Civil Rights Icon, Congressional Leader John Lewis to Address Bowie State Commencement
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Posted By: How May I Help You NC on May 03, 2016 Bowie State to Graduate About 650 Students MEDIA CONTACT: Damita Chambers, dchambers@bowiestate.edu, 301-832-2628 (mobile) (BOWIE, Md.) – Often called “one of the most courageous persons the Civil Rights Movement ever produced,” Congressman John Lewis (D-Ga.) will address about 650 Bowie State University graduates and their families at spring commencement on Monday, May 23 at 10 a.m. at the Xfinity Center in College Park, Maryland. As a student at Fisk University, he volunteered to participate in the 1961 Freedom Rides, which challenged segregation at interstate bus terminals across the South. He risked his life by sitting in seats reserved for white patrons, was beaten severely by angry mobs and was arrested by police for challenging Jim Crow segregation in the South. He was named chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which he helped form to organize student activism in the movement, including sit-ins and other activities. By 1963, he was dubbed one of the Big Six leaders of the Civil Rights Movement and was an architect of and a keynote speaker at the historic March on Washington. Congressman Lewis played a pivotal role in some of the most seminal moments of the Civil Rights Movement. He coordinated SNCC efforts to organize voter registration drives and community action programs during the Mississippi Freedom Summer; helped to spearhead a peaceful protest of more than 600 people across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, which ended in a confrontation with state troopers known as “Bloody Sunday;” worked as associate director of the Field Foundation; and participated in the Southern Regional Council’s voter registration programs. He later became the director of the Voter Education Project (VEP), which transformed the nation's political climate by registering nearly four million minority voters. He was elected to the Atlanta City Council in 1981 and to Congress in 1986, serving as U.S. Representative of Georgia's Fifth Congressional District since then. He is Senior Chief Deputy Whip, a member of the House Ways & Means Committee, a member of its Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, and Ranking Member of its Subcommittee on Oversight. He is the recipient of numerous awards from eminent national and international institutions, including the highest civilian honor granted by President Barack Obama, the Medal of Freedom and the only John F. Kennedy "Profile in Courage Award" for Lifetime Achievement ever granted by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. He holds a bachelor’s degree in religion and philosophy from Fisk University and graduated from the American Baptist Theological Seminary. He has been awarded over 50 honorary degrees from prestigious colleges and universities throughout the United States. ABOUT BOWIE STATE UNIVERSITY Bowie State University (BSU) is an important higher education access portal for qualified persons from diverse academic and socioeconomic backgrounds, seeking a high-quality and affordable public comprehensive university. The university places special emphasis on the science, technology, teacher education, business, and nursing disciplines within the context of a liberal arts education. For more information about BSU, visit the website at www.bowiestate.edu. If you enjoyed this article, Join HBCU CONNECT today for similar content and opportunities via email! |
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