John Lewis: Good Trouble (2020) - full transcript

[footsteps]

[soft indistinct chatter]

I feel lucky and blessed

that I'm serving
in the Congress...

But there are forces today

trying to take us back

to another time

and another dark period.

We've come so far,
we've made so much progress,

but as a nation
and as a people,

we're not quite there yet.



We have miles to go.

♪ [Malverde's "Marcha"] ♪

We do not want
our freedom gradually,

but we want to be free now.

♪ Marcha, marcha ♪

We're marching today
to dramatize to the world

hundreds and thousands
of Negro citizens

denied the right to vote.

For too long, other people
been deciding for us.

We must have some control

over our own
political destiny.

No police department

will keep us from marching
up and down the streets

of the city of Atlanta.



♪ Marcha ♪

Too many people struggled,

suffered, and died
to make it possible

for every American to exercise
their right to vote.

John Lewis:
I have on my marching shoes.

- Man: That's right!
- I'm fired up!

- Man: Fired up!
- I'm ready to march!

Man: Let's do it!

♪ Marcha ♪

Lewis: Speak up, speak out,

and get in what I call
good trouble,

necessary trouble.

Do what is right.

♪ Marcha ♪

♪ Marcha ♪

[car horn beeps]

[indistinct chatter]

Elijah Cummings:
When I was a young boy,

I remember Dr. King,

and I remember this young guy

who was marching with him,

and it was this guy that
didn't look much older than me.

I said,
"How did he get involved?"

Happy New Year to you,
brother.

- Congratulations.
- How you doing?

[muffled speech]

Anthony Johnson:
He was always different

than every member of Congress.

Everybody in Congress
knew what he had done.

He was John Lewis.

- How you doing?
- It's good to see you.

- Good to see you.
- Good to see you.

- Good to see you, sir.
- How you doing, sir?

- Hey, there, how are you?
- Very good.

Hillary Clinton:
His voice and his example

are probably needed now

as much as they've ever been
since he was a young man.

[indistinct chatter]

When I first came here,
I ran across the road.

[chuckles]

Now we're a little older
and a little wiser.

A little older and wiser.

We don't need to run
for everything.

Ayanna Pressley: We are still
in the Civil Rights Movement

because we are still
in a civil rights struggle,

and so Congressman Lewis
gave us the blueprint,

and the blueprint
is to organize,

it is to mobilize,
and it is to legislate.

Cummings: And the reason why
he's effective as a leader

is because he's lived it.

[poignant music]

Lewis:
For many, many years

in Dallas County,

Selma, Alabama,

black men and women

had tried
to become registered voters.

People stood
in a unmovable line.

They would fail the so-called literacy tests.

On one occasion,
a person was asked

to count the number of bubbles
in a bar of soap.

And we must make it clear
that we know

when we are denied
the right to vote.

Martin Luther King Jr.:
Today represents

a marvelous determination

of this drive
to register Negro voters

in massive numbers
in the state of Alabama.

You got 85 here... there's more.
86?

That's mighty good, mighty good.

You did not follow my orders.

You disobeyed the parade order.

Each and everyone in this line

is under arrest for parading
without a permit.

King: We will continue,
definitely,

to get large numbers
of people registered

and to point out the injustices

which we continue to face
as we seek to register.

[crowd clamoring]

Lewis: People had been beaten,
arrested, and jailed.

A young man by the name
of Jimmie Lee Jackson

had been murdered.

We made a decision to march

in an orderly, peaceful,
nonviolent fashion

from Selma to Montgomery.

Lewis: We're marching today
to dramatize to the nation

and dramatize to the world

that hundreds and thousands
of Negro citizens of Alabama,

but particularly here
in the Black Belt area,

denied the right to vote,

and we intend to march
to Montgomery

to present said grievance to Governor George C. Wallace.

Lewis:
As we approached a bridge,

we saw a sea of blue,

Alabama state troopers.

[militaristic music]

Man: [on speaker] It'll be
detrimental to your safety

to continue this march,

and I'm saying that this
is an unlawful assembly.

You are ordered to disperse.

Go home, or go to your church.

This march will not continue.

[dramatic music]

We said,
"Major, may I have a word?"

He said there would be no word.

Man: Troopers here,
advance toward the group.

See that they turn around
and disperse.

[music continues]

[people screaming]

[screaming continues]

Lewis: I was hit in the head.

My knees went from under me.

I thought I was going to die
on the bridge.

[somber music]

Female anchor 1: Amid
record-breaking early voting

this midterm season,

concerns of voter suppression
are at the center

of some of the country's
most contested races.

Male anchor: Things like
strict voter ID laws,

getting rid
of same-day registration,

cutting back on early voting, purging the voting rolls,

eliminating the number
of polling places.

Female anchor 2:
When we begin to look

at these voter
suppression laws,

overwhelmingly
African-American, Latino,

Asian-American,
young, and poor,

that's the group
that is targeted.

[dog barking in distance]

[paper rustling]

Well, it's a very difficult time

that we're going through
in America.

My greatest fear is
that one day we may wake up

and our democracy is gone.

We cannot afford
to let that happen.

As long as I have breath
in my body,

I will do what I can.

[people cheering]

[cheering continues]

- Can I touch him?
- Yes, yes.

- Congressman, this...
- Can I touch him?

Yes, yes, you can touch me.

Oh, please,
someone take my picture.

Lewis: How are you doing?
Good to see you today.

My name is Wanda [indistinct].

You are... you are one
of my biggest,

biggest, biggest heroes.

- Oh, thank you.
- You have done so much.

- Well, I just try to help out.
- Well, we need you now.

- Yes, ma'am.
- We need you now.

Woman: Thank you, Mr. Lewis,
for everything.

Lewis: Thank you.

- Wonderful.
- Thank you. Great to see you.

Hi, Congressman.

Hi, handsome.

Colin Allred: I became
a voting rights attorney

because of John Lewis.

- Woman 1: Yeah.
- Woman 2: Yes.

He walked across a bridge

so that someday
I could run for office.

- Woman 1: Yeah.
- Woman 2: Yes.

This man was beaten,

was bloodied,

so people in this country

would have the right to vote.

We've got to make sure
that we honor the sacrifice

of everyone who
has preceded us here.

[cheers and applause]

Those civil rights marchers...

[cheers and applause]

Willing to risk their lives,

and could we be
any more blessed

than to have John Lewis here
with us,

in Dallas, Texas?

[cheers and applause]

I would see those signs
that said white men,

colored men, white women,
colored women,

white waiting, colored waiting,

and I would ask my mother,
my father,

my grandparents,
and my great-grandparents why.

They would say,
"Boy, that's the way it is.

Don't get in the way.

Don't get in trouble."

But in 1955, 15 years old,

the action of Rosa Parks,

the words and leadership
of Dr. King,

inspired me to get in trouble,

what I call good trouble,
necessary trouble.

[cheers and applause]

It's... it's time for all
good people in this state,

here in Dallas,
to get in trouble.

[cheers and applause]

You know, I got arrested
a few times during the '60s.

[laughter, cheers]

Forty times.

- Woman 1: Oh.
- Woman 2: Oh.

- Woman 3: Yeah!
- Woman 4: Whoo!

And since I've been in Congress,

another five times.

[cheers and applause]

And I'm probably gonna get
arrested again for something.

[laughter, cheers]

But my philosophy
is very simple.

When you see something
that is not right,

not fair,

not just, say something!

Do something!

Get in trouble, good trouble,
necessary trouble.

[cheers and applause]

We have to save our country,

save our democracy.

I wish you well.
Thank you very much.

[cheers and applause]

Thank you for everything
you do for our country.

- We love you. We love you.
- Thank you. Thank you.

[brassy music]

You're such a model for us.

Oh, my God.

Keep moving forward,
please, sir.

Keep moving forward, please.

Woman: Thank you.

Man: Thank you for giving us
the right to vote.

[people cheering]

Lewis: We must go to the polls

and vote like we never,
ever voted before.

[cheers and applause]

How you been, my dear?

Lizzie Fletcher,

we need her now
more than ever before.

See that this young man
is elected

to the House
of Representatives.

[cheers and applause]

Thank you.

Lewis: It is in our hand
to make Stacey Abrams

the next governor
of the state of Georgia.

[cheers and applause]

Go to the polls.

Let's do it.
Let's do it. Let's vote.

Run to the polls. Let's vote.

I grew up in rural Alabama,

outside of a little place
called Troy.

My father was a sharecropper,
a tenant farmer,

but in 1944,

when I was four years old,
my father had saved $300,

and a man sold him
110 acres of land.

We still own this land today.

