Hi, team
Last Sunday marked the first Bloody Sunday commemoration without John Lewis.
On March 7, 1965, Civil Rights marchers were brutally beaten on Selma, AL's Edmund Pettus Bridge. It was also the day John Lewis and others taught us what courage means. Taught us the responsibilities that come with the pursuit of justice. Taught us that we can make no assumptions about the direction of our nation.
Growing up, I saw John Lewis as a hero, a role model -- someone whose steps I tried to follow. Now that he's gone, we need to memorialize him. One way we can honor his bravery and courage is to move forward with renaming the Edmund Pettus Bridge after him.
As deserving as John Lewis is of this honor, Edmund Pettus is equally deserving of being stripped of the honor. Pettus was a general in the Confederate Army who valued his racist legacy so much that he wanted it memorialized on his tombstone.
Do you support renaming the Edmund Pettus Bridge in honor of John Lewis?
I plan on going to the bridge in Selma once this pandemic is over. And no matter what the name is, I will be forever grateful for what John and others did that day.
-Andy Kim