The funeral, held at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, is closed to the public because of the coronavirus pandemic. Along with Obama, former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush are expected to attend.
The “Celebration of Life” is scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. EDT and will be streamed on C-Span 3. It will also be broadcast on C-Span Radio. BET will also stream the funeral live and PBS has a live stream scheduled on its YouTube page.
Despite not initially endorsing Obama’s 2008 campaign against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Lewis eventually changed his tune and the two formed a close relationship over the years. In 2011, Obama awarded Lewis the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the country.
The service culminates six days of ceremonies that occurred from Atlanta to Washington, D.C. Most recently, Lewis lied in state at the Georgia State Capitol on Wednesday, following a public viewing in the U.S. Capitol on Monday and Tuesday.
“Not many of us get to live to see our own legacy play out in such a meaningful, remarkable way. John Lewis did. And thanks to him, we now all have our marching orders—to keep believing in the possibility of remaking this country we love until it lives up to its full promise,” Obama wrote in a lengthy tribute following Lewis’ July 17 death.
On Thursday, The New York Times published an op-ed written by Lewis shortly before his death with the instructions to publish on the day of his funeral. In the article, Lewis says Americans “inspired” him in the last days and hours of his life.
“You filled me with hope about the next chapter of the great American story when you used your power to make a difference in our society,” Lewis wrote. “Around the country and the world you set aside race, class, age, language and nationality to demand respect for human dignity.”
Lewis, a Civil Rights icon, wrote that Emmet Till, a black 14-year-old from Mississippi who was killed by white men in 1955, was his George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, Sandra Bland and Breonna Taylor, four people who died recently after interactions with police officers.
At the time, Lewis said he realized it could have easily been him instead of Till and said he was “searching for a way out, or some might say a way in,” similarly to what young people are doing today. Then, he heard Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s messages about nonviolence and standing up for injustice. Decades later, he urged people to vote, as it’s the “most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society.”
“Though I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe,” Lewis wrote. “In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.”
