Congressman John Lewis, speaking at a Democratic fundraiser in Chattanooga on Saturday, called the re-election of President Obama "only a down payment on Dr. King's dream."
Linking his own unique life story to today’s current political climate, Congressman Lewis told the audience at Olivet Baptist Church how, as a sharecropper’s son, he had wanted to be a preacher. Since one of his responsibilities was caring for the chickens, he would gather both chickens and his siblings in the farmyard and begin to preach. “And I can tell you I think some of those chickens that I preached to in the 40s and 50s listened to me better than my Republicans colleagues today,” he said.
As a young man, Congressman Lewis was urged by those older to not make trouble, despite the pernicious evidence of racism he said he found all around him. “But I did get in the way, I did get into trouble and it was good trouble and necessary trouble,” he related, speaking of his experiences as a non-violent sit-in organizer and Freedom Rider.
The speaker said Democrats were responsible for the passage of bills that created Social Security,Medicare, the Higher Education Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. “We cannot forget,” he said. “We must vote now like we never have. The vote is the most non-violent power in a democratic society and we must use it.” He added, “Some in Washington want to take us back to another period,” but then told a story of a man who had beaten him during one of the Freedom Rides coming forward to apologize and ask forgiveness.
"We all live in the same house in the Democratic Party,” the congressman said several times in his address. “We are the Big Tent.” But Democrats have become too quiet, he said. “We need to make some noise, we need to make some trouble, some necessary trouble.”
Congressman Lewis was given a standing ovation on completion of his speech by the estimated 400 in attendance.
The fundraiser for the Hamilton County Democratic Party get-out-the-vote and voter access efforts, drew a stellar list of local and state elected officials, party supporters, labor leaders and candidates for office in 2012, including Chip Forrester, chairman of the Tennessee Democratic Party, Andy Berke, state senator, JoAnne Favors and Tommie Brown, state representatives, Jeffrey Wilson, county school board member from the 5th District, City Council members Carol Berz, Russell Gilbert and Andrae McGary, 3rd District congressional candidates Bill Taylor and Dr. Mary Headrick, candidate for county mayor Dr. Rick Wilson, candidate for the 3rd County District Mitzi Yates, and candidate for county assessor Jelena Butler.
Rep. Favors introduced members of her now-famous Howard High School class, the only high school class in the South to spontaneously join the lunchroom sit-ins. Other speakers included Pastor Kevin Adams, Olivet Baptist Church, Reverend Paul A. McDaniel, Second Missionary Baptist Church, Jane Bowen, Vice President , Chattanooga Labor Council, Paul Smith, Hamilton County Democratic Party, Mr. Forrester, Reverend Kenneth Love, Executive Director of the Hamilton County Democratic Party, Senator Berke, Councilman Gilbert, representatives of Phi Beta Sigma, and Maurice R. Bowen, Jr.
A “Meet-and-Greet Fundraiser” for Congressman Lewis held prior to the event drew some 300 attendees.
Said HCDP Chairman Paul Smith, “The entire evening was inspirational and makes us remember why we are Democrats. We’ll use this spirit to galvanize the community in the upcoming campaigns.”