Riding for Freedom: MARTA hosts John Lewis bus unveiling

Photo by Kerri Phox/The Atlanta VoiceThe Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) and the John and Lillian Miles Lewis Foundation hosted a special bus unveiling and voter registration drive honoring late Civil Rights icon and MARTA advocate Congressman John Lewis and his wife Lillian Miles Lewis at College Park Station.Throughout his life, Congressman Lewis was a tireless advocate for voting rights. In 1965, he helped organize voter registration efforts in Selma and was one of the Civil Rights leaders in attendance when President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law. Congressman Lewis’s work advancing voting rights continued throughout his political career until his death in 2020.As long-time community leaders and activists in Atlanta, he and his wife, Lillian Miles, understood the significant role public transportation plays in providing opportunity for all. On MARTA’s 30th anniversary, Congressman Lewis said, “MARTA is a shining example of what can be done. We wouldn’t be the capital of the American South if we had not had MARTA.”Photo by Kerri Phox/The Atlanta VoiceAdditionally, Congressman Lewis was one of the original Freedom Riders who fought to desegregate the interstate bus system, and who was a tireless advocate for MARTA.MARTA General Manager and CEO Collie...