• By
  • Natalie Andrews

Rep. John Lewis (D., Ga.) marked his arrest with the Freedom Riders on Twitter, posting his mug shot. The civil rights activist and lawmaker said that 53-years ago today, he was released from jail, after being arrested for using a “white” restroom. In a few hours, the tweet was retweeted 10,000 times.

Mr. Lewis was part of the Freedom Riders, who traveled across the South challenging segregation in 1961 after the Supreme Court ruled that segregated public buses were unconstitutional in Boynton v. Virginia.

In his memoir, “Walking with the Wind,” Mr. Lewis called the arrest a turning point.

The real significance of the Freedom Rides went far beyond bus station snack bars and bathrooms. The rides marked a shift in the temperature of the movement, and upsurge in our aggressiveness. We were no longer content to simply wait for the government and courts to respond on their own terms and their own timetable.

Mr. Lewis is the last surviving member of the “Big Six” leaders of the Civil Rights movement, which led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act 1964. Last week, Mr. Lewis tweeted “If the Civil Rights Act was before the Congress today, it would not pass, it would probably never make it to the floor for a vote.”

It’s not the first time Mr. Lewis has used unconventional ways to raise awareness about civil rights. In 2013, he became the star of “March: Book One,” a 123-page graphic novel about growing up in rural Alabama, meeting Martin Luther King, Jr. and efforts to fight segregation.




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