John Lewis lost his battle to pancreatic cancer late Friday night. Known as the “Conscience of Congress,” Lewis would often bring order to the House during polarizing moments.
“When Lewis took the floor, both Democrats and Republicans listened,” Congressman Adriano Espaillat told NY1. "John Lewis was a mountain, a monument of a man. Not only did he witness history, he wrote history. It is his ink that is in the chapters of history in America.”
Those chapters include some of the darkest times in this country — the Jim Crow South and segregation. Lewis was the last living member of the Civil Rights Activist group known as the Big Six. He marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and was nearly beaten to death by police on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, which later became known as Bloody Sunday.
“So by the time he went to Congress, on his body bore the wounds, the actual wounds of the struggle,” said Reverend Al Sharpton. “That's why when he walked around Congress he had the moral authority nobody had.”
Lewis went from freedom fighter to U.S. representative, continuing to push for social and racial justice for Georgia’s fifth congressional district. He held the position since 1987.
More recently, his experience as an activist inspired Lewis to write a best-selling graphic novel trilogy, called "The March." He recreated the iconic march in Selma for a group of children at the 2016 Comic Con in San Diego, and even wore a trench coat like the one he wore on Bloody Sunday.
Former Congressman Charles Rangel considered Lewis a friend. Rangel said he was inspired by these words said by the late congressman.
"Don't give up. Don't give out. Don't give in. Make some trouble. Make some good trouble. If you see anything, have the courage to stand up and do something about it. Wow,” Rangel said.
Lewis spoke softly, but with authority. Mayor de Blasio tweeted a video where Lewis can be heard saying inspiring others to continue the fight.
“We kept telling young people: You cannot give up. Keep the faith. You have to be hopeful. You go to jail, get arrested a few times… then you make some comic books," Lewis said.
He endured tremendous violence in his quest for equity, which he continued until the very end. In June, during his last public appearance, Lewis joined the mayor of Washington D.C. Muriel Bowser. They visited the Black Lives Matter mural painted outside the White House.
Congressman John Lewis was 80 years old.