Barack Obama, Martin Luther King III, Nancy Pelosi, and more are mourning the death of civil rights icon John Lewis.
The longtime Georgia congressman died on Friday (July 17) following a months-long battle with stage IV pancreatic cancer. He was 80 years old.
In his lifetime, Lewis had served more than three decades serving in Congress since being elected into the House of Representatives in 1986. As one of the “Big Six” leaders of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, Lewis famously faced down death and violence while leading the Bloody Sunday march to Montgomery from Selma, and survived a brutal beating by Alabama police after crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
The shocking moment in history would help push to end racial segregation in America.
In light of the shattering news, many politicians, celebrities, and other famous figures have taken to social media to pay homage to the towering politician’s instrumental career.
Human rights advocate and son of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., tweeted, "He gave a voice to the voiceless, and he reminded each of us that the most powerful nonviolent tool is the vote. Our hearts feel empty without our friend, but we find comfort knowing that he is free at last.”
Pelosi applauded how Lewis’ “goodness, faith, and bravery and transformed our nation,” adding, "John Lewis's memory moves us all to, in the face of injustice, make 'good trouble, necessary trouble.' May it be a comfort to his son John-Miles & his entire family that so many mourn their loss at this sad time."
Scroll down for more tributes and reactions to John Lewis' death below.
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