He is an icon of the American civil rights movement of the 1960s. John Lewis has been at the forefront of the effort.

He was chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) when he helped organize the 1963 March on Washington.

But Lewis paid a price for his activism, often facing violence and nearly being beaten to death.

Today he is in his 17th term representing Georgia’s 5th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

February 21, 2020 is his 80th birthday.