A prominent US civil rights activist, Congressman John Lewis, has said he will boycott President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony this week, saying that he does not think Mr Trump is a “legitimate president” – sparking a sharp response from Mr Trump.
Rep Lewis, a close ally of Rev Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, who was brutally beaten when he marched with him for civil rights at Selma in 1965, told NBC late last week that he did not see Mr Trump as a “legitimate president”. “I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected,” he said. “And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.”
Mr Trump tweeted in response on Saturday that the Democrat congressman should “spend more time on fixing and helping his district” which he said is crime-infested “rather than falsely complaining about the election results. All talk, talk, talk – no action or results”.
Vice-President-elect Mike Pence has since weighed into the row, telling CBS he found Congressman Lewis’ criticisms of Mr Trump “deeply disappointing”, saying that Mr Trump has “every right to defend himself”.
The row comes ahead of Martin Luther King Jr Day holiday in the US on Monday.
Meanwhile, Religion News Service‘s ADELLE M BANKS reports that on Saturday, a predominantly African-American crowd joined in a march towards the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial in Washington, DC, vowing not to let President-elect Donald Trump turn back strides made by the civil rights leader
The crowd, smaller than the thousands expected due to the steady rain, heard from civic and religious leaders about key areas of concern: health care, voting rights, economic equality and police brutality and reform.
“We are gathered here and we marched in the driving rain because we want this nation to understand that what has been fought for and gained, that you’re going to need more than one election to turn it around,” said Rev Al Sharpton, whose National Action Network sponsored the march.
Speakers cautioned the crowd not to fear the future.
“The world out there may be in disarray today but God has got this, so we’re not worried because we know how to fall down on our knees and pray and God always gives us the victory sign,” said E Faye Williams, president and CEO of the National Congress of Black Women. “There are a lot of people who want to dishonor the legacy of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, but we shall not be moved. It will not happen and we will move forward.”
Rev Nelson Rivers, vice president for religious affairs for NAN, urged ralliers to remember King’s message of justice all throughout the year and “be his movement” not just on the holiday that marks his birthday Monday.
Rev Rivers said black churches, black media and black social media were the key promoters of the rally. The majority of the board of NAN, a civil rights organisation founded in 1991, are members of the clergy.
Mr Trump’s election campaign comments put off some African-Americans with his descriptions of the plight of urban centers and questions like “What have you go to lose?” about voting for him.
“He doesn’t have a clue,” said Rev Rivers. “He doesn’t know enough about black folk to talk about black folk.”
