How Did John Lewis Affect The Civil Rights Movement

A sea of blue officer’s uniforms create a wall. Smoke grenades clink on the pavement. The sea of blue floods the street. Screaming and yelling fill the air as well as a thick gas(Lewis+Aydin+Powel 5-9). Bloody Sunday was a shock to people throughout the U.S. and will go down history as progress for the Civil Rights Movement, and the efforts of John Lewis on equality for black people will be remembered. John Lewis’s efforts forwarded the progress of the Civil Rights Movement.

Lewis was born on February 21, 1940 in Troy, Alabama. His parents were Willie Mae Carter and Eddie Lewis. His family were sharecroppers, and he often worked with them(“John Lewis”/ Wikipedia.org). Lewis had a happy childhood, but always fought about the unfairness of

He was arrested during these sit-ins which upset his mother but lewis was committed to ending segregation, and went on to take part in Freedom Rides of 1961. Freedom Riders challenged the segregated places they encountered at interstate bus terminals in the South, which had been said to be illegal by the Supreme Court. It was risky work that had many people arrested and beaten, including Lewis(“John Lewis”/

Lewis continued to help enfranchise minorities, though devastated by the assassinations of King and Robert Kennedy. In 1970, he became the director of the Voter Education Project. During his tenure, they helped millions of minority voters register. Lewis ran for City Council in 1981, and won a seat on the Atlanta City Council. In 1986 he was elected to be in the House of Representatives(“John Lewis”/ Biography.com). Today, he is still representing Georgia’s fifth district and is well represented. Since entering office, he has called for healthcare reform, measures to fight poverty and improvements in education.(“John Lewis”/