COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Congresswoman Joyce Beatty spoke with Spectrum News 1 on the life of the late Representative John Lewis Saturday.
Lewis died after battling pancreatic cancer.
Beatty said Lewis is a “legend” and fought for the fair treatment of himself and others throughout his entire life.
“We will remember him as a young soldier. A soldier at a very early age,” she said.
Lewis’ legacy was shaped during the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
In 1965, Lewis, along with Martin Luther King Jr. and others, walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama for voting rights. They were beaten by police in what became known as “Bloody Sunday”.
Spectrum News 1 anchor Chuck Ringwalt asked Rep. Beatty if Lewis’ death will reignite the debate of police reform on Capitol Hill.
“I think that it will not only reignite it. I believe it will keep us focused. I believe that things happen for a reason. And I think that we have to go as you’re going to hear me say frequently. We must go from agony to action,” she said.
Beatty represents Ohio’s 3rd district in the House of Representatives. She is also the Vice-Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.