[cheers and applause]

We used to raise
a lot of chickens

where I grew up on this farm.

I wanted to preach so much

that we would gather
all of our chickens

together in the chicken yard,

and my brothers and sisters
and cousins

would line up outside
of the chicken yard,

and I would start preaching
to those chickens.

[laughter]

They would bow their heads.

They would shake their heads.

They never quite said amen,

but they tended
to listen to me much better

than some of my colleagues
on the other side

listen to me today
in the Congress.

[cheers and applause]

Sometimes I'd be out there
working in the field,

picking cotton.

My mother would say,
"Boy, you need to catch up,"

and I would say,
"This is hard work,"

and she would say, "Hard work
never killed anybody."

I said, "Well,
it's about to kill me."

[laughter]

And I was determined
as a little child

to get out of that field,

out of the hot sun.

Woman: Yes!

- I can identify with you.
- Yes.

- Picking cotton.
- Yes.

- I was born in '49.
- Really?

Where did you grow up?

I grew up here in Fulshear
picking cotton.

Okay. Okay.

But I had the experience.

I know what
you talking about.

We would pick on our own place,

- then go someplace else.
- Yup.

But we would get up
early in the morning

while the dew was still on it,

so it would be heavy,
would weigh more.

- Exactly, exactly.
- Right, right.

And I hate picking up cotton.

Yeah, I did... I did too.
I hated it.

But thank God I was the baby.

- I didn't...
- She didn't do it.

No. Oh?

But she rode... she rode
on the back of my sack.

- [laughter]
- Exactly.

So, you just pulled her
through the field.

- Yes, you right, you right.
- God bless you.

God bless you.

Those three ladies are sisters.

Oh, wow.

And they picked cotton.
The youngest one didn't.

The older one said she rode
on the back of her sack.

They had these long sacks,
and she was a little baby.

She pulled her
through the cotton field.

- [laughing]
- Where they from?

- They're from Texas.
- Oh, Texas.

- Uh- huh.
- They pick cotton in Texas?

- They have cotton in Texas.
- Oh.

Texas produced a lot of cotton.

- Well, I didn't know.
- Well, I know.

He's from Boston.

He wouldn't know.
He doesn't understand.

- Exactly, he wouldn't know.
- I'm from Boston.

He wouldn't know anything.

He probably wouldn't recognize
a boll of cotton.

- [laughter]
- A what?

You wouldn't recognize
a boll of cotton.

No.

Michael Collins: I've worked for him 20 years.

He's been a father,
a grandfather.

There was a moment
where I lost both of my parents

during the time
working for the Congressman,

and um...

it was a signing
of the Voting Rights Act,

a reauthorization,

and it happened on the same day
as my father's funeral.

And... Congressman Lewis

was at my father's funeral.

[upbeat music]

[choir vocalizing]

Watch your step right here.

Lewis: My father

and mother,

my oldest brother.

This is my mother's mother.

- Henry Lewis: And father.
- And... and father.

Right.

You going to see the girls.

So, the horse and the cow
is good friends, huh?

Yup.

Lewis: How many cows in there?

I think about 14.

- Oh, my lord.
- Mm-hmm.

[rooster crows]

If I say, "Chick, chick,"
they will come.

Rosa Lewis-Tyner:
They might.

Hi, girls.

[chickens clucking]

Come, chick. Come.

Come on.

Chick, chick, chick.

Come on, biddy, biddy.

- They're beautiful hens.
- Rosa: Mm-hmm.

See, when I was growing up,

they would let me pet them
and do everything.

See?

Come here, chick, chick.

Samuel Lewis: John was always... I guess I would say different,

because he was always
determined to be good,

try to do something good.

♪ Said O Lord, sure is tired ♪

♪ Gotta work so hard ♪

♪ Never satisfied, y'all ♪

♪ Sunrise till sun goes down ♪

Samuel: I remember back when we had to break the land

before we plant the cotton.

We would enroll in school

that first day,

and it might be three weeks
before we'd go back to school

'cause we gotta get
the ground ready.

♪ And die here
in these rows, y'all ♪

♪ O Lord, pick a bale a day ♪

♪ Gonna leave this here
if I have my say ♪

Rosa: It was back-bending.
Let me put it that way.

Everybody knew
John wasn't gonna work.

Lewis: My oldest brother,
Adolph, would tell Mama,

"I'll do his share."

Rosa: So, if he went on
to school,

Adolph was gonna work
for two or three men anyway,

so he told Dad,
"Let him go. Let him go."

Ethel Lewis-Tyner:
He was always preaching,

not only to the chickens.

He would preach to us.

In high school,

he wore a tie,

dressed up.

And carried his Bible.

And carried his Bible,
uh-huh.

- To school every day.
- Mm-hmm.

Lewis: I wanted
to get an education,

and some days I would get up
early in the morning

and get dressed for school,

get my book bag,

and I would hide
under the front porch

and wait for the school bus
to come up the hill.

And the moment
the bus came up the hill,

I would run out

and get on that bus

and slip off to school.

I had wonderful teachers,

wonderful teachers.

One teacher would tell me
over and over again,

"Read, my child, read."

And I tried to read everything.

Henry: You know,
I could tell that he felt

that the world was bigger

than what we were doing.

He had...

bigger things in mind.

[melancholy music]

Lewis: You know, I wrote
Dr. King a letter

when I was 17 years old.

I wanted to attend
Troy University.

Submitted my application,
my high school transcript.

I never heard a word
from the school,

so I wrote a letter
to Dr. King.

I didn't tell my mother
or my father.

I told one of my teachers.

Dr. King wrote me back

and sent me a round-trip
Greyhound bus ticket

and invited me
to come to Montgomery.

And I saw
Martin Luther King, Jr.

and Ralph Abernathy
standing behind a desk.

I was so scared.

My heart started beating
so fast, and Dr. King said,

- "Are you the boy from Troy?"
- [woman laughs]

"Are you John Lewis?"

and I said, "Dr. King,
I am John Robert Lewis."

I gave my whole name,
but he still called me

"the boy from Troy"
each time he would see me.

- Woman: Wow.
- He would say,

"How's the boy
from Troy doing?"

Lewis:
We thought about suing

the university system
of Alabama.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

and his organization
were prepared to support it.

I had a discussion
with my mother and my father.

My father was very,
very supportive of the idea.

My mother was so afraid

that we could lose the land,

our home could
be bombed or burned,

so I continued to study
in Nashville.

It was there in Nashville

that I met Jim Lawson

and got involved
in studying the philosophy

and the discipline
of nonviolence.

[choir vocalizing]

Lewis: I started attending
these nonviolent workshops.

Bernard Lafayette
was my roommate,

and I kept saying to Bernard, "You have to come.

You have to get involved."

Bernard Lafayette, Jr: I was so busy with my courses.

I said, "Listen,
I don't have time for that."

But he kept badgering me,

and lo and behold,

I got hooked.

Lewis: Jim Lawson taught us
to never engage in violence,

but we had a right to protest for what was right.

It inspired me.
It changed my life.

Nonviolence as conceived by...

the Montgomery bus boycott

is not a self-defense
position.

It is a militant position.

How is it that I can transform

the environment
in which I live?

The Montgomery bus boycott

did a radical analysis
of the racism

as a tool of helping people
to wake up.

King:
When you sit down on the bus

and you sit down in the front

or you sit down
by a white person,

you have a duty to sit there

because as long as you
sit in the back,

you have a false sense
of inferiority,

and so long as you let
the white man sit in the front

and push you back there,

he has a false sense
of superiority.

[crowd murmuring agreement]

James M. Lawson, Jr.:
We had robust discussion

about these ideas.

Six months of gatherings

produced the consensus

we're going to desegregate
downtown Nashville.

I hated the system
telling people

that you cannot be seated
at a lunch counter,

you cannot go
into a restaurant

simply because
of the color of your skin,

and I wanted to be part
of an effort

to help change it,

and I was prepared

to put my body on the line.

There was something
deep down within me,

moving me,

that I could no longer
be satisfied

or go along
with an evil system.

Lafeyette: Look at this letter
I got from my mother.

"What are you fighting for?

Remember who are
helping you in school.

It is the white people.

What about the people
of your race?

What are they giving you?"

I mean, I know she...
she cares for me, you know?

I mean, I know she loves me,
but...

I mean,
she just don't understand.

My mom...
You could hear my mother

while she washing dishes.

She's praying,
praying out loud.

Well, the whole time he was
in the movement, you know,

it was...
it was frightening,

especially for...

you know,
a younger brother that's...

you know, 12 years younger,
and knowing the danger

and...

knowing what could happen
at any time.

