Congressman John Lewis grew up in Alabama, the son of sharecroppers. His experience growing up in the deep South led to his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement where he chaired the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) from 1963-1966. In 1987, John Lewis became a Democratic congressman representing Georgia. As a politician he has continued to fight for civil rights causes. The excerpt below is taken from a transcript of a 2009 interview by Terry Gross for the National Public Radio (NPR) program Fresh Air.

Visit www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99560979 for the audio recording of this interview. The excerpts in the transcript correspond with the following times in the audio: 1:19-3:43 and 22:02-25:06.