John Lewis: Civil Rights Activist

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.

John Robert Lewis was born just outside Troy,Alabama on February 21. Lewis often helped his parents with sharecropping, though he led a happy childhood. In 1957, Lewis learned of the so called “Sit-ins” and felt obliged to join and help remove the racial segregation greatly separating the country. Lewis said “It was not enough to come and listen to a great sermon or message every Sunday morning and be confined to those four walls

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, living on a farm. 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.”

Lewis recalls: “[He talked about nonviolence] and how we could apply nonviolence to eradicate some of the evils we all faced” (Lewis and Aydin 1:77). In other words, Jim Lawson had come up with the non-violent mindset that he believed would be a powerful tool in fighting against segregation. For Lewis, this opened up a whole new set of values that he had never considered. Lewis had never thought of nonviolence as a tool that could be used to attain what he wanted for his people. It was in the moments after the sermon that he saw that here was something that he could use to attain what he wanted; here was something that he could fight with; here was something that he could die using.

Jackie Robinson. "Jackie Robinson Appears Before HUAC" Hearings Regarding Communist Infiltration of Minority Groups–Part 1, Hearings Before the Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Eighty First Congress, First Session. 18 July. 1949.

As illustrated in his graphic novel, March, John Lewis was an important leader in the Civil Rights movement, alongside other well-known leaders, such as Martin Luther King and Malcom X. He helped lead people to a way of non-violently protesting the segregation and the cruelty surrounding the African-American community. Without him, the protests could have easily devolved from calmly standing for something that they believe in to filling the streets with blood and violence from both sides. All his life, he has recognized the unfairness that he could see all around him, and he never liked it. Whether it was watching his preacher drive away in a very nice car while others were struggling (Lewis and Aydin 1: 54) or seeing the white students using

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,

On April 12, 1963, eight clergyman wrote an open letter, “A Call for Unity”. In this published letter, the clergyman expressed their strong disapproval of the civil rights demonstrations taking place in Birmingham, Alabama. Consequently, that same day, civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested for protesting without a permit. In his short eleven day jail sentence, Dr. King directly responded to the clergymen with a letter of his own. In his letter, Dr. King informed his readers about the protests in Birmingham. He explained why the protesters were civilly infringing racist laws and city ordinances; why the protesters had truth and justice; and how he was thwarted with the clergyman and white moderates in the South who said they supported his cause. In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Dr. King incorporates biblical and historical allusions to defend the strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism. Dr. King’s allusions gave him credibility with his target audience, the clergymen. Additionally, Dr. King subtly asks rhetorical questions and logical conclusions to force his audience to consider his purpose.

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.

The graphic novel March: Book One by primary author John Lewis, secondary author Andrew Aydin, and illustrator Nate Powell is an astonishing graphic novel that delivers the firsthand accounts of the civil rights movement through the eyes of John Lewis. The graphic novel follows John Lewis, who is now a congressman from Georgia, from his childhood in rural Alabama to his standoff against Mayor Ben West of Nashville, which ultimately led to the desegregation of lunch counters in Nashville. The graphic novel is highlighted by John Lewis’s constant urgings of nonviolent demonstrations by protestors, which Lewis acquired from his devotion of Mahatma Gandhi, who Lewis mentioned used “the way of nonviolence to free an entire nation of people” (Lewis

“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.

Since ministers from the black church rose as formal charismatic leaders in the movement, there was not a situation in which a woman could be a charismatic leader.

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

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.