Born: February 21, 1940, Troy, AL

Education: American Baptist Theological Seminary, S.T.B., 1961; Fisk University, B.A., 1967

Lewis's career mirrors the civil rights movement. In college he emulated James Lawson, who conducted workshops on nonviolent protest. Lewis cofounded the Nashville Student Movement and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). During the Freedom Rides, he faced several of many arrests and attacks at the hands of segregationist police and mobs. The chairman of SNCC during its dangerous voter registration campaigns in the Deep South, he also clung to nonviolence and racial integration as many of his colleagues embraced Black Power and self-defense.

Lewis is now one of the most admired and influential members of the Congressional Black Caucus. His rise to Congress began in the 1986 Democratic primary for the 5th Georgia District. It included a close run-off between two old friends and SNCC veterans: Julian Bond, a former Georgia senator, and Lewis, formerly an Atlanta councilman. Lewis's victory, amid media allegations of Bond's drug use, tested their friendship. Lewis won the general election by a wide margin. An influential congressman, he has been Chief Deputy Democratic Whip. He is a member of the Ways and Means Committee and its Subcommittee on Health and Oversight. An outspoken progressive, he strongly supports affirmative action, public education, labor, and social programs.