John Lewis

Today the casket of John Lewis, who  died on July 17th after serving 33 years in Congress,  was borne  through his  home town of Selma, Alabama.  My father grew up in Alabama,  and I watched the long procession with close attention.  As a civil rights leader, Lewis  worked with  Martin Luther King. In 1965 they marched together in Selma and were beaten by Alabama state troopers--Lewis's skull was  fractured. Today's procession took the same route, and the black horse-drawn bier paused for a moment of reflection at the spot of that attack.