Trivia

One of the thirteen original freedom riders, and was on board the bus the night the bus was firebombed on May 14, 1961 in Anniston, Alabama, USA. Lewis and the other Freedom Riders were able to get off the bus before the fire consumed the bus interior, only to be beaten and clubbed by the waiting white mob.

Had his skull fractured by a state trooper, thereby shedding blood left behind on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on what was known as Bloody Sunday during the 1965 voting rights protest march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.

Marched with Martin Luther King during the intended peaceful 1965 voting rights protest march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, which ended violently on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. While Lewis and the other marchers upheld their pledge of non-violence, the Alabama State Police responded to their "threat" of non-violence with vicious, state condoned violence, including fracturing John Lewis' skull, almost causing his death. Lewis thought he was going to die. He said "I gave a little blood on that bridge," he said years later. "I thought I was going to die. I thought I saw death".

Graduated from the American Baptist Theological Seminary, in Nashville, Tennessee in 1961 with a bachelor's degree in theology. And, graduated from Fisk University (one of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities, often referred to as HBCUs), in Nashville, Tennessee in 1963 with a bachelor's degree in religion and philosophy.

Was a member of the Atlanta City Council from 1981 to 1986.

Was the U.S. Representative from Georgia's 5th Congressional District from January 3, 1987 until the day he died, July 17, 2020.

By boycotting/protesting the January 20, 2017 presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, it was the first inauguration he had missed in more than three decades.

Did not attend the attend the January 20, 2017 presidential inauguration of Donald Trump in protest of what he felt was Trump's illegitimacy. Lewis said he did not consider him to be a "legitimate" president, and "I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected. And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton," Lewis said.

(1963-1966) Chairman of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (commonly known as SNCC, pronounced as "snick").

During the second session (1988) of his first term in Congress, John Lewis introduced a bill to create a National Museum of African American History (what would become the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture), and the bill was defeated. Lewis introduced new bills to create the African American History museum in each of the two sessions of the seven succeeding congresses, for a total of fifteen times, usually passing the house, but being defeated in the U.S. Senate, until 2003, when conservative U.S. Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) introduced a similar bill in the Senate, and when the bill passed both houses of Congress, after sixteen years, President George W. Bush signed the bill into law in 2003. It took another twelve plus years to get designed and built, but John Lewis proudly attended the opening and dedication of the new museum. located on the National Mall, with the keynote speech being given by the first African American President, Barack Obama.

At the time of his death, he was the then longest serving member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

His last two public appearances before his death, were at the Black Lives Matter mural on 16th Street NW, less than one block from the White House with Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser; and at an online town hall meeting with President Barack Obama.

Expecting to be arrested for the Selma to Montomery march for voting rights in 1965, Lewis packed his backpack with just three things, an apple, a toothbrush, and a book on government. When President Barack Obama attended the 50th anniversary of the march at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 2015, in his speech he said "And then, his knapsack stocked with an apple, a toothbrush, and a book on government -- all you need for a night behind bars -- John Lewis led them (the protest marchers) out of the church (where they had assembled) on a mission to change America.".

He and his wife Lillian were married for almost 50 years when she died in 2012. Together, John and Lillian Lewis had one child, a son named John-Miles Lewis, who they adopted when John-Miles was just two months old in 1976. They named him John-Miles in recognition of Lillian Lewis' maiden name, plus the miles that John Lewis had traveled and marched as a civil rights activist. John Lewis felt it was very important to instill in his son how important the past is, and about knowing our history. John-Miles used the passion for the past that he learned from his father and put it into his artistic career as a hip hop artist which began with the first hip hop song he wrote (while in the third grade) and continued as a composer, singer, and performer of hip hop into the twenty-first century, including writing, singing, and publicly performing a song he called "Political Behavior." John Miles Lewis said the song was about his dad's and his friends' pasts and the political movement they were involved in. In a quote which appeared in the Washington Post newspaper, John Lewis said that he supported his son's career, "as long as he was helping sensitize and educate his generation.".

John Lewis was the last surviving speaker from the 1963 March on Washington, which culminated in speeches made by the "Big Six" leaders of the civil rights movement: A. Philip Randolph, Whitney Young, the Reverend Martin Luther King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech, James Farmer, Roy Wilkins, and, at age 23, the youngest of the speakers, John Lewis. Lewis was considered the "most radical" of the speakers at the Lincoln Memorial at the end of the March on Washington that day, and President John F. Kennedy was so concerned that Lewis speech would be too radical and fiery, that the president had the park service rig the microphone wiring inside the Lincoln Memorial so that Park Rangers could cut the mic wire, and loudly play Mahalia Jackson's "He's Got the Whole World in his Hands" if Lewis' speech "got out of hand". President Kennedy got word to Dr. King about his concern about Lewis' speech, and Dr. King was able to convince Lewis to "tone down the speech, and Mahalia Jaclson's inspirational song was not needed.

Died the same day as civil rights activist Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian, also in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Considered two of the last remaining giants of the 1950s and 1960s Black Civil Rights movement.

Recipient of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for Lifetime Achievement. (2001)

Arrested more than 45 times for non-violent protests and sit-ins, including five times while a sitting Member of Congress, what he called "getting into good trouble".

John Lewis was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian (non-military) honor, by President Barack Obama on February 15, 2011 at the White House in a ceremony in the East Room. There were fourteen other Presidential Medal of Freedom award honorees that day, including former President George Bush; legendary St. Louis Cardinal outfielder/first baseman, member of the Baseball Hall of Fame superstar Stan Musial; celebrated author, poet, educator, producer, actress, filmmaker, and civil rights activist Maya Angelou; legendary investor, industrialist, and philanthropist Warren Buffett; German Chancellor Angela Merkel; Natural Resources Defense Council co-founder John H. Adams; renowned artist Jasper Johns; superstar cellist Yo-Yo Ma; former Boston Celtics' Captain and NBA Hall of Fame inductee Bill Russell; former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, philanthropist, and last surviving JFK sibling Jean Kennedy Smith; and others.

Second cousin of Sisaundra Lewis.

Suffered severely from fear of thunder & lightning (astraphobia).

Has one son: John Miles.

Friends with Martin Luther King, Jr., Barack Obama, and C.T. Vivian.

Is a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity.