# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Representative John Lewis, longtime congressman for Georgia, died on Friday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 80 years old. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi confirmed Lewis's death in a statement on Monday. "Today, America mourns the loss of one of the greatest heroes of American history," she said.

Lewis devoted his life to fighting for equality for all Americans. He served in the United States Congress for more than 30 years, and he was one of the last living leaders of the civil rights movement. He marched beside Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s, and he used what he learned to promote activism among generations of young people.

Civil Rights Leader

Lewis was born in Troy, Alabama, in 1940. At the time, the South was segregated. Laws were in place that made Black people second-class citizens. "I had grown up in rural Alabama very, very poor," he wrote in TIME. "I saw signs that said 'White' and 'Colored' . . . And I would ask my mother, my father, my grandparents, 'Why? Why is that?' And they'd say, 'That's the way it is.'"

Lewis could not accept that answer. At 18, he heard King speak on the radio. It spurred him to action. He took part in sit-ins at segregated lunch counters in Tennessee. In 1961, he joined the first Freedom Riders. These demonstrators, Black and white, traveled by bus through the South to challenge segregation at bus terminals.

Lewis was one of the organizers of the March on Washington, in 1963. That's where King made his "I Have a Dream" speech. Lewis also spoke at the event. "How long can we be patient?" he asked the hundreds of thousands who'd gathered in the nation's capital. "We want our freedom, and we want it now."

A few years later, Lewis led another of the most famous marches in American history. In March 1965, he and 600 people walked from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, to push for voting rights for Black people. At Selma's Edmund Pettus Bridge, they were met by police, who ordered them to turn back. The protesters refused, and were beaten by police. Television coverage of the violence outraged the nation and drew support for the Voting Rights Act. On August 6, President Lyndon Johnson signed it into law.

On to Congress

In 1986, Lewis started his career as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He became known as "the conscience of Congress," earning respect from leaders in both parties. In 2016, a shooting in Orlando, Florida, left 49 dead. Lewis led memebers of Congress in a 25-hour sit-in to force the House to vote on gun control.

This June, George Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Lewis viewed the protests that followed as a continuation of his work. Speaking to CBS This Morning, he said, "It was very moving, very moving to see hundreds of thousands of people from all over America and around the world take to the streets-to speak up, to speak out, to get into what I call 'good trouble.' . . . There will be no turning back."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Representative John Lewis, longtime congressman for Georgia, died on Friday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 80 years old. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi confirmed Lewis's death in a statement on Monday. "Today, America mourns the loss of one...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Improve your students' reading comprehension with ReadWorks. Access thousands of high-quality, free K-12 articles, and create online assignments with them for your students.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Claudette Colvin was an African American teenager who, in 1955, was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white person. Her brave action came nine months before...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Get unlimited access to 40,000 of the best books, audiobooks, videos, & more for kids 12 and under. Try it free.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Brown vs. Board of Education | A More or Less Perfect Union | PBS LearningMedia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Brown v. Board of Education was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools in public schools are unconstitutional.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Birmingham: Violence at the Trailways Station

Following the infamous burning of the Greyhound bus on May 14, 1961, in Anniston, Alabama, a Trailways bus carrying Freedom Riders arrived in Birmingham, where a mob of Ku Klux Klan members attacked the Freedom Riders with baseball bats and other weapons. The beatings were not just perpetrated against African-American riders; in fact, some white Freedom Riders were singled out and attacked more brutally. Despite the certainty of more violence to come at future destinations, the Freedom Riders continued their journey.

Today, a historic marker commemorates the site in downtown Birmingham where this Trailways bus station once stood.

Nashville: Students Organize and Mobilize

Diane Nash, a leader of the Nashville Student Movement (a group that challenged racial segregation) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, urged other students in Nashville to step in and continue the rides across the South. On May 17, 1961, a group of 10 students rode to Birmingham, where they were arrested and then transported to the Tennessee state line where they were left.

Nash attended college at Nashville's Fisk University. Visit the school, the first African-American institution to receive accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and see the epicenter of the Nashville Student Movement. Walking the grounds, you also can take in the historic architecture and experience many sites and landmarks of the Civil Rights Movement. A variety of private African-American history tours are available that include Fisk University on their itineraries.

