Lewis to speak April 17
Congressman John Lewis will speak at Calvin College on Monday, April 17 for the school's fourth annual Paul B. Henry Lecture.The talk, sponsored by the Paul B. Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics, will be held at 7:30 p.m. in Gezon Auditorium and is free and open to the public.
Lewis, a Democrat, has been described as "one of the most courageous persons the Civil Rights Movement ever produced."
He was born the son of sharecroppers on February 21, 1940 outside of Troy, Alabama, grew up on his family's farm and attended segregated public schools in Pike County, Alabama. At an early age he developed an unwavering commitment to the Civil Rights Movement. As a student he organized sit-in demonstrations at segregated lunch counters in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1961, he volunteered to participate in the Freedom Rides, which were organized to challenge segregation at interstate bus terminals across the South. Lewis risked his life and was beaten severely by mobs for participating in the Rides.
During the height of the Civil Rights Movement, from 1963 to 1966, Lewis was the Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which he helped form. SNCC was largely responsible for the sit-ins and other activities of students in the struggle for civil rights. Despite his youth, John Lewis became a recognized leader in the Civil Rights Movement. By 1963 he was recognized as one of the "Big Six" leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, along with Whitney Young, A. Philip Randolph, Martin Luther King, Jr., James Farmer and Roy Wilkins.) Lewis, at the age of 23, was one of the planners and a keynote speaker at the historic "March on Washington" in August 1963.
In 1964, John Lewis coordinated SNCC efforts to organize voter registration drives and community action programs during the "Mississippi Freedom Summer." The following year, Lewis led one of the most dramatic nonviolent protests of the Movement. Along with fellow activist, Hosea Williams, John Lewis led 525 marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama on March 7, 1965. Alabama state troopers attacked the marchers in a confrontation that became known as "Bloody Sunday." That fateful march and a subsequent march between Selma and Montgomery, Alabama led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Lewis holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Religion and Philosophy from Fisk University. He also is a graduate of the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee. He has been awarded numerous honorary degrees from colleges and universities throughout the United States. He also is the recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious Martin Luther King, Jr. Non-Violent Peace Prize. In December 1998, President Clinton presented the first Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights to Lewis.
Lewis was elected to Congress in November 1986 and represents Georgia's Fifth Congressional District, which encompasses the entire city of Atlanta, Georgia and parts of Fulton, DeKalb and Clayton counties. In 1996, Lewis was unopposed in his bid for a sixth term. He won re-election for his seventh term in November of 1998. In the 105th Congress, Lewis is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, where he serves on the Subcommittee on Health and on the Subcommittee on Oversight. Congressman Lewis serves as a Chief Deputy Democratic Whip. He was first appointed to this position in 1991. He also serves on the influential Democratic Steering Committee. He is also a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.
The Paul B. Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics was created in 1997 to continue the work of integrating Christian faith and politics advanced by its namesake, educator and public servant Paul B. Henry. Paul Henry was a leader of Christian vision and action. After earning his undergraduate degree at Wheaton College and his Ph.D. at Duke University, Henry taught political science at Calvin College from 1970 to 1978.
Leaving Calvin in 1978 to pursue public office full-time, Henry was elected to the Michigan State House and, later, State Senate. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 1984, where he served until his untimely death in July 1993.
The Henry Institute continues Paul Henry's quest to promote serious reflection on the interplay between Christianity and public life, by becoming a national forum for research, dialogue, and information on their interaction.
NOTE TO MEDIA: Congressman Lewis has a fantastic website, full of bio info, photos and more. See http://www.house.gov/johnlewis/welcome2.html