Now, tonight we have
a most important business

to try to accomplish,

and that is to try to have

one major role-playing
experience

to set the stage

for an actual demonstration,

for an actual sit-in.

A bunch of niggers.

Well, look
at the eight-balls

all lined up with a white ball
in the side pocket.

Man: Hey, nigger lover,

what are you doing here?

Why don't you go around
in the alley where you belong?

I've got some licorice
candy here.

You like to have
some of that?

Let's get these niggers
out of here.

[people shouting]

Okay.

[laughter]

That was pretty good.

How about that?

Thank you.

[scattered laughter]

So, what questions
does this raise to us

as to how we might
act nonviolently?

What are
the basic problems here

so far as this whole idea
that we're working on?

What is it
that I be would able to do

in the framework of passive
resistance to protect myself?

As creatively as possible,
seek to be loving

and forgiving in any situation.

It may have much more meaning
to the attacker if,

as he strikes you on the cheek,
you're looking him in the eyes.

[rustling]

Dawn, I'm seeing footage
I've never seen before.

Man:
We organized in Nashville

with John Lewis, Diane Nash,
and the others.

Lewis: It was
on February the 13th, and...

we had the very first
sit-in here in Nashville,

and I took my seat
at the counter.

I asked a waitress
for a hamburger and a Coke.

I said, "I'm sorry,
our management

does not allow us
to serve niggers in here."

Lewis: Altogether, it was
a moving feeling within me

that I was sitting there
demanding a God-given right,

and in spite of all of this,

I had to keep loving the people
who denied me service.

They come in,
and they sit down,

and we're not used to them
sitting down beside us

'cause I wasn't raised
with 'em,

I never have lived with 'em,
and I'm not gonna start now.

Lafayette: First,
we had to change,

and since we were no longer
going to accept

segregated lunch counters,

it was over with.

We protested
because we had changed.

[crowd clamoring]

We continued to give them the opportunity to also change

'cause we believed
that it was possible.

News anchor: On February 27th,

80 Nashville students were arrested out of over 300

who were participating
in the sit-ins that day.

As the students were
confronted with the choice

of paying a $50 fine

or spending over
a month in jail,

each of them chose jail.

Their attitude reflected

the words of Reverend
Martin Luther King,

"We will meet the capacity
to inflict suffering

with the capacity
to endure suffering.

Do what you will to us,

but we will wear you down."

Diane Nash: We felt unity.

We felt power.

We felt strength.

I don't think any of us
will ever forget it.

News anchor: Nashville became
the first major city

in the South
to permit whites and Negros

to eat together
in public places.

Lewis: You come to that point,

this feeling that if you
don't do it, if you don't...

do everything
you can to change things,

they will remain the same,

and you only pass
this way once,

and you have to give it
all you have.

The radicalism
of the Civil Rights Movement,

the social radicalism,

the civic radicalism,

all of that inspires
a lot of the conclusions

and the beliefs
that I have today,

and I know that if John Lewis
as a 19, 20-year-old,

wasn't doing what he did,
I would not be here today.

[militaristic music]

Female reporter 1:
Growing allegations

of voter suppression
are emerging

in the hard-fought race for governor in Georgia.

Female reporter 2:
Republican candidate

and current Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp

is accused of blocking about
53,000 voter applications,

most of which
are from minorities.

Female reporter 3: Democrats say

he has dropped
more than a million voters

from the rolls
since 2012,

shuttered polling places in African-American communities.

Male reporter: Up until now, they only had three machines,

and that forced
some folks here

to wait in line for hours.

Female reporter 4:
Those votes could be crucial

for Democratic candidate
Stacey Abrams,

who's looking to be the first female black governor

in U.S. history.

There are forces
in America today

want to take us back,
but we're not going back.

We've come too far.
We are going forward!

[cheers and applause]

These are our votes,

this is our choice,

and everyone who is legally
eligible to vote

in the state of Georgia

should take advantage
of that opportunity.

Go to the polls on Tuesday
and cast your ballot,

because your voice matters;
if it didn't matter,

they wouldn't be trying
to shut you up.

- Woman 1: Yup.
- Woman 2: Yeah.

Woman 3: That's right,
that's right.

We're going to meet
rabid voter suppression

with massive
voter mobilization.

[cheers and applause]

The three civil rights workers

that were murdered
in Mississippi

for trying to help people
get registered to vote

are looking down on us.

[cheers and applause]

One of the great moments
in my life

was sharing with John Lewis
the voter registration card

of his great-great-grandfather
from the summer of 1867.

"As soon as he was freed,
as soon as the law allowed

because of
the Reconstruction Act,

your great-great-grandfather
defied the odds

and went down to the courthouse
to register to vote,"

and I said,

"And by my calculation,

no one in your family
between him,

your great-great-grandfather,
and you,

because of what
you did at Pettus Bridge

and the Voting Rights Act,

no one in your family line
voted

between him and you,"

and he looked at me,

and Dawn, his head...

hit the scrapbook.

He just cried

and cried and cried,

and then he looked up and said,

"I guess it's in my DNA."

Good morning. Good morning.
How you doing?

Woman: Good morning.

Good to see you.

- Nice to see you.
- Ay!

Yes. Yes.

- [laughter]
- Aww.

[cheers and applause]

[solemn music]

Lewis: Hi.
How you doing, my dear?

- Woman: Are you voting today?
- Lewis: I'm voting today.

Put your date of birth
on that line.

Lewis: Okay.

It's a good sign,
all these folks here.

Man: Mm-hmm.

You are all set to vote.

Lewis: Thank you.

I'm happy to see
so many people participating,

and I truly believe
we gonna take back

the House of Representatives.

Woman: Are you concerned
about voter suppression?

Well, I am concerned,

because there's been
a deliberate,

systematic effort

in this state
to suppress the vote.

Male reporter:
Control of Congress

is at stake as voters

make a critical decision
on what sort of Senate

and House
the president will deal with

for the second half
of his first term.

[man on TV
speaking indistinctly]

Male reporter:
This early in the evening,

too early to call.

- You good?
- Okay.

Michael, you know
where we going?

We're gonna make it work.

Lewis: It's not good to go
through the kitchen.

- Hey.
- Man: Hey.

Fine. How you doing?
Good to see you.

How do you like that? Boom.

- Thank you.
- [laughing]

And so tonight is going
to continue to be a long night.

Yeah.

Collins: We're basically
just keeping the crowd

energized through the night,
that's all.

Anything else on Texas?

Man: Yeah.

Seventy-six percent,
they're neck and neck.

[cheers and applause]

Lewis: Hello, everybody.

[cheers and applause]

I say to you tonight,

the vote is still the most
powerful nonviolent instrument

or tool we have
in a democratic society,

and we must use it.

- Woman: Yes!
- [people cheering]

- Are you with me?
- All: Yes!

Are you with Stacey?

- All: Yes!
- Let me hear you.

All: Yes!

Good. Thank you so much.

I think it'll be a long evening.

Yeah, yeah.

Joss, do we have anything
out of Texas in the House?

Joss: Nothing out of Texas.

So, we picked up 15 already?

Uh-huh.

[indistinct chatter]

Come on, Beto.

Lewis: Come on, Beto.

Come on, baby.

Oh, God, I hope we can
get rid of this guy here.

This is the guy... no, King.

- Oh, King.
- King, King.

A total racist.

He is so bad.

Man on TV: Just coming across the wire...

Oh, yeah!

Yes, Lizzie!

Yes, Lizzie!

Oh, this is a good win.

Hi, Lizzie?

Congratulations.

I'm... I'm so proud of you.

Man on TV 1: Senator Ted Cruz,
the incumbent Republican,

will beat the Democrat,
Beto O'Rourke.

Man on TV 2: Brian Kemp's
campaign declaring victory

in Georgia's
gubernatorial race.

Woman on TV:
But Stacey Abrams' team

is insisting
this is not over yet.

I'm so sorry about...

about...

well, Stacey
and this kid...

this kid.

They called it?

That look good.

[upbeat music]

House Democratic control, yeah!

[people cheering]

[indistinct] John Lewis!

Whoo! Here with John Lewis!

[cheering continues]

Oh, what'll it be like
to get majority again?

Yes! Whoo!

- That's the best news.
- In the majority again.

- Whoo!
- Once again.

Back, back, back, back.

We can't mess it up this time.

Male reporter 1: Americans and President Trump

are waking up to a new reality
here in Washington.

One party rule is over.

Male reporter 2:
The first Muslim women,

first Native American women,

the first black woman
from Massachusetts,

first Latina from Texas...
it may not be a blue wave.

It's a rainbow wave.

