John Lewis

=== Nashville Student Movement ===
[[File:JFK meets with leaders of March on Washington 8-28-63.JPG|thumb|Civil rights leaders meet with President John F. Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon Johnson after the [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom]], 1963. Lewis is fourth from left.]]
As a student, Lewis became an activist in the civil rights movement. He organized [[sit-ins]] at segregated lunch counters in Nashville and took part in many other civil rights activities as part of the [[Nashville Student Movement]]. The [[Nashville sit-ins|Nashville sit-in movement]] was responsible for the desegregation of lunch counters in the city's downtown. Lewis was arrested and jailed many times during the [[nonviolent]] activities to desegregate the city's downtown businesses.<ref>{{cite web |title=Congressman John R. Lewis Biography and Interview |website=www.achievement.org |publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]] |url=https://www.achievement.org/achiever/congressman-john-r-lewis/#interview |access-date=May 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220101031/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/congressman-john-r-lewis/#interview |archive-date=February 20, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> He was also instrumental in organizing bus boycotts and other nonviolent protests to support voting rights and racial equality.<ref>{{cite web |last1=John Lewis |first1=A civil Rights Legend |title=John Lewis: Profile of a Civil Rights Legend |url=https://www.americanbar.org/groups/communications_law/publications/communications_lawyer/fall2020/john-lewis-profile-a-civil-rights-legend/ |website=www.americanbar.org |publisher=American Bar Association |access-date=22 January 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

During this time, Lewis said it was important to engage in "good trouble, necessary trouble" in order to achieve change, and he held to this credo throughout his life.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-07-17/rep-john-lewis-civil-rights-icon-dies| title=John Lewis, civil rights icon and longtime congressman, dies| last=Haberkorn| first=Jennifer| newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]| date=July 17, 2020| access-date=July 20, 2020| archive-date=July 20, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200720095624/https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-07-17/rep-john-lewis-civil-rights-icon-dies| url-status=live}}</ref>

While a student, Lewis was invited to attend [[nonviolence]] workshops held at Clark Memorial United Methodist Church by the Rev. [[James Lawson (American activist)|James Lawson]] and Rev. [[Kelly Miller Smith]]. Lewis and other students became dedicated to the discipline and philosophy of nonviolence, which he practiced for the rest of his life.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://snccdigital.org/people/john-lewis/ |title=John Lewis |access-date=January 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180105070259/https://snccdigital.org/people/john-lewis/ |website=Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Legacy Project |archive-date=January 5, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>