Workers placed a bronze statue of the late Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) on the grounds of the Dekalb County Courthouse Friday — the same site where a Confederate monument was removed in 2020.
Internationally acclaimed sculptor Basil Watson, who designed the 12-foot-tall statue, watched as the statue was placed ahead of its official unveiling planned for Aug. 24.
“It’s exciting to see it going up and exciting for the city because of what he represents and what it’s replacing,” Watson told The Associated Press.
Lewis, who represented Georgia in Congress for over three decades, first rose to national prominence during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s when he urged others to get into “good trouble.” He also led the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) during the protests and was a confidante of Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.
The late congressman was beaten during a march in Selma, Ala., on the Edmund Pettus Bridge alongside many other civil rights leaders.
Lewis died in 2020 after succumbing to pancreatic cancer and was laid in state in the Capitol, an honor reserved for very few.