Female reporter:
Democrats picked up

more than two dozen House seats

to take control

for the first time
in eight years.

It is a happy moment.

I just feel grateful,

and I'm ready to take that oath.

- Good to see you.
- Tremendous day.

- Good to see you.
- Good to see you, always.

Good to see you.
You're looking good, brother.

- Thank you, as you.
- Thank you.

[indistinct chatter]

It is my honor
to introduce to you all

the history-making 55 members

of the Congressional
Black Caucus

of the 116th Congress.

Under leadership
of Marcia Fudge,

of Terri Sewell, John Lewis,

we will be introducing

and passing the Voting
Rights Act in this Congress.

[cheers and applause]

Ilhan Omar:
I remember him saying,

"Love your country
like you love yourself,"

and that spoke to me

because my grandfather
always talked about the love

that he had for this democracy
that was unlike anyone else

because it was the kind of love
that only a person

who experienced
the absence of it could have,

and this was a country

that had a hard time loving

people like John Lewis.

But he loved it
and was willing to,

as he said, get a concussion

so that the conscience
of the country was awakened.

There are great bruises

that we take
as catalysts for change,

and...

the fight we embark on
on behalf of the people

isn't often only a fight
that is brought to us.

It's a fight that
we willingly engage in.

- Woman: I...
- John Lewis.

Woman: Do solemnly swear...

All: Do solemnly swear...

Woman: That I will support
and defend...

All: That I will
support and defend...

The Constitution
of the United States...

All: The Constitution
of the United States...

Against all enemies...

All: Against all enemies...

Foreign and domestic.

All: Foreign and domestic.

Thank you for all
that you have done

to lay the pathway
for 55 members.

You need to know that.

- Thank you.
- All right?

- Thank you.
- That goes with Selma.

That doesn't go
when you first got elected.

- Thank you.
- All right.

James E. Clyburn: John and I

took different paths
after college.

I got married.

John went out,

and they were organizing
the Freedom Rides at that time.

He's probably the most courageous person I ever met.

Lewis: I heard that the Congress
of Racial Equality

would be sponsoring
the Freedom Rides,

and I applied to be accepted
as a Freedom Rider.

[foreboding music]

Man: Even though the law
of the land says

that a passenger
can ride interstate

and participate in a lunchroom

or waiting rooms and bathrooms,

everyone cannot,

particularly the Negro.

Lafeyette: Even though you had a Supreme Court decision made,

the Freedom Rides was an effort

to test the facilities.

Man: Within a matter of weeks,
Freedom Riders

are boarding buses
all over the South.

The riders are harassed
and jailed.

Sometimes they're beaten
by angry crowds of whites

while Southern sheriffs
look the other way.

Lewis: The night of May 3rd,

we went to a Chinese restaurant

in Downtown Washington
to get something to eat.

Growing up in rural Alabama,

I never had Chinese food before,

but someone that evening said,
"You should eat well

because this may be like
the Last Supper."

Clyburn: They were coming
through South Carolina,

so I said to my wife

that I thought that I would
meet the bus in Rock Hill.

She reminded me

that I was no longer
a college student.

At that time, we were
expecting our first child,

so I did not meet the bus.

The tall gentleman
with the suit on,

that's Albert Bigelow.

He was my seatmate

from Washington, D.C.

to Rock Hill, South Carolina.

We arrived in Rock Hill.

We were attacked
by members of the Klan,

and we were beaten

and left
lying in a pool of blood.

Clyburn: I often wondered

what might have happened
if I was there,

because I was never

as nonviolent as John is.

I don't think
I could have taken

what he took.

Lewis: I lost all sense of fear,
really.

When you lose the sense
of fear, you're free.

Too many people lived in fear during those days.

We cannot continue to accept
these conditions of oppression,

for this is not a struggle
for ourselves alone.

It is a struggle
to save the soul of America.

Man: The best thing for King

and all of the so-called
Freedom Riders

is to return to their homes

and mind their own business.

Lewis: We decided to have
a mass meeting,

and thousands
of people showed up.

Now, we've had
an ugly mob outside.

They burned some automobiles.

Let us be calm.

We are together.

We are not afraid.

Lewis: Dr. King and the Reverend
Ralph Abernathy

went down into the basement
of the church.

They spoke
to the attorney general,

and he told President Kennedy

there was a serious problem
here at this church.

Woman: They brought in National Guards

to quell the riots.

The city is now
under martial law,

and troops are on their way
into Montgomery.

[cheers and applause]

Lewis: But it led
to the desegregation

of public transportation
all across the South.

[choir vocalizing]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: So much of John Lewis's activism

was to highlight the inaction
of the federal government.

Despite all of this violence
hap... targeted violence

happening in the South,

the federal government
had its hands tied.

They were wringing their hands.

They were saying,

"Wait another day.

Compromise. Slow down.

Don't get too hasty."

And it was that... that attitude

and that energy of youth,
of saying,

"Why do we have to wait
our entire lives

to be seen as equal
in the eyes of the law?"

[indistinct chatter]

Nancy Pelosi:
One of my great experiences

in the Congress,
which I treasure,

was working under
John Lewis's leadership

and other members of
the Congressional Black Caucus.

We put together
the Voting Rights Act

that was passed in 2006.

In a bipartisan way,

we walked House and Senate
leadership

down the steps of the capitol
to salute the fact

that we have written
a new Voting Rights Act.

The right of ordinary
men and women

to determine their own
political future

lies at the heart
of the American experiment.

By re-authorizing this act,

Congress has reaffirmed

its belief

that all men are created equal.

I view the Voting Rights
Act of 1965

and its subsequent amendments

as the most important
civil rights bill

that was passed
during the '50s and '60s

because it effectively
enfranchised minority voters,

and not just African-Americans
in the South

but other minority voters
of different ethnic backgrounds

in the North,

and I think that
the cooperation,

which has been outstanding between John Lewis and myself,

ends up being an example

that we can get
important things done

by being bipartisan,

whereas if we were not
bipartisan,

they never would have happened.

Pelosi:
President George Bush

signed the legislation

and came to Selma
for the 50th anniversary

and spoke about
how proud he was

to have signed
that Voting Rights Act,

so I think that
the Voting Rights Act

and John Lewis
cannot be separated.

[pensive music]

Female anchor:
It's considered one

of the most important pieces

of civil rights legislation
ever passed,

but by five to four,
the U.S. Supreme Court today

took the teeth out of a law
enacted nearly 50 years ago.

Male anchor:
President Lyndon Johnson

signed the landmark
law in 1965,

and ever since,
the Voting Rights Act

has policed
voting discrimination.

Lewis: Today the Supreme Court

stuck a dagger in the heart

of the Voting Rights Act
of 1965.

They're saying, in effect,

that history
cannot repeat itself,

but I say come

and walk in my shoes.

Eric Holder:
Shelby County was suing

the Justice Department,

and when you sue
the Justice Department,

you name the attorney general
as the defendant in the case,

and so that's why my name,

unfortunately,
appears on that case.

The Shelby County decision is one of the most disastrous

Supreme Court decisions
of all time.

It gutted
the pre-clearance authority

that the United States
Department of Justice had,

which in essence
gave the Justice Department

the ability
to challenge a change

that was gonna be made
in a covered locality

with regard
to voting procedures,

so that way,
the Justice Department

could stop something
from happening

as opposed to filing a lawsuit

after an election
had already occurred.

Since Shelby County,
about 27 states

have actually passed
unnecessary photo ID laws,

purged voter rolls, and over 1,000 polling places

around the country
have been closed.

Polling places have been moved without any notice,

and a whole variety of things

to make it more difficult
for people

to get access to the ballot

go very contrary
to the very work that...

Eric Holder: John Lewis
has stood for all his life.

One federal judge said about
what North Carolina did,

is they acted with
surgical-like precision

to disenfranchise
African-Americans.

Um, that's hard for me
to watch that happen,

and John Lewis beat back
numerous attempts

over his career of people

trying to alter voting rights
in a way

that would discriminate against
not just African-Americans,

but low-income Americans
and so many others.

We have state legislatures
that are deliberately trying

to make it harder
for people to vote.

Over time,

the hard-won battles
of 50 years ago erode...

And our democracy erodes.

Man: We just came out
of the 2016 election,

where it was the first
presidential election

in 50 years
without the full protections

of the Voting Rights Act.

I waited six hours
and 15 minutes to vote.

The expected wait time
was three to four hours.

They should just open it up,
let them come inside,

and go on home.

They had one polling location
for 100,000 students.

Then a recorder goes out
and blames the voters for this.

How dare you blame us for this.

[cheers and applause]

Female anchor 1:
House Democrats unveiled

their first major piece
of legislation.

