John Lewis Inspiration

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.

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.

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.

The civil rights movement can be called one of the most important movements in the history of the country. Without it who knows where America would be as a country in today’s time. Fortunately it was not a problem America had to solve all by its self. With the help of two of the most influential people in history, America became the country of the free where everyone is equal, no matter what religion, gender or ethnicity. Those two men were Martin Luther King Jr. and Elijah Muhammad. These men have accomplished so much but some can argue that one did things a better way than the other. Most of the time people are more for the non-violent Martin Luther King Jr. but some say that without a little force, nothing can be accomplished. This was the

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 lead 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 the speech that Lewis is giving. During the March On Washington, Lewis gave a speech in order to persuade the people to get more involved with the civil rights movement. There are two audiences that Lewis addresses. He is addressing those that are physically at the location of the speech. These people are there in support of the civil rights movement. Then there is the rest of the world, specifically those who are against the civil rights movement. There is a time in the speech where Lewis calls out those who oppose the movement and, in summary, says that we will not sit in silence. The purpose of this speech is to persuade those who are in favor of the civil rights movement and hope that they become even more actively involved. Lewis

“The civil rights movement was a mass popular movement to secure African American equal access to and opportunities for the basic privileges and rights of US citizenship.”(Davis, 2014, p.1) “It started in 1954 when Rosa Parks started it with

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

His messaged showed John Lewis as well as others that you don’t have to live in a society where hurt, pain, and suffering occurs. They could instead make life happy, equal and unite together. When John Lewis met Dr. King he was very nervous and afraid at first, but he then was thankful because he learns that there is “The way of peace, the way of love, the way of Non-Violence”. (Lewis and Aydin 1:73) These words explain exactly how John Lewis views the segregated

When a person, who is a citizen of this country, thinks about civil rights, they often they about the Civil Rights Movement which took place in this nation during mid 11950s and primarily through the 1960s. They think about the marches, sit-ins, boycotts, and other demonstrations that took place during that period. They also think about influential people during that period such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Medgar Evers, John Lewis, Rosa parks, and other people who made contributions during that movement which change the course of society's was of life in America. In some people view, the Civil Rights Movement began when the Supreme Court rendered their decision in Brown vs. Education, or when Rosa Parks refused to give up her

The Civil Rights Movement began in order to bring equal rights and equal voting rights to black citizens of the US. This was accomplished through persistent demonstrations, one of these being the Selma-Montgomery March. This march, lead by Martin Luther King Jr., targeted at the disenfranchisement of negroes in Alabama due to the literacy tests. Tension from the governor and state troopers of Alabama led the state, and the whole nation, to be caught in the violent chaos caused by protests and riots by marchers. However, this did not prevent the March from Selma to Montgomery to accomplish its goals abolishing the literacy tests and allowing black citizens the right to vote.

John Lewis states that "They had White People living next door to them." (43). That is when he probably thought why were the white people living next to his uncle's house which what probably encouraged him to want equality in the United States rather than just in Buffalo. Then after he came home from the trip, he realized that black people deserve more of a life rather than just living on a farm or working minimum wage jobs. He mentions it in his book by saying "But it was just another sad reminder of how different our lives were from those of white children."

He delivered his speech at the March on Washington D.C. The purpose of the March was to stand up for civil and economic rights for African Americans during the time of racism. John Lewis was 23 years old when he addressed a crowd of over 200,000 people at the March on Washington D.C for Jobs and Freedom. John didn’t know the impact the it was going to make on the following years. Lewis had to rewrite the speech he was about to give at the March in Washington. The March Administration had heard what he planned to say and they didn’t like the way he had worded his speech. John Lewis states, “I’m not speaking for myself, I’m speaking for my colleagues in SCNN, and for the people in the Delta and the black belt. You haven’t been there, Mr. Wilknis. You do not understand” (Lewis and Aydin 2:163). By making this comment Lewis, is trying to let this people know that he can’t change his speech because they don’t know how they feel. They haven’t been through all the things they have faced during this time. He is trying to make them understand that he is speaking for the students, who are impatient for a change. His message was that they couldn’t wait anymore. He states, “You tell us to wait. You tell us to be patient. We cannot wait. We cannot be patient. We want our freedom and we want it now” (Lewis and Aydin 2:170). In other words, they want to see change they were tired of waiting they wanted their rights and freedom. People

This time period was almost solely based on segregation as whites felt superior to blacks and didn’t want them to have the same rights as whites. Many if not all of the movements were based on prejudice. Prejudice is the thought and feeling of another group based on ethnicity and or race, usually these thoughts are negative. I would imagine some of the people involved considered this to be pluralism as there was the white group and the black group that were distinctly separated. One of the most important and first thought of civil rights movement events is the “I Have a Dream Speech” by Dr. Martin Luther King. This movement was started long before his speech was given and was sourced by many smaller movements. In the mid 1950s, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat at the front of the “colored section” of the bus to a white passenger, which was in defiance of the southern custom at the time. Ms. Parks was arrested in Montgomery, AL. for her defiance of the custom. This spawned a bus boycott, in which the black community refused to ride the busses for over a year, until the bus system was desegregated late in the year of 1956. Dr. Martin Luther King led the bus boycott as he was the newly elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA). Also around this time Dr. King and several other individuals established the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) which was a major organizer for nonviolent civil rights

He endured Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy death was tragic but so was the John Lewis life is filled with a lot of racism and violent and Being under those circumstance must have been really difficult. Even just reading it you can tell that it was. The part that I can relate to the most it that he does not let the bad things get to him nor does he choose to let it define him.   He wasn't thinking about himself, he was thinking about the generations after him that will be free from racism around the