Mob Attacks in Montgomery

On the morning of May 20, 1961, a bus carrying Freedom Riders arrived in Montgomery from Birmingham. A white mob was waiting for the riders at the bus station on South Court Street, and when the bus arrived, the mob beat the exiting riders with baseball bats and iron pipes. Many were injured, some severely, before black residents of Montgomery stepped in to rescue the Freedom Riders from further violence.

The next day, May 21, more than 1,500 people gathered at First Baptist Church on Ripley Street to hear Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders speak in defense of the Freedom Riders. Again, a mob was waiting. Three thousand people gathered outside the church attacked some of the African-American guests. While the U.S. Marshals Guard was present, the local and state police made little effort to contain the violence, leading President John F. Kennedy to order the Alabama National Guard to break up the mob and protect the Freedom Riders and their supporters.

Today, you can visit the bus station where the Freedom Riders arrived in Montgomery. The station is now the Freedom Rides Museum, and parts have been restored to appear the way they did in 1961. From there, head to First Baptist Church on Ripley Street to see where the Freedom Riders took refuge after the attack at the station.

Filling the Jails in Jackson

A new group of Freedom Riders arrived in Montgomery on May 22, 1961, to replace those who had been wounded, and on May 24, they boarded buses bound for Jackson, Mississippi. The riders were not attacked upon arrival, but they were arrested shortly after when they attempted to use whites-only facilities at the station.

The Freedom Riders adopted a new strategy: "Fill the jails." When another bus left from Montgomery to Jackson after the first round of arrests, a new pattern was established for rides from this point forward. This time, the Freedom Riders headed to Jackson knowing they would be arrested upon arrival. The arrestees successfully filled the Jackson and Hinds County jails to the point of overflow, after which many were transferred to the infamous Parchman Farm (Mississippi State Penitentiary), where, despite abusive treatment, the Freedom Riders continued singing songs of freedom together.

Today in Jackson, you can discover the legacy of the Freedom Riders as part of the new Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Freedom Riders Risk It All - US Civil Rights Trail

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Following the infamous burning of the Greyhound bus on May 14, 1961, in Anniston, Alabama, a Trailways bus carrying Freedom Riders arrived in Birmingham, where a mob of Ku Klux Klan members attacked the Freedom Riders with baseball bats and other weapons.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What was the Montgomery Bus Boycott | Montgomery Bus Boycott For Kids | Civil Rights

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
After Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus, laws were passed that said that whites and blacks could ride together on any bus traveling through more than one state. But throughout the South, this practice was still not allowed. So white volunteers began riding with black people to test this law and challenge those who refused to abide by it. These volunteers were called Freedom Riders.
Fun Facts

On Mother's Day of 1961, angry mobs surrounded a Greyhound bus in rural Alabama. On the bus, white and black passengers rode together. The mob began pelting the bus with bricks and rocks and using sticks and axes to break windows. After someone through a firebomb through a window in the bus, the mobs blocked the doors so the people couldn't get off. The fuel tank caught on fire and the bus would soon explode, forcing the mob back and allowing the passengers to flee. The mob beat them as they got off the bus.

A few hours later, white and black passengers were beaten until they were bloody as they got off buses in other parts of Alabama.

As news of the attacks spread through the country, more than 400 people volunteered as Freedom Riders. They risked arrest, beatings, and even death, but they thought their cause was important enough to risk their lives. Most of the riders were college students. Many of them came from religious backgrounds or were civil rights workers. Half were black and a quarter of the group were women.

Many of the Freedom Riders were arrested and sent to jail. In Florida, a group of 300 people spent more than three weeks in jail under terrible conditions.

Today, most of the Freedom Riders are in their 70s or 80s. Many of them went on to become teachers, preachers, college professors, lawyers, and politicians. Many of them are still active in civil and social justice. They believe in speaking up for what they think is right.

Learn More
Watch a short video about the Freedom Riders.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Freedom Riders - American History For Kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
After Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus, laws were passed that said that whites and blacks could ride together on any bus traveling through more than one state. But throughout the South, this practice was still not allowed. So white volunteers began riding with black people to test this law ...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
American Experience | The Movement: A Short Film from Freedom Riders | Season 23 | Episode 11 | PBS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Freedom Riders represented a cross-section of America.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated Southern United States in 1961 and years to challenge the non-enforcement of the United States Supreme Court decisions Morgan v. Virginia (1946) and Boynton v. Virginia (1960), which ruled that segregated public buses were unconstitutional.

