Congressman John Lewis, a history-maker and civil rights leader, will speak at the the Jewish Community Relations Bureau|American Jewish Committee Human Relations Dinner honoring James B. Nutter, Sr. with the Henry W. Bloch Human Relations Award. The dinner will take place on Sunday, Nov. 24, at the Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center.
“We are profoundly honored to be hosting Rep. John Lewis, a true history maker who has devoted his life to the pursuit of justice for all. And it is very meaningful that a Jewish organization is bringing this icon of the civil rights movement to the Kansas City community,” said JCRB|AJC Executive Director Marvin Szneler.
Lewis was born the son of sharecroppers in 1940 on his family’s farm outside of Troy, Ala. As a young boy, he was inspired by the activism surrounding the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., which he heard on radio broadcasts. In those pivotal moments, he made a decision to become a part of the Civil Rights Movement. Ever since then, he has remained at the vanguard of the human rights struggle in the United States.
As a student at Fisk University, Lewis organized sit-in demonstrations at segregated lunch counters in Nashville, Tenn. In 1961, he volunteered to participate in the Freedom Rides, which challenged segregation at interstate bus terminals across the South. He was beaten severely by angry mobs and arrested by police for challenging Jim Crow segregation in the South.
While still a young man, Lewis became a nationally recognized leader. At the age of 23, he was an architect of and a keynote speaker at the historic March on Washington in August 1963.
Lewis is perhaps best-known for spearheading one of the most seminal moments of the Civil Rights Movement. He led more than 600 peaceful, orderly protestors across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., on March 7, 1965, as they set off to march from Selma to Montgomery to demonstrate for voting rights in the state. They were attacked by Alabama state troopers in a brutal confrontation that became known as “Bloody Sunday.” News broadcasts and photographs revealing the senseless cruelty of the segregated South helped hasten the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Despite more than 40 arrests, physical attacks and serious injuries, Lewis remained a devoted advocate of the philosophy of nonviolence.
He was elected to Congress in November 1986 and has served as U.S. Representative of Georgia’s Fifth Congressional District since then. He is senior chief deputy whip for the Democratic Party, a member of the House Ways & Means Committee and ranking member of its Subcommittee on Oversight. Often called “one of the most courageous persons the Civil Rights Movement ever produced,” Lewis has dedicated his life to protecting human rights, securing civil liberties and building what he calls “The Beloved Community” in America.
Lewis holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in religion and philosophy from Fisk University, and is a graduate of the American Baptist Theological Seminary. He has been awarded more than 50 honorary degrees from colleges and universities including Harvard, Spelman, Princeton, Morehouse, Duke, Howard and Brandeis.
He is the recipient of numerous awards from national and international institutions, including the highest civilian honor granted by President Barack Obama, the Medal of Freedom, the Lincoln Medal from the historic Ford’s Theatre, the Capital Award of the National Council of La Raza, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Non-Violent Peace Prize, the NAACP Spingarn Medal, and the only John F. Kennedy “Profile in Courage Award” for Lifetime Achievement ever granted by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.
Lewis is the co-author of the No. 1 New York Times bestselling graphic novel memoir trilogy “MARCH,” co-written with Andrew Aydin and illustrated by Nate Powell. He is also the author of “Across That Bridge: Life Lessons and a Vision for Change” (2012), and his prose autobiography is entitled “Walking With The Wind: A Memoir of the Movement” (June, 1998). He has also been featured in many books about the civil rights movement, including “The Children” by David Halberstam and the Taylor Branch series on the Movement.
The congressman lives in Atlanta.
Honoree James B. Nutter, Sr.
Nutter will be the recipient of the 2013 Henry W. Bloch Human Relations Award. The award honors a person who lives a life of justice and selflessness and who makes our community a better place to live. The award will be presented by Henry Bloch.
Bloch’s quiet brand of leadership and compassion has set an extraordinary standard for community activism. A humble and soft-spoken man, few aspects of community life remain untouched by Bloch’s kindness and concern. He is a man devoted to principle, a caring visionary of exemplary character and integrity, an inspiration and a role model in the pursuit of justice.
Nutter follows in Bloch’s footsteps. He has used his business success and his community involvement to improve the lives of many in Kansas City and across the nation. Nutter refused to follow the pervasive discriminatory lending practices of the 1950s and ‘60s. His then-little company was one of the first in the region to make home loans on a large scale in urban neighborhoods and to single women. He walked door-to-door in his neighborhood to help convince his neighbors to vote to end discrimination in stores, schools, restaurants and hotels. He was an early and progressive force in local efforts to provide previously difficult-to-find opportunities and accommodations for women and minority citizens.
Serving as co-chairs for the Human Relations Dinner are community leaders Anita B. Gorman, Phil Kirk, David H. Westbrook and Kristi S. Wyatt.
For nearly 70 years, the Jewish Community Relations Bureau|American Jewish Committee has been an advocate for justice and for equal rights for all members of our greater Kansas City community. The JCRB|AJC continually builds bridges of understanding and nurtures guiding principles embraced by people of good will — working to prevent discrimination, reduce prejudice, strengthen democracy and expand freedom.
For more information about the Human Relations Dinner, contact JCRB|AJC at 913-327-8126.
