Late civil rights trailblazer, congressman John Lewis to be honored with USPS stamp

The late civil rights leader and congressman John Lewis will be honored with a USPS stamp for 2023.

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The United States Postal Service on Tuesday announced in a news release that they will be adding seven additional new stamps to their 2023 release list that includes one for the late John Lewis. These seven will be joining a list that was announced earlier in the year that includes the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and so many others.

Lewis spent his life working for justice for all Americans and was devoted to equality, according to USPS.

USPS said the stamp “celebrates the life and legacy” of Lewis, according to The Associated Press. Lewis died in 2020 at the age of 80 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

According to CNN, Lewis was a follower and colleague of Martin Luther King Jr. He participated in lunch counter sit-ins, was part of the Freedom Riders that challenged the segregated buses and he was also a keynote speaker at the 1963 March on Washington at just 23 years old.

Lewis spoke right before Martin Luther King Jr.’s infamous “I Have A Dream” speech, according to the AP.

He was beaten by Alabama state troopers in Selma in 1965 which helped “galvanize opposition to racial segregation,” according to the AP.

Lewis was elected to the Atlanta City Council before working in Congress for decades, according to the AP.

“Devoted to equality and justice for all Americans, Lewis spent more than 30 years in Congress steadfastly defending and building on key civil rights gains that he had helped achieve in the 1960s. Even in the face of hatred and violence, as well as some 45 arrests, Lewis remained resolute in his commitment to what he liked to call “good trouble,” said USPS in the news release.

The stamp of Lewis is from a photograph taken by Marco Grob on Aug. 26, 2013, for Time magazine, according to USPS. It showcases a photograph of Lewis that was taken in 1963 by Steve Shapiro outside a workshop that was about a nonviolent protest in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

The first-class stamp costs 60 cents currently, but this will change to 63 cents on Jan. 22, 2023, according to the AP.

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