She asked to see his scars, and he traced his bald crown to find the scars.
Two veterans of Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama – Sister Mary Antona Ebo, 92, and Congressman John Lewis, 76 – enjoyed a brief reunion on the campus of Washington University after Lewis delivered the 2016 Commencement speech on Friday, May 20.
Ebo, the first black nun to march in Selma, first checked on a former victim’s wounds that were more than 50 years old. In his Commencement address, Lewis said he thought he “saw death” after the beating he endured in Selma.
Lewis leaned into her wheelchair. They clasped one another like the survivors they are and spoke in whispers.
“I often think of you and the other sisters who came down to Selma,” Lewis said.
These historic figures spoke with the calm modesty of the truly great.
“For us sisters, it was just a regular part of the job,” Ebo said, “but I thank the Lord that I was one of them.”
Lewis said he has hanging on his office wall in Washington, D.C. a photograph of nuns who came to Selma from St. Louis.
“If it were not for the sisters, some of us would not be here,” Lewis said.
They held hands. They touched one another’s scars. They thanked one another for their courage and service.
“Thank you for being here,” Lewis whispered. “Thank you for bearing witness in difficult times.”
The nursing administrator who once sent in clowns to cheer up the grievously ill did a little clowning herself.
“It is so powerful to say I met with you,” Ebo said, “and can go around and show off.”
Civil rights warriors for the past half-century, they spoke in contemporary terms.
“We have to see that there is equity in what we are doing,” Lewis said.
They spoke of the future. Ebo asked Lewis what he will do when he leaves the Congress. Lewis said he will continue to work for justice and peace, in the United States and the world.
“When I leave the Congress, and I don’t know when I will leave,” Lewis said, “I will find a way to continue to carry the message of hope, peace and love for our people who are left out and left behind, not only in America but around the world.”
“Around the world,” Ebo repeated slowly from her wheelchair.
When their brief moment of intimate connection – they spoke for less than seven minutes – had passed, Sister Ebo issued the simplest encouragement to the battle-scarred congressman:
“Keep on keeping on.”
