THE HONORABLE JOHN LEWIS

The Honorable John Robert Lewis

(February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020)

By Reverend Dr. Cleveland T. A. Mason, 2^nd

President, United Baptist Missionary Convention & Auxiliaries for the State of Maryland, Inc.

Senior Pastor, Perkins Square Baptist Church of Baltimore

America has lost one of its greatest heroes, with the passing of Representative John Lewis. He marched alongside his mentor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the struggle for equality and justice for all people in America. He was not dissuaded by opposing opinions, not relenting because of ridicule or coerced by compromise. He was committed to the cause to the very end.

What a shame that America in his lifetime did not learn her lesson and live up to the true meaning of her creed that all men are created equal and endowed with the inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

America continues to concede to bigotry and hatred to the extent that we have permitted evil to invade the Whitehouse of this great nation and hired cowards to represent us in Congress and we are getting worse and not better as a nation.

Our American leadership is responsible for the greatest American tragedy ever known as the Coronavirus pandemic should be recognized as the Great American Holocaust. 3.78 million US citizens are infected and 142,000 people are dead – murdered by the science-resistant, ill-informed, self-indulgent, incompetent federal leadership that has never used it potential to save our lives.

John Lewis died fighting for a corrected course for America and has now left the fight to the rest of us to never rest, never give up and to never give in – until we win for America – the Beloved Community – where all lives matter!