Record #: R2020-609   
Type: Resolution Status: Adopted
Intro date: 9/9/2020 Current Controlling Legislative Body:
Final action: 9/9/2020
Title: Tribute to late Honorable John Lewis
Sponsors: Burke, Edward M.
Attachments: 1. R2020-609 - Resolution of Remembrance for the late Honorable John Lewis, 2. R2020-609.pdf, 3. R2020-609 - Resolution of Remembrance for the late Honorable John Lewis

RESOLUTION

 

WHEREAS, Honorable John Lewis has been called to eternal life by the wisdom of God at the age of 80; and

 

WHEREAS, The Chicago City Council has been informed of his passing by Alderman Edward M. Burke; and

 

WHEREAS, Congressman Lewis was born in Troy, Alabama on February 21,1940 to his mother, Willie Mae (nee Carter) and his father, Eddie Lewis; and

 

WHEREAS, His wife, Lillian Mills, whom he met at a New Year's Eve party and married in 1968, died in 2012, and is survived by his son, John-Miles; and

 

WHEREAS, Born into segregation, Congressman Lewis took a leadership role in civil rights protest as a young man, and was at the heart of many of the most crucial, and dangerous, events in that movement; and

 

WHEREAS, As the changes for which he battled came into being, he found himself elected to the US House of Representatives, where he also served in leadership positions, and was called "the conscience of Congress" by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution; and

 

WHEREAS, In 1981, Lewis was elected to the Atlanta city council; and

 

WHEREAS, In 1986, when Wyche Fowler left the US House to run for the US Senate, Lewis staged a bitter primary fight to replace him against his old colleague, Julian Bond; and

 

WHEREAS, Lewis won the 1986 primary in an upset, then easily took the election in what is a safe Democratic seat; and

 

WHEREAS, Congressman Lewis was re-elected 16 times, never with less than 69% ofthe vote, running unopposed six times; and

 

WHEREAS, In 2003, Congressman Lewis introduced a bill to establish a Museum of African American History in Washington, signed into law by President George W. Bush; and

 

WHEREAS, Congressman Lewis was considered one of Congress's most liberal Democrats, he remained fiercely independent; and

 

WHEREAS, To his beloved family, Honorable John Lewis imparts a legacy of faithfulness, service and dignity; now, therefore

 

 

BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and the members of the Chicago Gity Council, assembled this Ninth day of September, 2020, do hereby commemorate Honorable John,Lewis for his grace-filled life and do hereby express our condolences to his family; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Honorable John Lewis.