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Team,

More than half a century ago, during one of the most painful, and most shameful, chapters in our nation’s history, John Lewis’s courage and restraint in the face of life-threatening violence brought out the best in a generation.

And on the day that Dr. King led hundreds of thousands of Americans in a march on Washington and shared his dream with the world, Lewis’s words established the creed that guided those devoted to the cause of justice and the promise of equality — the creed that sustains us to this day: "Our minds, souls, and hearts cannot rest until freedom and justice exist for all."

Those words were true in 1963. They remain true today, on what would be John Lewis’s 85th birthday.

John Lewis was a revolutionary, an opponent of the status quo. He wasn’t consumed with the acquisition of power, but committed to its use for good. He helped to destroy a system of American apartheid and raise a better nation from its rubble.

He was among the Founding Fathers and Mothers of a more just America — men and women who braved guns, billy clubs, and bare fists to awaken the conscience of a country. He spoke out against bigotry, police brutality, abuse of power, and violations of the right to protest.

But nowhere was his dedication clearer than in his determination to secure the still-unmet promise of our nation: the right to vote.

That promise is what led him to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial as the youngest speaker to address the March on Washington.

It is the hope that he carried across a bridge in Selma, Alabama, named for a Confederate general who was a leader in the Ku Klux Klan.

It is the pledge that he brought with him to the Capitol, where he stood alongside President Lyndon B. Johnson at the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which he helped usher into law.

It is the commitment that animated him every day of his service as a representative for the oppressed in this nation and as a guiding light for his country, including more than three decades of service as a member of Congress.

That promise was his life’s work. But to this day, it is not yet truly fulfilled.

Ever since the Voting Rights Act was enacted, anti-democracy forces have sought to weaken it — in a continued, concerted effort to achieve unearned, illegitimate power at the expense of communities of color. The fight for equal representation is part of our present, not just our past, and our country remains too far from the Promised Land envisioned by all those who sacrificed their lives for civil and voting rights.

Our movement will continue working to uphold the Voting Rights Act — as our affiliate, the National Redistricting Foundation, did in supporting a tenacious group of Black Alabama voters who took their fight for fair representation all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and won. That ruling paved the way for fair maps in Alabama and Louisiana last November, which gave Black voters historic, hard-won opportunities to elect the candidates of their choosing.

Although our progress may still seem slow and halting at times, each of us has the power, and obligation, to make sure that our journey continues. Together, we can build a more inclusive, more just, and more perfect union. And we must. So this Black History Month, and in honor of my friend John Lewis, I ask you to recommit yourself to helping our country move forward on this long road toward justice and equality.

Thank you,

Eric H. Holder, Jr.
82nd Attorney General of the United States

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