Nonviolent Activism In John Lewis March Book One

One hundred years after the Emancipation Proclamation was written, African Americans were still fighting for equal rights in every day life. The first real success of this movement did not come until the Brown vs. Board of Education decision in 1954 which was followed by many boycotts and protests. The largest of these protests, the March on Washington, was held on August 28, 1963 “for jobs and freedom” (March on Washington 11). An incredible amount of preparation went into the event to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of people attending from around the nation and to deal with any potential incidents.

On February 7th, 1960, a week after the Greensboro sit-ins, The Nashville Student Movement had begun their first real sit-in. The objective of these sit-ins was to desegregate lunch counters in downtown Nashville. Book 1 goes into detail about the preparation for these sit-ins. Months before this

John Lewis was one of the most notably influential leaders of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, SNCC. SNCC was founded in the 1960s in Releigh, North Carolina and initially consisted of black students as its members (Murphree 2006:11). The first members of this organization made use of nonviolent ways of protests such as sitting in and occupation of certain public places. The organization was successful in making other people aware of the injustices that black people were usually exposed to. Moreover, SNCC supported more nonviolent protests such as the Freedom Rides in 1961 and the March on Washington in 1963 which paved the way for the amendment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Any type of movement that demands change requires a method which the movement uses to demonstrate the cause to the people. For each movement, demonstration methods vary depending on the leader and the change they want to happen. For example, during the African American Civil Rights movement, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was one of the key leaders, but his method was through nonviolent means such as sit ins, boycotts, picketing, and many others. Majority of the leaders who desire a change practice nonviolent resistance which in turn inspire future movement leaders. One such leader is Cesar Chavez who is a labor union organizer and a Chicano civil rights leader. He published an article in the magazine of a religious organization on the importance of nonviolence resistance on the tenth anniversary of the

Dr. King was looking for support from members of society in order to create an effective change in society’s ethics. Moreover, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s large audience and public movement used nonviolent tactics, such as sit-ins, marches, and freedom rides to put the Civil Rights Movement in action. Before directly acting against the law, Dr. King had used other means to try to obtain justice for all; he used the four basic steps of a nonviolent campaign to decide how he would approach this cultural issue of racism: determination of whether injustices exist, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action (King 1). After the first three steps of his nonviolent campaign proved to be ineffective, he decided to seek direct action through a large demonstration of civil disobedience. Dr. King had a tremendous impact on the segregation issue in not just Birmingham, but the entire country, by leading the Civil Rights Movement, which eventually helped influence anti-segregation legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that affected a massive population of the entire country. Although Dr. King’s journey ended in his assassination, his relentless passion for equal rights was empowering to many and helped to create a more just society.

Everyone today grows up experiencing several turning points in their life that makes everyone specific and makes their own unique characteristics shine. But we all go through different turning points in our lives and everyone is different. In the Book, the March, by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, the main protagonist [John Lewis] has several turning points that lead him to develop and strengthen his character throughout the novel. Though some say that John Lewis has developed additional qualities as he has grown up through the years, the reality is that several turning points in his life had made him a more passionate person to the people he stands against, and had made him improve and strengthen his original personality traits. The times in his life that changed him are: receiving the bible from his uncle, traveling to Buffalo with his uncle, and participating in non-violent workshops.

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.

The popularity of sit-ins can be reflected in the involvement of the N.A.A.C.P. (The National Association of the Advancement of Colored People). An article published by the New York Times talks about planned demonstrations that will occur in New York City which will be headed by the N.A.A.C.P (Robinson 54). This example shows how large the movement had become by summer 1961 because a nationally recognized organization was already actively involved in demonstrating. Another article, printed in late 1961, reports that the national director of the Congress of Racial Equality would begin planned sit-ins nation wide, with a focus in the South and the Midwest (“Negroes to Broaden” 18). This again proves how effective sit-ins were because a nationally recognized organization was taking the movement and organizing a nation wide effort to end discrimination.

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.

Physical abuse, sexual harassment, and violence that involves beating. And the prejudices against the people that bears a different skin color than White. Especially African Americans. They had suffered from countless abuse and discrimination because of their skin color. To regain their justices, African Americans began to fight back prejudices by using two strategies. Passive and active resistance. Passive resistance involves noncombat strategies. Like the media capturing the event of the protesters and broadcast it to every inch of society. So people are able to feel their pity for them and join the protest. Also, passive resistance also involves careful, detailed planning to achieve their success. For example, during the sit-ins when one

Many different acts and campaigns of civil resistance represented this movement. African-Americans and whites performed many forms of protest and civil disobedience including 'sit-ins', boycotts, marches and other nonviolent activities. Out of this movement, came many successful achievements such

In March(pages 76-83) it shows Jim Lawson a leader taught the younger college students and adults to use strategies of nonviolence strategies to face off with the segregationists. Which caused the ordinary people to dehumanize one another to be prepared for all the segregationists that want to get rid of them. Some may say that not every leader could inspire or teach anyone in action to stand up.But I say that’s not true because of Jim Lawson, Martin,Diane N., and more have inspired other people to act in the Civil Rights Movement with them. Because of the heroes inspiration throughout the years ordinary people wouldn’t have taken action in the Civil Rights

Violence also proved to be unproductive because it only caused more resistance and chaos in time of confrontation. Violent protests such as riots ended up damaging the Black Community. African Americans resulted being the victims of these riots, and as a result the most affected by the violent confrontations. Moreover, the use of violence created stiff race relations between the African Americans and White. Demonstrating that the violence method was ineffective for the civil rights movement is the fact that the “Black power movement faded almost as quickly as it appeared” (Ware 161).

“The civil rights movement was a struggle by African Americans in the mid- 1950s to late 1960s to achieve civil rights equal to those of whites, including equal opportunity in employment, as well as the right to vote, and the right to be free of racial discrimination” (Civil Rights Movement).  In March: Book Two, author and activist, John Lewis, delivered a speech on August 28, 1963. Before John Lewis delivered his speech, there was a lot of chaos occurring backstage about revising Lewis’ speech. Mr. Randolph was not pleased with the way John Lewis phrased parts of his speech. He demanded for him to change it. Even though, Lewis negotiated with Mr. Randolph about changing his speech, Lewis was still content with the arrangement. Therefore,  Lewis confronts the people with his sentiments regarding racial inequality. He draws awareness to 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 and Aydin 166). In this statement, Lewis explains his reasoning for assembling his speech. His goal was to awaken the public on the reality 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

The African American Civil Rights Movement and the ANC used protests, boycotts, strikes, civil disobedience, and various other nonviolent methods in order to achieve their goal of racial equality. Nelson Mandela opened the