How Did John Lewis Influence Society

Another important turning point in Lewis life was when he decided not to go to college. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go to college, but that Lewis felt that helping others were more important. On his application for the freedom riders, he wrote, “I know that education is important and I hope to get one, but human dignity is the most important thing in my life.” (Lewis 30) In other words, Lewis was willing to put his entire life on hold in able to help others and stand up for what he believed in. After being told no by his parents, he said, “In Nashville I’d meet people who opened my eyes to a sense of values that would forever dominate my moral philosophy—the way of peace, the way of love, the way of nonviolence.” (Lewis 70) So although Lewis didn’t get to

In the book trilogy, March by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin. John talks about his life growing up and making a difference. These highlights of his life would make him develop into someone more important. He received a Bible from his uncle as a gift, the trip John took up to Buffalo was a realization of how different the northern and southern states were. Segregation didn’t exist in the north. Later, John met Jim Lawson and began attended his workshops about non-violent protesting, and lastly his first arrest. These highlights during his youth would become eye-opening to Lewis that what he was putting himself through to take down segregation in the south was a risk for his life to save future generations.

He applied the principles of the church to what was happening now, today. It was called the social gospel… and I felt like he was preaching directly to me.” (Lewis and Aydin 1:56). MLK Jr. sparked John Lewis’s love to fight for what’s right to him personally, for example, his acceptance into Troy State. “But if you want to go, we’ll help… we’ll raise the money to file those suites, and we’ll support you all the way. But you must keep in mind… your parents could lose their jobs. Your family home could be bombed or burned.” (Lewis and Aydin 1:71). He and MLK Jr. worked on many projects together as it was in both of their interests. Lewis became very involved with non-violent protesting and everything MLK Jr. introduced him to. Everything the two of them did was always associated with the teachings of Christ. “His words liberated me. I thought this is it… this is the way out.” (Lewis and Aydin 1:78). MLK Jr. was in charge of a group called SNCC. In that group, he dealt with the religious aspects of the racism in the country.

Lewis, however, highlights these people whose lives will be greatly affected by decisions about and fights for civil rights so that those who are marching remember that the fight continues and has real consequences. Therefore, Lewis’ remarks in the first paragraph demonstrate that he identifies with the concerns of grassroots activists across the country who could not attend the march, and he explains that he has doubts about this march doing enough if the movement does not focus more on the grassroots efforts of its members. (Ms. Pruden)

In March book 2, author and activist, John Lewis, delivered a speech on August 28, 1963. Before John Lewis delivered his speech, there was a lot of ciaos occurring backstage about revising Lewis’ speech. Mr. Randolph wasn’t pleased with the way John Lewis worded parts of his speech and demanded for him to change it. After Lewis negotiated with Mr. Randolph, Lewis was still content with the arrangement of his speech. Lewis confronts his sentiments to the people regarding racial inequality. He emphasizes on the unfair acts that are implemented among the African American working class. John Lewis states, “While we stand here, there are sharecroppers in the Delta of Mississippi who are out in the fields working for less than three dollars a day, twelve hours a day” (Lewis Aydin 166). In this statement, Lewis explains his reasoning for assembling his speech. His objective was to arouse the public on the realism of the nation’s unjust behavior towards African Americans. Lewis explains the march on Washington is occurring because blacks don’t receive the same wages as whites. Lewis declares, “We do not want our freedom gradually, but we want to be free now” (Lewis Aydin 169). He proclaims that African Americans have been fighting for their freedom long enough and they are not willing to be patient. With his skillful use of appeals, Lewis applies powerful logos to illustrate racism, emotional pathos to connect with the audience, and ethos to appeal to the segregation and discrimination towards African Americans.

On August 28, 1963, John Lewis delivered his memorable speech on Washington to a 200,000 crowd of activist demanding peace and equality. Lewis’ purpose is to inspire others to join their march and make a mark on history. He adopts a demanding and bold tone in order to persuade the black activists and politicians to change the social norms and to join the social revolution. By demonstrating his demanding claims for equal rights to the politicians, whites, and African - Americans, John Lewis effectively utilizes syntax and diction to adequately get his message of hope, equality and desegregation.

John Lewis initiates his claim by conveying that everyone in America should not tolerate racial segregation nor discrimination. In order to reach to his point, he uses the rhetorical device, pathos, in which it causes the “white” audience to feel remorse for what society has become. To illustrate this idea, Lewis reveals African Americans “live in constant fear of a police state”, “have been arrested on trumped charges”, and some faced “the death penalty for engaging in peaceful protest” (paragraph 2). The evidence highlights that they are going through hardships caused by the federal government because they are considered “inferior” compared to the “white” race. From this, readers can infer that white supremacy is being marked on the walls. Lewis is able to awaken Americans so they can realize how their actions are wounding African Americans. In addition, Lewis is representing the African American community so they can feel inspired to join the Civil Rights Movement. Possibly the speaker is trying to drag the African Americans out of their state of oblivion by incentivizing them to defend their rights. Lewis is addressing the problems to both audiences so they can feel the urge to fix them. Therefore, Lewis’ remarks in the first paragraph reveal that he identifies with the concerns of African Americans and how whites, mainly activists, should focus on addressing their issues.

