John Lewis Bridge

John Lewis Bridge

Hello everybody,

Three days ago, March 7 was the anniversary of a horrific event known as “Bloody Sunday”. Marchers protesting the death of Jimmie Lee Jackson, a 26 year old murdered by white police officers planned a really long march on March 7, 1965. When the marchers came to the Edmund Pettus Bridge (named after the Confederate brigadier general, Grand Dragon of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan, and U.S. Senator who stood against Black rights) they were met by state troopers and other law enforcement officers who proceeded to attack the unarmed protesters with billy clubs, bullwhips and tear gas. They fractured John Lewis’s skull which is something he lived with for the rest of his life. John Lewis died July 17, 2020 after serving as a U.S. Congressman for 33 years. Recently there have been calls to rename the Edmund Pettus Bridge after Congressman Lewis. Here is link to a web site that promotes renaming the bridge: https://johnlewisbridge.com/  Another resource is the MARCH graphic novel trilogy written about John Lewis’ Civil Rights work: https://www.loyaltybookstores.com/search/site/march

I am linking to an independently owned bookstore founded by a Black and Queer bookseller. It is called Loyalty Bookstore. A second recommendation would be to shop on bookshop.org either through the Loyalty Bookstore page or otherwise.

Thank you.

#grownupsareyoulistening