On Friday night, the United States lost Civil Rights Era icon John Lewis. Thunder point guard and President of the NBA Players Association Chris Paul joined LeBron James among the members of the NBA fraternity to immediately react to the news.
Mr. Lewis, who had spent the last 33 years of his life as the U.S. Representative for Georgia’s 5th congressional district, lost a six-month-long battle to pancreatic cancer. He was 80 years old.
At a time when the NBA has joined millions of Americans in protesting for social justice causes, the death of Mr. Lewis is a great loss of a tremendous and inspiring hero. Having risen as a prominent leader, Lewis dedicated his life to fighting for others and continued that fight despite being diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer in December.
Shortly thereafter, in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, as scores of NBA players protested against police brutality, Lewis did, as well.
Katharine Q. Seelye of the New York Times wrote the following:
On the front lines of the bloody campaign to end Jim Crow laws, with blows to his body and a fractured skull to prove it, Mr. Lewis was a valiant stalwart of the civil rights movement…
…[A]fter the killing in May of George Floyd, a Black man in police custody in Minneapolis, Mr. Lewis welcomed the resulting global demonstrations against systemic racism and the police killings of Black people. He saw those demonstrations as a continuation of his life’s work, though his illness had left him to watch from the sideline.
Shortly after news of his death, Paul took to his social media channels to pay respect to the fallen hero.
“Thank you for keeping the dream alive all these years and paving the way for us #RIPJohnLewis,” Paul tweeted.
James’ tweet was similarly succint.
“Rest. In. Paradise John Lewis. #CivilRightsICON✊🏾 THANK YOU!!,” James tweeted.
To this point, perhaps the only good thing that can be said about 2020 is the fact that it’s halfway over.
