Our hearts broke a little today when we heard the sad and unexpected news of Representative Elijah Cummings’ death. His was always a unifying voice, a voice that reminded us that “we are better than this.” While countless media outlets predictably mangled their headlines about Cummings’ passing by making them about Trump, we all know that Elijah Cummings’ life and legacy are so much better, so much bolder, and so much more beautiful than his relationship with the current president. This son of sharecroppers, who fought his way out of special education and onto college, law school and ultimately the United States Congress, was special. Very special.
Today we share a clip of Elijah Cummings, in his own words, talking about his own struggles in school and how we went from feeling “like a caged bird” in class to a boy who could (and would!) soar to the highest of heights. America is filled with boys who feel the same way he did—may we honor Cummings’ legacy by fighting for them.
Godspeed, Representative Cummings. We will miss you.
This post originally ran on the Project Forever Free blog here.
