Also American
AchievementAugust 28, 1963· leadership

John Lewis delivers fiery March on Washington speech

At 23 years old, SNCC chairman John Lewis delivered one of the most uncompromising speeches at the March on Washington, demanding immediate action and declaring that Black Americans would not wait. Though pressured to moderate his language, Lewis's speech defined a generation of militant nonviolent resistance and foreshadowed decades of civil rights leadership.