The Honorable Congressman John Lewis Spoke at the New Yorker Festival

It was a great honor to hear Cong Lewis in discussion today at the Dir Guild.  Cong Lewis was in conversation with David Remnick as part of the New Yorker Festival.  The program began with documentary footage of Cong Lewis speaking at the march on Washington with Dr King and in Selma during the Civil Rights Movement.  It is painful to see the brutality inflicted on passive protestors marching for justice.  Cong Lewis was also shown speaking at the 50th Annv of the March on Selma and being honored with the Pres Medal of Freedom by Pres Obama.  Remnick is the editor of NEW YORKER Mag since 1988 & is a Pulitz Prize winning author.  I give Remnick credit for asking very cogent & prescient questions of Cong Lewis & for eliciting his personal history & convictions.  Raised in rural AL to "dirt poor" parents who never went to high school along with 6 brothers & 3 sisters, Lewis was the 1st of his family to graduate college.  His parents warned "don't get in trouble, keep quiet."  Early aspirations were to become a minister.  He practiced sermonizing to the chickens he reared & honed his skills and respect for animals.  (His 1st non-violent protest was abstaining from eating one of his charges.)  Cong Lewis spoke of his love for MLK whom he wrote asking for aid in going to univ.  He met Dr King and became the youth liasion for Students Nonviolent Coord Com (SNCC.)  His fervor and dedication to justice through nonviolent actions is a beacon of righteousness today as it was in the mid 1960's.  Setbacks in civil rights were discussed.  "To loose hope is to give up.  We're human, with setbacks and leaps forward. We will get there. Press on, struggle is a process.  It is a different America with immigration.  We are not to be afraid."  "Make noise, get in good trouble.  Get in the way."