Paul McCartney Calls for Pettus Bridge to Be Renamed After John Lewis
Paul McCartney was one of the countless figures to pay tribute to Congressman John Lewis, who passed away on July 17 at the age of 80.
McCartney took to Instagram and shared, “Sad to hear the news that civil rights legend John Lewis died yesterday. He was such a great leader who fought with honesty and bravery for civil rights in America. Long may his memory remain in our hearts.”
McCartney continued, “How about renaming the famous Pettus Bridge that he and Martin Luther King Jr. and others walked across in the 60s for the civil rights movement and rename it the John Lewis Bridge?!!! Nancy and I are proud to support the NAACP and have recently donated to their legal defense fund.”
The Edmund Pettus Bridge, which was named after a former U.S. Senator who was also a Confederate Senior Officer and Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, was the site of the brutal “Bloody Sunday.” On March 7, 1965, 600 people, led by a then 25-year-old Lewis, crossed over the bridge at the beginning of their 54-mile march for voting rights from Selma, Ala. to the state’s capital in Montgomery.
The unarmed marchers were attacked on the other side of the bridge by state troopers with nightsticks and tear gas. Seventeen marchers were hospitalized while 50 additional marchers were treated for other injuries.
Since Lewis’ passing, the movement to have the Edmund Pettus Bridge renamed has been gaining traction via a petition on Change.org.
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