The Southern states had ignored the rulings and the federal government did nothing to enforce them. The first Freedom Ride left Washington, D.C. on May 4, 1961, and was scheduled to arrive in New Orleans on May 17.

Southern local and state police considered the actions of the Freedom Riders to be criminal and arrested them in some locations. In some places, such as Birmingham, Alabama, the police worked with the Ku Klux Klan and other white people against the actions of the riders, and allowed mobs to attack the riders.

Images for kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated Southern United States in 1961 and years to challenge the non-enforcement of the United States Supreme Court decisions Morgan v. Virginia (1946) and Boynton v. Virginia (1960), which ruled that segregated public buses were unconstitutional.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Growing up in the South during a time when Black people did not have the same rights as white people, John Lewis faced racial discrimination-and he did not like it. He fought for equality during the civil rights movement, marching with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., against oppression and risking his life for justice. Through grit and determination, he went from sitting on bus seats as an act of civil disobedience during the Freedom Rides to sitting in the halls of Congress as a champion for civil liberties.

Lewis was born on February 21, 1940, in rural Alabama. His parents were sharecroppers who worked on a farm picking cotton for landowners. As a young boy, Lewis also picked cotton and did other farm duties with his family. It was hard work, but he enjoyed being with the chickens. Lewis wanted to be a pastor, so he would preach to his feathered flock in the chicken coop while tending to the hens and counting their eggs. His inspiration was King, whose words Lewis listened to on the radio.

Lewis studied at the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville and helped organize lunch sit-ins against segregated restaurants, where Black and white people could not eat together, Sometimes he'd be arrested for his actions, but Lewis accepted being thrown in jail for fighting for what is right, or "good trouble," as he'd later call it. For instance, he was one of 13 original Freedom Riders, who travelled by bus to test laws that were supposed to protect Black people. But he was beaten and jailed several times on his journey.

Lewis's most memorable act of "good trouble" occurred on March 7, 1965, when he led a group of 600 people across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on what would be known as "Bloody Sunday."

Lewis, who was then only 25 years old, marched across the bridge in the fight for equal voting rights for Black people. In his bag he carried just a toothbrush, toothpaste, two books, an orange, and an apple. But he and the other peaceful protesters were met by police officers carrying batons. The police fired tear gas onto the crowd and attacked them, leaving many bloody and wounded. Lewis was knocked unconscious.

The events of Bloody Sunday were caught on camera and televised to the country. They attracted more protests. King joined Lewis and thousands of other protesters to march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Their efforts eventually led to the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which outlawed the discriminatory practices that prevented many Black Americans from voting.

Lewis eventually became a congressman from Georgia in 1987, serving until his death from pancreatic cancer at the age of 80 on July 17, 2020. During his time in Congress he continued his work for civil rights and encouraged young people do the hard work necessary to change the country by getting into "good trouble."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
How this congressman used 'good trouble' to fight for civil rights

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
John Lewis (Abdo Kids) | Reading Books For Kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
History of Louis Armstrong for Kids | Bedtime History

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Get unlimited access to 40,000 of the best books, audiobooks, videos, & more for kids 12 and under. Try it free.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids learn about the history of the March on Washington including Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech, the Big Six planners, and the results such as Civil Rights Act in 1964.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Reflections on the Greensboro Lunch Counter

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
On February 1, 1960, four college freshmen in Greensboro, North Carolina, stunned the world by a simple act. Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair Jr., and David Richmond sat down at a "whites only" lunch counter at the local Woolworth's. The young black men politely asked for coffee. When told that they would not be served, the friends sat peacefully until the store closed.

This quiet act of rebellion sparked a series of sit-ins across the South to end racial segregation. "It became what we call a 'spark' that was created here, and it spread like wildfire across North Carolina," says Cassandra Williams, a guide at the International Civil Rights Center & Museum, which is in the same building that once housed the Woolworth's.

