honorable John Lewis remarks
These remarks were made by the honorable John Lewis, United States Congressman from Georgia. The vote is precious, almost sacred. It is the most powerful nonviolent tool or instrument we have in a democratic society. If we fail to use it, we can lose it. A few short years ago here in America after the civil war, after the freeing of the slaves, we had the vote for a short while, but the vote was taken away from us. Speaker 100:41People fought, people died. People gave their very lives, their blood for the right to vote. At one point in our history, people of color, African Americans in particular, had to pass a so-called literacy test. Men and women were asked to count the number of bubbles in a bar of soap, the number of jelly beans in a jar.Speaker 101:12There were black lawyers, black doctors, teachers, housewives, farmers, college professors, high school principals who were told over and over and over again that they could not pass the literacy test. People had to pay a poll tax. At one point in our history, women could not vote. If you did not own property, you could not vote, it has been a long ongoing struggle. It has been a struggle, where people I knew friends of mine, colleagues of mine were beaten some shot and killed. Speaker 101:57I will never forget just a few short years ago, less than 50 years ago to be exact, on the night of June 21st, 1964, three young men that I knew. Andy Goodman, Mickey Schwerner, and James Chaney went out to investigate the burning of an African American church. A church like so many other churches in the South that we use for mass meetings, for what people call freedom rallies and for citizenship education. Speaker 102:38These three young men were detained by the sheriff, later arrested, taken to jail. And that same evening they were taken from jail by the sheriff and turned over to the clan, where they were beaten, shot, and killed. I say over and over again, these three young men didn’t die in the middle East. They didn’t die in Africa or Central or South America. They didn’t die in Eastern Europe. They died right here in America, trying to make it possible for all people to be able to participate in the democratic process.Speaker 103:26The state of Mississippi just a few short years ago, had a black voting-age population of more than 450,000. And only about 16,000 blacks were registered to vote. There was one County in Alabama up until 1966, that had a black voting-age population of more than 80%, but there was not a single registered black voter in the County. Over and over again, people were arrested, jailed, and denied the right to participate. Speaker 104:07We made a decision some few short years ago after I spoke at the March on Washington on August 28th in 1963, I was 23 years old. I had all of my hair then, I was a few pounds lighter. I was the youngest speaker, 10 of us spoke. But when I was working on my speech, I was reading a copy of the New York Times, I saw a picture of a group of black women in Southern Africa carrying signs saying, one man, one vote. Speaker 104:48And I said something like, “That African cry is our cry. It must be ours.” And the young people in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee working with groups like the NAACP/CORE, SCLC, the Southern Christian leadership conference, Dr. King’s organization, the Urban League, the Voter Education Project of the Southern Regional Council. And so many other groups worked day in and day out trying to get people registered to vote.Speaker 105:27We didn’t have the Voting Rights Act. Then. People stood in an immovable line. People continued to be arrested and continued to be jailed. But they didn’t give up, they didn’t give in. We never became bitter or hostile. We kept the faith. We kept our eyes on the prize. Speaker 205:59Excellent.