Rep. Lewis back in Nashville, site of his civil rights roots

NASHVILLE - Congressman John Lewis is being recognized back in Nashville, where he spent his formative years as a civil rights leader.

The Georgia Democrat will receive the Nashville Public Library Literary Award Saturday.

Lewis says it's "moving" to return to a city that's changed so much.

Lewis began studying at American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville in 1957. He and fellow students led lunch counter sit-ins and movie theater stand-ins. He participated in the Freedom Rides in the South and was badly beaten by state troopers while marching in Selma, Alabama. He was arrested dozens of times.

He said protesters of President-elect Donald Trump are justified because of what he said while campaigning. He urged them to speak truth to power through love and nonviolence, and not be bitter or angry.

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