Jim Lewis

Here / Now Jim Lewis

Here/Now is my memoir, beginning with nine years (1965-1973) as a civil rights worker (arrested three times) and civil rights lawyer in Mississippi, right in the middle of the civil rights movement, and following my life thereafter, through teaching law school in North Carolina and trying significant cases for the Justice Department, and then into a happy second marriage and 37 years of work, family life and community service in Springfield, Illinois, ending with 6 1/2 years as United States Attorney in central Illinois, trying to reduce gun violence, police-community tension, and the opiate epidemic, trying to promote safety, health, understanding, and change. As my memoir ends, I'm back in the middle of community work, teaching about race and equality, advocating for immigrants, promoting opportunity for people released from prison, and helping to tell stories and history through the African American History Museum. The book also has photos, poems, and an essay about me by our daughter Kate.