Rep. John Lewis recalls ‘skull fracture,’ shares memories of Selma on 52nd anniversary
Fifty-two years ago, Georgia Rep. John Lewis stood beside Hosea Williams of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in the historic Selma to Montgomery marches.
To commemorate the 52nd anniversary of the "highest point" in the civil rights movement," the Georgia Democrat shared a string of tweets with photos and personal anecdotes from the March 7, 1965 march.
52 yrs ago today, we set out to march from Selma to Montgomery to dramatize to the nation that people of color were denied the right to vote
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) March 7, 2017
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Using the hashtag #Selma52, Lewis chronicled the moment he was hit in the head by a state trooper with a nightstick and eventually spent three days in the hospital for a skull fracture. "I thought I saw death. I thought I was going to die," Lewis wrote.
Read the rest of the #Selma52 series below:
Before we left a little church called Brown Chapel AME, we knelt and prayed together. #Selma52 pic.twitter.com/RB3fh6T4U2
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) March 7, 2017
About 600 of us left Brown Chapel to march in a peaceful, orderly, nonviolent fashion. #Selma52
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) March 7, 2017
At the apex of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, high above the Alabama River, Hosea Williams asked if I could swim. I said no. #Selma52 pic.twitter.com/SEfCIelZzX
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) March 7, 2017
Down below, we saw a sea of blue... #Selma52 pic.twitter.com/PVqibCW9DU
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) March 7, 2017
Alabama State Troopers putting on their gas masks. #Selma52 pic.twitter.com/tpBjMl3Sit
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) March 7, 2017
When we came within hearing distance, a trooper identified himself and said, "I'm Major John Cloud of the Alabama State Troopers." #Selma52 pic.twitter.com/WwXgMrUGNy
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) March 7, 2017
Major Cloud said, "This is an unlawful march. It will not be allowed to continue." #Selma52 pic.twitter.com/RvYa5oXf3J
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) March 7, 2017
"I'll give you three minutes to disperse and return to your homes or to your church." #Selma52
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) March 7, 2017
The Major paused for a minute and then he said, "Troopers advance!" pic.twitter.com/RuDrxk0ryH
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) March 7, 2017
They came toward us beating us with nightsticks, bullwhips, trampling us with horses, releasing the teargas. #Selma52 pic.twitter.com/v4AugbKK63
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) March 7, 2017
I was hit in the head by a State Trooper with a nightstick. I thought I saw death. I thought I was going to die. #Selma52 pic.twitter.com/jrIEF3cHqi
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) March 7, 2017
I had a concussion there at the bridge, and I've never been able to recall how any of us made it back alive. #Selma52 pic.twitter.com/642AAKRpOb
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) March 7, 2017
My skull fractured, I spent 3 days in Good Samaritan Hospital, the same hospital where Jimmie Lee Jackson had died. #Selma52 pic.twitter.com/TjsvVSr244
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) March 7, 2017
Our march continues. There is great work still to be done. Dedicate yourself to nonviolent social change, and we shall overcome. #Selma52
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) March 7, 2017
There is no sound more powerful than the marching feet of a determined people. #Selma52 #GoodTrouble pic.twitter.com/7nrjSzaHvR
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) March 7, 2017
RELATED VIDEO: John Lewis revisits Selma 50 years later
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