John Lewis will always be remembered as that college student who wore a buttoned-up trench coat, carrying a back pack with a lunch and tooth brush, who was beaten nearly to death by the Alabama State Police as he and other young Civil Rights activists crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama in 1965.

The day when police attacked and brutally beat demonstrators with horses, billy clubs and tear gas as they were attempting to march to Alabama’s capital, Montgomery became known as “Bloody Sunday.”

Lewis died on July 17, at age 80, the same day as his Civil Rights contemporary C.T. Vivian, honored with a funeral on July 23 (watch the service here.) Lewis will be memorialized with five days of events starting July 25, taking place from Alabama to D.C.

On Saturday, the motorcade carrying Lewis’s casket traveled from his hometown of Troy, Alabama to Selma for one final weekend for a man who used love and forgiveness to melt the hearts of a generation of people long after the Civil Rights era of the 1960’s. 

The flagged-draped casket was laid in Trojan Arena on the campus of Troy University for a private hour-long service where his brothers and sisters said they know Lewis simply as “Robert,” who loved his family, and they loved him. 

As singer Sheila Jackson performed Bette Middler’s “Wind Beneath My Wings,” people sat in chairs spaced apart in the arena to comply with COVID-19 precautions. 

“Did you ever know that you're my hero?
You're everything I wish I could be
I could fly higher than an eagle
For you are the wind beneath my wings.”

Award-winning gospel singer Dottie Peoples also performed. Not even fears of the virus could dampen the spirit of members of the public who waited outside for their chance to view Lewis as he lay in an open casket. 

Bishop Harry Seawright the Presiding Prelate of the African Methodist Episcopal Church for Alabama, said in an interview, “We have to hold up the legacy of John Lewis, in terms of his forgiveness, his fortitude and his tenacity.”

As he prepared to drive from Birmingham to Selma Saturday night for a memorial service at Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Seawright said the burden of racism just doesn’t reside with white people.

“It is not just whites who are discriminating,” he said. “We have a terrible system of discrimination even among ourselves.” Seawright will be offering a prayer at the historic church, which was a major venue for Lewis and Civil Rights leaders during the Selma to Montgomery March. 

Rep. Lewis Lies in Repose

Following the two-hour service, Brown Chapel will remain open from  

8:00 pm – 11:00 pm CST so the public will have the chance to view Lewis. Then on Sunday at 10 am a processional, called The Final Crossing, will travel from Brown Chapel and cross Edmund Pettus Bridge. 

The Lewis motorcade will travel 51 miles along Highway 80 where his casket will be received at Alabama State Capitol. There, he will lie in repose from 3:00 pm – 7:00 pm CST on Sunday, July 26. Attendees will be required to wear face masks.  

For four days there will be events with themes to honor Lewis: 

THE CONSCIENCE OF THE CONGRESS

Washington, D.C.

Monday, July 27 and Tuesday, July 28

Special Ceremony 

Rotunda, United States Capitol

Mon., July 27, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Network pool coverage.

Rep. John Lewis Lies in Repose

United States Capitol

Mon., July 27, 3:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Tues., July 28, 8:00 am – 10:00 pm

The casket of Rep. Lewis will lie at the top of the East Front Steps of the U.S. Capitol for the public viewing, and the public will file past on the East Plaza.  Per the Washington, D.C. mayor’s order, masks will be required to enter the line, which will begin at the corner of First and East Capitol Streets NE.

ATLANTA’S SERVANT LEADER
Atlanta, Ga.

Wednesday, July 29

Special Ceremony 

Rotunda, Georgia State Capitol 

2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Rep. John Lewis to lie in Rotunda

Rotunda, Georgia State Capitol

3:00 pm – 7:00 pm       

8:00 pm – 8:00 am

Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Omega Service

Rotunda, Georgia State Capitol

7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

A LIFETIME OF SERVICE

Atlanta, Ga

Thursday, July 30

A Celebration of Life

Ebenezer Baptist Church Horizon Sanctuary

11:00 am

Given COVID-19 precautions, this event is not open to the public.  Attendees will be required to wear face and mouth coverings.

Internment

South-View Cemetery

Private 

Hamil Harris contributes to outlets such as The Washington Post, USA Today, The Christian Chronicle and the Washington Informer. Harris is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland College Park and has been a lecturer at Morgan State University. Harris is minister at the Glenarden Church of Christ and a police chaplain. A longtime reporter at The Washington Post, Harris was on the team of Post reporters that published the series “Being a Black Man.” He also was the reporter on the video project that accompanied the series that won two Emmy Awards, the Casey Medal and the Peabody Award.