Fight for the Beloved Community

By Caroline G. Goss

John Lewis’s legacy lives on. John Lewis, an African American preacher, civil rights activist, and U.S. Congressman, continues to be revered across the nation even after his passing. Lewis is well known for his involvement in the Freedom Rides, the Selma to Montgomery March, and the March on Washington. All were deeply rooted in his fight for nonviolence and Christian faith. More recently, Lewis continued his work while representing Georgia in Congress from 1987 until his death in July 2020. His work is not forgotten. In December 2020, the owner of Gus’s Hot Dogs in Downtown Birmingham had a mural honoring Lewis painted on the side of his restaurant. The mural honors Lewis for his dedication to free those bound by the injustices of the nation and expresses his optimism about what can be achieved by those committed to love and a community centered upon Christ: the Beloved Community.

John Lewis was born and raised in Pike County just outside of Troy, Alabama. Like many African Americans of the time, his family members were sharecroppers. Through his childhood and teenage years, Lewis spent most of his time on a farm tending to animals and plowing the field. Around age five, Lewis became solely responsible for the family’s chickens. He attended church every Sunday and quickly grew to love his days in church. He was in awe of the preaching and music, and he developed a desire to study scripture and spread the Gospel.

This newfound love easily translated to his main responsibility on the farm, the chickens. He took this job seriously, intent on saving every one of their souls. He often practiced his sermons and baptisms on the chickens, which is where he earned the nickname “Preacher” (Lewis and D’Orsa 1998, 36-40). Lewis’s love of souls and passion for the Gospel later compelled him to pursue a life as a minister. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. also contributed greatly to this passion. The power King’s faith had over his involvement and influence in the civil rights movement was something Lewis aspired to do. This led to his strong desire, like King, for the Beloved Community.

The Kingdom of God

John Lewis was deeply influenced by his faith and the beliefs of King. Together, Lewis and King fought and hoped for a Beloved Community. King would describe the Beloved Community as something similar to the Kingdom of God. Where the Kingdom of God seemed to be something impossible until Christ’s return, King saw the Beloved Community as something the people of the world were fully capable of attaining if they committed their lives to nonviolence. They believed it was more than just coming together. It was “something different, something wholly perfect” where the nation would experience unfailing unity (Meacham 2021, 13). This unity would withstand discrimination against race, nationality, sex, and religion. King says the Beloved Community was an “all inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood” (The King Center n.d.). Ultimately, this hope for the Beloved Community, rooted in their faith, was the driving force behind Lewis’s nonviolent protests. In fact, it was strongly believed that the Beloved Community was simply a result of the peacefulness and unity pursued by King and Lewis.

Withstanding Suffering

Violence was never the answer for Lewis because it could only ever cause division rather than community. He quickly learned the power and strength found in nonviolence (Nagan 2014, 12). This is evident among Christian beliefs. Jesus led a perfect life of nonviolence. Jesus was often described as “in the world but not of the world,” and Lewis felt called to live accordingly (Meacham 2021, 81). While Lewis felt called to work to change the world, he lived a higher life. He refused to conform to worldly ways. It is evident that he did so even when faced with persistent, cruel discrimination. In the civil rights movement alone, Lewis endured countless attacks and injuries, many near death experiences, and time in jail. The greatest physical violence Lewis suffered was when he led the Selma to Montgomery March. What had begun as an act for justice in equal voting rights, ended in what is remembered as “Bloody Sunday” on March 7, 1965. This march consisted of men, women, and children peacefully marching for a desire for justice in equal voting rights. This nonviolent act was met with extreme violence (Nagan 2014, 13-14). Lewis’s marchers were beaten, killed, and burned from the tear gas. Surprisingly, Lewis was encouraged by the outcome. He had remained steadfast in his nonviolence even when faced with endless agony. He had a sense of “religious optimism of his nonviolence.” He saw it as a “precursor” to the Beloved Community in relation to Jesus’s death being a precursor to his resurrection (Meacham 2021, 194). Because of this defiance and relentless positivity, John Lewis continued to fight for justice and desegregation for African Americans.

Remembrance

There are more than enough reasons as to why John Lewis should be remembered and respected in our nation. His genuine hope and belief for the Beloved Community and the impact that it had on the civil rights movement are unmatched. He carried this belief with him throughout his time as congressman where he fought for work-labor reform and racial repression. Most recently, Lewis fought against racial injustices which led to his involvement in the Black Lives Matter movement just prior to his death on July 17, 2020.

The Black Lives Matter movement began after the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020. George Floyd was brutally killed by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. On June 7 of 2020, Lewis made his last public appearance on the Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C. to acknowledge the present injustices of our nation. Lewis stated, “you cannot leave any segment of society out or behind” (Parham, Elhers, Clauss 2016, 23). Even after many years of anguish, Lewis believed in a community worth fighting for.

Lee Patazis, the owner of Gus’s Hot Dogs, believed this sense of community and optimism in Lewis was something to be remembered for and a needed reminder to the Birmingham community. After George Floyd’s death, riots and protests–both violent and nonviolent–broke out across the nation. Birmingham experienced rioting and looting of its own on the evening of May 31. Several Confederate and World War monuments were damaged and defaced. It was reported that there were fourteen burglaries and five fires downtown (BhamWiki 2020). These violent acts are why Patazis commissioned a mural to be painted on the side of his establishment. Next to the image, a quote from Lewis reads, “If you come together with a mission and it’s grounded in love and a sense of community, you make the impossible possible” (Byington 2020). This embodies his belief in the Beloved Community. The people of Birmingham needed to come together in unity and create the peace that felt impossible. Patazis knew the reminder from one of the most influential civil rights leaders of all time was necessary (Byington 2020). It redirects those who pass by to the hope in an unfailing unity inspired by Lewis and encourages faith and perseverance through injustices.

John Lewis
Medium: paint on masonry
Artist: Dewon Moton
Painted: December 2020
Location: Gus’s Hot Dogs, 1915 4th Ave. North, Birmingham, AL 35203

References

BhamWiki. 2020. “2020 George Floyd protests.” MediaWiki. Last modified May 28, 2021. https://www.bhamwiki.com/w/2020_George_Floyd_protests.

Byington, Pat. 2020. “Birmingham’s newest mural honors civil rights hero John Lewis.” Bham Now, December 28, 2020. https://bhamnow.com/2020/12/28/birminghams-newest-mural-honors-civil-rights-hero-john-lewis-photos/

King Center. n.d. “Beloved Community.” The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. Accessed September 14, 2023. https://thekingcenter.org/about-tkc/ the-king-philosophy/.

Lewis, John, and Michael D’Orso. 1998. Walking with the Wind. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Meacham, Jon. 2021. His Truth is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope. Afterword by John Lewis. Manhattan, NY: Random House.

Nagan, Winston P. 2014. “The Struggle for Justice in the Civil Rights March from Selma to Montgomery: The Legacy of the Magna Carta and the Common Law Tradition.” Faulkner Law Review 6: 1–20.

Parham, William D., and Ehlers, Caroline S. Clauss. 2016. “Celebrating Our Elders Who Led Us Across the Bridge: A Call to Action for the Academy.” Journal of Multicultural Counseling & Development: 4–27. http://www.doi.org/10.1002/jmcd.12034.

Caroline G. Goss ’27 was a student in Core Seminar: Icons & Memorials in Samford University’s Howard College of Arts & Sciences in fall 2023.

Published November 29, 2023.