Georgia Rep. John Lewis on Thursday called Barack Obama the fulfillment of Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech, saying the Democratic presidential nominee will lead the country to a new era of liberty and equality.

"Tonight we gather here in Denver because we still have a dream. We still have a dream," the black civil rights leader and friend of the late King told the Democratic National Convention on the 45th anniversary of King's famous address.

"With the nomination of Senator Barack Obama tonight -- the man who will lead the Democratic Party in the fight for the White House -- we are making a down payment on the fulfillment of that dream," Lewis continued.

A video tribute to King and the history of the civil rights movement followed Lewis' speech, in which he described the struggles he personally endured.

"As a participant in the civil rights movement, I can tell you that the road to victory will not be easy. Some of us were beaten, arrested, taken to jail and some of us were even killed trying to register to vote."

A congressman since 1987, Lewis first gained national prominence in the 1960s, during the Selma to Montgomery, Ala., voting rights marches. During one march, police publicly beat Lewis to a bloody pulp. Lewis still carries scars from that beating.

Lewis supported Hillary Clinton early in the primaries but switched his support to Obama in February after the Illinois senator beat Clinton in Georgia by a 3-1 margin. Lewis then said in a written statement that Obama's campaign "represents the beginning of a new movement in American political history" and that he wants "to be on the side of the people."

Lewis said that decision was harder than the beating he took in Alabama.

"It was easier to walk across that bridge and face those state troopers and be beaten and left bloody," he said at the time. "This has been hard. This has been difficult. But there comes a time when you have to make a decision."

On Thursday night, Lewis expressed no mixed feelings about how far America can go with Obama at the helm.

"Yes we've come a long way, but we still have a distance to go," he said. "We must march again on November 4, in every state, in every city, in every village, in every hamlet. We must march to the ballot box. We must march like we never marched before to elect the next president of the United States, Senator Barack Obama."