John Lewis And The Civil Rights Movement

Some lessons never die. Mahatma Gandhi died nearly seventy years ago, and Jesus Christ died over two-thousand years ago; yet their powerful message lives on. One example of someone who was deeply touched by the teaching of Gandhi and Christ is John Lewis. In March: Book One and March: Book Two, written by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, we can clearly see how Lewis incorporated Christianity and Gandhi's ideas of peaceful protest into the civil rights movement. The books tell an eventful story of John Lewis' life. As Lewis grew up, his faith strengthened and he began involving himself in the civil rights movement. He played a major role in desegregating department store lunch counters, buses, and giving voting rights to people of color by

John Lewis has never let his 40+ arrest affect what he stands for. In Lewis’ book March, he tells his story of segregation in the 60’s and the events that shaped his life. From when he was a little kid, to an older adult, March displays Lewis deal with the segregation in the south, and the hard ships others endure. Although he experienced many events in his life, John Lewis used those events to build himself religiously and help others. Receiving his first bible, Jim Lawsons workshops, his decision not to go to college and Martin Luther King’s speech all helped him become who he is.

One of Lewis’ earliest turning points in his life was when his uncle gave him his first bible. Lewis recalls, “Growing up, what I really wanted to be was a

Standing for what you believe in can be difficult, especially when you 're against the government. John Lewis held a speech during the march in Washington in 1963, where he confronts the unfairness that colored people face needs to stop, and it has to stop now. Lewis purpose is to appeal to the audience and at the same time send a message to the government. At first, he adopts an upset tone in order to show how unfair the government is, however, towards the end he is more encouraging, wanting people to partake in this act to help them get their freedom. He made this speech to encourage people who joined together to fight for their rights, and used these rhetorical strategies to connect to the audience.

Knowing this man is to love this man. He has been a great role model for and during the civil rights movement and so much more. This man’s name is John Lewis Others may say he is someone who just wanted to start trouble and he should leave things the way they were. By analyzing his early life, his education, becoming a civil rights activist, and a U.S. Congressman, I will be able to show you why I think he is a great person all around. It is also clear that John Lewis shaped his time.

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.

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,

Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ), was one of the most memorable as well as divided politicians in US history. With a humble past of teaching at segregated schools for 3 years, he had all the heart of someone to end slavery. But upon becoming a Senator, this seemed to change. During his Senate years, time and time again showed his dislike for Civil Rights. When President, he was a whirlwind of a worker to push this bill through. What changed, what didn’t, along with what drove him to do this.

“The bottom line is, people have a right to live their lives even if it doesn’t match what you think is correct. When we fight for civil rights, we must fight for equality for all; anything less is hypocrisy and an insult to the definition of justice itself.” Rev. Al Sharpton is a long time civil rights leader, minister, talk show host, and even has been known to give president Obama advice on civil rights issues. Sharpton’s article is set up by touching on unfair transgender laws in North Carolina, statements made by U.S. representatives, and the civil rights movement as a whole. He limits the article the time period beginning in the civil rights movement. Ding this allows the reader to only think about civil rights from a more progressive mindset. Sharpton does this all from his view. Due to his experience as a civil rights leader he speaks about the movement from a stronger perspective than most.

“There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time”-Malcolm X. In every movement men and women have crossed paths with others that share their goals, but not everyone shares the same path to achieve it. The civil rights movement of the nineteen fifties and sixties were no different in this case, while many shared the common goal of equality for all, not everyone shared the same style or belief system to achieve it creating sources of conflict within various civil rights organizations as well as between organizations. Freedom activists, Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael sharing the same goal as other civil rights leaders John Lewis

John Lewis spares his experience going to jail as seen when Lewis goes to prison for the first time. Lewis states, "Surrounded by so many of our Friends, we felt like prisoners in a holy war." (Lewis and Aydin 1: 104). In other words, Lewis describes the jail as being a prisoner in a war. Lewis going to jail made them protest all the more by Lewis saying; "We weren't about to cooperate in any way with the system allowing the very discrimination, we were protesting." (Lewis and Aydin 1: 105). In other words, John Lewis believes they were all still protesting even in jail until Lewis and the prisoners were released later that night. After they left the jail the next morning Dr. Wright, the College President at Fisk University, was the first black man to take a stand in the country against the

The social gospel was the biggest inspiration and influence for Civil Rights leader, John Lewis. Which is prevalent throughout the first two books, of the March trilogy, written by Andrew Aydin and John Lewis himself. The Bible made its mark on Lewis when he was young farm boy. Leading him to the social gospel which started him down the path of nonviolence, and longing not just for personal reform but for social reform. As the Civil Rights movements became bigger, and as the philosophy of which John Lewis taught spread, others were inspired by the social gospel.

Leaders of the Civil Rights Movement inspired regular people to make a change. John Lewis heard Martin Luther King Jr. preaching on the radio at a young age, making John wanting to integrate Troy State. Martin Luther King Jr. also inspired people to march from Selma to Montgomery to demand voting with no barriers. Some might say that regular people weren’t inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. and made the marches happen on their own but Martin Luther King Jr. had organized the marches so they won’t be too chaotic. Because of the hero’s inspiration regular people wouldn’t have acted in the Civil Rights Movement. However, because of ordinary people, the heroes were able to move forward and help fight with

This is about your own stubbornness. Your own sin” (Lewis and Aydin 2:23). This shows that Lewis’ idea of a march wasn't always supported, but he stuck with SNCC because he knew that they needed to march to make progress towards desegregation. Lewis was given the opportunity to lead several protests because of an ad that the SNCC put out, advertising the need for freedom rider volunteers. The Freedom Rides began so they could test the Boynton v. Virginia supreme court case decision.

March is a graphic memoir of John Lewis life, but most importantly, it is about his life during the Civil Rights Movement. The story begins with 2009 Congressman John Lewis getting ready