Female anchor 2: It puts more
power in the hands of voters

by restoring
the Voting Rights Act

and improving automatic
voter registration.

Pelosi:
Today we are introducing HR1

to clean up corruption

and restore integrity
to government.

[cheers and applause]

Lewis: The last two years

have made it clear
there are forces

which invest thousands
and millions of dollars

in drowning out the voice
of the people of this country.

I truly believe the way votes
were not counted

and purged
in Georgia and Florida...

- Go on, tell it, John.
- And other states

changed the outcome
of the last election.

That must never happen again
in our country, never again.

Never again.

[cheers and applause]

Woman: Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell

says the Senate
will not vote on HR1.

Their bill would make
election day

a new paid holiday
for government workers.

This new Democrat
socialist majority

wants the federal government
to interfere

in our free and fair elections.

It violates our free speech
rights by requiring

the publishing of the names
and addresses of donors.

Lewis: Every day in the Congress
is a fight.

I just keep on believing

that we can change things,

that we can make things better.

Bettie Mae Fikes: [singing]
♪ When the world♪

Ha!

♪ Is tossing me ♪

Man: Yeah. Yeah.

♪ Like a ship ♪

♪ Out on ♪

Hmm.

♪ The sea ♪

♪ Thou who knows ♪

♪ All about it ♪

♪ Stand by, stand by ♪

♪ Stand by ♪

♪ Me ♪

When we got arrested,

the things that held us up

and helped us go through
all the brutality

and uncertainty was the music.

John was with us a lot of times.

Lewis: I couldn't carry a tune.

- I couldn't carry a tune.
- [laughs]

Man: Congressman Lewis said
he couldn't carry a tune.

- Do you want to...
- Lewis: No, no, no.

[laughter]

But we would sing.

Well, they played together,
the dogs, you know,

from the black family
and the white family,

but the children
couldn't play together.

So, they made up a song,
you know, called "Dogs."

[group singing]
♪ My dog loves your dog ♪

♪ And your dog ♪

♪ Loves my dog ♪

♪ Then why can't we ♪

♪ Sit under the apple tree ♪

♪ You won't walk with me ♪

♪ You won't talk with me ♪

♪ Well, why don't you
Hold my hand ♪

♪ Tell me you understand ♪

♪ Now, can't you see
that you and me ♪

♪ We'll be so happy ♪

♪ Sitting under
The apple tree ♪

[vocalizing]

[all harmonizing]

[cheers and applause]

Woman: That was awesome.

[lively music playing]

Get with it, Michael.

[indistinct singing]

Welcome, brother.
How you been doing?

I'm doing good.

How you doing, my dear?

Hey, so good
to see you again.

- Good to see you again.
- Yes.

- Thank you all so much.
- Woman: Our honor.

- It was our honor.
- Thank you. Good to see you.

- Our honor.
- Thank you.

- God bless you.
- It's just for the Lord.

That's what it was.

Thank you.

You come...

[indistinct]

It was like, whoo!

[laughter]

Collins:
Got lipstick on the lips.

That's a good sign.

Congressman, you're on tape.

[laughter]

You're on tape. Uh...

You just came out of church.

Praise God.

You got lipstick on the side,
on the front.

- Michael, you need to stop it.
- Collins: I'm just saying.

I'm just saying.

Talk... pray for this guy. Pray.

Collins: Got lipstick
on the front, on the side.

- Woman: On the side.
- Collins: Everywhere.

I didn't ask anyone to kiss me.

Hey, the little lady just
walked up and planted a kiss.

[laughter]

Lewis:
Michael, you're not gonna assist

an old man going up the step?

Got a step it...

Be like old [indistinct],
come on.

- Stop it.
- [laughing]

Watch the water.

- Michael?
- What?

Look, I've been baptized,
so you just...

some water
was sprinkled on your head.

I went under.

What's the difference?

It's a different.

You mean, you're more
baptized than me?

Yes.

I went under, in a creek.

I had the sprinkle.

What's that matter?
What's the difference?

- That just...
- [Collins laughs]

...some beads

going on your head.

We go down under the water.
They bring us back up.

Ooh.

[laughter]

So silly.

Don't let me fall.

- Hi, you.
- How you doing?

I'm doing fine.

Hey, how your chickens doing?

Good.

Chickens are mean creatures.

Really? What they do?
They fight?

Fight each other, pecking.

They'll fight through the wire.

If one chicken
is on one side, they'll fight?

See, my chickens
are nonviolent.

I taught them the way of peace.

So, that's the way I looked

as a young boy

growing up outside of Troy.

Ah. So, the very first time
I saw this piece,

I said, "Well, part of me
thinks it's John Lewis,

but the other part thinks
it might be Jay-Z

'cause it's got
a little hair on it."

Man 1: That is so true though.
that is true.

- I have to tell my...
- Man 1: A young Jay-Z.

That is so true. That is funny.

Man 2: That's crazy.

[soft piano music]

Lewis: When I was asked

by the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee

to chair the organization,

I was elected,
and I moved to Atlanta.

I remember being
in one meeting.

Thurgood Marshall said, "John,

you all just damn fools, really,

for keep going,
getting arrested,

and getting your head beat in."

He said,
"Just get one case,

and we'll take it to the NAACP."

I said, "Mr. Marshall... "

I was so young.

Then I was 21,
talking to Thurgood Marshall.

I said, "Mr. Marshall,

I appreciate all of your work.

I appreciate your contribution,

but we need a mass movement."

My first major responsibility was to represent SNCC

to help organize
the March on Washington.

I wrote Congressman Lewis'
introduction speech

for... Barack Obama

when he was being nominated
in 2008.

I said to him, "Congressman,
have you ever spoken

before a crowd this large?"

And he looked at me and said,

"Brenda, I spoke at
the March on Washington,"

and I thought,
"Right, of course."

[applause]

I have the pleasure

to present
to this great audience,

Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee,

Brother John Lewis.

[cheers and applause]

Lewis: In the beginning,
President Kennedy

was not supportive
of the idea of a march.

He thought there would
be violence and chaos

and we wouldn't get
a civil rights bill

through the Congress.

I learned to listen to people like A. Philip Randolph,

Dr. King, Roy Wilkins,

James Forman, Whitney Young.

Lafayette:
John was sensitive and aware

that he wanted things
to go smoothly,

and when they asked him
to change his speech,

one phrase was talking about
marching into Atlanta

like Sherman,

which sounds
a little bit inflammatory.

He agreed that he would
accommodate,

you know, by taking that out.

Let us not forget
that we are involved

in a serious social revolution.

Where is the political party

that will make it unnecessary
to march on Washington?

Where is the political party
that will make it unnecessary

to march in the streets
of Birmingham?

Those that say be patient
and wait,

we must say that
we cannot be patient.

If we do not get
meaningful legislation

out of this Congress,

we will march
through the South,

through the streets of Jackson,

through the streets
of Danville,

through the streets
of Cambridge,

through the streets
of Birmingham.

[cheers and applause]

But we will march

with the spirit of love

and with the spirit of dignity
that we have shown here today.

We must say wake up,
America, wake up.

For we cannot stop, and we
will not and cannot be patient.

[cheers and applause]

[solemn music]

[siren wailing]

Male anchor: Eighteen days after the March on Washington,

Birmingham, Alabama,

a bomb exploded in the 16th Street Baptist Church

just before a Sunday
morning service.

Fifteen people were injured.

Four children were killed.

Malcolm X:
Black people in this country

have been the victims

of violence at the hands
of the white man

for 400 years,

and following the ignorant
Negro preachers,

we have thought
that it was Godlike

to turn the other cheek

to the brute
that was brutalizing us,

and today the honorable
Elijah Muhammad

is showing black people
in this country

that just as the white man

and every other person
on this Earth

has God-given rights,
natural rights, civil rights,

any kind of rights
that you can think of

when it comes
to defending himself,

black people should have...
we should have the right

to defend ourselves also.

Lewis: I took the position

that whatever we do,

we must do it in an orderly,

peaceful, nonviolent fashion.

And I believed in a biracial
or interracial movement.

That's the only way
we going to succeed.

I served three long years

as chair of SNCC,

and I remember people at one
of the meetings that we had

started talking
about black power.

[jazzy music]

During those days, I never chanted "black power."

I think we all have power.

I was challenged

and then de-elected.

Stokely succeeded.

Stokely Carmichael:
So, we form our own party,

and we seek power.

We don't seek integration.

That's irrelevant
for what we want.

We want power,
and this is the way we get it.

And I said,
"It's time for me to leave."

Kitty?

[cat mews]

Kitty, kitty?

