John Lewis dies aged 80: leading civil rights activist and congressman had pancreatic cancer

John Lewis, a lion of the civil rights movement whose bloody beating by Alabama state troopers in 1965 helped galvanise opposition to racial segregation, and who went on to a long and celebrated career in Congress, died. He was 80.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi confirmed Mr Lewis’ passing late on Friday night, calling him “one of the greatest heroes of American history”.

Mr Lewis’s announcement in late December 2019 that he had been diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer – “I have never faced a fight quite like the one I have now,” he said – inspired tributes from both sides of the aisle, and an unstated accord that the likely passing of this Atlanta Democrat would represent the end of an era.

Mr Lewis was the youngest and last survivor of the Big Six civil rights activists, a group led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. that had the greatest impact on the movement. He was best known for leading some 600 protesters in the Bloody Sunday march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma.

At age 25 – walking at the head of the march with his hands tucked in the pockets of his tan overcoat – Mr Lewis was knocked to the ground and beaten by police. His skull was fractured, and nationally televised images of the brutality forced the country’s attention on racial oppression in the South.

Within days, Rev. King led more marches in the state, and President Lyndon Johnson soon was pressing Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act. The bill became law later that year, removing barriers that had barred blacks from voting.

Mr Lewis joined Rev. King and four other civil rights leaders in organising the 1963 March on Washington. He spoke to the vast crowd just before Rev. King delivered his epochal “I Have a Dream” speech.

Read more about the life of John Lewis here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/07/18/john-lewis-leading-civil-rights-activist-congressman-dies-aged/?WT.mc_id=tmg_youtube_offsite_televideo-youtubevideo_July18JohnLewis&utm_source=tmgoff&utm_medium=tmg_youtube&utm_content=offsite_televideo&utm_campaign=tmg_youtube_offsite_televideo-youtubevideo_July18JohnLewis

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