UWCA is celebrating Black History Month with brief stories from our own staff and community volunteers. We asked them one question: Who is your Black History Superhero? Today’s respondent is Nick Sims, Vice President, Community Initiatives here at United Way. Nick selected the late Congressman John Lewis, and here’s why.
“Congressman John Lewis’s legacy will live on forever as a beacon of democracy,” said Nick. “From his early days as a Freedom Rider to being a Congressman, he was always fearless in his pursuit of doing what was right and taking a stand against injustice. The following quote still holds true today.”
“Take a long, hard look down the road you will have to travel once you have made a commitment to work for change. Know that this transformation will not happen right away. Change often takes time. It rarely happens all at once. In the movement, we didn’t know how history would play itself out. When we were getting arrested and waiting in jail or standing in unmovable lines on the courthouse steps, we didn’t know what would happen, but we knew it had to happen.” —John Lewis on protesting in his book Across that Bridge: Life Lessons and a Vision for Change.