The other one went
under there someplace.

This piece, it's saying,
in effect,

that the same hands
that pick cotton,

well, today these hands
are picking elected officials.

Woman:
Or they are elected officials.

They are elected officials.

This is one of the first major
pieces of art that we acquired.

My wife was born and raised
in Los Angeles.

In downtown L.A.
we went by this gallery,

and we saw this piece,

and my wife
fell in love with it.

I fell in love with it.

This is "Confrontation
at the Bridge."

It just is a... it's
a very powerful piece.

My wife, she was determined
in some way to...

save enough money
in order for us to buy it,

and that's what she did.

[soft piano music]

Xernona Clayton:
Lillian had come to Atlanta

to accept a job
at Atlanta University.

She knew every speech that Martin Luther King ever made,

and he had heard about her.

So, he said,
"Do you remember, Lillian,

when I made the speech
at the University of Ohio?"

So, she said, "No, that wasn't
where you made that speech.

That was the University
of Denver," or something.

[laughs]

And he would fall down laughing.

She was very opinionated,

independent, and smart.

I liked John
because he was just kind,

and one day,
I just got the idea,

"Hmm, I think
they'd make a good match."

And she was wearing
a beautiful dress,

and it had the peace symbols,

and I said to myself,

"This young lady
believes in peace,"

and I don't know
whether it was planned

or whether it was a conspiracy

on the part
of the host of the party.

Clayton: And it was
a beautiful marriage.

John Miles Lewis:
And I loved my ma.

She was a...

ray of light.

That was my heart right there.

Lewis: She loved to travel.

We'd go down to rural Alabama.

She couldn't stand us
going fishing.

She said it was so cruel

pulling the fish
out of the water,

and the fish is jumping
and trying to breathe for life,

and she just think that...

the right thing to do.

But then we cooked the fish.

She ate the fish.

Clayton: I think he relied on her tremendously.

It's hard to tell

what kind of void
that creates for him.

I think he got quieter,

you know, like, sad, sad.

But you love 'em,

but you gotta let 'em go.

[cheers and applause]

Ruth Berg:
I am honored and privileged

to welcome all of you
to the staff reunion

for the honorable
Congressman John Lewis.

I worked for the congressman
for 20 years

as his receptionist.

I am so very grateful

for valuable lessons
that I learned from him.

Get into trouble,

good trouble.

Speak up, and speak out.

And most importantly,

don't get lost
in a sea of despair.

What he has meant to me,
I'm sure he means

the same thing
to all of you folks

that are in this room tonight.

Let's give him
a big round of applause.

Come on up, Mr. Lewis.

[cheers and applause]

Hello, everybody.

- All: Hello.
- You look good.

[scattered laughter]

All of you look so young.

What happened to me?

Thank you for putting up
with me.

[laughter]

I know sometimes
I was not the most

nonviolent person...

[laughter]

But I appreciate you.

I love you.

- Man: Tell the chicken story.
- Oh, oh.

You really don't wanna hear
that story.

No. Don't make me do it.

[laughter]

Don't try me.

Well, you know,
I grew up in rural Alabama...

[laughter, applause]

Outside of a little place
called Troy.

Any of you know anything
about raising chickens?

Oh, you don't wanna hear
this story.

Man: We can learn it from you.

Lewis: Look,
when I was a little boy,

I wanted to be a minister,

and I would preach
to the chickens.

Some of these chickens
would bow their heads.

Some of these chickens
would shake their heads.

They never quite said "amen".

Well, that's enough of that.

[laughter]

Look...

we all have been
called to do something.

You that are so young
must continue to lead.

Jamila, this is what
I'm saying to members

of... to our committee?

Yes, sir, this is the statement

for the introduction
of the caucus.

How many witnesses
are we having?

- We only have five.
- Oh, my God.

Yes sir, four Democrats,
one Republican.

- Okay.
- Two former...

Don't... don't make me laugh.

Don't do it.

I won't.

Two of our witnesses are...

Seems like we're...

we're doing to them...

- What they did to us.
- Mm.

But we haven't done this
in so long.

So long.

Lewis: Now we're in a majority.

Today's hearing,

we will review
whether a president,

vice president, or any candidate

for these offices
should be required by law

to make their tax return
available to the public.

Ken Keyes,

Mr. Keyes,
you're not a stranger.

You've been before
this committee before, so.

We'll try to keep
a little humor going.

- Yes, sir.
- Okay.

So, you have 20 minutes.

Have you eaten yet, Congressman?

- Yes, yes, mm-hmm.
- Okay.

I think we're ready.

Woman: This is good,
takes a little shine off there.

What about my forehead?

I don't want it to blind anyone.

[woman chuckles]

I told them, I said oversight,

we're like a well-oiled machine.

We don't do drama.

When President Nixon
faced questions

about his federal income taxes,

he said,

"I welcome this kind
of examination

because people
have got to know

whether or not

their president is a crook."

Understanding President
Trump's financial interests

could, for example,

shed light on exactly how
he and his businesses

will be affected
by the massive tax legislation

he championed last year.

It would set a very
dangerous precedent,

and the question is,
where does it end?

What about the tax
returns of the Speaker,

members of Congress?

The chairman of the committee
may request

the tax return information
of any taxpayer

from the treasury secretary,

who is obligated to furnish it.

Should the secretary refuse,

we would be
in uncharted territory.

Female reporter: The treasury
secretary, Steve Mnuchin,

defying yet another subpoena
from Congress,

this time for six years of
the president's tax returns.

Male reporter: House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi today

became the latest Democrat
to call

the Trump administration's
refusal to comply

with congressional subpoenas

a constitutional crisis.

[indistinct conversation]

John, hey. John Lewis.

- Hi, how you doing?
- Hello. Meet my old lady.

Hi, how you doing, young lady?

I'm doing great.

Man, I appreciate everything
you're doing, man.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir,
for all your service.

Lewis: Thank you.
How you doing?

Very well today, thank you.

- What a pleasant surprise.
- Good to see you.

- You're my hero.
- Well, thank you, brother.

I just want to thank you
for all your service.

- Thank you.
- For all these years.

We really look up to you.

Female producer:
What is it like

walking through an airport
with him?

- Tedious.
- [laughs]

How you doing?
Fine, good to see you.

- Okay.
- I'm fine.

You doing okay?

Sometimes it might
take 30 minutes.

It could take an hour
and 30 minutes.

Hello. How are you
doing this morning?

Hello, so nice to meet you.

- Good to meet you.
- Thank you.

I've had to impersonate
John a number of times,

and the reason is,
is that you'll have...

I'll have a whole family
come up.

[laughing]

And they're saying,

"Johnny, this is John Lewis,"

and I'm like... I don't want
to embarrass the parents.

I don't want to... so I've
gotten a lot of pictures taken

with people just assuming
that I was John Lewis.

But you know what?

I am so glad that

they mistake me for a great man.

One time we were in Ghana
in the marketplace.

"John Lewis!"

What an honor
to be in front of you.

Lewis: Well, it's good
to see you.

- Love you.
- You're wonderful.

- Thank you, girl.
- It's such an honor.

Cab drivers in Egypt.

Collins: Okay, one, two, three.

Just... he always been busy.

The afternoon's really packed,

so we're gonna move quickly
through those meetings.

You've got Dov Wilker.
You remember him from AJC.

Woman: Yes, sir.

Lewis: Okay.

Sorry keeping you.

Man 1:
We would really appreciate

if you would consider
drafting a letter

- to the Georgia delegation...
- Mm-hmm.

to support the project.

Mm-hmm.

Man 2: I'm a first-generation
immigrant.

The system needs
to be developed in a way

where it is helpful

for those who are trying
to follow the system.

Lewis: Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Make yourself comfortable.

Who else could advocate
better for veterans

when the nurses
who are sitting right there

at the bedsides
taking care of them?

Lewis:
I'm sorry to keep you waiting.

No problem, that's fine.

- How you doing?
- Good to see you.

Good to see you.

I noticed most of you
are drinking water.

We have something
a little stronger.

- We have...
- [laughter]

We have Coca-Cola.
We have tea.

We're hoping through your
oversight committee

that you could bring
our CEO of AT&T,

one of our largest employers,

Randall Stephenson,
before your committee.

Lewis: Okay.

He promised 7,000 new jobs

- if they pass the tax bill.
- Lewis: Okay.

Man: So, we are asking

for an investigation
into these major corporations

and what have they done
with the tax breaks.

You are my representative,
so I'm coming to you,

so you could try to help us
to start this impeachment.

We have to save our democracy.

Woman: Yes, we have to.

And sometimes I feel like
we're gonna lose it.

