City Council Members Honor Late Civil-Rights Icon John Lewis

Civil-rights icon John Lewis, who gave the commencement address at Caltech in 2018, was remembered by members of the Pasadena City Council on Monday as “a national treasure … an extraordinary man … a maverick … a real champion for all people and human rights … an inspiration.”

Lewis, who died last Friday at 80, was a Congressman from Georgia since 1987. But he first gained national prominence in 1963 when, as one of the “Big Six” leaders of the civil-rights movement, he helped organize the March on Washington that featured the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Lewis himself also spoke at the rally.

Lewis also led the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., across the Edmund Pettus Bridge – getting brutally beaten with many other unarmed demonstrators in what became known as “Bloody Sunday.”

It was a day that brought the ugliness of racism and segregation into America’s living rooms … and proved a turning point in American history.

“Really, he was an inspiration to me as a high-school student,’’ said Mayor Terry Tornek, who closed Monday’s council meeting with a moment of silence in memory of Lewis, as well as to all those lost to the current COVID-19 pandemic.

“I can vividly remember – most of you are too young to remember, but I can vividly remember what happened on Bloody Sunday,’’ added Tornek, 74.

“That was the moment, I think, that really changed the course of American history. Because the American public was confronted with the extraordinary brutality on the one hand, senseless brutality, (and) on the other hand, the phenomenal courage of John Lewis and his associates confronting this in a non-violent way and just with the courage of their conviction.’’

Council Member John J. Kennedy, one of two African-Americans on the City Council, along with Vice Mayor Tyron Hampton, said he had the chance to speak with Lewis late last year, along with Hampton and Council Member Margaret McAustin.

“[It was] a really wonderful conversation where it was extremely engaging,’’ Kennedy recalled. “That’s just the type of man he was — humble, all about making America better, not for just African-Americans, but all Americans.’’

Kennedy also said Lewis “fought harder than anyone in our country’s continuing struggle for civil rights and justice.”

“Among his numerous and distinct achievements, he supported the framework for landmark legislation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and in 2011 was presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom by former President Barack Obama. Moreover, in 2015, both Congressman Lewis and President Obama came together on the 50th anniversary to commemorate the Selma-to-Montgomery march.’’

Fittingly, Kennedy pointed out, there is talk of renaming the Edmund Pettus Bridge — named after a former Alabama senator, Confederate soldier and grand dragon of the Ku Klux Klan — after Lewis.

“John Lewis was a national treasure and a civil-rights champion,’’ Kennedy said. “We are deeply saddened by his passing but profoundly grateful for his immense influence to changes in the realm of social justice.

“In a moment where our nation feels as divided, let the legacy of John Lewis bring us together one more time. Allow his example to continue to influence us towards a new and improved democracy.”

Kennedy said he most remembered one famous quote of Lewis – “his statement that we must get in ‘good trouble … necessary trouble.’ ’’

“Many people end the quote right there,’’ Kennedy said. “But it actually goes a little deeper, and it says, ‘Help redeem the soul of America.’ Those were the remarks atop the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., on March 1, 2020.’’

Hampton, meanwhile, recalled meeting “an extraordinary man.”

“I started asking him, like, 21 questions, and he listened and he heard every one of them,’’ Hampton said.

Hampton also said the makeup of the City Council is a reflection of Lewis’ work and legacy.

“I just have to say that, after having the opportunity of meeting him and also reading about him and what he did and what he accomplished, not just for African-Americans but for the United States, for Americans in general, we are the best reflection of what he accomplished – we have a Jewish mayor, we have a woman on the City Council, we have two African-Americans, we have a Latino …

“We are a reflection of what America is as a full City Council, and so I just have to say that I’m very grateful for all the work that he’s done to make sure that we can be the body that we are today.’’

Hampton also remarked on the extraordinary courage of Lewis and other civil-rights leaders, who met brutality with non-violence, who personified America’s better angels.

“[I’m] grateful for him and his compadres — they put their lives on the line for America,’’ Hampton said. “They put their lives on the line for us to be where we’re at today. The man is a maverick, he is a legend, an icon.’’

Council Member Victor Gordo called Lewis, “a real icon, a real champion for all people and human rights,” and added, “It’s just a real loss for the country.’’

Tornek said he thinks TV coverage of Bloody Sunday “was absolutely an inflection point in the evolution of the civil-rights movement in this country.’’

“I watched it in horror,’’ Tornek said. “And I think in some ways we’re going through a similar period now. We’re at a different level, but I think that the horror of what happened in Minneapolis (to George Floyd) really is another inflection point where people who had gotten a little comfortable with the idea that we’ve made this mass progress in the country — and we have made mass progress — got a little too comfortable with that idea and then realized how much further we really have to go.

“When the public becomes aware and is confronted with those realities, the American people react in an affirmative way.

“John Lewis,’’ Tornek added, “was such a humble man, a patient man and a brave man who was willing to just move this country forward, and God bless him.

“We’re all better for his time on the planet.’’