A Great Man Praising A Great man

Yesterday we had the extraordinary privilege of one great man praising another great man. The man doing the praising was former President Barrack Obama. The man being praised was the late Congressman John Lewis, who sadly passed July 17, 2020.

President Obama is a gifted orator, and in yesterday’s eulogy to Congressman Lewis, he pulled out all stops. In my opinion, listening to President Obama, he hit eleven on a scale of one to ten. I think it was one of his finest speeches ever, and a truly fitting send off to a man commonly described as the “conscience of Congress.”

I don’t know much about the late Congressman Lewis, other than;

• He was an early participant in the early civil rights movement.
• Received a cracked skull at the hands of southern police during the first March to Selma.
• Upheld his principles of equality for all throughout his 33-year’s service in the House of Representatives.
• Was untouched by scandal throughout his 17 terms in Congress.

I learned a lot more yesterday, listening to President Obama’s eulogy. His eulogy was a fitting tribute to Congressman Lewis’ life. But it didn’t just reflect on the past. President Obama used this eulogy as a call to action over voting rights and restoration of American democracy as means of carrying Congressman Lewis life work forward.

Without ever calling out trump, Supreme Court justices, or any Republican Congress-person by name, President Obama shamed all of them. For a few minutes he became a blindingly bright emissary of outraged righteousness at having to re-fight the same battles that Congressman Lewis fought in the 1960s.

Video of President Obama’s Eulogy

I am posting a video of President Obama’s entire speech here, as my very small way of honoring the late Congressman John Lewis. There’s nothing I can write that can match the speech in it’s entirety.