Rep. John Lewis is a well-known civil rights legend, but it turns out he’s a good dancer too.
The Georgia Democrat showed off his dances moves in a video posted to YouTube Wednesday, cutting a rug to the song “Happy,” the Pharrell hit featured in the movie Despicable Me 2. “This is my song!” the 74-year-old declares while showing off his two-step.
The song was released on the movie’s soundtrack album last summer, but a recent Oscar nomination and re-release on Pharrell’s 2014 album have brought new attention to the tune. A Detroit school choir recently garnered a million YouTube views for their own sing-a-long and dance-a-long version.
Known as a marcher more than a dancer, Lewis worked alongside civil rights icons including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as he fought for racial equality in the south in the 1960s. He famously suffered a fractured skull after he was beaten by officers while marching for voting rights on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., on the day now known as Bloody Sunday.
In recent years he’s become one of the strongest voices to speak out against more recent efforts to roll back voting rights. He strongly criticized the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision that gutted the Voting Rights Act, but has said during past appearances on PoliticsNation that he remains hopeful Congress will come together to restore the law.
That optimistic spirit extends to his dancing as well. “Nothing can bring me down,” he says during the dance video.
He has the same message to his colleagues in Congress in a second video. “Be happy everybody. That’s what the government is supposed to do,” he said.
Perhaps the infectious tune can permeate the halls of Congress and help improve everyone’s spirit.
Morgan Whitaker