John Lewis is a Hero; John Lewis is My Hero

Civil Rights leader and US Representative John Lewis recently passed away.

People who do not think of John Lewis as a hero are missing something. Either they don’t know how tirelessly he fought for equality and justice, without throwing an insult or a punch. Or they don’t know what America is and where it has come from.

This country was founded on lofty ideals and revolutionary ideas. It is an experiment in governance that had never been done before. And yet America has never been able to see through and grant those ideas and freedoms to all human beings equally. Our leaders have always fallen short or chosen to maintain a caste system. I am reminded of the incredibly important human maxim: Power corrupts. Or rather, the actual quote from Lord Acton, “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

A number of excellent attributes and actions made John Lewis a hero. He was kind. He was curious. In this era and political climate, I especially love that he was willing to stand up and say “THAT IS NOT RIGHT” over and over again until real change started happening. It almost killed him.

As a person who grew up in a family full of conflict, I admire how John Lewis’s honesty and integrity made him continue the fight, even when it may have felt impossible. Sometimes I look around at all the problems we have in this country, all the struggles my students face, and I feel overwhelmed. Remembering that John Lewis just kept moving forward helps. John Lewis is an example for me. He reminds me how to live in America.

Read John Lewis’s final essay, challenging this generation to finally lay down the mantle of hate.

It is scary to stand against something powerful. John Lewis stood for something stronger. He fought for better without disrespecting or throwing a punch. For that he will be missed. And appreciated. And championed.

Godspeed.