Its Time, indeed its overtime to rename the Edmund Pettus Bridge, named after a former confederate brigadier general, and grand dragon of the Klu Klux Klan for Congressman John Lewis. Congressman John Lewis, who gave his hands for his entire life to dismantle the system of plantation-capitalism PRESENTE! A Building Bridges exclusive with, Congressman John Lewis in one of his last addresses to hundreds of public workers of Local 371 District Council 37
The bridge carrying the nefarious name of the grand dragon of the Klu Klux Klan, the Edmund Pettus Bridges was the site of the conflict of Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965, when police attacked and brutally beat Civil Rights Movement demonstrators, among them Congressman John Lewis, who nearly lost his life there. As John Lewis gave his hands to struggle for the self-determination for people of African ancestry and to topple the system of white supremacy grew out of and was intended to preserve the system of plantation-capitalism he never faltered.
But who can tell his story better then him? And, Building Bridges had the good fortune to attend and record one of Congressman Lewis last talks, before a standing room only crowd of public workers of Local 371, District Council 37 AFSCME. Lewis recalled his upbringing in the segregated South, including how he was denied a library card because the library was for whites only. He was determined to destroy segregation, joining with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to help plan the 1963 March on Washington. Two years later, Lewis helped lead the Bloody Sunday voting rights march intended to go from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. White police, state troopers and thugs blocked their way on the bridge out of Selma, attacking the peaceful marchers with clubs, bullwhips and tear gas. Lewis suffered a cracked skull.
Congressman Lewis went on to talk about his career in politics, representing Atlanta in for more than 30 years, and all the while imploring people to press for justice " to make what he came to call "good trouble, necessary trouble. But, as we said who can tell his story better than him so tune into this Building Bridges special edition and youll hear Congressman John Lewis as he imparted to every worker their a sense of their own worth and ready to give our hands to make good trouble, necessary trouble.
produced by Mimi Rosenberg and Ken Nash
please inform us if you plan to broadcast this radio program - knash@igc.org
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