AP Photo/Charles DharapakCongressman John Lewis is not mincing words. The Civil Rights hero and activist who marched with Dr. King and was beaten for demanding equal rights for all Americans, went on the Roland Martin radio show and called on Americans to do the right thing and protest all over the nation if Mike Brown’s killer, Darren Wilson, is not indicted.
While appearing on Roland Martin‘s radio show, Rep. Lewis was asked whether the numerous stories of African-American men being shot by police — Brown’s death chief among them — was “the modern-day Selma”, referring to the 1963 march that saw hundreds of protestors beaten and arrested for demanding African-American voting rights.
“I believe what is happening is moving towards that point,” Rep. Lewis mused:
Selma was the turning point. And I think what happened in Ferguson will be the turning point. I think people are waiting, they’re watching, and we’re gonna see within the next few days what’s going to happen — and that would be massive, nonviolent protests all over America. When we were beaten on that bridge in Selma, people couldn’t take it, for they saw it, they heard about it, they read about it, and it lit a sense of righteous indignation. When we see a miscarriage of justice in Ferguson, they’re going to have the same reaction they had towards Selma.
And he should know, he was there and played a key role in the pivotal march.
