Good Trouble

6 years ago, my church Bethel AME hosted our annual conference. During one of the day services we had 2 congressmen speak. My pastor told me to get pictures of them. I said ok and did as I was asked. When I got back to my seat my Aunt gave me her phone and asked me to get her a picture of the older congressman. I did and then I asked who he was.

“You don’t know who that is?” She asked surprised, “He marched with Dr. King.” I had no clue who he was. But I thought that it was really cool that he was living history. So I googled him.

That man was Congressman John Lewis.

I never learned about him in school. Maybe if I had stayed in Louisiana for high school I might have but my sister who had didn’t know either. My history classes barely acknowledged Martin Luther King Jr. or Nelson Mandela so a lesser known name like John Lewis or Ralph Abernathy or C.T Vivian would definitely not be mentioned. I wouldn’t learn who they were until I was in college.

My not knowing who he was kept me from being able to truly appreciate and absorb the significance of that moment. And well, if I’m honest I do wish that despite me not knowing who he was and how significant he is to history, that I had at least taken the opportunity to shake his hand. It did motivate me though to learn more about black history. To go beyond the most well known names and to learn more about the heros that were still alive. This allowed me to better appreciate the significance of the moment he and President Obama embraced after commemorating the anniversary of the crossing of Edmund Pettis Bridge and the voting rights act of 1965.

Congressman Lewis was embracing the hope and the dreams that he, Dr. King, CT Vivian and more hadn’t even thought to dream of. They marched and fought for the right to vote for black people and now he was being honored by the first black president. Wow.

So last night, when I saw the reports that Congressman Lewis, who had not ever stopped causing as he always said “good trouble” had died, I was in awe. I was completely taken aback. I knew that he had cancer but 2020 has already been so devastating I never imagined that any more earth shaking deaths would happen.

I was wrong.

God decided that Congressman Lewis and his good friend Rev. C.T. Vivian had served their purpose on the earth and called them home on the same day.

Now Black America has been left with two gaping holes that cannot ever be filled, but we gained four more shoulders to stand on to build for the next generation.

It’s now up to us to follow their examples and cause “good trouble”. To keep fighting and marching and learning. To ensure that even the dreams we don’t yet know to dream can be achieved by those coming after us.

As for me, I’m grateful that I was able to sit in that church and listen to him speak, I am glad I asked who he was and didn’t allow myself to remain ignorant because of pride or shame. I’m grateful for all I’ve learned since that moment, and I pray that as I walk into all that God has for me I always remember the giants whose shoulders I stand on.

RIP Congressman John Lewis (1940 – 2020) and Rev. C.T Vivian (1924 – 2020)