U.S. Rep. Lewis speaks with students on election

Georgia Martin ’24, Jessica Penilton ’24, Harper Phillips ’24, and Harper Martin ’26 shared with U.S. Rep. John Lewis their thoughts on the 2016 presidential election and were greeted with reassurance and a history lesson.

 

Lewis, a longtime congressman whose district includes much of Atlanta, was in Nashville to speak at the Nashville Public Library Foundation’s Literary Award Gala. While here, he visited the office of former U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee and USN parent Jerry Martin, a civil rights attorney. When his daughters and their friends walked into Martin’s office they found Lewis signing books. Nervous at the thought of meeting him and with butterflies in their stomach, they approached the congressman to hand him thank you cards they had personally created for him.  While they found Lewis to have a serious look and deep voice, they quickly felt reassured by his kind demeanor. They were armed with a list of questions they had prepared ahead of time. Some of their questions were:

Lewis told them he hopes Trump will protect all people. He said to hope for the positive instead of the negative. He doesn't know what will happen but mentioned minorities have passed too many milestones to let someone reverse progress, so we'll fight if we must. His most surprising response was about the Electoral College. They thought he would be in favor of the Electoral College; however, he agreed with them that the Electoral College isn't fair.

 

On the presidential election night, fifth graders participated in a live class chat. The experience shed light on the electoral versus popular voting process. It was fun to make predictions and exciting to follow the twists and turns of the evening as the polls closed. It was also a wonderful active learning opportunity for students to understand how U.S. presidents are elected. After the election, Phillips was inspired to write a letter to the government about the Electoral College. Meeting Lewis was perfect timing, allowing Johnson to hand-deliver her letter.

 

They were fascinated by the story Lewis told them about being the only person alive that spoke on the day Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. Lewis was the sixth speaker and King the 10th speaker.  At end of that day, they went to the White House to see then President John F. Kennedy; it was the last time Lewis saw King before he was assassinated.

 

They ended their meeting taking a picture with the congressman. As they got ready to take the photo Lewis said, “Come closer, I’m not going to bite you,” the girls recalled. After meeting with Lewis, they each made handprints with their hands that shook Lewis’ hand.