With the passing of Congressman John Lewis this past Friday, the nation and the world lost a brave soldier for civil rights and justice for all. In every aspect of his life,
including his fight with pancreatic cancer but most particularly his leadership to end segregation and fight for civil rights, John Lewis modeled the kind of character, bravery and humility that is in short supply.
The son of desperately poor Alabama sharecroppers, John Lewis helped organize lunch counter sit-ins protesting segregation in public places. In 1963, he was one of a handful of people who organized the famous March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Then, in what became known as Bloody Sunday, John Lewis marched for equal rights across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama only to be met with violence by police. Lewis suffered a fractured skull, but remained committed to non-violence. The result of his bravery and that of others who were on that bridge with him, televised across the world, led to the Voting Rights Act, one of the seminal and most important pieces of legislation in American history. As a U.S. Congressman, John Lewis continued to demonstrate the kind of courage and grace that so clearly defined his entire life. Considered by his colleagues to be "the conscience of the Congress," he will be missed.
It seems that in the present moment, we need John Lewis now more than ever. Clearly, his passing marks both a great loss and an opportunity to collectively strive to live up to the high ideals he set for himself, and for all of us. As we navigate our own path as a Y to assure we are fully living up to our values and mission, let's use John Lewis' commitment to absolute honesty and determination to right what is wrong, as a model for the culture we want to achieve as a Y.
I look forward to doing that hard work with all of you, for a better us.
All the best,
John
John K. Hoey
President & CEO
The Y in Central Maryland