Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights icon, dies at 80

“All of us were humbled to call Congressman Lewis a colleague, and are heartbroken by his passing. May his memory be an inspiration that moves us all to, in the face of injustice, make ‘good trouble, necessary trouble,’” Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement.

As theGrio previously reported, his staff denied speculation that he had succumbed to cancer after North Carolina Rep. Alma Adams offered her sympathies in a tweet. It was later deleted.

“Rumors are not true,” Lewis’ Chief of Staff Michael Collins said at the time. “He is resting comfortably at home.”

Friday’s confirmation of his death brings an end to an era as the civil rights leader dies at a moment in time when the nation is grappling with racial tensions. He was the last living speaker at the march on Washington which he helped organize in 1963. The documentary John Lewis: Good Trouble delved into his life of activism.

Last month, Lewis attended a Black Lives Matter protest in Washington despite his sickness.

“We must say, ‘Wake up, America! Wake up!’ For we cannot stop, and we will not and cannot be patient,” said Lewis.

Lewis was born in Troy, Alabama, the son of sharecroppers. He experienced racism and bigotry in his youth and resolved to make “good trouble,” dedicating his life to the Civil Rights Movement. He was one of the original Freedom Riders in 1961 that challenged segregation.

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Lewis, the youngest of the Big Six leaders, and the other riders were badly beaten. He was even struck in the head with a wooden crate.

“It was very violent. I thought I was going to die. I was left lying at the Greyhound bus station in Montgomery unconscious,” he recalled on the 40^th anniversary.

In 1963, he became the chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and had already been arrested 24 times by this period. He also worked closely with Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Two years later, the Voting Rights Act was passed but he never stopped devoting his life to one of public service. President Barack Obama awarded him the 2010 Presidential Medal of Freedom honor for his commitment to justice. It is the nation’s highest civilian honor.