rights act, we spend the hour looking at the bloody struggle to obtain and protect voting rights in this country. our guest is the former chair of the student nonviolent coordinating committee and arrested than 40 times, beaten almost to death, georgia congressmember john lewis. for people important to realize that people have for the right to participate. the vote is the most powerful nonviolent jury we have in a democratic society. across that bridge" with congress member john lewis. all of that and more coming up. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we spend today's hour looking at the bloody struggle to obtain and protect voting rights in this country in the wake of last month supreme court decision to strike down a key provision of the voting rights act. decision,to four justices ruled congress has used obsolete information in continuing to require nine states with a history of racial discrimination to obtain federal approval for changes to voting rules. the voting rights act was challenged by shelby, county alabama. ruling, hours after the texas said it would enact a voter id law that was blocked last year for discriminating against african-americans and latino residents. alabama followed suit. this is congress member john lewis of georgia speaking last week just after the supreme court ruling. because iisappointed think what the court did today is stabbed the voting rights act in the very hard. it is a major setback. we may not have people being beaten today, maybe they're not being denied the right to participate or register to vote, are not being chased by police dogs were trampled by horses, but in the 11 states of the whole confederacy and even in some of the states on our side of the south, there has been a systematic, deliberate attempt to take us back to another. these men that voted to strip the voting rights act of its iner, they never stood immovable lines, never had a passed a so-called literacy test . it took us almost 100 years to get where we are today. so will it take another 100 years to fix it, to change it? >> congress number john lewis reacting to the supreme court ruling striking down the voting rights act last week or he and today we you an extended interview with the georgia congressmember. john lewis, civil rights leader who risked his life numerous times marching for the right of all americans to vote. he marched side by side with dr. martin luther king, junior and served as chair of the student nonviolent coordinating committee, helped organize the freedom rides and spoke at the 1963 march on washington which nextlace 50 years ago month. he has been arrested more than 40 times and has just written a new book called "across that bridge: life lessons and a vision for change your coke -- purged about the voter where the justice department had sued to block republican governor rick scott's controversial effort to remove thousands of registered voters from the rolls using an outdated drivers license database to identify noncitizens registered to vote. >> it is unreal, unbelievable that at this time in our history, 40 years after the voting rights act was passed and signed into law, that we are trying to go back. i think there is a systematic, deliberate attempt on the part of so many of these states, not just florida, but all across the country. it is not just southern states. to keep people from participating. i think there is no attentive steal this electionbefore it even takes place, to make it hard, to make it difficult for our seniors, for our students, for minorities, for the disabled to participate in the democratic process. it's not right, it's not fair, and it's not just. >> why do these voter purges actually target the groups you've just talked about? how do they target them? maybe you can explain what you were so pivotal in having passed, the voting rights act of 1965? >> well, i think there's this make-believe that if we do not purge, if we do not weed out some of these people, they're going to come out and vote, and they're going to vote not the way that some people would like for them to vote. they're primarily democratic voters. it makes me want to just cry, after people gave a little blood, after some people were beaten, shot and murdered trying to help people become registered voters. i can never forget the three civil rights workers that were murdered in the state of mississippi on the night of june 21st, 1964; other people shot down in cold blood; the march from selma to montgomery, where 17 of us were seriously injured. and we passed the voting rights act. we renewed the act. we extended the act. and then the state of florida, the state of georgia, alabama and other states throughout the nation come along with tactics to make it hard, to make it difficult for people to participate. we should be making it easy and simple and open up the political process and let all of the people come in. >> explain what the voting rights act said. >> the voting rights act of 1965 said, in effect, that you cannot use the literacy tests, you cannot have a poll tax, you cannot use certain devices, you cannot harass, you cannot intimidate. and before you make any changes in election laws dealing with registration, changing a precinct, local lines for any political position, you have to get pre-clearance from the department of justice or the federal district court in washington, d.c. so the state of florida, for an example, never sought to get clearance to purge. and they're hiding behind there may be fraud. that's their own. >> you were on that selma to montgomery march. you had your head bashed in for this. can you explain what happened, as we go back, what, almost half a century now? >> on march 7, 1965, a group of us attempted to march from selma to montgomery, alabama, to dramatize to the nation that people wanted to register to vote. one young african-american man had been shot and killed a few days earlier, in an adjoining county called perry county-this is in the black belt of alabama- the home county of mrs. martin luther king jr., the home county of mrs. ralph abernathy, the home county of mrs. andrew young. and because of what happened to him, we made a decision to march. in selma, alabama, in 1965, only 2.1% of blacks of voting age were registered to vote. the only place you could attempt to register was to go down to the courthouse. you had to pass a so-called literacy test. and they would tell people over and over again that they didn't or couldn't pass the literacy test. on one occasion, a man was asked to count the number of bubbles on a bar of soap. on another