John Lewis' Speech at the March on Washington, August 22, 1963

During the March on Washington, John Lewis spoke for a better, more inclusive and active civil rights bill from the Kennedy Administration.

Why did John Lewis say, “We have nothing to be proud of?” Why did he support the administration’s civil rights bill but why did he have reservations?

On a day known more for Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech, John Lewis, as President of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, spoke stridently on behalf of those African-Americans who were being left out of the civil rights bill. He spoke of those making three dollars a day and those who were seeking the right to vote but could not get a sixth grade education. He spoke against gradualism and patience and how he was tired of being beaten by police and sent to jail for his rights.