Former Vice President Al Gore, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and local officials all got together to honor the life of John Lewis this past weekend.
The former Georgia congressman got his start in Nashville during the civil rights movement, as he participated in sit-ins and other protests to fight for the equal treatment of Black people.
But it was higher education that brought him to the city.
American Baptist College President Forrest Harris spoke about what the city of Nashville should be doing for historically black colleges.
“It owes them the kind of support, the kind of recognition, that if these schools were incubators for people like John Lewis, then these schools need to be incubators for other social justice leaders and training them for the future.”
The event was held on Saturday at the Ryman Auditorium, which is located on a street renamed in Lewis’ honor.
John Lewis Way, formerly Fifth Avenue, is where Lewis demonstrated at lunch counters and received an award from Martin Luther King Junior at the Ryman.
Although Lewis passed away last year, the fight against racism and equal treatment has continued — from voting rights and police brutality to medical treatment during the pandemic.
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