By: Miles, et al. S.R. No. 15
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
SENATE RESOLUTION
         WHEREAS, July 17, 2021, marks the first anniversary of the
  death of civil rights icon and longtime congressman John Lewis;
  and
         WHEREAS, The son of sharecroppers, John Robert Lewis was
  born in Troy, Alabama, on February 21, 1940; while trying to win
  admission to segregated Troy State University, he sought the
  guidance of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. and became a
  valued colleague in the civil rights movement; he challenged
  segregated interstate travel in the South as one of the original
  13 Freedom Riders, and when an angry mob attacked the group, he
  was left in a pool of his own blood outside a bus terminal in
  Montgomery, Alabama; as a co-founder and chair of the Student
  Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, he coordinated lunch-counter
  sit-ins to protest segregated facilities; in 1963, he was one of
  the "Big 6" who organized the historic March on Washington, and
  he energized the crowd as the event's youngest and fieriest
  speaker; and
         WHEREAS, While leading demonstrations, Congressman Lewis
  stood strong in the face of violence, police beatings, and more
  than 40 arrests; his skull was fractured by state troopers during
  a voting rights march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma,
  Alabama, on a day known ever since as Bloody Sunday; televised
  images of the violence galvanized support for the Voting Rights
  Act that was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson five
  months later, in August 1965; and
         WHEREAS, Congressman Lewis worked his way through college,
  graduating from the American Baptist Theological Seminary and
  completing his bachelor's degree in religion and philosophy at
  Fisk University; he led the Voter Education Project,
  participated in anti-poverty efforts, and after serving on the
  Atlanta City Council, he won election to the U.S. House of
  Representatives in 1986; working tirelessly in behalf of the most
  vulnerable, he became known as "the conscience of the Congress";
  he rose to become chair of the Oversight Subcommittee of the
  House Ways and Means Committee and advocated passionately for the
  Voter Empowerment Act, which seeks to modernize the electoral
  process and increase access to the ballot; and
         WHEREAS, Over the course of more than three decades in
  office, Congressman Lewis continued to engage in nonviolent
  protest, community organizing, and grassroots activism;
  following the Pulse Nightclub shooting in 2016, he led Democrats
  in a 26-hour sit-in on the House floor to demand a debate over gun
  control measures; he reminded the many audiences he addressed to
  embrace "good trouble," and every year, he journeyed to Selma to
  lead a march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge; despite severe
  health challenges, he made one last trip in 2020 for the
  observance of the 55th anniversary of Bloody Sunday; and
         WHEREAS, Congressman Lewis received such accolades as the
  NAACP Springarn Medal, the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage
  Award, and the nation's highest civilian award, the Presidential
  Medal of Freedom; he was presented with honorary degrees by
  universities across the country, among them Duke, Howard,
  Brandeis, and Emory Law, which also established the John Lewis
  Chair for Civil Rights and Social Justice; in 2016, he won a
  National Book Award for the third volume of his graphic novel
  about the civil rights movement, March; and
         WHEREAS, A lifelong student of history, John Lewis
  introduced a bill every session for 15 years to create an
  institution dedicated to the unvarnished truth about the
  struggles and triumphs of the African American people; when the
  National Museum of African American History and Culture finally
  opened on the National Mall in 2016, he wrote, "By bringing the
  uncomfortable parts of our past out of the shadows, we can better
  understand what divides us and seek to heal those problems
  through our unity"; and
         WHEREAS, The year since the death of John Lewis has been
  one of the most challenging and tumultuous our nation has ever
  seen, but his life continues to stand as a beacon of hope for the
  unity that can only be achieved through the steadfast pursuit of
  equal rights and justice for all; now, therefore, be it
         RESOLVED, That the Senate of the 87th Texas Legislature,
  1st Called Session, hereby commemorate the first anniversary of
  the death of Congressman John Lewis and pay tribute to his
  remarkable legacy.