Congressman John Lewis, US representative of Georgia’s fifth congressional district, shares his experiences as a leader in the civil rights movement in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
On his call to the movement: “The action of Rosa Parks and the words and leadership of Dr. King inspired me to join the struggle for human dignity… We were [all] inspired by what I call the spirit of history. Call it what you may, sometimes there is something that tracks a person down and it urges, ‘You must do this. If you don’t act, if you don’t do it, who’s going to do it?’”
On his continued fight for equality: “Under the rule of the law, you cannot have equality for some and not equality for all. I fought too long and too hard against discrimination based on race and color not to fight against discrimination based on sexual orientation.”
On the legacy of civil rights activists: “They helped change America forever. The civil rights movement [ultimately] led to the women’s movement, the gay rights movement and the workers’ movement. We have witnessed what I like to call a nonviolent revolution, a revolution of values and ideas.”
Our weekly newsletter with insights and intelligence from across the firm
By submitting this information, you agree to receive marketing emails from Goldman Sachs and accept our privacy policy. You can opt-out at any time.