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On Nov. 10, 1960, employees at a restaurant on Fifth Avenue used water hoses, wet brooms and a fumigation machine to try and drive John Lewis away from the lunch counter.
He stayed put, clasping a white handkerchief over his mouth as acrid clouds of bug spray filled the room.
When police and angry critics closed in during another sit-in at the Walgreens on Fifth Avenue, Lewis sat and wrote a sermon.
Lewis became the face of a yearlong movement to desegregate the lunch counters in downtown Nashville, which refused to serve Black customers. He returned again and again with throngs of college students, using nonviolent protests to demand respect and racial equity.
An American story : Street where John Lewis led sit-ins now bears his name in Nashville
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Nashville honors Rep John Lewis with weekend of celebration
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Nashville honors Rep John Lewis with weekend of celebration
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