WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - A local man inspired by the late John Lewis discusses his own desire to bring about change as he remembers the Congressman who spent decades fighting for equality.
David Quick grew up in Wichita and started taking part in demonstrations for racial equality when he was a teenager.
“Martin Luther King, John Lewis, Reverend James Bevel, Diane Lewis; they were all my heroes when I was young,” he said.
Quick said it was those civil rights activists who inspired him to join the fight. He said he was very emotional when he heard the news that Lewis died July 17 at the age of 80.
“I was crying in part for the leaders who are left from that era because many of them never got credit,” he said.
Lewis was the last survivor of the Big Six civil rights activist group led by Martin Luther King Jr. Lewis led protesters in the March 1965 Bloody Sunday march in Selma, Ala. where police beat him, fracturing his skull. Quick still has a copy of the Life magazine that came right after that incident.
“That’s John Lewis right in front, and other leaders of the Civil Rights Movement at that time,” Quick said.
In the mid-1960s, Quick was a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in Wichita.
“Diane Lewis, James Bevel, and John were original members, along with others. And the purpose was to help change American society so it’s more equal,” Quick said.
He said it wasn’t easy.
“We went to Fayetteville, Arkansas, and were in a small demonstration in Fayetville because busing was still segregated there,” Quick said.
He said the fight for racial justice continues and he hopes the Lewis’ death will inspire others to continue the movement.
“That earlier history is passing us by and I just hope young people today understand,” Quick said. “I think part of what John has done by leaving us at this time is helping young people understand what came before. How relevant to what’s going on now.”
Quick said he’s seeing more young people involved with issues of inequality. The continued push for change, he says, reminds him of a famous John Lewis quote: “Keep the faith.”
Copyright 2020 KWCH. All rights reserved.
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Wichita man inspired by John Lewis discusses desire to bring about change - KWCH
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