Monday afternoon, lawmakers gathered in the Capitol Rotunda to pay respects to the late Representative John Lewis. Lewis, a civil rights icon, had a long and storied career as a congressman from Georgia.
He was the first black lawmaker to lie in state in the Rotunda. His colleague, the late Representative Elijah Cummings, was the first black lawmaker to lie in state in the Capitol, though he was not in the Rotunda.
“Lying in state” is an honor given to high-ranking military personnel or distinguished government officials. Citizens can earn a similar tribute, though that is “lying in honor.” Two black people have been afforded such a tribute: Rosa Parks and Jacob Chestnut Jr. Parks was a Civil Rights activist and icon. Chestnut Jr. was a Capitol Police officer who was killed while on the job.
Lewis was mentored by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and was a Civil Rights activist in his own right. He earned a reputation as a man of strong moral character, which he took with him to Washington, DC in the House of Representatives. Lewis’s long and storied career included several major wins for civil rights and social justice.
However, in recent years, Lewis drew some criticism from progressives for snubbing Senator Bernie Sanders. In 2016, Lewis gave his endorsement to Hillary Clinton instead of Sanders. Progressive thinkers believed she was too moderate. Notably, Clinton went on to lose the 2016 election to far-right Republican candidate Donald Trump.
In 2020, similarly, Lewis endorsed Joe Biden for president. Progressives similarly distrust the former vice president, though he did win many delegates in the Democratic Primary.
2020 has been a bizarre year, though at the heart of many discussions about the political chaos are recent Black Lives Matter protests. Lewis, who long championed the rights of black Americans, offered his full support to the protesters. In his last public appearance on June 7, he addressed a crowd near the new “Black Lives Matter” mural in Washington, DC.
Lewis said at the time that it was a “powerful work of art.”
The protests come during a chaotic and historic year. While some people have been stuck at home watching streaming TV services while waiting for the pandemic to end, others have been protesting police brutality and systematic racism.
