I just watched the remains of John Robert Lewis carried to a horse-drawn caisson by a military honor guard, then over the bridge where he was beaten nearly to death, as he knelt to pray, by Alabama State Troopers 55 years ago. Along the route people sang spirituals and shouted “Thank you!” The bridge was strewn with rose petals to symbolize the blood shed there in the name of human rights.
At the end of the bridge, when the caisson passed the near the spot where John Lewis was so savagely brutalized, several Alabama State Troopers stood at attention and saluted. I have no idea if this was a simple coincidence, but I certainly hope not.
I purposely did not name the bridge, because it is is named after a man who was an enthusiastic supporter of slavery and later the grand dragon of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan. There is a movement to rename that bridge after John Lewis, and I pray that will come to pass.
As I watched that carriage, with the driver standing and holding his black top hat over his heart, there was one overwhelming idea that I felt myself and heard the commentators express in various ways. John Lewis adhered to the principles of nonviolent protest and put his body and even his life in harms way many times. He did this to move our country toward equality and true freedom for all of us, not just the ones who look a certain way. We as a country are fortunate that he survived those times to become an elder, who then led us so effectively for so many years.
Now John Lewis has made the transition from elder to ancestor, a role in which he will serve as a guiding light for generations to come. And I feel lucky to be alive while men like this walked among us.
Farewell, Congressman.