Aug 20, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Keisha Lance Bottoms: "We must pass on the gift John Lewis sacrificed to give us"

Jacob Knutson

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms paid tribute at the Democratic National Convention Thursday to civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis, urging all Americans to "pass on the gift John Lewis sacrificed to give us" by registering and voting.

Why it matters: Voting, whether by mail or in-person, has been one of the most dominant overarching messages of all four nights of the DNC. Bottoms' powerful invocation of Lewis, who dedicated his life to securing voting rights for Black Americans, was following by a montage of clips and speeches from the life of the late Georgia congressman.

What she's saying: "The baton has been passed to each of us. We cried out for justice. We have gathered in our streets to demand change, and now, we must pass on the gift John Lewis sacrificed to give us."

"We must register, and we must vote. In his parting essay written to us, Congressman Lewis expressed his pride in the activism that has swept our country, and he reminded us that if we fail to exercise our right to vote, we can lose it."
"Congressman Lewis would not be silenced, and neither can we. We cannot wait for some other time, some other place, some other heroes. We must be the heroes of our generation, because we, too, are America."

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Keisha Lance Bottoms: "We must pass on the gift John Lewis sacrificed to give us"

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