Nyack To Celebrate The Life, Legacy Of Congressman John Lewis

NYACK, NY—The Nyack community will celebrate the life of Congressman John L. Lewis this Tuesday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., rain or shine, in the Hezekiah Easter Park, which is located at the corner of Main and Cedar Streets in the heart of the village.

As the legendary public servant and civil rights leader lies in state in the U.S Capitol, the local public is invited to experience a multimedia memorial created by Nyack artists Bill Batson and Kris Burns. The celebration enjoins the community to continue Lewis' work.

Speakers will include Nicole Hines, Assistant Director of the Nyack Center and Chair of the Nyack Housing Authority, and the Reverend Owen Thompson, rector of Nyack's Grace Episcopal church. Young people are especially welcome.

"In the final days of his life, John Lewis visited the Black Lives Matter mural painted on the streets of Washington DC. Our youth painted a similar mural here in Nyack," said Hines. "The example of John Lewis is alive and well, guiding our youth toward a life of activism and our country to a more equitable future for black people, indigenous people and all people of color."

Lewis passed away on July 17 at the age of 80. Nyack's memorial installation includes images and quotes drawn from Lewis' life as a leader in events that shaped the history of the nation.

Lewis was a featured speaker at the 1963 March on Washington and helped lead the 1965 Bloody Sunday March across the Edmund Pettus Bridge — a demonstration that catalyzed passage of the historic Voting Rights Act in that year. The Act secured the right to vote for racial minorities throughout the country, especially in the South.

Nyack's Hezekiah Easter Park (formerly known as Veteran's Park) is a fitting location for the Lewis celebration. The park is where local citizens continue to raise their voices in a call for justice for George Floyd, an unarmed Black man killed by police in Minneapolis, MN and Tina Davis, an unarmed Black woman killed by police in Spring Valley, NY. Most recently, the park has been the site of demonstrations calling for the resignation of Rockland County Sheriff Louis Falco for racist social media posts.

Attendees at the celebration will be invited to honor Lewis by pledging to engage in activism and follow his example by "getting into good trouble." Participants can take home a flower from the memorial as a reminder of their commitment, and have their picture taken as testimony of their pledge, to be posted on social media at #goodtrouble.

The multimedia installation is aimed at both celebration and education. Included are memorial plaques with Lewis' image and quotes; QR codes on the plaques will bring mobile phone users to sites that present the history of the civil rights movement. One panel shows portions of an essay and drawing from Batson's Nyack Sketch Log tribute to Lewis, published on July 21. Sketch and essay are available at this link.

"John Lewis warned us not to get lost in a sea of despair. Amidst a pandemic that has exposed both the physical and moral weakness of our country, Lewis' words and his life work should inspire us all," said Reverend Thompson. "Despite being beaten bloody and jailed, he never surrendered to cynicism. The most fitting way to honor him is to follow his example and make good trouble anytime you see injustice.”

Good Trouble, a documentary on the life of John Lewis will be screened by Rivertown Film in August, introduced by Batson and Hines. See www.rivertownfilm.org.

"The Reverend William Barber II, civil rights activist and co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, aptly sums up our purpose in celebrating John Lewis' life," said Hines. "Barber asks, 'What if, instead of simply mourning a loss, people choose to live the life that Lewis lived? We can choose to emulate his life, in the policies we pursue and the political transformation we seek.' In this way, we will honor the legacy given to us, and help build a better world.”