occasion, a man was asked to count the number of jellybeans in a jar. there were african-american lawyers, doctors, teachers, housewives, college professors flunking this so-called literacy test. and we had to change that, so we sought to march. and we got to the top of the bridge. we saw a sea of blue-alabama state troopers-and we continued to walk. we came within hearing distance of the state troopers. and a man identified himself and said, "i'm major john cloud of the alabama state troopers. this is an unlawful march. it will not be allowed to continue. i give you three minutes to disperse and return to your church." and one of the young people walking with me, leading the march, a man by the name of hosea williams, who was on the staff of dr. martin luther king jr., said, "major, give us a moment to kneel and pray." and the major said, "troopers, advance!" and you saw these guys putting on their gas masks. they came toward us, beating us with nightsticks and bullwhips, trampling us with horses. i was hit in the head by a state trooper with a nightstick. i had a concussion at the bridge. my legs went out from under me. i felt like i was going to die. i thought i saw death. all these many years later, i don't recall how i made it back across that bridge to the church. but after i got back to the church, the church was full to capacity, more than 2,000 people on the outside trying to get in to protest what had happened on the bridge. and someone asked me to say something to the audience. and i stood up and said something like, "i don't understand it, how president johnson can send troops to vietnam but cannot send troops to selma, alabama, to protect people whose only desire is to register to vote." the next thing i knew, i had been admitted to the local hospital in selma. >> explain that moment where you decided to move forward, because i don't think the history we learn records those small acts that are actually gargantuan acts of bravery. talk about -- i mean, you saw the weapons the police arrayed against you. what propelled you forward, congressmember lewis? >> well, my mother, my father, my grandparents, my uncles and aunts, and people all around me had never registered to vote. i had been working all across the south. the state of mississippi had a black voting age population of more than 450,000, and only about 16,000 were registered to vote. on that day, we didn't have a choice. i think we had been tracked down by what i call the spirit of history, and we couldn't -- we couldn't turn back. we had to go forward. we became like trees planted by the rivers of water. we were anchored. and i thought we would die. i first thought we would be arrested and go to jail, but i thought it was a real possibility that some of us would die on that bridge that day, after the confrontation occurred.i thought it was the last protest for me. but somehow and someway, you have to keep going. you go to a hospital, you go to a doctor's office, you get mended, and you get up and try it again. >> so what was the next act you engaged in? >> well, we continued to organize, continued to try to get people registered. we went to federal court, testified, to get an injunction against governor george wallace and the alabama state troopers. and the federal court said that we had a right to march from selma to montgomery. president johnson spoke to the nation and condemned the violence in selma, introduced the voting rights act. and that night, he made one of the most meaningful speeches that any american president had made in modern times on the whole question of civil rights and voting rights. he condemned the violence over and over again, and near the end of the speech he said, "and we shall overcome. we shall overcome." we call it the "we shall overcome" speech. i was sitting next to dr. martin luther king jr. as we listened to president johnson. i looked at dr. king. tears came down his face. he started crying. and we all cried a little when we heard the president saying, "we shall overcome." and dr. king said, "we will make it from selma to montgomery, and the voting rights act will be passed." two weeks later, more than 10,000 of us, people from all over america, started walking from selma to montgomery. and by the time we made it to montgomery five days later, there were almost 30,000 black and white citizens-protestant, catholic, jewish, men, women, young people. it was like a holy march. and the congress debated the act, passed it, and on august 6, 1965, president lyndon johnson signed it into law. >> congressmember john lewis. we continue our conversation ♪fter break. [musical break] >> the morehouse college glee club performing "we shall overcome." morehouse college was the alma mater of dr. martin luther king jr. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman, as i continue with my interview with democratic congressmember john lewis of georgia, leader of the civil rights movement, risked his life numerous times marching for the right of all americans to vote. during the civil rights movement, he marched side by side with dr. king. he served as chair of the student nonviolent coordinating committee, helped organize the freedom rides, spoke at the 1963 march on washington. congressmember lewis was also a leader of the now-famous voting rights march from selma to montgomery. on july 6, 1964, he led 50 african americans to the courthouse in selma, alabama, on voter registration day, but sheriff jim clark arrested them rather than allow them to apply to vote. i played for congressman lewis a clip of his close friend and ally, martin luther king jr., speaking in 1965 about jim clark. >> i am here to tell you tonight that the businessmen, the mayor of this city, the police commissioner of this city, and everybody in the white power structure of this city must take a responsibility for everything that jim clark does in this community. it's time for us to say to these men, that if you don't do something about it, we will have no alternative but to engage in broader and more drastic forms of civil disobedience in order to bring the attention of the nation to this whole issue in selma, alabama. >> dr. martin luther king. you were in the church, john lewis. >> it was an unbelievable speech. dr. king spoke out of his gut. sheriff clark was a very mean man. he was vicious. i think maybe he was a little sick. he wore a gun on one side, a nightstick on the other side. he carried an electric cow prodder in his hand-and he didn't use it on cows. when young -- >> an electric cow prodder. >> that you use to move cattle along. and i