to form a more perfect union

explicit in those words is the idea that

we're imperfect

that what gives each new generation

purpose

is to take up the unfinished work of the

last and

carry it further any might have thought

possible

john lewis first of the freedom riders

head of the student nonviolent

coordinating committee youngest speaker

at the march on washington leader

of the march from selma to montgomery

member of congress representing the

people of this state              

and this district for 33 years mentor

to young people

including me at the time

until his final day on this earth

he not only embraced that responsibility

but he made it his life's work

which isn't bad for a boy from troy

john was born into modest means that

means he was pole

in the heart of the jim crow south

to parents who picked somebody else's

cotton

apparently he didn't take to farm work

on days when he was supposed to help his

brothers and sisters with their labor

he'd hide under the porch and make a

break for the school bus

when it showed up

his mother willie mae louis nurture that

curiosity

in this shy serious child

once you learn something she told her

son once you get

something inside your head no one can

take it away from you

as a boy john listen through the door

after bedtime

as his father's friends complained about

the clan

one sunday as a teenager he heard dr

king preach

on the radio

as a college student in tennessee he

signed up

for jim lawson's workshops on the tactic

of non-violent civil disobedience

john lewis was getting something inside

his head

idea he couldn't shake took hold on

that non-violent resistance and civil

disobedience

were the means to change laws but also

change hearts and changed minds

and changed nations

and changed the world

so he helped organize the nashville

campaign in 1960

he and other young men and women sat at

a segregated lunch count

well-dressed straight back refusing to

let

a milkshake poured on their heads or a

cigarette extinguished

on their backs or a foot

aimed at their ribs

refused to let that dent their dignity

and their sense of purpose

and after a few months the nashville

campaign achieved the first

successful desegregation of public

facilities in any

major city in the south

john got a taste of jail

for the first second third

well several times

but he also got a taste of victory

and it consumed him with righteous

purpose

and he took the battle deeper into the

south

that same year just weeks after the

supreme court ruled

that segregation of interstate bus

facilities was unconstitutional

john and bernard lafayette

bought two tickets climbed aboard a

greyhound

sat up front and refused to move

this was months before the first

official freedom rides

he was doing a a test

trip was unsanctioned few knew what

they were up to

and at every stop through the night

apparently

the angry driver stormed out of the bus

and into the bus station

and john and bernard had no idea what he

might come back with

or who he might come back with

nobody was there to protect them

there were no camera crews to record

events

we you know sometimes rev

we we read about this and we kind of

take it for granted or at least we

we we act as if

it was inevitable imagine the courage

of two people malia's age

younger than my oldest daughter

on their own

to challenge an entire infrastructure of

oppression

john was only 20 years old

but he pushed all 20 of those years to

the center of the table

betting everything all of it

that his example could challenge

centuries

of convention and generations of brutal

violence and countless

daily indignities suffered by

african-americans

like john the baptist preparing the way

like those old testament prophets

speaking truth to kings

john lewis did not hesitate and he kept

on

getting on board buses and sitting at

lunch counters

got his mug shot taken again and again

marched

again and again on a mission

to change america

spoke to a quarter million people at the

march on washington

when he was just 23.

helped organize the freedom summer in

mississippi when he was just

24.

at the ripe old age of 25

john was asked to lead the march

from summit montgomery

he was warned that governor wallace had

ordered

troopers to use violence but he

and jose williams and others

led them across that bridge anyway

and we've all seen the film and the

footage and the photographs

president clinton mentioned the trench

coat

the knapsack

the book to read the apple to eat the

toothbrush

apparently jails

weren't big on such creature comforts

and you look at those pictures

[Music]

and and john looks so young and and he's

small

in stature

look in every bit that shy serious child

that his mother had raised and yet

he's full of purpose

god's put perseverance in it

and we know what happened to the

marchers that day

their bones were cracked by billy clubs

their eyes and lugs choked with tear gas

they knelt a prey which made their heads

easier targets

and john was struck in the skull and he

thought he was going to die

surrounded by the sight of young

americans gagging

and bleeding and trampling

victims in their own country

of state-sponsored violence

and the thing is i imagine

initially that day

the troopers thought they'd won the

battle

you can imagine the conversations they

had afterwards

you can imagine them saying yeah we

showed them

they figured they turned the protesters

back over the bridge

that they'd kept that they preserved a

system

that denied the basic humanity

of their fellow citizens

except this time there were some cameras

there

this time the world saw what happened

bore witness to black americans

who were

asking for nothing more than to be

treated

like other americans

who were not asking for special

treatment just equal treatment

promised to them a century before

and almost another century before that

and when john woke up

and checked himself out of the hospital

he would make sure the world saw a

movement that was

in the words of scripture hard-pressed

on every side but not crushed

perplexed but not in despair

persecuted but not abandoned

struck down

[Applause]

