Until the Revolution of 1776 is Complete

U.S. Congressman and Civil Rights activist John Lewis passed away last weekend at the age of 80. He famously spoke at the Great March on Washington on August 28, 1963, the youngest of all the speakers that day, before a crowd of hundreds of thousands of people. Despite the agony of walking and standing under the scorching August Washington D.C. Sun, history would be made thanks to the speeches given by greats such as John Lewis, Roy Wilkins, and of course, the famous “I have a dream” speech by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 

In the present tense, we claim to honor those greats by “continuing their legacy,” but that simply isn’t true. 

We are not doing enough. Period. We, meaning we as Americans as a collective, haven’t done enough to ensure the hard work of Congressman Lewis doesn’t have to be done all over again. 2020 has fully exposed our complacency for pushing for needed change in this country. From the handling of the Coronavirus pandemic to the murder of George Floyd, both expose America’s glaring need to no longer ignore systematic ills. Though the systematic ills of America are nothing new to Black people, the “ills” are sometimes not as clear as we may want to think. 

When Congressman Lewis was figurately and literally (he had his skull mashed into by a Police Officer) fighting systematic racism in the 1960s, the obstacles were more direct. Under the protection of “states rights,” states could enact systematic white supremacist measures like Jim Crow laws. The works of the 1960’s Civil Rights movement led to hallmark acts like the Civil Rights Voting Act, Voting Rights Act, and the Housing Rights Act, VISIBLY desegregated America. However, as we most certainly know, the true work resided in the post segregated America. Measures not so direct and noticeable. You do not “see” a doctor neglecting the prenatal needs of a Black woman in favor of a White woman. You do not “see” qualified Black candidates get passed over by their lesser qualified White peers in the same manner you “saw” a young John Lewis get physically assaulted by a Police Officer. 

2020 has shown the long neglect to address failures in the healthcare system, criminal justice system, and education simply cannot continue. The need to apply true pressure to elected officials to make drastic and impacting change is the legacy Congressman John Lewis wanted to create. He said it best…

“I appeal to all of you to get into this great revolution that is sweeping this nation. Get in and stay in the streets of every city, every village and hamlet of this nation until true freedom comes, until the revolution of 1776 is complete.”

We cannot allow the call for Black Lives Matter, Equality, and Justice to morph into nothing more than a bumper sticker or hashtag. The consequences are too much to allow that to happen. Let’s vote, let’s stay on the elected officials we elect to do their job of progressing the cause of all people and let’s keep doing it… until the revolution of 1776 is complete!

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