Nashville names street after Civil Rights icon John Lewis
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Officials in Nashville, Tennessee, have renamed most of a street after Civil Rights icon John Lewis, who help desegregate the city’s lunch counters before becoming a long-serving congressman in Georgia. The Tennessean reports Metro Council members voted Thursday to rename a large portion of 5th Ave North to Rep. John Lewis Way. A request to rename the street included some of the highlights of Lewis’ work and its impact. As a college student at American Baptist College and then Fisk University, Lewis helped desegregate public spaces in Nashville and pushed for racial justice across the South. Lewis died July 17.