In the 1960s, when John Lewis was a young associate of the Rev. Martin Luther King, he repeatedly demonstrated incredible courage. Courage as one of the original Freedom Riders who integrated interstate transportation across the South, encountering angry mobs at bus terminals in 1961. Courage in organizing the March on Washington in 1963, where he was the youngest keynote speaker at the age of 23. Courage in 1965 when he led marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., only to be brutally attacked by state troopers who objected to voting rights for black citizens.
During his time as a civil rights leader, Lewis was arrested more than 40 times, spit on, attacked and brutally beaten. I simply can’t imagine how he had the courage, again and again, to step into extreme violence and stand for what is right.
Lewis, now in his 13th term representing the 5th District of Georgia in the U.S. Congress, has recalled how he felt safer whenever the press was around to cover his civil rights activities.
In one incident described by Hank Klibanoff in his Pulitzer Prize-winning history “The Race Beat,” police covered the windows of a Freedom Ride bus Lewis was on, and he was overcome by fear. Another time, Klibanoff wrote, Mississippi officers “hauled Freedom Riders away from reporters and to the remote, desolate Parchman State Penitentiary. Lewis understood then, and now, the significance of the guard’s sneering comment, ‘Ain’t no newspaper men out here.’”
The news media brought the stories of the South to the world, and awakened the country to the outrageous treatment of black citizens. Evening news reports and front page photos of brave young protesters like Lewis turned the tide of public opinion and led the federal government into the realm of civil rights.
In many ways, Lewis was protected by the First Amendment, which establishes freedom of the press, among other freedoms. In other ways, he was fighting for the First Amendment — for the right of black Americans to speak freely, to peaceably assemble and march for their rights, to address their government about their grievances.
And so it was appropriate this week that Lewis was honored by the Georgia First Amendment Foundation for his lifelong support of First Amendment values.
Nearly 100 people of all political stripes turned out for the organization’s annual banquet honoring Lewis.
Dale Russell, a Fox 5 investigative reporter who covered Lewis as an Atlanta City Council member three decades ago, produced a moving video tribute.
And Klibanoff, a former managing editor of the AJC and now the James M. Cox Jr. Professor of Journalism at Emory University, provided historical perspective about Lewis and his views of the First Amendment.
In his introduction, Klibanoff made note of the thousands of words written every day, by newspaper journalists and television journalists and others, about matters of large and small importance to society.
“The freedom that we share to produce all of those words, words that inform, words that enlighten, words that infuriate, words that make us laugh, words that can send people to jail, words that can stop injustice, “ Klibanoff said, “all those words were made possible by a sentence of a mere 45 words, the First Amendment.”
In accepting the award, Lewis praised Charles L. Weltner, a former Georgia Supreme Court chief justice and 5th District congressman himself, for whom the annual award is named. Weltner was one of seven Southerners in the House of Representatives to support the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and later withdrew as a Democratic candidate for his third term in the House after refusing to sign a loyalty pledge to the top of the ticket: Lester Maddox, an ardent segregationist. As a Georgia Supreme Court justice, Weltner made many rulings upholding the First Amendment. “He stood up for what was right and fair and just,” Lewis said of Weltner. “He was a great source of inspiration. He led. He was committed to immutable principles.”
Lewis thanked the press for its role in informing the country of important topics such as the civil rights movement. “The media was there every step. Yes, in Birmingham; when we stepped off a bus in Montgomery; when we crossed that bridge...”
Recalling a phrase that he has used often, and that Klibanoff cited in his book and his opening remarks, Lewis said, “I really do believe that if it hadn’t been for the media, the civil rights movement would have been like a bird without wings.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution wants to explain openly to readers what we do and why. Public editor Shawn McIntosh writes a column every other week to provide insight into newsroom operations, the newspaper’s role in the community and the industry. Write McIntosh at insideajc@ajc.com or join the conversation on editor Kevin Riley’s Facebook page,
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