5. John Lewis
John Lewis, revered for his pivotal role in the Civil Rights Movement, was born to Alabama sharecroppers whose own parents had been enslaved. This lineage of hardship and hope fueled Lewis’s unwavering commitment to equality and justice. His courage on the front lines of history—marching, speaking out, and enduring violence—was rooted in generations of struggle for dignity and freedom. Lewis’s life is a direct continuation of his ancestors’ fight for a better future. Read more about John Lewis’s legacy.
