They struck a jubilant tone as they waited in the heat, singing “This Little Light of Mine” and embracing one another with smiles.

John crossed bridges so many times, insisting our nation live up to the ideals on which it was founded.".

Events will then move to Montgomery. My life is better. across the Alabama River in Selma, Alabama.Built in 1940, it is named after Edmund Winston Pettus, a former Confederate brigadier general, U.S. senator, and leader of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan.The bridge is a steel through arch bridge with a central span of 250 feet (76 m).

Show full articles without "Continue Reading" button for {0} hours. See something, say something, do something. She is a lifelong member of the Brown Chapel A.M.E. "In this deeply sorrowful time of loss, I find comfort in being here today with so many loved ones and those who are so lucky to have shared John's warmth and love," Sewell said Sunday, thanking the Lewis family. Thank you for accompanying John to Selma one last time.

They beat him with billy clubs and fractured his skull.

Even more importantly, thank you for sharing him over and over again. An unexpected guest at the intimate ceremony was Peggy Wallace Kennedy, the daughter of the late former Gov. ", "Friends of my gave their lives," he added. Congressman John Lewis was known for being an activist, a fighter, and a hero.

"Thank you so much for sharing John with the world.

© 2020 John Lewis Bridge Project. Now it was time for the next generation to carry the cause.

Troy Mayor Jason Reeves recalled a moment when he noticed Alabama state troopers escorting Lewis' body into Troy, and he reflected on the significance, considering Lewis' Bloody Sunday demonstration. An effort to rename the bridge after Lewis has gained increasing support following the civil rights champion's death. Jaxon Lewis Brewster, Lewis' 7-year-old great-nephew, spoke briefly, calling his uncle his "hero.". "It's up to us to keep his legacy alive," Jaxon said, drawing laughter and applause from the crowd as he stepped down from the stage. The solemn live television footage of his funeral procession over the river is in stark contrast to the television footage of the beatings protesters endured in 1965. This nation and this world are better because of John Robert Lewis. That feed by national outlets led to a country being shocked by the violence, ultimately opening their eyes to what was happening in Alabama.

The televised attacks were seen all over the nation, prompting public support for the civil rights activists in Selma and for the voting rights campaign. How to watch weekend events honoring John Lewis in Alabama, Rep. John Lewis to lie in state next week at the US Capitol, 'Keep his legacy alive': John Lewis' nephew speaks at Troy memorial service, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. The Troy ceremony commenced a weeklong series of services across five different cities. Lewis will travel the Selma streets a final time before crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Selma is better. Gov. Lewis, who represented Georgia's 5th Congressional District for more than 30 years, died this month after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Lewis, who died on July 17 at the age of 80, was one of many peaceful protesters who were severely beaten in 1965 as they marched from Selma to Montgomery as part of a broad effort to establish greater voting rights in the South. In it, she writes of watching the Bloody Sunday march and her horror, then kept private, at watching the beating of the man she would later learn was Lewis. "So after the event was over, we were together and I asked him, I said, 'John, what were you thinking when you gave me the thumbs up?' He marked the 55th anniversary of the civil rights protest earlier this year by making a surprise appearance at a commemorative march across the bridge.

“He started some great work that must be finished. George Wallace oversaw state law enforcement who beat Lewis and other protesters and where Wallace fought for a segregated state for decades. Lewis crosses Selma bridge one final time. A Saturday morning service took place at Troy University, a school that wouldn't admit Lewis because he was Black.

Lewis' fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma, honored Lewis with a performance. Hundreds of mourners lined Broad Street at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge Sunday morning, waiting to watch U.S. Rep. John Lewis cross for the final time. He was then taken by a horse-drawn caisson across the bridge, which was decorated with rose petals and lined with crowds gathered to send off the longtime congressman.

To get there, they had to traverse the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Lewis’ body was then taken from Selma, along the historic 1965 march route, to the Alabama Capitol in the afternoon to lie in repose. ", Contributing: Bro Krift, Montgomery Advertiser, John Lewis makes final journey across Edmund Pettus Bridge. She is the first Black woman to ever serve in the Alabama Congressional delegation. Lewis returned to the Edmund Pettus Bridge at various points in the half-century after he was confronted by hundreds of Alabama state troopers there.

Kennedy has long been outspoken about grappling with the legacy of her father, who she says was on the "wrong side" of history. He lit some great torches that we cannot let die,” she said. "Thank you, true and righteous judge, for John Lewis and his engagement in good trouble," Caldwell prayed. The ceremony was filled with musical tributes, as well. At the bottom of the bridge, he was honored and saluted by Alabama state troopers, the same organization who beat him and others on Bloody Sunday. It’s far past time to rename the Edmund Pettus Bridge after Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights icon that nearly gave his life on that bridge. On that day, police infamously beat demonstrators bloody – earning the day the moniker "Bloody Sunday." ", "Our nation is better off because of John Robert Lewis. Add your name if you agree it's time to rename the Edmund Pettus Bridge after Rep. John Lewis. Leading prayers throughout the service, the Rev. He said, 'I was thinking, this is a long way from the cotton fields of Alabama.'".

He was 80 years old. The procession was one of many tributes taking place this week in remembrance of Lewis, who played an active role in the civil rights movement in the 1960s before representing an Atlanta-area district in Congress for three decades.

"As I stood down there and watched his body be brought in, over the top of the casket, I saw an Alabama state trooper ... (Lewis) became a figure all around the world known ... for confronting Alabama state troopers," Reeves said.

On March 7, 1965, Lewis and about 600 hundred other African Americans set off from Brown Chapel in Selma to Montgomery, the state capital. ", Like us on Facebook to see similar stories, Experts: Kids not likely see a vaccine until late 2021, What to watch today: Stocks set to open lower after Trump's positive coronavirus test, John Lewis carried across Edmund Pettus Bridge for last time. As we wipe away this country's long stain of bigotry, we must also wipe away the names of men like Edmund Pettus. Scenes of from that day, known as "Bloody Sunday," shocked the nation and helped lead to the landmark passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.