LETTER John Lewis Way Designation
COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA OFFICE OF COUNCILMEMBER BROOKE PINTO THE JOHN A. WILSON BUILDING 1350 PENNSLYVANIA AVENUE, N.W., SUITE 106 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20004 January 14, 2021 Nyasha Smith, Secretary Council of the District of Columbia 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20004 Dear Secretary Smith, Today, along with Chairman Phil Mendelson and Councilmembers Anita Bonds, Elissa Silverman, Christina Henderson, Brianne K. Nadeau, Mary M. Cheh, Janeese Lewis George, Charles Allen, Vincent C. Gray, Trayon White, Sr., Robert C. White, Jr., and Kenyan R. McDuffie, I am introducing the “John Lewis Way Designation Act of 2021.” Please find enclosed a signed copy of the legislation. This legislation would symbolically designate H Street N.W., between 15th Street N.W. and 17th Street N.W. in Ward 2, as “John Lewis Way”. This portion of H Street N.W. was chosen for the designation due to its proximity to the White House and as according to the U.S. General Services Administration, in the 1700s enslaved Blacks were sold in nearby Lafayette Square. Representative John Robert Lewis was a son of Alabama sharecroppers, a giant of the Civil Rights Movement, and an apostle of nonviolence. He received his B.A. in religion and philosophy at the American Baptist Theological Institute and Fisk University, in Nashville, Tennessee. Representative Lewis’ personal history paralleled that of the civil rights movement. He was among the original 13 Freedom Riders, he was an early leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and he also helped organize the 1963 March on Washington on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
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