Katherine Clark: “What a privilege it has been not only to serve with John Lewis, but to be witness tonight to the remembrances of our…”

“What a privilege it has been not only to serve with John Lewis, but to be witness tonight to the remembrances of our icon, the peacemaker, the justice seeker, Congressman John Robert Lewis. Personally, I never got used to working with John Lewis, and I struggled to call him ``John.'' I met him right after I got sworn in, in a special election, near the chair in which he often sat. I was completely tongue-tied. Whether it was a casual hello, a walk back and forth from the Capitol for votes, or planning a sit-in, every single interaction with John was profound. John knew oppression and he knew racial violence. He had been beaten, clubbed, spat on, and denigrated. John had experienced the worst forms of bigotry. He had seen the worst in people, and yet it steeled his determination and it deepened his faith. John Lewis is the kindest man I have ever known. Love, compassion, integrity were the hallmarks of everything he did, big or small. Like so many of you, I was fortunate enough to be able to go to Selma on several occasions with John and walk the Civil Rights Trail. To hear John Lewis speak on the Edmund Pettus Bridge is transformative. That bridge is an unusual structure. It has a steep rise as it comes up, it flattens in the middle, and then there is a steep descent.…”