but not destroyed

so he returned to brown chapel

a battered prophet bandages around his

head

and he said more marchers will come now

and the people came

and the troopers parted

and the marches reached montgomery

and their words reached the white house

and lyndon johnson son of the south

said we shall overcome

and the voting rights act

was signed into law

the life of john lewis was in so many

ways

exceptional

it vindicated the faith

in our founding redeemed that faith

that most american of ideas the idea

that

any of us ordinary people without rank

or wealth or title or fame

can somehow point out the imperfections

of this nation and come together and

challenge the status quo

and decide that it is in our power to

remake this country

that we love until it more closely

aligns

with our highest ideals

what a radical idea what a revolutionary

notion this idea that any of us ordinary

people

a young kid from troy

can stand up to the powers and

principalities and say no

this isn't right this isn't true this

isn't just

we can do better

on the battlefield of justice

americans like john americans like

reverence lowry and c.t

vivian two other patriots that we lost

this year

liberated all of us

that many americans

came to take for granted

america was built by people like them

america was built by john lewis's

[Applause]

he as much as anyone in our history

brought this country a little bit closer

to our highest ideals

and someday when we do finish that long

journey towards freedom

when we do form a more perfect union

whether it's years from now or decades

or

even if it takes another two centuries

john lewis

will be a founding father of that fuller

fairer better america

and yet as exceptional as john was

here's the thing john never believed

that what he did was more than any

citizen of this country can do

i mentioned in the statement the day

john passed

thing about john was just how gentle and

humble he was

and despite this storied remarkable

career

he treated everyone

with kindness and respect

because it was

innate to him this idea that

any of us can do what he did

if we're willing to persevere

he believed that in all of us there

exists

the capacity for great courage

that in all of us there's a longing to

do what's right

that in all of us there's a willingness

to love all people

and extend to them their god-given

rights

to dignity and respect

so many of us lose that sense

it's taught out of us

we we start feeling as if

in fact we can't afford to extend

kindness or

decency to other people

that we're better off

if we're above other people and looking

down on them

and so often that's encouraged in our

culture

but john always said he always saw the

best in us

and he never gave up and never stopped

speaking out

because he saw the best in us he

believed in us

even when we didn't believe in ourselves

and as a congressman he didn't rest he

kept getting himself arrested

as an old man he didn't sit out

any fight sat in all night long

on the floor of the united states

capitol

i know his staff was stressed

but the testing of his faith produced

perseverance

he knew that the march is

not over that the race has not yet won

that we have not yet reached that

blessed destination

where we are judged by the content of

our character

he knew from his own life that progress

is fragile

that we have to be vigilant against

the darker currents of this country's

history

of our own history with their whirlpools

of violence

and hatred and despair that can always

rise again

but o'connor may be gone

but today we witness with our own eyes

police officers kneeling on the necks

of black americans

george wallace may be gone

but we can witness

our federal government sending agents to

use tear gas and batons

against peaceful demonstrators

we may no longer have to guess the

number of jelly beans in a jar

in order to cast a ballot

[Applause]

but even as we sit here

there are those in power who are doing

their darndest

to discourage people from voting

by closing polling locations and

targeting minorities

and students with restrictive id laws

and attacking our voting rights with

surgical precision

even undermining the postal service

in the run-up to an election

that's going to be dependent on mail-in

ballots so people don't get sick

now i know this is a celebration of

john's life

there are some who might say

[Music]

we shouldn't dwell on such things

but that's why i'm talking about it

john lewis devoted his time on this

earth

fighting the very attacks

on democracy

and what's best in america that

we're seeing circulate right now

he knew that every single one of us

has a god-given power and that the fate

of this democracy depends on how we use

it

that democracy isn't automatic

it has to be nurtured

it has to be tended to we have to work

at it it's hard

and so he knew that it depends on

whether we summon

a measure just to measure john's moral

courage

to question what's right and what's

wrong

and call things as they are

he said that as long as he had a breath

in his body he would do everything he

could to preserve this democracy

and as long as we have breath in our

bodies

we have to continue his cause

if we want our children to grow up in a

democracy

not just with elections but

a true democracy

a representative democracy

in a big hearted tolerant vibrant

inclusive america

of perpetual self-creation then we're

going to have to

be more like john we don't have to do

all the things he had to do because he

did them for us but we got to do

something

as the lord instructed paul do not be

afraid

go on speaking do not be silent

for i am with you and no one will attack

you

to harm you for i have many

in this city who are my people

it's just everybody's got to

come out and vote we got we got all

those

people in the city but

they can't do nothing

like john we've got to keep getting into

that good trouble

he knew that nonviolent protest is

patriotic

a way to raise public awareness and put

a spotlight on injustice

and make the powers that be

uncomfortable

like john we don't have to choose

between protests and politics it's not

an either or situation

it's a both and situation

we have to engage in protests where

that's effective but

we also have to translate

our passion and our causes

into laws instant

institutional practices that's why john

ran for congress

34 years ago

like john we've got to fight even harder

for the most powerful tool that we have

which is the right to vote

the voting rights act is one of the

crowning achievements

of our democracy that's why john crossed

that bridge

it's why he spilled his blood and by the

way it was the result

of democratic and republican efforts

president bush who spoke here earlier

and his father signed its renewal when

they were in office

president clinton didn't have to because

it was the law when he arrived

so instead he made a law to make it

easier for people to register to vote

[Applause]