I think by winning the majority
back in the House,

we... as Nancy Pelosi said,
the speaker,

whatever we do,

we're going to do it
in a systematic way.

So, stand by, so.

Lewis:
You know it's been a long day.

- I know.
- There you go.

Hold on. You frame him up.

Man: Want to come closer,
or are you good?

No, I'm good.

I just want David to be still,
stop flying like a chicken.

- [woman laughs]
- Stop flying like a chicken?

No, I'm playing with you now.

No, I got you, I got you.

Man: Keep that smile.
Keep that energy.

Y'all take care.
Thank you for coming.

- Buh-bye. Buh-bye.
- Bye.

- Lewis: Rachelle?
- Yes, sir?

- Where's Mike?
- They're coming.

They're with Jared.

Rachelle O'Neil:
In the district office

it's just... it's more light,

so we get a jovial,
funny... we get the lighter

John Lewis
in the district office.

It was the congressman's
birthday,

and we had had a birthday lunch
and birthday cake.

- No, I'm full.
- [music playing]

I'm so full, I can't even move.

O'Neil: We get a little loopy, I guess,

from all the sugar.

- Woman: ♪ I'm happy ♪
- ♪ Come along ♪

- ♪ If you feel ♪
- [laughter]

- Woman: Go, Congressman.
- ♪ Without a roof ♪

And I posted it.

Woman: Now, break it down.

This my song.

O'Neil: The next day,
I was getting calls

from everyone
saying it had gone viral.

I didn't know
what "gone viral" meant.

This has nothing to do
with civil rights.

It has everything to do with

a little bit of,
shall we say, mojo?

O'Neil: There was just so much going on in the country

at the time.

It made people happy, literally.

Oh, he loves to dance!

Did you see the video?

Okay.

♪ Because I'm happy ♪

♪ Clap along if you feel ♪

♪ Like that's what
You want to do ♪

Lewis:
Oh, the light just went on.

My mother would not
be happy with me

having you to see this junky,

disorganized place.

So that's my collection
of chickens.

This birdhouse
came from Atlanta,

and I made it a chicken house.

So, you see
the little chicks in there.

My great-grandfather,
Frank Carter,

was a wonderful man.

This is a picture with my
late friend Julian Bond.

This picture was taken
in the delta of Mississippi.

We were doing
voter registration,

urging people to get registered.

It was so dangerous to attempt
to get registered to vote.

["Will the Circle Be Unbroken"
by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band]

♪ Will the circle be unbroken ♪

♪ By and by, Lord, by and by ♪

Lewis:
The Voter Education Project

is working in 11 states
in the South.

We are working in states
from Virginia to Texas.

Our message to blacks
in Mississippi is simple.

Only you

can make the necessary choices

about what
your destiny will be.

- Mr. Lewis.
- How you doing?

[overlapping chatter]

- Good to see you.
- Representative Julian Bond.

- I know him.
- All right.

How you doing?

[indistinct chatter]

Julian Bond: Have you registered
to vote yet?

- No.
- No?

Man: We're going to take
some of your neighbors

down in the morning at 10:00.

- Woman: Right, this one.
- Someone will pick you up,

take you to the county
courthouse, and bring you back.

It's the easiest thing
in the world.

Lewis: It's not enough
just to register,

but on election day,
we must vote.

We must have some control
over our own political destiny.

In Selma, they had only
about 2.1% of the black people

of voting age
registered in 1965.

Today in Selma,

more than 30 percent
of the blacks of voting age

are registered to vote.

Female reporter:
Do you remember

when you decided
to run for office?

Lewis: I was in
Robert Kennedys' room

when he was murdered
in Los Angeles,

and I said, "Maybe, maybe
I should run for something,"

and I decided to run,

and my first race,

that was not that successful.

- Mm-hmm.
- I went to Washington

and worked with President
Carter for three years

and came back

and ran for a city council seat in Atlanta.

When the congressional office came open, I ran.

Male reporter:
Julian Bond and John Lewis,

friends for 25 years,

now running against each other
for the same seat in Congress.

So how you doing today?
Good to see you.

Appreciate your help.
Good to see you.

Lewis:
It's the highest possibility

for a black elected official
that would like to move up,

and I think most politicians
would like to move up.

I'm gonna win, but we're
still gonna be good friends.

Male reporter:
The runoff has been nasty.

There were no serious
issue differences

between the two
until Lewis made one.

He took a drug test

and challenged Bond
to do the same.

These tests are wrong,
they're wrong in the workplace,

and they're wrong
in your attempt

to pander to the fears
of the voters

of the fifth
congressional district.

Male reporter:
Bond called the drug test

a cheap political trick,

demagoguery, McCarthyism.

I've known you for 25 years.

Our families went
to Disneyland together.

We've been to South Africa
together.

We've marched together.
We've picketed together.

I've never heard you say

some of the things
you've said about me this year.

Male reporter:
John Lewis voted today

a few blocks from where
Julian Bond cast his ballot.

It was a stunning
political upset.

Atlanta City
Councilman John Lewis

defeated State Senator
Julian Bond.

Bryant Gumbel: John Lewis,
congratulations.

Lewis: Thank you.

Gumbel:
You gained the nomination.

Was it worth the price, the stress on your friendship?

Well, this race
was a very difficult race.

Julian is a very good
and close friend.

We were friends
long before this campaign,

and we will continue
to be friends.

Julian Bond, do you still see

John Lewis
as you did before this began?

Oh, no, I couldn't say that.

There's been a real strain

put on this relationship
between the two of us,

but you know,
time is a great healer,

and I'm sure in time
the wounds will heal.

You had a big lead,

and you were supposed
to have won this election.

Why didn't you wind up
with more votes?

- He got more votes than I did.
- Gumbel: Why?

Well, it's pretty obvious
from the returns that

while black voters favored me
by a pretty substantial margin,

about 60-40, white voters
favored him about 80-20,

and that was
the deciding factor.

Here you were, an activist
on the front line

of the movement in the 1960s.

Now you're a bureaucrat,
pardon me, in Washington,

working in an important agency,

but nonetheless, you've become
part of the establishment.

Well, I see my role today
and I see the role of others

that are part of government

as continuing
that movement of the '60s.

Interviewer: The battleground
has shifted, you're saying,

to Washington
and these other areas.

Well, it is no longer
the drama in the streets.

It is in Washington,
it is in City Hall,

the state capitols
around the South

and around this country.

You know, being on the outside,
I had to struggle.

I had to fight.

But now I'm fighting
from within.

- I have not looked back since.
- Woman: Mm-hmm.

It's a calling, to serve.

There's nothing wrong with
putting poor people to work,

providing job training
and daycare.

People like to think of him
as a civil rights icon.

They don't like to think of him

as a legislator.

Lewis: Today we are considering
a fair housing measure

which not only protects
our nation's minorities,

but it protects the needs
of those with disabilities

and families with children.

Ronald Reagan: Every senator
and representative

standing up here
with me today

played an important role

in the passage of this landmark
civil rights bill,

and I want to mention

especially Representative
John Lewis.

Lewis: You are voting
for a declaration of war.

The American people
don't want war.

How long do we have to wait

before we decide
to ban assault weapons?

We have another opportunity to bring more of our citizens

into political participation.

Bill Clinton:
There were offenses

put in the criminal code that carried the death penalty,

and he was against
the death penalty

as a matter of conscience,

and I must say,
the older I've gotten,

the closer I've come
to his position,

and maybe what we need
is a little more

reconciliation and rebuilding.

Lewis: American workers
are suffering.

They're working hard,

and they're still
living in poverty.

That's not right.

We should have put an end
to Don't Ask, Don't Tell

long ago.

We're going to pass
national healthcare.

We must stop this cycle

from being repeated
over and over again.

He challenges the conscience
of the Congress

every day that he is here.

We're calling on
the leadership of the House

to bring common-sense
gun control legislation

to the House floor.

Let us vote!

We came here to do our job!

We came here to work!

We will occupy this floor.

Rashida Tlaib: And he sat
on the House floor

holding hands
with other members,

and I thought to myself,

"That's exactly
what I would do."

He probably didn't realize
this girl, you know,

sitting in her living room
in southwest Detroit

looking at the screen
of this legendary man,

it was pretty
incredibly inspiring,

and then later on,
now I'm serving with him.

It's kind of surreal.

When Donald Trump came in

and tried to take away
healthcare,

I called John Lewis up,
and I said,

"I don't know what to do,
but can we just

open up Facebook
and have a conversation?"

Sometimes, you know,
by sitting in or sitting down,

you're really standing up.

