Dear Caldwell,
You’ve likely heard it many times by now – North Carolina may hold the key to Tuesday’s presidential election.
So, we are receiving lots of attention from both sides of the political ticket. On Thursday, a civil rights legend came to town and I took off an hour to be there.
Rep. John Lewis of Georgia has been called the “conscience of our nation” who has championed the poor and the marginalized, opposed unjust war and advanced the cause of civil rights for all Americans for 50 years. Earlier this year, he and other members of Congress staged a 26-hour sit in when it failed to act on gun control legislation to curb our nation’s epidemic of gun violence, which affects all kinds of people, most disturbingly children.
Marching with Dr. King, Rep. Lewis put his life on the line for the power to vote. He says, “The vote is precious. It is almost sacred.”
He’s right. I hope all who have the power to vote Tuesday will do so. If you, or someone you know, need a ride Saturday (11-5) or Tuesday (11-8) to the polls, members are standing by to help. Contact me at 704-957-4511.
As he spoke to Thursdays get-out-the-vote rally in Charlotte’s Martin Luther King Jr. Park, Rep. Lewis’ vote thundered so powerfully he hardly needed a microphone to be heard all the way uptown, or so it seemed.
What a thrill it was to meet him. How kind and gracious of him to remember my late father, with whom he worked on civil rights issues in Atlanta in the 1960s.
Let’s not forget what he and others bled and died for come Tuesday, and in all the work of healing our nation that begins Wednesday morning.
In Christ,
John