The passing of two black men
Lewis was born into a poor rural family just 75 years out of slavery. Along with his parents and his siblings, he picked cotton mostly on lands owned by whites much as his enslaved forebearers had done. It was backbreaking, hand-bloodying tedium.
After having volunteered, my father had moved up the ranks to become an officer in the nation’s army while John’s parents had been drafted into the dreary army of Alabama sharecroppers. Those cotton toilers and chained men were of me and I was them. I did not know any of these unfortunates yet I knew they were my world. Every time I saw them, my heart would ache a deep and strong ache for which my young mind could not find words to express. I just kept silent and cried inside at the wrong done to my people.
John Lewis was driven by this spirit, even more so. Despite the racism and poverty arrayed against him, Lewis escaped the cotton fields. He did so with his humanity and large soul intact. The young Lewis enrolled in Fisk university, a black institution. He went there not just for personal advancement. He had bigger dreams in mind. He would devote himself to winning equality for his people. At the time, there was no more urgent or more dangerous a vocation for a young black man in the Deep South.
In an orgy of violent chaos, police and state troopers waded into marchers attacking the meek and mild. Attempting to shield a female marcher with his body, Lewis was pummeled viciously about the head. The police clubs had fractured his skull. He almost died that day. His blood was not spilled in vain.
Cain was born in Tennessee, a neighboring state to Alabama. He was born five years after Lewis. Growing up in the city of Memphis he must have faced his share of discrimination but not to the extent of Lewis.
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