On February 21, 1940, John Lewis, politician, Civil Rights leader and Congressman was born. 

“Do not get lost in a sea of despair.
Be hopeful, be optimistic.
Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime.
Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”
–   John Lewis June 2018

John Lewis, Politician & Civil Rights Activist
United States issued June 21, 2023
Photographer Marco Grob

John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940–July 17, 2020) was a giant in the civil rights movement whose wisdom, courage, and moral clarity earned him the nickname “the conscience of the Congress” during his 17 terms as a representative of Georgia’s fifth congressional district. Advocating nonviolence “not just as a technique, but as a way of life,” Lewis endured repeated beatings and arrests while leading civil rights protests during the 1960s. A founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) when he was just 19, Lewis took the lead in organizing the freedom rides, sit-ins, marches, and other demonstrations that were part of the SNCC’s drive to end racial segregation and secure voting rights for millions of disenfranchised African Americans. The youngest person to speak at the 1963 March on Washington, he urged, “We must say wake up America, wake up! For we cannot stop, and we will not and cannot be patient.” Remembering Congressman John R. Lewis | Smithsonian Institution (si.edu)

‘He’d been through the fire’: John Lewis, civil rights giant, remembered | Books | The Guardian