From February 1 until July 25, 1960, the "Greensboro Four," as they became known, staged a series of sit-ins. They were joined by tens of thousands of students, both black and white. Even people in the North, where Woolworth's lunch counters were not segregated, wanted to support the movement.

"People boycotted the stores in the North," Williams says, "telling others not to eat there."
LIVING HISTORY
On July 25, 1960, the Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro was finally integrated. People of all races could sit together to eat. But it would take a few more years for every business in Greensboro to take down the "whites only" signs for good.

Today, the old Woolworth's lunch counter serves as a museum where people can learn about civil rights history. Visitors can see where McCain, McNeil, Blair, and Richmond actually sat down in 1960. "I love meeting all the new people," says museum guide La'Tonya Wiley. "I like being able to give them information to add to their knowledge."

The Greensboro Four sat down not just for themselves. They wanted to create a better world for everyone. Such acts of courage still inspire us today.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
On February 1, 1960, four college freshmen in Greensboro, North Carolina, stunned the world by a simple act. Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair Jr., and David Richmond sat down at a "whites only" lunch counter at the local Woolworth's. The young black men politely asked for coffee.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Ruby Bridges Changed the Face of Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Civil rights icon Ruby Bridges brings her story to new generation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Ruby Bridges Changed the Face of Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
I Am Ruby Bridges - An Animated Classroom Read Aloud with Moving Pictures - Black History Month

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
ReadWorks | Award-Winning, EdTech Nonprofit Organization

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
ReadWorks is an edtech nonprofit organization that is committed to helping to solve America’s reading comprehension crisis.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Read Ruby Bridges and the Desegregation of American Schools on Epic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Read Ruby Bridges and the Desegregation of American Schools on Epic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Instantly access Ruby Bridges and the Desegregation of American Schools plus over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Get unlimited access to 40,000 of the best books, audiobooks, videos, & more for kids 12 and under. Try it free.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Human Right Story Corner: Sit-in: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Get unlimited access to 40,000 of the best books, audiobooks, videos, & more for kids 12 and under. Try it free.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Freedom Riders | Civil Rights Movement | PBS LearningMedia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Discover how in response to the South’s continued practice of segregation, a group of activists from all backgrounds and races rode interstate buses into the deep South. Met by violence and opposition, the Freedom Riders displayed true acts of courage as they peacefully sought to end segregation in the South and achieve civil rights for all people.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Get unlimited access to 40,000 of the best books, audiobooks, videos, & more for kids 12 and under. Try it free.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
WE MARCH | The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom | Preschool | Read Aloud | Story

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Brown case overturned an earlier decision by the Supreme Court. In 1896 the court had decided that it was legal to make African Americans and whites use separate public facilities. Throughout the South nearly all public places, including parks, restaurants, movie theaters, and drinking fountains, were separate. It was illegal for an African American to use a facility reserved for whites.

For years African Americans and others worked to change the segregation laws. One group that was very active in those efforts was the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In the late 1940s the NAACP supported several African American children who had applied to all-white schools. The children were not accepted into the schools. The NAACP then brought lawsuits against the school boards. The law at the time said that schools could be kept separate if they were equal. The court cases argued that the Black schools were not equal to the white schools. Eventually five of the cases were combined and brought before the Supreme Court.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was a court case about segregation in United States public schools. Segregation means keeping Blacks and whites separate. In 1954 the...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Fresberg Cartoon – Learning & History for Students

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
John Lewis: A Legacy of Courage Video | Biography

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Welcome to Britannica School, a safe, up-to-date, and age-appropriate information resource for Elementary, Middle, and High School.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Welcome to Britannica School, a safe, up-to-date, and age-appropriate information resource for Elementary, Middle, and High School.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Welcome to Britannica School, a safe, up-to-date, and age-appropriate information resource for Elementary, Middle, and High School.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Welcome to Britannica School, a safe, up-to-date, and age-appropriate information resource for Elementary, Middle, and High School.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Enter the Access ID and Passcode provided by your school to access Britannica School.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
NEW! ASK Britannica... YOUR QUESTIONS. OUR ANSWERS, POWERED BY AI.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Get unlimited access to 40,000 of the best books, audiobooks, videos, & more for kids 12 and under. Try it free.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Claudette Colvin: The Original Rosa Parks

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Civil Rights icon Claudette Colvin dies at 86