John Lewis's Birthday To Be Celebrated In Gwinnett County

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA — Gwinnett County’s commissioners proclaimed Tuesday that John Lewis’s Feb. 21 birthday would be celebrated annually in his honor.

Marlene Fosque, the only Black member of the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners, read the proclamation. It was signed by board chair Charlotte Nash, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Although Gwinnett County isn’t part of the 5th District Lewis represented, the proclamation said that the county benefited “from the influence Congressman Lewis had as a U.S. representative.”

One commissioner who may not have been on board with the proclamation is Tommy Hunter, who was publicly reprimanded by the other commissioners in 2017 for calling Lewis a “racist pig” on Facebook. The reprimand was posted at the Gwinnett County courthouse, on the county’s website and in the county’s legal organ.

Hunter later responded by filing two lawsuits, one to declare the ethics board unconstitutional and another arguing that the reprimand limited his right to free speech. The Georgia Supreme Court declined in June to hear the first case, and the other has been on hold.

Asked for comment Wednesday, Hunter texted to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he had “nothing to say” about Lewis or the proclamation.

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