Tributes are pouring in around the country
and in the Bay Area for civil rights leader John Lewis.
The Georgia congressman was known
as on of the Big Six leaders in the civil rights movement. NBC Bay Area’s
Christie Smith spoke with people in the Bay Area with close ties to Lewis who
are remembering his life and legacy.
“Every time John came to San
Francisco I participated,” said former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, who
met Lewis in the early 1960s.
“The occasion was an organizing
effort to get people from San Francisco and the Bay Area to travel to the South
to assist in the voter registration operation that was being conducted,
primarily in Mississippi,” Brown said.
He said that over the years he
would introduce Lewis at events or they would dine together. He recalled a
strongly principled man.
“John was the most evidence of love
and respect for humanity without being confrontational,” said Brown.
In Millbrae, Jeff Steinberg is the executive director of the Sojourn Project, a group that takes students into the deep South, retracing the civil rights movement of the ‘50s and ‘60s, meeting key people. Lewis met with 90 of their groups.
“He would share with the students
the principals of non-violence, no violence as a way for courageous people to
be,” Steinberg said.
In Steinberg’s office, there is artwork
and photos related to the movement.
“I’m sad but I’m also very blessed
that he was a part of me for 20 years,” Steinberg said.
Source: NBC Bay Area
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