Congressman John Lewis

Last night as a part of Vanderbilt University's MLK series the keynote speaker was Congressman John Lewis. He was an excellent speaker and very entertaining and informative.  To be in the same room with one of the pioneers of the Civil Rights movement was amazing to me!!!

So as I was waiting and reading on my tablet I decided to tweet what I was doing and I mentioned Congressman Lewis and to may surprise I received this to me phone as I was waiting to hear him speak.

I was like are you serious? He actually tweeted me back! Now you can say this was from one of his people, but I will continue to believe that he tweeted me :-) 

But as I sat there listening to him speak, listening to his accounts of what made him do what he did and some of the things he encountered I just sat there in awe!



There were several things that I took from his speech.

1. He was 18 when I expressed a desire to work the movement, 18!!! What is my (your) excuse for not taking a stand for what you believe in or standing up for social injustices in the world?
2. He worked in a movement that did great things without the Internet, without all the things we have been afforded, he was the son of a sharecropper! What is our excuse?
3. He studied ALL religions and their methods of non-violence. He surrounded himself with people who studied and were devoted to the cause at hand. Have I (you) done that?
4. He still believes in the ways of non violent protest, do you think I (you) could stand and take what he went through and still be able to react non-violently?
5. We still need to foster the "beloved community" that Dr. King spoke about so often.....are we?

These are just a few things that I took from his speech. Still processing some of the things that were said and will be making steps to improve myself and my community by what I have been inspired by.