leadership council in that it was bottom up. you write in your memoirs that you didn t trust leaders and you don t want your organization to be top down directed, but a lot of the success of the naacp and of martin luther king s outfit was that they were very centralized. that they were you know, martin luther king ran the show. why did you choose a very different model? we truly believe in what we call group participation. we were spending many long hours talking and trying to reach a consensus. we didn t have anyone over anyone. it was almost like we re going to do what the spirit said do, but we would do it together. we would do it in an orderly, peaceful, nonviolent fashion. do you think there s a leadership lesson there in terms of how to create consensus?
business of the house of representative is profound. john lewis taught me that sometimes you might be powerless to stop an injustice, but you can never, ever be silent. because ultimately, the opposite of justice is not injustice, it s indifference. it s inaction, and then silence. we re going to continue to push, to pull, to stand up, and if necessary, to sit down. sit down. the protest helped lewis connect with a new crop of younger activists. i think that that moment for john lewis was in many ways an introduction to a new generation. many of these young people remind me of what we were like at the age of 18 and 19, and i tell them over and over again, whatever you do, do it in an orderly, peaceful, nonviolent fashion.
what is right. you are in a peaceful, orderly, nonviolent fashion. i wish president trump would understand that history, we wouldn t be where we are today as a nation and as a people. i will be so moved by the young athletes, the coaches, the owners to be willing to stand out and instead we re going to stay on the line. we re going to continue to pick up where others left off. you clearly have been one that has said that we must stand up and again i repeat you even led a sit in there in the well
soul. house speaker ryan threatened to sanction you and others if you repeated the sit-in. are you prepared to sit-in again in favor of gun reform legislation, and are you concerned about being sanctioned? i m not afraid of being sanctioned or being arrested and taken to jail for engaging in non-violent action and peaceful protests. we have a right to protest in a peaceful, orderly, nonviolent fashion. members are not afraid. so we re prepared to use other steps, methods to dramatize the issue to make it real. to make it plain, to help educate and sensitize the american community. the people are ready for action. those of us in the congress, too
orderly, nonviolent fashion. i was wearing a backpack before it became fashionable to wear backpacks. in this backpack i had two books. i thought we were going to be arrested and go to jail so i wanted to have something to read while i was in jail. i had one apple and one orange. i wanted to have something to eat while i was in jail. i thought i would be in jail with my friend and colleagues. i wanted to be able to brush my teeth. so i had toothpaste and toothbrush. to get to the highest point on the pettitte bridge, a young man from the dr. king organization walking beside me said, john, can you swim? i said, no, what about you, jose? jose williams. he said, a little, john. i said, there s too much water