but once the supreme court weakened

the voting rights act

some state legislators unleashed a flood

of laws designed

specifically to make voting harder

especially by the way

state legislators where

there's a lot of minority turnout and

population growth

that's not necessarily a mystery or an

accident

it was an attack on what john fought for

it was an attack on our democratic

freedoms

and we should treat it as such

if politicians want to honor john

and i'm so grateful for

the legacy and work of all

the congressional leaders who are here

but there's a better way than a

statement calling him a hero you want to

honor john

let's honor him by revitalizing the law

that he was willing to die for

and by the way

naming it the john lewis voting rights

act

that is a fine tribute

but john wouldn't want us to stop there

just trying to get back to where we

already were

once we pass the john lewis voting

rights act

we should keep marching to make it even

better

by making sure every american is

automatically registered to vote

including former inmates who've earned

their second chance

by adding polling places and expanding

early voting

and making election day a national

holiday so

if you are somebody who's working in a

factory

or you're a single mom who's got to go

to her job

and doesn't get time off

[Applause]

you can still cast your ballot

by guaranteeing that every american

citizen has equal representation

in our government including the american

citizens who live in washington dc

and in puerto rico they're americans

by ending some of the partisan

gerrymandering

so that all voters have the power to

choose their politicians not the other

way around

and if all this takes eliminating the

filibuster

another jim crow relic in order to

secure the god-given rights of every

american

then that's what we should do

now

[Applause]

even if we do all this even if every

bogus voter suppression law is struck

off the books today

we've got to be honest with ourselves

that too many of us

choose not to exercise the franchise

too many of our citizens believe their

vote

won't make a difference or they buy into

the cynicism

that by the way is the central strategy

of voter suppression

to make you discouraged to stop

believing

in your own power

so we're also going to have to remember

what john said if you don't do

everything

you can do to change things

then they will remain the same

you only pass this way once you have to

give it

all you have as long as young people are

protesting in the streets

hoping real change takes hold

i'm hopeful but we can't casually

abandon them

at the ballot box not when few

elections have been as urgent on so many

levels as this one

we can't treat voting as an errand to

run if we have some time

we have to treat it as the most

important

action we can take on behalf of

democracy

and like john we have to give it all we

have

i was proud that john lewis was a friend

of mine

i met him when i was in law school he

came to speak

and i went up and i said

mr lewis you are one of my heroes

what inspired me more than anything as a

young man was to see

what you and lawson

bob moses and dianne nash

others did

and he got that kind of aw shucks

thank you very much

next time i saw him i'd

been elected to the united states senate

and i told him john you i'm here because

of you

and on inauguration day in 2008

2009

he was one of the first people i greeted

and hugged

on that stand

and i told him this is your day too

he was a good and kind and gentle man

and he believed in us

even when we don't believe in ourselves

and it's fitting that the last time john

and i shared a public forum

was on zoom and i'm pretty sure neither

he nor i set up the zoom call

because we didn't know how to work it

there's a virtual town hall with a

gathering of young activists

who had been helping to lead this

summer's demonstrations in the wake of

george floyd's george floyd's death

and afterwards i spoke to john privately

and he could not have been prouder

to see this new generation of activists

standing up for freedom and equality

a new generation that was intent on

voting and protecting the right to vote

in some cases a new generation running

for political office

and i i told him all those young people

john

of every race and every religion from

every background and gender and sexual

orientation

john those are your children

they learned from your example

even if they didn't always know it

they had understood through him what

american citizenship

requires even if they'd only heard about

his courage

through the history books

by the thousands faceless anonymous

relentless young people black and white

have taken our whole nation back to

those great wells of democracy which

were dug

deep by the founding fathers in the

formulation of the constitution

and the declaration of independence

dr king said that in the 1960s

and it came true again this summer

we see it outside our windows in big

cities

and rural towns in men

and women young and old

americans and lgbtq americans

blacks who long for equal treatment and

whites who can no longer accept freedom

for themselves while

witnessing the subjugation of their

fellow americans

[Applause]

we see it in everybody doing the hard

work of overcoming

complacency of overcoming our own fears

and our own prejudices

our own hatreds

you see it in in people trying to

be better truer versions of ourselves

and that's what john lewis teaches us

that's where real courage comes from

not from turning on each other

but by turning towards one another

not by sowing hatred and division

but by spreading love

and truth not by

avoiding our responsibilities

to create a better america and a better

world but by

embracing those responsibilities with

joy

and perseverance and discovering that

in our beloved community

we do not walk alone

what a gift john lewis was

we are all so lucky to have had him

walk with us for a while

and show us the way

god bless you all god bless america

god bless this gentle soul who pulled it

closer to its promise

thank you very much

 

References

(208) Barack Obama's full eulogy at John Lewis's funeral - YouTube. Retrieved August 5, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1pKoCq1bn0#:~:text=james%20wrote%20to,you%20very%20much