Booker:
And because of him,

five, ten, twenty,

hundreds of people
show up to sit with us

and have a conversation about
why healthcare is so important.

We were in a stalemate

regarding the building
of the wall,

that we went to
the United States Senate,

and we did a sit-in,

and I remember

myself and some of my other
freshman colleagues

wanting to yell out
from the sides, "Shame on you,"

and Congressman Lewis said,

"That's not how we do this."

And I mean, you could
have heard a pin drop.

John Lewis introduced
the legislation in 1988

for the African-American
Culture and History Museum.

So, John was always trying
to tell the story

of African-Americans
in this country

and the imperativeness

of treating people
with dignity and equality.

Stacey Abrams: You cannot
replace a John Lewis

because it is
a matter of strategy,

someone who's
cultivated a story

to remind us
that our past is not passed.

This is something
you know a lot about,

so I wanted to put this
front and center.

And you see Hosea
holding his nose.

He knew they were getting ready
to use the tear gas.

- Oh, that's what he was doing.
- Mm-hmm.

Lonnie Bunch:
Did you ever despair?

Lewis: No.

You couldn't.

You have to be hopeful.
You have to be optimistic.

You get knocked down, and...

you get up,

keep going.

Lewis: The Monday after Bloody Sunday,

after we were beaten in Selma,

Dr. King came to my hospital
bedside and said,

"John, don't worry.

I issued a call
for religious leaders to come."

Man: The events in Selma have
been brought to a climax

by a nighttime attack
on a white Boston minister

by white men.

He died two days later.

Lewis: President Lyndon Johnson
spoke to the nation.

It's not just Negros,

but really, it's all of us

who must overcome

the crippling legacy
of bigotry and injustice,

and we shall overcome.

Lewis: First time
an American president

quoted the words of the theme
song of the movement.

I was in the hospital from
Sunday until about an hour ago.

I don't know if I will
be able to participate

in the march today,

but it is my feeling

that people
all over this country,

but particularly the people
right here in Alabama,

right here in Selma,

should continue to march
toward Montgomery.

All: ♪ Turn me round,
oh, turn me round ♪

♪ Oh, turn me round ♪

♪ Ain't gonna let nobody
turn me round ♪

♪ I'm gonna keep on a-walking, keep on a-talking ♪

- ♪ Walking into freedom land ♪ - ♪ Oh ♪

♪ Ain't gonna let nobody
Turn me around ♪

♪ Turn me around,
Turn me around ♪

♪ Ain't gonna let nobody
Turn me around ♪

♪ I just keep on a-walking,
Keep on a-talking ♪

♪ Marching on to freedom land ♪

♪ Ain't gonna let nobody
Turn me around ♪

♪ Can't let them
Turn me around, oh Lord ♪

- ♪ Turn me around ♪
- ♪ Turn me around ♪

♪ Ain't gonna let nobody
turn me around ♪

♪ I just keep on a-walking
Oh, I keep on a-moving... ♪

I'll have great trials
and tribulations,

but I said when we go across
the city line tomorrow,

we have a new song
that we're going to sing,

"We Have Overcome."

[cheering]

We were not afraid.

♪ Turn me around ♪

♪ You know,
I keep on a-walking ♪

♪ I just keep on a-talking ♪

♪ Marching on
To freedom land ♪

Male anchor: President Johnson
sends to Congress a bill

to reinforce the right to vote.

The president signs
an accompanying letter

to the legislators

urging swift passage
for the bill

that would outlaw
discriminatory practices.

Lewis: We will use the energy

and the resources
of our organization

to implement the voting law.

We are going to the entire
state of Georgia,

Alabama, Mississippi,

parts of North Carolina,
to get hundreds and thousands

and literally millions
of Negro people

who have been denied
the right to vote that right

and to quicken the day

when they will participate
in the democratic process.

Male anchor: In three years,
more than 62 percent

of eligible blacks
are registered.

Mississippi alone increased
registration 800%,

and this was the beginning
of a political revolution.

The official inaugural book.

Female producer:
What did that feel like,

to see him...

be elected?

Lewis: Oh, I cried.

I cried uncontrollably.

I jumped so high,
and I started crying.

I didn't think my feet
were gonna touch the ground.

I cried.

I was crying for Dr. King,

for President Kennedy
and Robert Kennedy,

my parents and grandparents
and others,

hundreds
and thousands of people

who didn't live to see this.

When the inauguration
was over,

I had a piece of paper.

I said, "Mr. President,
will you sign something?"

Well, he wrote on it,

"It's because of you, John.

Barack Obama."

And when I saw him
at the second inauguration,

he said to me...
and he remembered so well.

He said, "It's still
because of you, John."

I said, "Well, thank you,
Mr. President."

Ooh, like a dream come true
to think about it.

And what is going on now just...

Oh, make me feel
like crying again.

They want everybody to vote.

I don't want everybody to vote.

Elections are not won
by a majority of people.

They never have been from
the beginning of our country,

and they are not now.

As a matter of fact,
our leverage in the elections,

quite candidly, goes up as
the voting populace goes down.

Our democracy
is under attack,

and it's under attack in a way

that we have not seen for...

50 years.

Today I come
with a heavy heart,

deeply concerned about
the future of our democracy.

The people have a right to know

whether they can
put their faith

and trust in the outcome
of our election.

Some of those old battles
that many of us thought

had been fought and won,

we have to re-engage.

This is not a time for despair.

This is a time for action,

and that's what I learned
from John Lewis.

[dramatic music]

Barack Obama: In one afternoon, 50 years ago,

so much of
our turbulent history,

all that history
met on this bridge.

Their faith was questioned.

Their lives were threatened,

their patriotism challenged,

and yet what could
be more American

than what happened
in this place?

The Voting Rights Act

was one of the crowning achievements of our democracy.

President Reagan
signed its renewal

when he was in office.

President George W. Bush
signed its renewal

when he was in office.

If we want to honor this day,

pledge to restore
that law this year!

That's how we honor
those on this bridge.

[crowd singing] ♪ This little light of mine ♪

♪ Yeah, I'm gonna
let it shine ♪

♪ Everybody say
This little light of mine ♪

♪ O Lord
I'm gonna let it shine ♪

♪ Well, let it shine ♪

♪ Let it shine
Let it shine ♪

We will create
the beloved community.

We will redeem
the soul of America.

There may be some setbacks,
some delays,

but as a nation
and as a people,

we will get there,

and I still believe
we shall overcome.

["Happy" by Pharrell Williams]

♪ It might seem crazy
What I'm 'bout to say ♪

All: We love John!
We love John!

Male reporter:
Congressman John Lewis

leads thousands of people

through the streets
of downtown Atlanta,

a march for social justice
and women,

one of hundreds
of similar events

organized
all around the globe.

Male reporter 2: Georgia Congressman John Lewis

will introduce one of
the Best Picture nominees

during the weekend's Oscars.

You know, it's good to be out
of Washington sometimes.

♪ ...if you feel like a room
Without a roof ♪

Anything you need from me,
you let me know.

Thank you.

Man: John Lewis has earned
our lasting gratitude

for a lifetime
dedicated to the pursuit

of equality and justice
for all.

♪ ...what happiness is to you ♪

♪ Because I'm happy ♪

♪ Clap along if you feel like That's what you wanna do ♪

♪ Here come bad news
Talking this and that ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Well, give me all you got
And don't hold it back ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Well, I should probably
Warn you I'll be just fine ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ No offense to you
Don't waste your time ♪

♪ Here's why ♪

♪ Because I'm happy ♪

♪ Clap along if you feel
Like a room without a roof ♪

♪ Because I'm happy ♪

♪ Clap along if you feel like Happiness is the truth ♪

♪ Because I'm happy ♪

♪ Clap along if you know
What happiness is to you ♪

♪ Because I'm happy ♪

♪ Clap along if you feel Like that's what you wanna do ♪

♪ Hey, uh ♪

♪ Bring me down
Can't nothin' ♪

♪ Bring me down ♪

♪ My level is too high
To bring me down ♪

♪ Can't nothin'
Bring me down ♪

♪ I said
Let me tell you now, uh ♪

♪ Bring me down
Can't nothin' ♪

♪ Bring me down ♪

♪ Can't nothin'
Bring me down, I said ♪

♪ Because I'm happy ♪

♪ Clap along if you feel
Like a room without a roof ♪

♪ Because I'm happy ♪

♪ Clap along if you feel Like happiness is the truth ♪

♪ Because I'm happy ♪

♪ Clap along if you know
What happiness is to you ♪

♪ Because I'm happy ♪

♪ Clap along if you feel Like that's what you wanna do ♪

♪ Come on ♪

Be happy, everybody, happy.