He had been arrested numerous times, beaten, and still remained a vital role in the civil rights movement. He would later be known as a member of the “Big Six”, (Vol 2, 150) consisting of Martin Luther King, A. Philip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, Jim Farmer, Whitney Young and himself. The injustices at the time lead to a much needed March on the nation's capital: Washington. Though Lewis’ speech seems to to be less well known as Martin Luther King’s, it was a great accomplishment for the civil rights movement. One of my favorite Lewis speech lines was “We will splinter the segregated south into a thousand pieces, and put them together in the image of god and democracy”. (Vol 2,

In “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr extensively establishes his ethos and proves his authority on the matter of racial injustice. “I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty-five affiliated organizations across the South, and one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights” (King 1). King was the focal point of the Civil Rights movement and continues to symbolize the equality of all races to this very day. His authority to advocate on the

Martin Luther King’s Jr.’s letter was influential in inspiring and ultimately altering societal attitude on racial issues. He used a creative use of language that addresses any plausible audience including: the clergymen, the religious moderates, the equal rights supporters and the oppressed black community. The use of famous icons, religious leaders, and traditional scholars as references provided a multitude of examples that clearly illustrated King’s key points. Moreover, King carefully analyzed the duplicity of racial segregation through examples of “civil disobedience” among important historical icons valued in society (King par 21). In doing this King is able to utilize Luke’s, three-dimensional approach and tilt the power dynamic in his favor.

Young African American’s had to take an active role because many older adults were set in their ways, too afraid to do anything. Previously learning in school, The NAACP was the primary group focusing on civil rights. Further reading has shown that this is not completely accurate. Per Cleveland sellers, the NAACP was widely known but had setback from certain events. Many students who were involved in sit-ins before the freedom writers were believed to be under the SCLC or NAACP. As in the book, many African Americans only know of the NAACP. The SNCC group was a small student led group that also planned and participated in demonstrations. The SNCC formed to give younger blacks more of a voice in the civil rights movement because they felt that the SCLC was out of touch for them. With support from Ella Barker the SNCC worked their way into the movement. The SNCC evolved over time, from being a small unknown student organization, to a very known

Within Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, he addresses eight white clergymen who fill his desk with disagreements and criticism of his acts of attempting to abolish segregation. To give a better understanding to his audience he correlates his speech with religion, signifying himself to be similar to the Apostle Paul, while speaking up about the injustice being done in Birmingham. Martin Luther King Jr. speaks strongly about being unable to stand back and watch the disputes in Birmingham unravel. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly,” famously said by Martin Luther King Jr. bonds his idea during this speech that we are all affected by any type of injustice, small or large. Martin Luther King Jr. uses metaphors as a light of logic, first person point of view to add ethics with trustworthiness, and a tone of passion for the emotional aspect while addressing the clergymen.

Unlike DiAngelo’s White Privilege essay, a group of religious authorities under the umbrella of Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A. wrote a response letter to Dr. Reverend King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” First quoting a portion of Dr. King’s letter then responding to the quote, the group takes a Biblical stance on the racial issues that continue to preside in modern day American culture. Beginning the essay, the group differentiates between merely acting upon the symptoms of racism. “... (a) superficial kind of social analysis…” and discovering and fixing the root of the racial. By investigating the racial issues at hand and striving towards Dr. King’s dream of a community of equal opportunities for all races, then the conversation of racial inequality can begin. Realizing that fostering a multiracial community centered around radical love that forsakes “safety of our social order,” we, as the Christian body need to develop a society that eliminates the social prejudices currently penetrate into every aspect of

John Lewis, now a US representative for Georgia, was an activist in the civil rights movement at the time of this speech. Lewis has been involved in politics for quite some time. He was one of the leaders that organized the March on Washington in 1963. All of this leads to the speech he gave on August 28th, 1963. When giving this speech, it is clear that he has the confidence of a strong leader. The larger underlying occasion in this speech, in other words, what is going on in the world that caused Lewis to give this speech, was the civil rights movement. At this time, the African Americans in America were protesting against the government in order to gain the rights they deserved. The immediate occasion, in this case, would, in fact, be

Frame one and two on page 77 shows how Lewis became involved in this group. After listening to Jim Lawson talk about relevant things such as the Montgomery Boycott, the war resistance, and of course nonviolence, Lewis was intrigued. Lawson talked about Gandhi and how he used the way of nonviolence to free an entire nation of people and explained to his listeners how it was possible for them to use this same way, the way of nonviolence all across America, to rid of all evils that the country faced. The last frame on this page reads, “Jim Lawson conveyed the urgency of developing our philosophy, our discipline, our understanding,” and like that the nonviolent workshops began with a decent turnout of participants. “His words liberated me. I thought, this is it. This is the way out,” (Lewis 78). Lewis genuinely believed this philosophy was the key to their success.