remember on one occasion he was wearing a button on his left lapel that said "never." he thought he was a general in a military. he would wear a helmet like patton. he forced a group of young children on a false march, which was so cruel, so vicious and so evil. he took them down a highway and said, "if you want to march --" and he had people just chase these little children on horseback. i saw him one day when a group of black women were trying to march, primarily black schoolteachers, that he literally put his foot on the neck of a black woman. we were peaceful. we were orderly. we believed in the philosophy, in the discipline of nonviolence. we were trying to appeal to the conscience of everybody. >> well, you somehow reached the conscience of the kkk man who beat you. i wanted to get your response. almost a half a century has passed since the now ex-klansman elwin wilson hit you at a lunch counter in a south carolina bus station. after years of regret, elwin finally apologized to you in 2009. he has spoken out against bigotry and intolerance. i want to go to a clip of him speaking on the oprah winfrey show about what happened the day he attacked you. >> were you a member of the ku klux klan? >> oh, yeah. >> you were. >> mm-hmm. >> was he the only person you beat up that day? >> no. >> no. >> after he was beat and bloody and all, he-policeman came up and asked him, said, "do you all want to take out a warrant?" >> press charges. >> right. >> yeah. >> make charge. he said, "no." said, "we're not here to cause trouble." >> that was elwin apologizing to you, the ex-klansman. describe what he did to you during the freedom rides, and tell us what they were. >> on may 9th, 1961, my seat mate, a young white gentleman, we arrived at the greyhound bus station in rock hill, south carolina. we got off the bus. >> what were you doing there? >> we were testing the facilities-the lunch counters, the waiting room, the restroom facility. during those days, the stations were marked "white waiting," "colored waiting," "white men," "colored men," "white women," "colored women." and we were court banning discrimination - or segregation in intrastate travel. and when we started to enter the so-called white waiting room, we were attacked by a group of young white men, beaten and left in a pool of blood. the local police officials came up and wanted to know whether we wanted to press charges. we said, "no, we believe in peace. we believe in love and nonviolence." years later-to be exact, 48 years later -- mr. wilson and his son came to my office in washington and said, "mr. lewis, i'm one of the people that beat you. will you forgive me? i apologize." his son had been encouraging his father to do this. his son started crying. mr. wilson started crying. he hugged me. his son hugged me. i hugged them both back. then all three of us stood there crying. that's what the movement was about, to be reconciled. >> when we hear about voting rights today, we don't hear about these struggles that you and so many others that you led went through 50 years ago. >> that's why it is so important for people to understand, to know that people suffered, struggled. some people bled, and some died, for the right to participate. you know, the vote is the most powerful nonviolent tool that we have in a democratic society. it's precious. it's almost sacred. we have to use it. if not, we will lose it. >> a few years after that, two years after you had your head slammed in and so many others were beaten in montgomery, was the 1963 march on washington. dr. king spoke, and you also spoke. i want to go to a clip of that moment, august 28th, 1963. >> to those who have said, "be patient and wait," we must say that we cannot be patient. we do not want our freedom gradually, but we want to be free now. we are tired. we are tired of being beat by policemen. we are tired of seeing our people locked up in jail over and over again, and then you holler, "be patient." how long can we be patient? we want our freedom, and we want it now. we do not want to go to jail, but we will go to jail if this is the price we must pay for love, brotherhood and true peace. i appeal to all of you to get in this great revolution that is sweeping this nation. get in and stay in the streets of every city, every village and hamlet of this nation, until true freedom comes, until the revolution of 1776 is complete. we must get in this revolution and complete the revolution, for in the delta of mississippi, in southwest georgia, in the black belt of alabama, in harlem, in chicago, detroit, philadelphia and all over this nation, the black masses are on the march for jobs and freedom. they're talking about slow down and stop. we will not stop. all of the forces of eastland, barnett, wallace, and thurmond will not stop this revolution. if we do not get meaningful legislation out of this congress, the time will come when we will not confine our march into washington. we will march through the south, through the streets of jackson, through the streets of danville, through the streets of cambridge, through the streets of birmingham. but we will march with the spirit of love and with the spirit of dignity that we have shown here today. by the forces of our demands, our determination and our numbers, we shall splinter the segregated south into a thousand pieces, put them together in the image of god and democracy. we must say, "wake up, america! wake up!" for we cannot stop, and we will not and cannot be patient. >> that remarkable speech that you gave on august 28th, 1963. you were the youngest speaker at the march on washington. you spoke before dr. king. >> i spoke number six. dr. king was the last speaker. he spoke number 10. that day, when a. philip randolph introduced me, and he said, "and i present to you, young john lewis, national chairman of the student nonviolent coordinating committee," i looked to my right, i saw many other young people sort of cheering me on. looked to my left, and i saw young people up in the trees trying to get a better view of the crowd. then i looked straight ahead, and i said to myself, "this is it. i must do my best." and that's what i tried to do. when i was working on the speech, i was reading a copy of the new york times, and i saw a group of black women in southern africa carrying signs saying, "one man, one vote." so in my march on washington speech, i said, "'one man, one vote' is the african cry. it is ours, too. it must be ours." and that became the rallying cry for many other young people in the student nonviolent coordinating committee. >> and yet, you had to c