This weekend we lost a true American hero, Congressman John Lewis, he was 80 years old. Lewis spent his life fighting for justice. Lewis was one of the youngest leaders in the Civil Rights Movement. At 23, he was the youngest keynote speaker at the historic 1963 March on Washington. At 25, Lewis helped lead a march for voting rights across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma Alabama. Participants, including Lewis were attacked, beaten and jailed by police on a terrible day that would become known as Bloody Sunday.
Despite every challenge, Lewis never lost his fighting spirit, or his passion for equality. His determination helped him serve more than 30 years as a Congressman, representing Georgia’s 5th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Today we are tasked with continuing his legacy of “good trouble”, advocating to expand access to the ballot box, a lifelong mission for Lewis.
This Take Action Tuesday we encourage you to honor Lewis’ legacy by starting your own good trouble.
- Learn About Lewis. Just this month AIT board partner Participant Media released a wonderful documentary chronicling the life and legacy of Congressman Lewis. Proceeds from streams of the Good Trouble film will help AIT honor Rep. Lewis’ life’s work by mobilizing voters and ensuring people are registered to vote.
- Get involved.Identify unregistered voters in your area by using this tool from our campaign partner Map the Vote. You can get them registered using AIT’s Voter Registration Portal.
- Plan to Act. Check out The Good Trouble Handbook and create a plan to make sure you can cast your ballot this November.
- Donate. You can also donate $1.50 to help cover postage to register one person to vote in areas where voter suppression laws hit hardest.
How are you paying tribute to Congressman Lewis’ legacy of good trouble? Let us know atinfo@aitogether.org.
