John Lewis
John Lewis
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth21 February 1940
CountryUnited States of America
mother teacher father
People should organize people to just turn up and participate in the democratic process. Knock on doors. They may not be old enough to register to vote, but they can urge their teachers, their parents, their grandparents, their mothers, their fathers, and others to get out and vote.
optimistic hopeful today
In spite of all of the things, the issues, that we may be confronting today, I'm very hopeful, very optimistic about the future.
falling-in-love race gender
Races don't fall in love, genders don't fall in love: Individuals fall in love. We all should be free to marry the person that we love.
rights movement saws
The civil rights movement was based on faith. Many of us who were participants in this movement saw our involvement as an extension of our faith. We saw ourselves doing the work of the Almighty. Segregation and racial discrimination were not in keeping with our faith, so we had to do something.
government states duty
The government, both state and federal, has a duty to be reasonable and accommodating.
fun book people
I heard of Martin Luther King Jr. when I was 15 years old. I heard of Rosa Parks. And I met Dr. King in 1958 at the age of 18. I met Rosa Parks ... But to pick up a fun comic book - some people used to call them "funny books" - to pick this little book up, it sold for 10 cents, 12 pages or 14 pages? 14 pages I digested. And it inspired me. And I said to myself, "If the people of Montgomery can do this, maybe I can do something. Maybe I can make a contribution."
music rewards playing-jazz
The reward for playing jazz is playing jazz.
meetings driveway
Medgar Evers was assassinated in his driveway retuning from an NAACP meeting in downtown Jackson. And then you go back there years later, and the blood is still on the driveway. They cannot wash it away.
moving people forgiving
You have to have the capacity and the ability to take what people did, and how they did it, and forgive them and move on.
giving-up eye dont-give-up
Don`t give up! Don`t give in! Keep the faith! And keep your eyes on the prize!
past today vote
I've said it in the past and I'll say it again today: the vote is precious; it's almost sacred.
growing-up men white-man
When growing up, I saw segregation. I saw racial discrimination. I saw those signs that said white men, colored men. White women, colored women. White waiting. And I didn't like it.
heart thinking rights
When I speak to students about the Civil Rights Movement, I say that it is impossible to stop a determined movement that is captivating the American consciousness. I think the candidacy of Sen. Obama represents the beginning of a new movement in American political history that began in the hearts and minds of the people of this nation. And I want to be on the side of the people, on the side of the spirit of history.
party thinking political
I would like to think that we have made much more progress, that we've come much further, to have someone like a Donald Trump to emerge as the nominee of a major political party.