Requiem and Resolve: Continuing the Work of Heroes
We've just
lost two heroes. Both the Rev. C.T. Vivian and Congressman John Lewis died
yesterday. These brave leaders were close associates of the Rev. Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr., and like Dr. King each was a "drum major for
justice," a "drum major for peace," and a "drum major for
righteousness."
Each was a champion of nonviolent action, and each lived a powerful life of effective nonviolent resistance. They led us all for decade upon decade after the death of Dr. King, and we are all diminished by their loss. We sorely need their example and their inspiration now.
The Rev. Cordy Tindell ("C.T.") Vivian was one of the key organizers of the civil rights movement. He was a leading member of the Freedom Riders, and in 1963 he became the director of affiliates for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which traces its beginnings to the 1955-56 Montgomery bus boycott after Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for a White man. Then and now, nonviolent mass action has been the cornerstone of the Southern Conference Leadership's strategy, and Rev. Vivian was known as a strategist.
He was an activist as well, and in that role he was beaten and arrested countless times. He is perhaps best known for his efforts to help Blacks exercise their right to vote. In February 1965 he led a group of Black citizens in Selma, Alabama to the Dallas County Courthouse to register to vote. When the segregationist Sheriff Jim Clark met them at the steps and blocked their entrance to the building, Rev. Vivian began a righteous sermon of sorts. Sheriff Clark first turned his back, but Rev. Vivian preached on. Then he punched the reverend in the mouth, knocking him to the ground. But Rev. Vivian pulled himself back up and continued to speak, even as officers began shoving and roughing up the crowd. In the end, he was arrested, although he had simply exercised his right of free speech. The entire incident was captured on film.
Rev. Vivian was bloody but unbroken, and his courageous stand inspired the march from Selma to Montgomery a few weeks later. By the end of the year, Congress had passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In 2013, Rev. Vivian received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama. He died in Atlanta on July 17 at the age of 95.
Born the son of sharecroppers in the Jim Crow South, John Robert Lewis was inspired to activism by the Montgomery bus boycott and by the words of Dr. King. When he died at age 80, Representative Lewis had served as a member of Congress from Georgia's 5th Congressional District for more than 30 years. He was widely known as "the conscience of the Congress."
Like Rev. Vivian, John Lewis was a follower and colleague of Dr. King. In response to the injustices of Jim Crow laws, Lewis began what he called "good trouble," organizing nonviolent protests and sit-ins. He participated in the lunch counter sit-ins, and at age 21 he was a member of the first Freedom Ride; on that trip, he was viciously attacked in Rock Hill, South Carolina. By his count, he was arrested more than 40 times while engaged in nonviolent protest against racism and social injustice, including twice after his election to Congress.
John Lewis was only 23 when he helped organize the historic 1963 March on Washington; he also was a keynote speaker at the March. From 1963-1966 he chaired the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. At 25, he helped lead the March 7, 1965 march for voting rights across the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma. That's him in the light colored raincoat, carrying a backpack at the front of the march.
Lewis was among the first to be assaulted by the Alabama Highway Patrol in what would come to be known as "Bloody Sunday," and he suffered a brutal head wound in the attack. He later said that he thought he would die during the attack. Yet he was back on March 21 to march with Dr. King when the group eventually did cross the bridge. When President Barack Obama awarded John Lewis the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011, he commented that, "[g]enerations from now, when parents teach their children what is meant by courage, the story of John Lewis will come to mind."
Rep. John Lewis was 80 when he died in Atlanta on July 17. His official biography is on the website for the U.S. House of Representatives. He is also the subject of a new documentary, "John Lewis: Good Trouble." You can watch the official trailer, then buy theatre tickets here, or streaming tickets here. Be sure to continue watching after the credits, when Congressman Lewis is interviewed by Oprah Winfrey.
President Obama described John Lewis in 2011 as "an American who knew that change could not wait for some other person or some other time; whose life is a lesson in the fierce urgency of now." We who remain can pay tribute to Congressman Lewis and to Rev. Vivian by picking up their drum majors' batons and carrying on the work that they started. There is indeed even more fierce urgency now.
And new servants are emerging every day. I think of 20-year-old Gabriel Fabian, an activist since George Floyd's murder, who was threatened with criminal prosecution for writing "Black Lives Matter" with chalk on the sidewalk in front of the City Hall in Selah, Washington, and of the young people who put their bodies on the line to support him when the municipal power washer arrived.
I think of Courtney Hernandez, who organizes rallies in Selah which now feature chalk art, and of the White allies who invited Fabian and his friends to chalk antiracist messages in their private driveways, out of the City's reach. I think of the Black athletes at Oregon State University (aka "Beaver Nation") who have banded together to start Dam Change, an initiative to bring awareness to systemic racism.
I think of each of us. We have the capacity to pick up the baton of justice, peace, and righteousness and march on. And it's on us, those of us who are White, to do this work of dismantling White supremacy. We can start today by reading Dr. King's Drum Major Instinct Sermon. Then, with an attitude of gratitude and humility, we can carry on the work of our late heroes, C.T. Vivian and John Lewis.
