Emanuel Cleaver: John Lewis was a giant of a man

(From Fifth District Representative Emanuel Cleaver)

John Lewis constantly urged young people to get into “Good Trouble.” 

By that, he meant that if they saw wrong, they must seek to make it right. If they saw war, they must try to stop it. If they saw poverty, they must work to end it. 

He warned that those actions would surely generate a strong and hostile counteraction. It will get you in trouble, Lewis would teach. But that is “Good Trouble,” and there is a sacredness in standing up against wrong.

In his very last public act of Good Trouble, John Lewis, the lion in winter, joined young activists at the Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C. 

He spoke of peace even in the midst of a creeping militarism. He spoke of unity at a time when outside forces seek to divide. And he spoke of love as our guiding light through the darkest of times.

As this next generation of Americans take their stand against institutional inequalities and march against the injustices in our society, I can only hope that they will give attention to the treasure trove of lessons left behind in news reels, books, speeches, interviews, and oral presentations from the friends and family of the “Good Trouble” Man, John R. Lewis.