John Lewis not miffed by “Occupy Atlanta” dis
A frame from a video clip shows U.S. Rep. John Lewis' unsuccessful attempt to address the Occupy Atlanta gathering.
A 10-minute video clip of U.S. Rep. John Lewis‘ unsuccessful attempt to address the Occupy Atlanta gathering in Woodruff Park is burning up the blog and Twittersphere.
To put it mildly, it’s not going over well in some circles.
To #occupyatlanta General Assembly. You are a bunch of (blank)heads. Congressman John Lewis is an American hero,” tweeted hip hop industry mogul and activist Russell Simmons. He supports the Wall Street protestors that spawned Occupy Atlanta, though, tweeting more recently, “White people catch a cold blacks get pneumonia. We must join in #occupywallstreet. Education and health care cut while rich get richer.”
Jay Smooth, a hip hop DJ in New York, tweeted, “Disappointed to hear that John Lewis was not allowed to speak at #OccupyAtlanta. Hoping organizers will hear feedback and learn from it.”
The video clip of the protesters discussing the matter, and of Lewis leaving without speaking, has been gathering steam online. As of about 11:15 a.m. today it had logged more than 180,000 views on YouTube. In the clip, the protestors discuss the matter by repeating phrases, vote by waving their hands and ultimately decide that Lewis should come back later. At one point someone off camera shouts “John Lewis is no better than anyone else!”
Lewis, a Civil Rights Era icon, was gracious when we asked him about the matter. ”It’s ok,” he said during a brief interview Sunday night at the Woodruff Arts Center, site of a 90th birthday celebration for his fellow Civil Rights Era activist, the Rev. Joseph Lowery. Both the park and arts center are named for the late corporate titan Robert Woodruff, a longtime president of Coca-Cola and major philanthropist.
Lewis had been en route to a Pride event when he stopped by Woodruff Park.
“They didn’t really deny me,” Lewis said. The protestors decided he could return after their agenda items had been completed, but because of the Pride event, Lewis didn’t have time to wait around. The group has since issued a statement saying, “We are dismayed that anything we have done would seem to show disrespect for a man whom many of us revere, and apologize to everyone who was hurt or angered by our actions.” And they say Lewis can come back.
Lewis said he was not dismayed, despite his key role in the nation’s struggle for civil rights, that he was not more eagerly received when he initially stopped by the park.
“These are different times,” he said.
- Jennifer Brett/The Buzz/jbrett@ajc.com
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117 comments Add your comment
Ron Burgundy
October 10th, 2011
9:17 pm
John Lewis is a morally corupt racial profiteer just MLK The only civil ights peson with a moral compass was Rosa,.
Those occupiers need to pass out thr koolaid and do us afavor.
Ted
October 10th, 2011
9:33 pm
The AJC blogs are a cesspool where people freely and regularly spew their racist, sexist, and homophobic vitriol. Anyone who calls Atlanta “the city too busy to hate” is kidding themselves. Those of you who have spewed your racist bile on this blog ought to really be ashamed of yourselves. You’re a disgrace to humanity.
Carson
October 10th, 2011
9:58 pm
One of the advantages of life before the Internet was it made easier for me to pretend that there isn’t still plenty of venomously anti-black racism in this country… of course, it’s not just that, it’s all the anger and hate out there… I feel pity for some of you, your lives must be truly dysfunctional for you to have developed such warped views of the world.
Mike Hobgood
October 10th, 2011
11:01 pm
What”group”issued a statement?There is no group only a loosley knit clan of clueless people.
Jim Blanc
October 10th, 2011
11:04 pm
No wonder they didnt want John Lewis to speak.He is notorious for being extremely racist and their movement will be useless with him involved.
Sickened by AJC Hypocrisy
October 10th, 2011
11:14 pm
I am absolutely disgusted by the racist hypocrisy of this blog author to delete and ban the racism of ‘The Bloody Pitbull’ but to leave up and apparently encourage the racist, homophobic, anti-Christian posts of ‘No Freaknik but Yes to Black & White Gaynik’ that openly call for the murder of white people.
Apparently, the AJC only sees a problem with racism and hate when it targets anyone OTHER THAN whites & Christians.
Sickening.
AF
October 11th, 2011
9:06 am
The Occupy events are not about politicians joining in the debate. They have left us out of their debates for so long, that is why we needed to start something like this. So us regular people can have debate amongst ourselves. Also, celebrity/millionaires like Russell Simmons and Kanye West are part of the 1%. Apparently they don’t understand that regular people who are involved don’t want to see the movement co-opted by rich celebrities that want to use the events as publicity and exposure for their celebrity images.
With groups like Occupy Atlanta, the world hardly needs to invent comedy | Full Comment | National Post
October 11th, 2011
9:34 am
[...] authentic. Lewis, a civil rights hero, was on his way to a Pride parade when he stopped by to say a few words: “They didn’t really deny me,” Lewis said. The protestors decided he could return after their [...]
Kat
October 11th, 2011
10:27 am
I think it would have shown deference to a man who has given a lot (time, energy, etc) to this country to have allowed him to speak at this rally. It might, just might, have provided this group with some semblance of reality. Plus, the news shows might have covered the rally a bit more and gotten the word out. Whatever…no one ever said these people were smart.
Joe
October 11th, 2011
12:08 pm
No wonder these protesters don’t have jobs – they have no brains. God help us.
carla roqs
October 11th, 2011
1:12 pm
wow jennifer. what a snow storm.
carla roqs
October 11th, 2011
1:19 pm
and btw, korean man is not korean. why the heck do you guys allow yourselves to get pulled in???
getthesymbolism
October 11th, 2011
4:56 pm
This has not happened publicly this way in 50 years to a black person of his stature. To let it pass symbolizes more than the event itself. It means black people have taken their eyes off the prize. I submit that is because they are supposing that goals of other groups will help them achieve their aims. But they have not allowed this kind of disrespect to pass. Every black person from the civil rights generation has seen that situation and knows the feeling that crept into John Lewis. The Occupy group was clueless. Is this the end of an era?
I B Blackman
October 11th, 2011
6:28 pm
Big ups to the Occupy folks for not letting John Lewis speak. Congress, CEOs and a bunch of big wigs have been laughing at us for years. He shows up and wants to help, you’re on their time buddy. You thought you could just walk up there and say your piece when you are ready? These people had an agenda and you could wait. Oh, you didn’t wait? You had something more important? Well go do the way more important thing you had and we’ll continue with our agenda. Maybe, the Occupiers will show up at your more important event and you will let them interrupt to say what they have to say. That’s not going to happen? Didn’t think so. Keep going 99%!!
carla roqs
October 12th, 2011
8:16 am
they are not 99%
*Pondering*: The Democratic Process #occupyATL #occupywallstreet #occupytogether | Amanda Michelle Jones
October 13th, 2011
1:48 am
[...] i think this just highlights one of the challenges in maintaining community. in the end, john lewis has graciously said that he’s not dismayed. while i, too, understand what happened, i can’t say i feel the [...]
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October 13th, 2011
11:43 am
[...] the previously agreed to agenda remained in effect and Lewis was unable to interrupt. Lewis himself humbly accepted the Assembly’s [...]