“Without our faith, we wouldn't have been able to succeed. On many occasions, before we'd go out on a sit-in, before we went on the freedom ride, before we marched from Selma to Montgomery, we would sing a song or say a prayer. Without our faith, without the spirit and spiritual bearings and underpinning, we would not have been so successful.”

American civil rights activist and statesman

John Robert Lewis was an American civil rights activist and statesman. He served in the United States House of Representatives for Georgia's 5th congressional district from 1987 until his death in 2020. Lewis was a long-serving member of Congress and a leading figure in the American civil rights movement. His public life combined activism and elected office, and his name is closely tied to the struggle for civil rights in the United States.