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Snakes In The Ball Pit => Yay, I get to talk about me! => Topic started by: Victor Laszlo on July 18, 2020, 09:14:04 am

Title: John Lewis has died, and I am sad.
Post by: Victor Laszlo on July 18, 2020, 09:14:04 am: Read this obit, it's long but it's worth it (https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/john-r-lewis-front-line-civil-rights-leader-and-eminence-of-capitol-hill-dies-at-80/2020/07/17/54a67e1a-c3ad-11ea-b4f6-cb39cd8940fb_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-high_obit-johnlewis-1159pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans)

The man was as close to a hero as a person can get, for someone like me who has no use for heroes. A life filled with integrity, decency, humility, and backing up every single word with action. Beaten within an inch of his life multiple times but he never faltered.

Truly a great man. A lifelong fighter for civil rights, including gay marriage before it was popular. We owe it to him to keep up the fight for equality and justice for all, even when the fight seems hard. It's not as hard as it used to be, and we have John Lewis to thank for that.
Title: John Lewis has died, and I am sad.
Post by: Victor Laszlo on July 18, 2020, 02:12:02 pm: John Lewis co-wrote a memoir in graphic novel form, called March. He then started attending Comic-Con. He would cosplay as his younger self at the Selma march, and lead kids on a march around the convention centers.

(https://www.colorlines.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_lead_normal/public/images/2015/07/John%20Lewis%20at%20Comic-Con%207-14-15.jpg?itok=teBCTHtI)

(https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/8483677/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2048x1761+0+0/resize/840x722!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F3a%2F8b%2Fa211d23905983512a72c6d5e58f9%2Fsdut-georgia-congressman-john-lewis-20160820)

He even filled the backpack with the same things he packed for the Selma march.
Title: John Lewis has died, and I am sad.
Post by: Victor Laszlo on July 18, 2020, 02:19:22 pm: At a Q&A session in 2014 at Awesome Con a woman came to the mic and asked him a question:
"I'm a queer activist, and there's a lot of disparity between people, saying 'you should just move.' I live in Virginia, but when I come to DC, it's legal for me to marry. I drive five miles, and it's unconstitutional. So it is more pragmatic for me to move somewhere and have it be legal to marry, and then just be an activist, or do I stay and fight?"

Lewis' answer was immediate:
"My advice would be simple. Stay and fight. You never give up. You never give in. You stand up! You speak out! You speak out and continue to agitate for what you believe in. Don't ever run away from a fight."
Title: John Lewis has died, and I am sad.
Post by: Victor Laszlo on July 18, 2020, 02:31:31 pm: John Lewis, a life in pictures (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/gallery/2020/jul/18/civil-rights-activist-and-politician-john-lewis-a-life-in-pictures)

Look how many times he got arrested for marching and protesting, more than once as an elderly United States Congressman. He got arrested over civil rights, over Darfur, over immigration. He did sit-ins or marches for gun control and gay rights.

If you are a minority of any sort in America, nobody has fought harder or more consistently on your behalf than John Lewis. Nobody put their body between you and oppression more times, more readily than John Lewis. And you may not have even heard of him, because he didn't do any of it for glory or profit.