Congressman John Lewis, speaking at a Democratic fundraiser in Chattanooga on Saturday, called the re-election of President Obama "only a down payment on Dr. King's dream."
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Linking his own unique life story to today's current political climate, Congressman Lewis told the audience at Olivet Baptist Church how, as a sharecropper's son, he had wanted to be a preacher. Since one of his responsibilities was caring for the chickens, he would gather both chickens and his siblings in the farmyard and begin to preach. "And I can tell you I think some of those chickens that I preached to in the 40s and 50s listened to me better than my Republicans colleagues today," he said.
As a young man, Congressman Lewis was urged by those older to not make trouble, despite the pernicious evidence of racism he said he found all around him. "But I did get in the way, I did get into trouble and it was good trouble and necessary trouble," he related, speaking of his experiences as a non-violent sit-in organizer and Freedom Rider.
The speaker said Democrats were responsible for the passage of bills that created Social Security,Medicare, the Higher Education Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. "We cannot forget," he said. "We must vote now like we never have. The vote is the most non-violent power in a democratic society and we must use it." He added, "Some in Washington want to take us back to another period," but then told a story of a man who had beaten him during one of the Freedom Rides coming forward to apologize and ask forgiveness.
"We all live in the same house in the Democratic Party," the congressman said several times in his address. "We are the Big Tent." But Democrats have become too quiet, he said. "We need to make some noise, we need to make some trouble, some necessary trouble."
Congressman Lewis was given a standing ovation on completion of his speech by the estimated 400 in attendance.
SOURCE: The Chattanoogan
