Around the time of 2011, I was able to go to Washington, D.C. and through my uncle, who was also a Freedom Rider, Civil Rights Activist and someone who got locked up in the jail cell with the Mr. Lewis. He allowed me to meet Congressman John Lewis, unfortunately he was not available at the time, because he had a family emergency in Atlanta, but being able to tour his office was even better. I learned so much pertaining to not only his political life but to his earlier life. Exactly how it is explained in the above
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
In the book March: Book One and Two, the main character John Lewis takes part in the civil rights movement in 1960’s. While it's true that many events in his life did not increase his devotion to the civil rights movement and religious beliefs, I believe that John Lewis's beliefs and determination were reinforced by the turning points in his life. I believe the gift of his bible helped him grow stronger in religion, which helped him bring a sense of connection to the civil rights movement through Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s words. Through that he started going to nonviolent workshops where he learned more about nonviolent protests, which started him on the road to joining the civil rights movement. This eventually pushed him to join the freedom riders.
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.
The graphic novel trilogy, The March, tells a series of events that happen in John Lewis’s life for the better and for the worse. Throughout the books, he is faced with challenges that test his ability to stay true to his beliefs. When Lewis was a child, he received his first Bible from his uncle which was what sparked his heavy faith in God. During his spiritual journey, he began to listen to the teachings of MLK Jr. who impacted his life greatly. Lewis became the SNCC’s newest executive coordinating committee which opened his eyes to all the violence that was really apparent at the time.
Anthony Lewis would not agree that it was ok for the protestors to be arrested especially because it goes against their right of freedom of speech. Throughout the book, Lewis voices his opinion through the ideas he put in the book and the way he portrayed them. He shows that he is for the Fourth Amendment and freedom of speech.
Listening to Martin Luther King’s speech changed the way Lewis viewed everyday activities, he felt like he was not doing his part by sitting on the sidelines. “Dr. King’s message hit me like a bolt of lightning. 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 Aydin 56). Lewis could not get enough information on MLK, he had to go to the library and look up everything he could about this man. This changed Lewis by opening his eyes to a bigger better world. He felt that MLK was different from any other leader and that’s exactly what Lewis wanted to do, but didn’t know how so his uncle took him on a trip to Buffalo.
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.
John Lewis summarizes his thoughts on how the Congress is asking them to be patient, something that is almost impossible. Why will it be impossible? express that his group and himself will not stop and they will keep protesting until they get the rights they deserve.Lewis clearly shows his ambition of continuing the revolution by announcing ¨ We will not stop. All of the forces of Eastland, Barnett, Wallace, and Thurmond will not stop this revolution.¨ ( para 9 ). The main point of Lewis's statement is that even when the congress wants the revolution to stop and even when people don't believe in them, John Lewis and his supporters will not eradicate the revolution.The significance of the evidence is that it displays how powerful Lewis´ emotions are toward
Nate Powell does an extraordinary job at putting forth John's words and emotions into images. On page 78 of book one, there is an image that takes up the whole page. Although this image only says “His words liberated me. I thought this is it… this is the way out.” (Lewis and Aydin March 1:78) When you look at the image itself and hear the words it’s almost as if you were to be standing next to John looking at the light feeling the pressure of the decisions he had to make. You can feel the sweat dripping down your forehead and you get nervous, all from a simple black and white image. Prior to page 27 of book two John Lewis was invited to President Barrak Obamas
The influence John Lewis had on the labor movement is unparalleled. Lewis grew up in a working class home. He is the son of a miner and eventually became a miner himself. As a miner he was a union member of the United Mine Workers union and eventually became a prominent figure in the labor movement. Lewis is responsible for more industrial unionism than any other person in American labor (Martin). Lewis fought for the rights of unskilled workers such as miners, and steel workers. Lewis founded the CIO to better represent unskilled workers. Under Lewis the CIO became the biggest organization of unionized unskilled workers. “Lewis may have personally brought more
John Lewis begins his remarks by revealing his attitude that civil rights leaders should not congratulate themselves yet and that there is still a long road before Africans Americans have true freedom. To immediately complicate the notion of being satisfied with the progress of the civil rights movement that other speakers proclaimed, he announces, “We march today for jobs and freedom, but we have nothing to be proud of” (para 1). The essence of Lewis’ argument is that the leaders of the civil rights movement are marching for workplace fairness and equality for African Americans, but they should not stop and congratulate themselves. Significantly, this opening statement reveals the difference of beliefs that Lewis had compared to some of the older leaders in the movement who wanted to discuss how far civil rights have progressed. To further demonstrate this idea, Lewis states, “While we stand here, there are sharecroppers in... Mississippi...working for less than three dollars a day, twelve hours a day. While we stand here there are students in jail on trumped-up charges” (para 1). In this illustration, Lewis highlights the dissimilarities between those at home who are experiencing low wages and unfair hours or are imprisoned on false charges to those who are standing there in
After thinking about it, John Lewis went and applied as a transfer student to Troy; except that nobody replied back to him. Since John Lewis felt nobody was listening to him, he said “Finally I decided to introduce myself to the only person who I thought could understand what I was trying to do.” (Lewis et al 66) The letter he was writing was for Martin Luther King because to John , he felt there was a genuine connection between him and MLK. Next, John Lewis boarded a bus to head to Montgomery, AL from Troy State to learn more about what he needed to do to get to that point. Once he got there, he was introduced to a man named John Robert Lewis who sat down with him to talk about his reasons for going to Troy and explained to him the dangers of going and what this could mean for John and his family. During the conversation, John Robert Lewis said “Your parents could lose their jobs, your family home could be bombed or burned.” (Lewis et al 71) “You may get hurt… or your family may get hurt.” (Lewis et al 71) John made the choice to not go to Troy State because his parents thought it wasn’t safe for him to go. So he wrote back to MLK to explain what had happened as a result of him speaking with John Robert Lewis. This helped him view what was possible in his journey. John said “Because in Nashville I’d meet people who opened my eyes to
John Lewis and Douglass Evers both fought for the advancement of their people. John Lewis chose to go about it by doing sit-ins while Evers sought to do it through the courts. Evers felt as if doing things the way that the SNCC did stirred up animosity. He and the NAACP felt as if it put blacks in more harm than they wanted by putting them in jail and causing more riots and mayhem. Lewis, following the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. felt that he had to get to the hearts of people to get what they wanted. 1963,
Knowing that millions of people around the world would be watching in person and on television and expecting great things from him — at least one more gold medal for America, if not another world record — during this, his fourth and surely his last appearance in the World Olympics, and realizing that his legs could no longer carry him down the runway with the same blazing speed and confidence in making a huge, eye-popping leap that they were capable of a few years ago when he set world records in the 100-meter dash and in the 400-meter relay and won a silver medal in the long jump, the renowned sprinter and track-and-field personality Carl Lewis, who had known pressure from fans and media before but never, even as a professional runner, this