Congressman John Lewis Honored with 2020 NAACP Chairman’s Award

John Lewis is the recipient of the NAACP Chairman’s Award, to be awarded during the broadcast of the 51st NAACP Image Awards on Saturday, February 22, at 8:00 p.m. ET on BET. This award honors Lewis for his lifetime of public service in his fight for civil rights. From his humble beginning as the son of sharecroppers, John Lewis helped lead the protest march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, which resulted in a violent attack by Alabama state troopers, forever known as “Bloody Sunday.”

Through more than 40 arrests since that day, Lewis has continued to advocate for nonviolent protest, even though he has sustained severe injuries because of his peaceful protests. His political career began in 1977 when President Carter appointed Lewis as Direction of ACTION, the federal volunteer agency. Lewis was elected to Atlanta City Council in 1981 and elected in 1986 as a U.S. Representative from Georgia’s Fifth Congressional District, a position he continues to hold today.

Lewis will add the 2020 NAACP Chairman’s Award to a host of other awards honoring him, including the Medal of Freedom, the Lincoln Medal, the John F. Kennedy “Profile in Courage Award” for Lifetime Achievement, and the Martin Luther King Jr. Non-Violent Peace Prize.