John Lewis to be honored with events spanning six days that celebrate the civil rights icon
The celebration of life journey is set to start in John Lewis’ hometown of Troy, Alabama.
Celebrations of the life of Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., continue Sunday morning, the second of six days honoring the late civil rights icon who died at the age of 80 on July 17 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
The memorial programs honoring Lewis are scheduled to begin Sunday at 10:00 a.m. local time at the Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma, Ala., where he was lying in repose Saturday night. From there, his casket will be carried across Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge — marking the same route Lewis marched with fellow civil rights activists in 1965.
JOHN LEWIS MEMORIAL: FAMILY RELEASES DETAILS OF SIX-DAY CELEBRATION OF HIS LIFE
From there, Lewis will be brought to the Alabama State Capitol, where he will lie in state. This will be open to the public, and Lewis’ family has requested that visitors wear face masks and mouth coverings.
The memorial programs honoring Lewis began in Alabama on Saturday in his hometown of Troy before moving to Selma. Troy Mayor Jason Reeves praised Lewis’ strength in “confronting Alabama state troopers” during the Civil Rights Movement.
“And now Alabama state troopers will lead his body around this state as we celebrate his life,” Reeves said, as Lewis’ body was delivered ahead of the memorial, “A Service Celebrating ‘The Boy from Troy.'”
His casket was accompanied by a ceremonial military guard and draped in an American flag.
Following Sunday’s memorial events, Lewis will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol on Monday and Tuesday, before being moved to the Georgia State Capitol. Lewis will lie in state there on Wednesday, where a Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity service will be held that evening.
Lewis is scheduled to be buried Thursday in Atlanta at South-View Cemetery, which was founded in 1886 by formerly enslaved African Americans, according to the state’s tourism website.
