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
