UPDATE: Obama Eulogizes Rep. John Lewis: Livestream

ATLANTA, GA — Former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush attended Thursday's funeral for Rep. John Lewis in Atlanta. The late civil rights activist was honored at the invitation-only service at 11 a.m. at Ebenezer Baptist Church.

Obama delivered the eulogy at the service, calling Lewis a mentor and hero. He described him as a good, kind and gentle man who "believed in us."

"John always saw the best in us and never gave up, never stopped speaking," he said. "I was proud that John Lewis was a friend."

"His faith was tested again and again. He had unbreakable perseverance."

"John spent his entire life fighting for justice and equality — and now he has left behind his marching orders for all of us," Obama tweeted before the funeral.

Bush also spoke.

"We live in a better country today because of John Lewis," he said. "He believed in America."

"He always believed in preaching the gospel. Hate and fear were answered with love and hope."

Clinton said he read the short essay in the New York Times that Lewis had written shortly before his death.

"We got our last letter today," Clinton said. "He leaves us our marching orders. Keep moving."

"He fought the good fight and kept the faith."

Clinton released a statement: "Hillary and I loved John. We were blessed by his friendship, support, and wise counsel. We’ll miss him so much, but we’ll always be grateful to God for his long good life, and grateful that he lived to see a new generation of Americans take to the streets in search of his long sought 'beloved community.'”

Georgia native and former President Jimmy Carter, who is 95, didn't attend the ceremony.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, paid his respects while Lewis lay in state at the U.S. Capitol rotunda earlier this week.

A private burial is planned for South-View Cemetery.

Lewis died on July 17, seven months after he was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He was 80 years old.

PBS livestreamed the funeral service Thursday morning (see the link below).

The civil rights leader published a short essay in the New York Times shortly before his death. He wanted it published on the day of his funeral.

"While my time here has now come to an end, I want you to know that in the last days and hours of my life you inspired me. You filled me with hope about the next chapter of the great American story when you used your power to make a difference in our society. Millions of people motivated simply by human compassion laid down the burdens of division. Around the country and the world you set aside race, class, age, language and nationality to demand respect for human dignity."

He speaks on the Black Lives Matter movement, saying that Emmett Till was this generation's George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, Sandra Bland and Breonna Taylor.

Widely regarded on Capitol Hill as the moral compass of the Democratic Party caucus, Lewis served as Georgia's 5th Congressional District representative for more than 30 years. His death marks the passing of the mantle of the civil rights movement from a generation that defeated the discriminatory and segregationist policies of the Jim Crow era in America's Deep South.

DeKalb County Young Democrats President Cindy Thomas told Patch that the congressman was a "freedom fighter and truth teller."

"[He] strived to ensure liberty and justice for all Americans. His life legacy is one in serving the people, especially those in the American South. Now it is our job to make sure he did not sacrifice in vain," Thomas said.

"We must level up the legacies of our civil rights American heroes like Congressman John Lewis, with the passing of reparations for Black Americans and dynamic criminal justice reform. We stand on the shoulders of giants and we are blessed to now have him as a guardian angel for the great city of Atlanta. May he rest in peace and power."

Lewis, the son of sharecroppers who became one of the "Big Six" leaders of the 1960s civil rights movement, spent his life fighting for racial integration.

One of the architects of the watershed 1963 March on Washington, Lewis was the sole surviving keynote speaker at the massive protest where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic "I Have A Dream" speech.

He is also well known for his participation in the Selma March across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965, where white law enforcement officers beat Lewis and other peaceful protesters, breaking his skull.

At age 23, he was the youngest speaker at the 1963 March on Washington.

As a student at Fisk University, John Lewis organized sit-in demonstrations at segregated lunch counters in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1961, he volunteered to participate in the Freedom Rides, which challenged segregation at interstate bus terminals across the South. Lewis risked his life many times by simply sitting in seats reserved for white patrons. He was also beaten severely by angry mobs and arrested by police for challenging the injustice of Jim Crow segregation in the South.

During the height of the movement, from 1963 to 1966, Lewis was named chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which he helped form. SNCC was largely responsible for organizing student activism in the movement, including sit-ins and other activities.

"John Lewis has a permanent place in history. He was much more than a politician," said John Jackson, chairman of the DeKalb County Democrats Committee. "What he did as a man in his early 20s as the leader of SNCC forever changed the trajectory of America. That being said, we must look to his work and realize there is still a lot more to be done. We can let his legacy live on through continuing that work for a more equitable society."

People can post video, photos, songs, or any kind of virtual tribute to Lewis using #BelovedCommunity or #HumanDignity or leave a written tribute at www.theJohnLewisLegacy.com.

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