Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), one of the top civil rights leaders of the 1960s, is speaking today at 6:30 p.m. in the Student Center Ballroom.

His speech is titled “Coming Full Circle: Democracy, Engagement and Social Change.” It is free to attend.

Lewis was chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, an organization involved in the American Civil Rights Movement, while attending American Baptist Theological Seminary and Fisk University, both in Nashville, Tenn.

He earned national recognition in the 1965 civil rights marches from Selma, Ala. to Montgomery, Ala. He spoke several times at marches and civil rights gatherings.

He was elected as a congressman in 1986 and has served non-stop since. He is currently the senior chief deputy whip for the Democratic Party.

Lewis’s speech is just one of many events planned for the 40th anniversary of the shootings by the Ohio National Guard that left four Kent State students dead on May 4, 1970.

Contact student politics reporter Nick Glunt at [email protected].