The United States Postal Service is honoring the contributions of late civil rights icon and lawmakerJohn Lewis.
Lewis played a pivotal role during the civil rights movement in the 1960s. He was the youngest of the “Big Six” Civil Rights leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr., to organize the historic 1963 March on Washington. Two years later, he led numerous marches from Selma to Montgomery across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
Martin Luther King Jr. with John Lewis at a mass meeting in Nashville, Tenn.Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
In 1986, Lewis was elected to Congress for the first time. He was re-elected 16 times and used his time as a representative to continue his fight to improve civil rights in the U.S.
Lewis was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011 for his civil service.
Since his death, Lewis has been honored in several ways, with a US Naval ship being christened in his name in July 2021.
“This ship will be a beacon to the world reminding all who see it of the persistence and courage of John Lewis,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the official christening of the USNS John Lewis, according toUSA Today.
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A memorial to Lewis will also be erected in the Atlanta area, where it will replace a Confederate monument previously on display, officials announced last year.
The longtime Georgia lawmakerwrote a final essayforTheNew York Timesprior to his July 17 death, which the newspaper was instructed to to publish the same dayhis funeral was heldin Atlanta.
source: people.com
