SELMA, Ala. — Fifty years after being beaten by police on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, U.S. Rep. John Lewis told a crowd gathered there to build on the legacy of the civil rights movement and to stand up for what they believe in.
Lewis, who worked closely with Martin Luther King Jr., spoke to the crowd of thousands gathered in Selma, Ala., this weekend for the 50th anniversary commemoration of "Bloody Sunday."
Lewis said he and others returned to the bridge to be renewed, inspired and reminded of the need to work toward justice and equality.
He also told the powerful story of Bloody Sunday through his own eyes on Twitter:
50 yrs ago today, we set out to march from Selma to Montgomery to dramatize to the nation that people of color were denied the right to vote
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) Before we left a little church called Brown Chapel AME, we knelt and joined together in prayer. #Selma50 pic.twitter.com/lNuu8VU6bg
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) About 600 of us left Brown Chapel AME to walk in an orderly, peaceful, nonviolent fashion. #Selma50
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) When we got to the apex of the bridge, down below we saw a sea of blue... #Selma50 pic.twitter.com/pI8rIB9K0f
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) ... Alabama State Troopers #Selma50 pic.twitter.com/BuPxSRAOOx
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) When we came within hearing distance, a trooper identified himself and said, "I'm Major John Cloud of the Alabama State Troopers" #Selma50
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) He said, "This is an unlawful march. It will not be allowed to continue." #Selma50 pic.twitter.com/pW46cdL5zn
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) "I'll give you three minutes to disperse and return to your homes or to your church." #Selma50 pic.twitter.com/83ccHA99ef
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) The man walking beside me - co-leader of the march Hosea Williams - said "Major, give us a moment to kneel and pray." pic.twitter.com/3fvecGNnq3
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) The Major paused for a minute and then he said, "Troopers advance!" And you saw these men putting on their gas masks. pic.twitter.com/NDAkngX9kE
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) They came toward us beating us with nightsticks, bullwhips, trampling us with horses, releasing the teargas. #Selma50 pic.twitter.com/s9Ey2ZavZA
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) I was hit in the head by a state trooper with a nightstick. My legs went out from under me. #Selma50 pic.twitter.com/AOhJkaUvjz
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) I thought I saw death. I thought I was going to die. #Selma50 pic.twitter.com/AhM8ujpsYi
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) I had a concussion there at the bridge, and I've never been able to recall how we made it back. #Selma50 pic.twitter.com/AsB909DlgX
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) When people tell me nothing has changed, I say come walk in my shoes and I will show you change. #Selma50 pic.twitter.com/9NvfJdSo8r
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) My skull fractured, I spent 3 days in Good Samaritan, the same hospital where Jimmie Lee Jackson had died #Selma50 pic.twitter.com/W1lL4wepV6
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis)