On July 17, 2020, Civil Rights icons C. T. Vivian and John Lewis died on the same day. I hope this will allow a reset of discussion about race in Georgia and in America. These two men and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were leaders in the non-violent social change of our nation for the better. They were also challenged by others in the movement to be more militant and more violent but they never gave up on the concept of real and lasting change comes from non-violent means.
On Wednesday, the casket of C. T. Vivian laid in state in the Georgia Capitol. And the Governor and his family greeted his family. That didn’t happen in 1968 when then Governor Lester Maddox did not allow the King family that same honor when his funeral procession passed. We’ve come a long way.
On July 4, 1826, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on the same day. It was the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. After the War for Independence, they both served as President of the United States. They had become estranged from each other but were repairing their relationship. They, in fact, wrote each other letters on the day of their death not knowing the other had died. This was a reset point for our young republic.
History runs in cycles and freedoms have to be fought for on a regular basis. That truth is “baked” into the Declaration of Independence, The U. S. Constitution and especially the Bill of Rights 1st Amendment. We have a right to redress our government and to peacefully protest.
We will get through this and the rich lives we celebrate of John Lewis and C. T. Vivian will be the reset button this nation needs. Heck, the Mayor of Atlanta and the Governor had a nice conversation yesterday!
