Legendary civil rights icon and longtime metro Atlanta Congressman John Lewis turned 80 on Friday.
Social media alighted throughout the day as best wishes came in from fellow Democrats and media personalities, as well as everyday folk who have known and admired Lewis for decades.
First elected to the U.S. House in 1986, after making his mark in the civil rights movement, Lewis has no plans to retire and will seek reelection in November.
He has been reelected 16 times and ran unopposed in 2018 for his latest two-year term. No serious candidate has emerged in 2020 to challenge him in the heavily Democratic 5th Congressional District.
On Dec. 29, Lewis announced his most difficult challenge: stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
Aside from a Jan. 9 vote on the House floor in favor of a resolution that would limit President Donald Trump’s ability to take further military action in Iran, Lewis has remained out of the spotlight but has continued to cast votes.
He didn't attend Trump's recent State of the Union address, and it is unclear if he will attend the upcoming commemoration of that Bloody Sunday march in Selma, Alabama.
"It is a challenge and a fight. But I have had challenges before and been fighting all my life," Lewis told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an exclusive interview on New Year's Eve. "I am ready for the fight. I will go through the treatment and face the day each day like it is a new day. I will continue to be hopeful and optimistic."
»MORE: As John Lewis turns 80, colleagues honor him for his courage
Lewis would not go into details on what his treatment will look like but said he is looking forward to it.
» PHOTOS: John Lewis Through the Years
“As you well know, I will be going through something that I have never been through before,” Lewis said. “I have had friends and colleagues who have gone through similar situations. I will be talking and learning from them and obeying my physicians.”
» MORE: Five surprising moments from John Lewis' youth
Pancreatic cancer is the nation’s third-leading cause of cancer deaths. Roughly three-quarters of people who develop the cancer die within a year of diagnosis, though new advances are showing signs of success.
» FROM 1982: John Lewis, butting heads with the status quo
Before he was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Lewis was and remains a key figure in America’s civil rights movement. A key ally of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Lewis was the youngest speaker at the 1963 March on Washington, representing the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, of which he was the chairman.
In 1961, as one of the original Freedom Riders, he was beaten and bloodied as they rode through the South addressing laws prohibiting black and white riders from sitting next to each other on public transportation.
The 1965 attack in Selma, where Lewis has said, “I thought I saw death. I thought I was going to die,” sparked nationwide support, sympathy and horror and spurred Congress to move on what became the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Lewis has been a consistent critic of Trump’s, calling the nation’s 45th president “illegitimate” before Trump had even been inaugurated because of allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2010 by then-President Barack Obama, Lewis voted to impeach Trump and is often referred to by his unofficial title as the “conscience of the House.”
But at least one Republican took to social media on Friday to wish the legendary Lewis many more years.
Late Friday afternoon, Lewis himself responded to everyone’s good wishes.
About the Author
