Congressman and Civil Rights Leader John Lewis’s passing last week felt like a great tree had fallen in the forest, shaking the ground in ever-widening concentric circles and moving the hearts of generations of people committed to justice. And like a great tree, his legacy will continue for aeons, nurturing infinite fresh growth on the moral ground he occupied with such commitment, clarity and courage.
I have just started reading his beautiful memoir, Across that Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future of America. We need optimism right now, we need strength, and we need faith, and John Lewis’s words—and his example—provide all three. Please read this book. You can also read his last words to us — published in an OpEd in the New York Times on the day of his memorial service, here.
A few excerpts:
I have survived the worst aggression, all the attacks mounted against dreamers to stamp out the light that they see. I have been rejected, hated, oppressed, beaten, jailed, and have almost died only to live another day. I have witnessed betrayal, corruption, bombing, lunacy, conspiracy, and even assassination—and I have still kept marching on. And despite every attempt to keep me down, I have not been shaken. I held on to my mind and my faith so that today I am blessed to actually see so many of the changes in this world that we dreamed would take shape. And now I can share what got me through, my guiding philosophy, so that anyone feeling victimized by peers or impatient with our government, offended by the inequities of our economy, or wondering about the road to success, will be inspired.
The most important lesson I have learned in the fifty years I have spent working toward the building of a better world is that the true work of social transformation starts within. It begins inside your own heart and mind, because the battleground of human transformation is really, more than any other thing, the struggle within the human consciousness to believe and accept what is true. Thus to truly revolutionize our society, we must first revolutionize ourselves. We must be the change we seek if we are to effectively demand transformation from others. It is clear that the pot is being stirred and people are beginning to breathe in the essences of change that will lead the soul to act. Who will emerge at the forefront of this struggle in the twenty-first century? Perhaps it will be you.
Think about your greatest fear. Consider how you would feel if your life required you to face what you fear the most every day. Ultimately, if you survived the test, you would discover that what you feared actually had no power over you, no power to harm you at all. The freedom you would feel would be so beautiful, so uplifting, so invigorating. People ask me, “How could you be arrested forty times in the movement and never press charges, never fight or strike back?” When people ask these questions, they perceive that I was being abused, when in reality, I was being freed. By the time I stood on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, I had no fear of physical harm or death. So when people ask me how I managed my fear in that moment, I can truthfully say I was not afraid. I knew by that time that no one had the power to injure me. I had taken that power away by experiencing the worst they could do and discovering it did not diminish me; it did not harm me; it set me free and moved my soul beyond the fear of death.
It is the responsibility, yet the individual choice, of each of us to use the light we have to dispel the work of darkness, because if we do not, then the power of falsehood rises. Through our inaction it becomes stronger, and a more potent force. It can even lead to the dimming of the light of all humanity born on this planet. That is why we struggle. That is why we fight to contribute to the confirmation of what is good, to seal our compact with love within our own lives and within our world. Through our work, our prayer, and our successful overcoming we ground the light on this planet. Just as Gandhi made it easier for King and King made it easier for Poland and Poland made it easier for Ireland and Ireland made it easier for Serbia and Serbia made it easier for the Arab Spring, and the Arab Spring made it easier for the protests in Wisconsin and Occupy Wall Street, so our actions entrench the power of the light on this planet. Every positive thought we pass between us makes room for more light. And if we do more than think, then our actions clear a path for even more light.
Anchor the eternity of love in your own soul and embed this planet with goodness. Lean toward the whispers of your own heart, discover the universal truth, and follow its dictates. Release the need to hate, to harbor division, and the enticement of revenge. Release all bitterness. Hold only love, only peace in your heart, knowing that the battle of good to overcome evil is already won. Choose confrontation wisely, but when it is your time don’t be afraid to stand up, speak up, and speak out against injustice. And if you follow your truth down the road to peace and the affirmation of love, if you shine like a beacon for all to see, then the poetry of all the great dreamers and philosophers is yours to manifest in a nation, a world community, and a Beloved Community that is finally at peace with itself.
In his final years, John Lewis wrote a graphic novel trilogy, March, with co-writer Andrew Aydin. I just love that this elder statesman would see the value in writing a comic book to pass his story on to the younger generation! Lewis and Aydin were invited to Comic Con in San Diego, and after their panel, kids came up to talk to them. Lewis suggested, “Why don’t you march with us?” Aydin continued the story in an interview with NPR a couple of days after the congressman’s death:
“And so here was the congressman in his trench coat with a backpack. And he put two books in it, and he put an apple and an orange and a toothbrush and toothpaste in it just like he’d done in 1965. And he led those kids down the hallway through San Diego Comic-Con. And by the time we actually got to the booth to sit down and sign their books, there were thousands of people following us. And it was one of those moments where you knew he was not just trying to sell books or anything. He was showing the way.”
The Detroit Youth Choir paid tribute to Congressman Lewis with this version of “Glory” from the movie Selma:
In their video, the choir includes this quotation from the Congressman: “What I try to tell young people is that if you come together with a mission, and it’s grounded with love and a sense of community, you can make the impossible possible.”