John Lewis to be carried across Selma bridge for last time - Los Angeles Times
Advertisement

Body of civil rights icon John Lewis crosses Selma bridge for last time

The casket of the late Rep. John Lewis arrives to lie in repose at Troy University
The casket of the late Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) arrives to lie in repose at Troy University on Saturday in Troy, Ala.
(Associated Press)
Share via

The late U.S. Rep. John Lewis crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., for the final time Sunday as remembrances continue for the civil rights icon.

A crowd began gathering near the bridge that became a landmark in the fight for racial justice when Lewis and other civil rights marchers were beaten there 55 years ago on “Bloody Sunday,” a key event in the fight for voting rights for African Americans.

The body of Congressman John Lewis arrives at the Alabama Capitol.
(Julie Bennett/AP)
Advertisement

A horse-drawn hearse retraced the route through Selma from Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, where the 1965 march began. As the wagon approached the bridge, members of the crowd shouted, “Thank you, John Lewis!” and “Good trouble,” the phrase Lewis (D-Ga.) used to describe his tangles with white authorities during the civil rights movement.

Some crowd members sang the gospel song “Woke Up This Morning With My Mind Stayed on Jesus.” Later, some onlookers sang the civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome” and other gospel tunes.

The hearse paused atop the bridge over the Alabama River as the cicadas sang in the summer heat. On the south side of the bridge, where Lewis was beaten by Alabama state troopers in 1965, family members placed roses that the carriage rolled over, marking the spot where Lewis spilled his blood and suffered a head injury.

Advertisement

As a military honor guard lifted Lewis’ casket from the horse-drawn wagon into an automobile hearse, state troopers, including some African American ones, saluted Lewis.

Lewis’ body will be brought to the Alabama Capitol in the afternoon to lie in repose.

A series of events began Saturday in Lewis’ hometown of Troy, Ala., to pay tribute to the late congressman and his legacy. He will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol next week before his private funeral Thursday at Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, which the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once led.

Advertisement

A native of Pike County, Alabama, Lewis became involved in the civil rights movement as a young man.

In 1965, he and other marchers were beaten in Selma. The news coverage of the event helped galvanize support for the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Rep. John Lewis of Georgia embraced a message of love and unity, but also discomfort and disruption, without which there can be no true social justice.

July 19, 2020

Frank and Ellen Hill drove more that four hours from Monroe, La., to watch the procession.

Frank Hill, 60, said he remembers, as an African American child, watching news footage of Lewis and other civil rights marchers being beaten by law enforcement officers.

The casket of Rep. John Lewis moves over the Edmund Pettus Bridge by horse drawn carriage during a memorial service for him.
(Brynn Anderson/AP)

“I had to come back and see John Lewis cross the bridge for the last time,” Hill said. “It’s funny to see the state troopers here to honor and respect him rather than beat the crap out of him,” he added.

Lewis, 80, died July 17, several months after he was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer.

Advertisement