Obama gives passionate eulogy as John Lewis honored at funeral in MLK's Atlanta church
"He loved America until America learned to love him back," the Ebenezer Baptist Church pastor said of John Lewis, where former President Barack Obama gave the eulogy.
July 30, 2020, 9:43 AM CDT / Updated July 30, 2020, 3:05 PM CDT By Minyvonne Burke and Doha Madani
Former president Barack Obama gave a searing eulogy for John Lewis, urging Americans to honor the legacy of a civil rights giant by engaging in the "good trouble" that leads to a more perfect democracy in the face of powerful institutions that seek to oppress.
Obama spoke from the pulpit of Ebenezer Baptist Church .. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/mlk-john-lewis-ebenezer-baptist-church-has-been-haven-civil-n1235248 .. during the funeral for Lewis in Atlanta on Thursday, where he said he was there because he owed a debt to the 16-term congressman and his "forceful vision of freedom." Obama, the country's first Black president, remarked on the instructions given to Americans enshrined in the constitution to create a "more perfect union."
“He, as much as anyone in our history, brought this country a little bit closer to our highest ideals.”
Christian Paz 3:01 PM ET
Former President Barack Obama delivered a eulogy today honoring Representative John Lewis of Georgia, who died July 17 after a decades-long career in the House of Representatives. Lewis, a civil-rights icon who led the 1965 march in Selma, Alabama, across the Edmund Pettus Bridge and spoke at the March on Washington, spent his congressional years advocating for voting rights and equality for Black Americans. Known as the moral “conscience” of the Congress, Lewis lay in state for two days in the Capitol this week.
Below, the full text of Obama’s remarks as delivered.