Confederate Monument Replaced by Statue of John Lewis in Unveiling Ceremony
John Lewis spent his life fighting against racism … and, he’s still doing it from beyond the grave — with a new statue of him replacing a Confederate monument.
The late congressman was immortalized in Decatur Square in outer Atlanta … within the district Lewis repped in Congress for more than 30 years until he passed in 2020.
Local leaders unveiled the 12-foot-tall statue of JL Saturday morning … and, they gave it a meaningful location — officially replacing an obelisk memorializing the Confederacy erected way back in 1908.
The obelisk hasn’t actually stood on the pedestal John took since 2020 … when Black Lives Matter protests swept the nation and numerous outdated monuments were taken down.
John was a seminal figure in the Civil Rights movement … protesting alongside people like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and marching at Selma in 1965 — where he was brutally beaten by police along with hundreds of other demonstrators.
Lewis became a congressman in 1987 … serving at the forefront of the Democratic Party until his death from pancreatic cancer complications.
He even received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from then-President Obama back in 2011 … with Obama saying generations of Americans would think of Lewis when they thought of courage in the U.S.A.
Clearly, his legacy is still making a big impact on Civil Rights.