Rep.Meeks, Lt. Gov. and Guests
Photo provided by the office of Rep. Meeks
The United States Postal Service held an unveiling ceremony for a stamp of the late civil rights icon U.S. Rep. John Lewis in Saint Albans on Monday, Feb 27.
The ceremony, held at the Robert Ross Family Life Center on Linden Boulevard, was a part of a Black History Month event USPS hosted with Rep. Gregory Meeks and Lt. Governor Antonio Delgado. Hundreds of people including community leaders, Divine 9 sorority members, clergy members and residents packed the center for the unveiling.
Lewis, who was born in Alabama in 1940 when the south was segregated, was known for his commitment to nonviolent civil rights protests that made him coin the phrase“good trouble.” He had a lengthy political career, spanning over three decades in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he defended and built upon key civil rights achievements, before his death in 2020. Lewis’s commitment to civil rights extended beyond the House, where as a college student he was the face of the Nashville Student Movement, chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and an original Freedom Rider.
The ceremony began with the smooth sounds of the Bartlett Contemporaries jazz band, followed by opening remarks from the moderator Natasha Padmore. Padmore introduced Jamaica’s VFW color guard that marched in line to present the American flag to the solemn crowd. Following the color guard ceremony, the National Anthem and Black National Anthem was sung and a prayer was led by Reverend Eli Wilson III.
Dermot Tuhoy, the postmaster of the Jamaica Queens USPS branch, spoke of the impact the stamp unveiling had on the community.“ One of the most important goals of our stamp program is to raise awareness and celebrate the people, places and things that represent the very best of our nation. The postal service has a longstanding tradition of celebrating Black history. Last year on July 31, we issued the John…
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