Love,
Nancie/Mom/Mimi/Grandma
Each was a champion of nonviolent action, and each lived a powerful life of effective nonviolent resistance. They led us all for decade upon decade after the death of Dr. King, and we are all diminished by their loss. We sorely need their example and their inspiration now.
The Rev. Cordy Tindell ("C.T.") Vivian was one of the key organizers of the civil rights movement. He was a leading member of the Freedom Riders, and in 1963 he became the director of affiliates for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which traces its beginnings to the 1955-56 Montgomery bus boycott after Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for a White man. Then and now, nonviolent mass action has been the cornerstone of the Southern Conference Leadership's strategy, and Rev. Vivian was known as a strategist.
He was an activist as well, and in that role he was beaten and arrested countless times. He is perhaps best known for his efforts to help Blacks exercise their right to vote. In February 1965 he led a group of Black citizens in Selma, Alabama to the Dallas County Courthouse to register to vote. When the segregationist Sheriff Jim Clark met them at the steps and blocked their entrance to the building, Rev. Vivian began a righteous sermon of sorts. Sheriff Clark first turned his back, but Rev. Vivian preached on. Then he punched the reverend in the mouth, knocking him to the ground. But Rev. Vivian pulled himself back up and continued to speak, even as officers began shoving and roughing up the crowd. In the end, he was arrested, although he had simply exercised his right of free speech. The entire incident was captured on film.
Rev. Vivian was bloody but unbroken, and his courageous stand inspired the march from Selma to Montgomery a few weeks later. By the end of the year, Congress had passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In 2013, Rev. Vivian received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama. He died in Atlanta on July 17 at the age of 95.
Born the son of sharecroppers in the Jim Crow South, John Robert Lewis was inspired to activism by the Montgomery bus boycott and by the words of Dr. King. When he died at age 80, Representative Lewis had served as a member of Congress from Georgia's 5th Congressional District for more than 30 years. He was widely known as "the conscience of the Congress."
Like Rev. Vivian, John Lewis was a follower and colleague of Dr. King. In response to the injustices of Jim Crow laws, Lewis began what he called "good trouble," organizing nonviolent protests and sit-ins. He participated in the lunch counter sit-ins, and at age 21 he was a member of the first Freedom Ride; on that trip, he was viciously attacked in Rock Hill, South Carolina. By his count, he was arrested more than 40 times while engaged in nonviolent protest against racism and social injustice, including twice after his election to Congress.
John Lewis was only 23 when he helped organize the historic 1963 March on Washington; he also was a keynote speaker at the March. From 1963-1966 he chaired the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. At 25, he helped lead the March 7, 1965 march for voting rights across the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma. That's him in the light colored raincoat, carrying a backpack at the front of the march.
Lewis was among the first to be assaulted by the Alabama Highway Patrol in what would come to be known as "Bloody Sunday," and he suffered a brutal head wound in the attack. He later said that he thought he would die during the attack. Yet he was back on March 21 to march with Dr. King when the group eventually did cross the bridge. When President Barack Obama awarded John Lewis the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011, he commented that, "[g]enerations from now, when parents teach their children what is meant by courage, the story of John Lewis will come to mind."
Rep. John Lewis was 80 when he died in Atlanta on July 17. His official biography is on the website for the U.S. House of Representatives. He is also the subject of a new documentary, "John Lewis: Good Trouble." You can watch the official trailer, then buy theatre tickets here, or streaming tickets here. Be sure to continue watching after the credits, when Congressman Lewis is interviewed by Oprah Winfrey.
President Obama described John Lewis in 2011 as "an American who knew that change could not wait for some other person or some other time; whose life is a lesson in the fierce urgency of now." We who remain can pay tribute to Congressman Lewis and to Rev. Vivian by picking up their drum majors' batons and carrying on the work that they started. There is indeed even more fierce urgency now.
And new servants are emerging every day. I think of 20-year-old Gabriel Fabian, an activist since George Floyd's murder, who was threatened with criminal prosecution for writing "Black Lives Matter" with chalk on the sidewalk in front of the City Hall in Selah, Washington, and of the young people who put their bodies on the line to support him when the municipal power washer arrived.
I think of Courtney Hernandez, who organizes rallies in Selah which now feature chalk art, and of the White allies who invited Fabian and his friends to chalk antiracist messages in their private driveways, out of the City's reach. I think of the Black athletes at Oregon State University (aka "Beaver Nation") who have banded together to start Dam Change, an initiative to bring awareness to systemic racism.
I think of each of us. We have the capacity to pick up the baton of justice, peace, and righteousness and march on. And it's on us, those of us who are White, to do this work of dismantling White supremacy. We can start today by reading Dr. King's Drum Major Instinct Sermon. Then, with an attitude of gratitude and humility, we can carry on the work of our late heroes, C.T. Vivian and John Lewis.
Love,
Nancie/Mom/Mimi/Grandma
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