Georgia Congressman John Lewis passed away last week at 80 years old following a fight against pancreatic cancer. Lewis has participated in many battles for voting rights including the Freedom Rides and as a co-leader of the Selma to Montgomery voting rights march of the 1960s. Congressman Lewis never gave up fighting for the end to segregation and discrimination even after being arrested over 40 times.

Lewis’ activism began at a young age in college after growing up being discriminated against solely because of his race. He took part and held a leadership position in SNCC, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Lewis continued working to ultimately serve on the Atlanta city council before serving in Congress beginning in 1986. Growing to be known as “the conscience of Congress”, President Barack Obama presented Representative Lewis with the 2010 Medal of Freedom in early 2011. After campaigning for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, Lewis did not attend President Trump’s inauguration stating that he doesn’t view Trump “as a legitimate president”.

Learn more about John Lewis and the work he fought for at NPR today.