50 signatures reached
To: Davidson County Metropolitan Council, Gov Bill Lee, Mayor Cooper
Create a statue or bust of John Lewis and C.T. Vivian in Nashville TN
create a Statue of John Lewis and C. T. Vivian to show their leadership and remarkable lives they used to further the civil rights movement. Why Nashville? Lewis, who enrolled in American Baptist Theological Seminary in 1957, participated in student led sit-ins at segregated lunch counters in downtown Nashville, as well as other nonviolent protests aimed at dismantling the racist systems of the Jim Crow era. Vivian studied at American Baptist College and mentored students in nonviolence during the early-1960s integration movement. Vivian helped lead a march on city hall in April 1960. He was among those credited with compelling the city mayor to commit, on the spot, to integrate downtown lunch counters. Both of these men were given the Presidential medal of freedom.
Why is this important?
John Lewis and C.T. Vivian should be the men that we create statues for. They spent their lives and careers to better the landscape for Black Americans and all Americans. This is who we should applaud. We can replace the KKK bust or other confederate statues.