In second grade, I became interested in civil rights. After performing in a musical "I Have a Dream", I really wanted to learn about the civil rights movement and zeroed in on John Lewis. I learned that he traveled to Selma, Alabama each year to reenact the first bridge crossing on "Bloody Sunday" in 1965. It was my hope to meet him, shake his hand and thank him for fighting for my rights.
I met many giants in the political world that day like now Vice-President Kamala Harris and Congresswoman Maxine Waters. But when John Lewis came out of the door of Brown Chapel AME Church and shook my hand, the emotion that came over me was powerful. My life changed in an instant.
Follow along on my journey in my series, I Am Tybre as I set out to send a message to my generation. While learning about our past, we must continue the fight of Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis. We must find a way to get into "good trouble". Our democracy depends on it.