Lewis spokeswoman Brenda Jones said in a written statement early Saturday. “It is with inconsolable grief and enduring sadness that we announce the passing of U.S. Rep. John Lewis. He was honored and respected as the conscience of the US Congress and an icon of American history, but we knew him as a loving father and brother. He was a stalwart champion in the on-going struggle to demand respect for the dignity and worth of every human being. He dedicated his entire life to non-violent activism and was an outspoken advocate in the struggle for equal justice in America. He will be deeply missed.”
The civil rights icon helped organize the 1963 March on Washington and nearly died after being beaten on the Edmund Pettus Bridge during the Selma to Montgomery March.
Lewis served five years on the Atlanta City Council and in Congress since 1986 where he was referred to as the “conscience of Congress.”
Martin Luther King III: "John Lewis was an American treasure. He gave a voice to the voiceless, and he reminded each of us that the most powerful nonviolent tool is the vote."
Martin Luther King III: "John Lewis was an American treasure. He gave a voice to the voiceless, and he reminded each of us that the most powerful nonviolent tool is the vote."
Lewis was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011.
When he announced his cancer diagnosis last December Lewis stated, “I’ve been in some kind of fight – for freedom, equality, basic human rights – for nearly my entire life, I have never faced a fight quite like this one.”
It is the only fight he ever lost.
When he announced his cancer diagnosis last December Lewis stated, “I’ve been in some kind of fight – for freedom, equality, basic human rights – for nearly my entire life, I have never faced a fight quite like this one.”
It is the only fight he ever lost.
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