The Most Under-reported Speech

on Thursday, because folks were focusing on John Kerry, and Biden, and our President. Rep. John Lewis's speech was not long, but he made every word count. He spoke quietly and forcefully, telling the story of being one of the members of the first group of Freedom Riders and he and 2 others were savagely beaten at a bus station in Rock Hill SC. In Lewis's own words:

A few years ago, a man from Rock Hill, inspired by President Obama’s election, decided to come forward. He came to my office in Washington and said, ‘I am one of the people who beat you. I want to apologize. Will you forgive me?’ I said, ‘I accept your apology.’ He started crying. He gave me a hug. I hugged him back, and we both started crying. This man and I don’t want to go back; we don't want to go back.*

Referring to the recent Republican efforts to suppress the vote:

I’ve seen this before. I’ve lived this before. Too many people struggled, suffered and died to make it possible for every American to exercise their right to vote.

Watch it. It's well worth the 7 minutes it takes.



* The pre-speech transcript has him saying "This man and I don’t want to go back; we want to move forward" but when he delivered the speech Rep. Lewis said "This man and I don’t want to go back; we don't want to go back" and truthfully, I think it was more powerful.