What did John Lewis die of?

(CNN) John Robert Lewis, the son of sharecroppers who survived a brutal beating by police during a landmark 1965 march in Selma, Alabama, to become a towering figure of the civil rights movement and a longtime US congressman, has died after a six-month battle with cancer. He was 80.

What district does John Lewis represent today?

Known as the “conscience of the U.S. Congress,” Lewis continually represented Georgia’s 5th Congressional District, which includes most of Atlanta, since taking office in 1987. His cancer diagnosis in December 2019 did not interrupt that streak.

Who spoke at John Lewis’ funeral?

Former President George W. Bush speaks during the funeral for Rep. John Lewis at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. (Alyssa Pointer / Atlanta Journal-Constitution) Former President Clinton speaks during the funeral for Rep. John Lewis at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.

What did John Lewis do to advance civil rights?

Lewis spent much of his life trying to advance civil rights through nonviolent means, beginning with the mobilization for Black voting rights when he was a college student and continuing through the gay rights movement as a senior member of Congress representing Atlanta.

How did John Lewis impact the Civil Rights Movement?

The son of Alabama sharecroppers, Lewis served in Congress for more than three decades, pushing the causes he championed as an original Freedom Rider challenging segregation, discrimination and injustice in the Deep South – issues reverberating today in the Black Lives Matter movement.

What happened to John Lewis after the Selma March?

Lewis suffered a fractured skull on the day that would become known as “Bloody Sunday”. Fifty years later, in 2015, he walked across the bridge arm in arm with Obama, the nation’s first Black president, to mark the anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery march.