After a brief service outside Brown Chapel A.M.E. church, a 9-person military escort carried Lewis' flag-draped casket to a horse-drawn wagon. She added that changing the name of the bridge could hurt tourism in Selma. Lewis led hundreds of marches across the bridge as he fought for Blacks civil rights. (Fox News/Jayla Whitfield). ", Lewis' family members – his brothers and sisters especially – spoke for most of the ceremony, often invoking Lewis' famous call to "get in good trouble, necessary trouble. Lewis suffered a fractured skull. Lewis’ body was then taken from Selma, along the historic 1965 march route, to the Alabama Capitol in the afternoon to lie in repose. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. ", "On Bloody Sunday in 1965, John was confronted by Alabama state troopers and their dogs. In this March 17, 1965, file photo, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., fourth from left, foreground, locks arms with his aides as he leads a march of several thousands to the courthouse in Montgomery, Ala. From left are: an unidentified woman, Rev. Selma is better. Market data provided by Factset. “Every time a group of people walk across that bridge for voting rights, he’s rolling in his grave. In it, she writes of watching the Bloody Sunday march and her horror, then kept private, at watching the beating of the man she would later learn was Lewis. Troy Chancellor Dr. Jack Hawkins, who gave the opening remarks, referenced that snub as one Lewis often brought up in their meetings over the years. She said John Lewis wouldn’t have wanted anyone to be left out. Now it may be renamed for him. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. They don’t come to march across or take pictures, selfies, on any other bridge other than the Edmund Pettus Bridge,” Chatmon said. ", "He often told us, if you see something wrong, do something," said his sister, Rosa Mae Tyner. “The name to me exemplifies what happen on that bridge in 1965. It’s a symbol of freedom for everybody and it’s also is a symbol of victory. The weight of seminal moments with seminal figures. Lewis’ casket traveled by horse-drawn carriage across the Edmund Pettus Bridge over the Alabama River about 10:54 a.m. Mourners broke out in song as the carriage moved along Broad Street in downtown Selma onto the bridge. Lewis crosses Selma bridge one final time. The honoring by the law enforcement agency is a symbolic moment of change for Alabama and the country as a whole. "He would always remind me with that sheepish grin that in 1957, he was denied admission to (Troy University)," Hawkins said, "and then he would quickly tell me that 32 years later, we had the good sense to award him the honorary doctorate.". What happened on that bridge changed the face of America,” Bland said. "Good trouble that confronted institutionalized racism, good trouble that compelled this boy from Troy, the conscious of Congress, (to champion) the cause of the disinherited, despised and disenfranchised. ©2020 FOX News Network, LLC. "During the swearing in ceremony, right before the swearing in ceremony, he looked up, he knew where I was sitting, and he looked and he gave me the thumbs up and I gave him the thumbs up back," he said. In 2019, Kennedy published a book about the reckoning of her family's segregationist past. Six days of memorial services celebrating the life of Lewis began Saturday in his hometown of Troy, Alabama, where he was memorialized by family members, gospel singer Dottie Peoples and local dignitaries. On “Bloody Sunday,” Alabama state troopers attacked marchers on the bridge; dozens were hurt. The solemn live television footage of his funeral procession over the river is in stark contrast to the television footage of the beatings protesters endured in 1965. George Wallace oversaw state law enforcement who beat Lewis and other protesters and where Wallace fought for a segregated state for decades. Click below to hear more about John Lewis and his lifelong fight for civil rights. Some civil rights activists believe Lewis wouldn’t have wanted his name on the bridge but others disagree. "And now they will lead his body around this state as we celebrate his life. Troy Mayor Jason Reeves recalled a moment when he noticed Alabama state troopers escorting Lewis' body into Troy, and he reflected on the significance, considering Lewis' Bloody Sunday demonstration. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! They struck a jubilant tone as they waited in the heat, singing “This Little Light of Mine” and embracing one another with smiles. She attended Princeton University as an undergraduate, went onto Oxford University and attended law school at Harvard University. More: How to watch weekend events honoring John Lewis in Alabama. The bridge is named after Edmund Pettus, a Confederate general and KKK member. He said, 'I was thinking, this is a long way from the cotton fields of Alabama.'". This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, In a time when going to jail was perceived as trouble, he reminded us that it was good trouble, necessary trouble. "It's up to us to keep his legacy alive," Jaxon said, drawing laughter and applause from the crowd as he stepped down from the stage. The ceremony was filled with musical tributes, as well. Darryl Caldwell referenced Lewis' commitment. Then ultimately President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law. Events will then move to Montgomery. ", Contributing: Bro Krift, Montgomery Advertiser, John Lewis makes final journey across Edmund Pettus Bridge. Edmund Pettus Bridge name controversy. (Fox News/Jayla Whitfield). “It was like 600 people there... what do you do with the other names?” Bland asked. However, changing the name of the bridge would be difficult because of the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act. Jaxon Lewis Brewster, Lewis' 7-year-old great-nephew, spoke briefly, calling his uncle his "hero.". Hawkins also announced that a university leadership program would be renamed “The Congressman John Lewis Leadership Conference” in the congressman's memory. Now, over 500,000 people have signed an online petition to change its name. She is the first Black woman to ever serve in the Alabama Congressional delegation. “He understood that he was not the only one, he wasn’t on that bridge by himself,” Chatmon said. ", More: Rep. John Lewis to lie in state next week at the US Capitol. “He started some great work that must be finished. Later he will be honored by state officials at the Capitol in the same building where Gov.

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