It was the 1959-1960 school year in Nashville, Tennessee. I large spring of hope began to bubble up from the earth. It’s beginning came from American Baptist College. A major proponent for this geyser was John Lewis. John Lewis was a student activist that led sit-ins and non-violent movements. He was among others too Diane Nash, James Bevel, Bernard Lafayette, and many others. The hard thing to explain is that John Lewis was among thousands of other students from the Nashville area and was among the few that actually made a stand for civil rights and equality. So why John Lewis? There were certain events that led to Lewis becoming a student activist, that led him to lead while many would not, and pushed him to the lead fighting for what was …show more content…
John Lewis has nine siblings and was son of a couple sharecroppers. John Lewis was different though. Many of the people surrounding him growing up were passive and reserved; These people of Alabama were not willing to fight for right or stand up for equality. Though it was understandable. During the early to mid 1900’s the deep south was under Jim Crow laws. These laws enforced racial segregation and often times punished severely those who broke the segregation barriers. African Americans were often beaten severely or thrown in prison for life, often with no reason at all. John Lewis however grew up during a time where there was a beginning of social change. He idolized Martin Luther King Jr. and W.E.B Du Bois and wanted to become a minister. He preached to his chickens, but he soon wanted more and knew he would have to travel away from home. His mother found him an article showcasing American Baptist and how he could get free tuition on a student work program. Lewis soon left Troy and headed on his way to Nashville. Lewis wouldn’t know the world he was about to step into and the one he was about to …show more content…
There he worked hard to become a minister at American Baptist College. He had a very large love for God, which was a very large reason why he was able to keep mental fortitude and have an undying strength for his cause. Lewis was a dreamer. He dreamed of going to Morehouse College, the school where MLK learned. He dreamed of becoming a minister, and making a difference in the world. John Lewis was a shy boy, but did not falter when speaking towards a cause, whether it be civil rights or the word of God. A very large reason why Lewis was able to dedicate himself to his cause was himself facing the ridicule of diversity. All African Americans in the south faced racial discrimination, that is a given. John Lewis however was discriminated even more for he had a speech impediment. He would stutter and not be able to finish his words. So he was made fun of not only by whites, but also by his fellow African Americans. This ridicule made John Lewis strong. Strong enough to take on a cause greater than himself, and be able to not care what people thought of him. There literally was nothing for him to
I believe all of these events made him more passionate and led to his major role in the movement. At the very young age of four, Lewis was given his first bible from his uncle. This was a crucial moment in his life because it introduced him to religion, which was a driving factor for him in the movement. On page 26, it reads, “I’ll never forget my mother reading me the first words in that book” (Lewis and Aydin) This quote
Lewis was arrested for the first time doing what he felt was right, what he felt would make a positive difference for people of color. His first arrest was on February 27th of 1960. He was arrested for participating in a non-violent sit-in at a local diner in Nashville, Tennessee. He was led to do a non-violent sit-in because he first took a non-violent workshop with Jim Lawson on March 26th, 1958. He was encouraged to go to a non-violent workshop when he heard of it happening, possibly because one of his biggest role models, Martin Luther King Jr., preached and supported a non-violent movement that happened with Rosa Parks on the bus boycott.
When he was a young teenager he was influenced by the Montgomery Bus Boycott which encouraged him to enter the civil rights movement, and he was also influenced by two famous civil rights leaders Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks because of how courageous they were. Lewis had the strong feeling of wanting to desegregate Troy State College and went to go tell his parents about
As a young adult Mr. Lewis met with Martin Luther King Jr, he had a unique encounter with him because John knew about King since he went to a community college to become a pastor, in his learnings King and his ways were briefly mentioned. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. turned and said unto him “but if you want to go,
Working towards being a public speaker and activist for African-Americans, meeting Dr. King played a crucial role in solidifying that prospect. On top of that, the generosity of MLK led him offering to raise money in order for him to attend Troy State, a university that had been segregated and did not allow African-Americans to attend. According to Dr. King, (cite Vol. 1 pg. 71) “You must keep in mind, your parents could lose their jobs. Your family home could be bombed or burned.” Even though John turned it down in order to keep his family safe, as they faced dangers if they signed the papers needed for him to try and attend the university, he was influenced by the man and this led to him being a positive public speaker.
Charles Marsh uses his book God’s Long Summer: Stories of Faith and Civil Rights in order to discuss several of the prominent figures of the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi during the summer of 1964. In this book, Marsh writes about Fannie Lou Hamer, Sam Bowers, William Douglas Hudgins, Ed King, and Cleveland Sellers. These five people, in some way, had a very important impact on the Movement. Through this book, Marsh intends to “tell the story of what happened when differing images of God intersected, and then clashed, in one violent period of the black struggle for freedom and equality under the law.”
Throughout the Speech and the Letter, he covered areas that needed attention, such as segregation and how bad the Negroes are being treated as to the White men and women being treated not nearly as bad. MLK had spoken in the “Dream Speech” that “Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksand of racial Injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood” (MLK Dream, 6). MLK is speaking in a way to attract listeners and use similes to let people realize that we need to do something, and do it quickly. MLK wrote a letter from the Birmingham Jail asking why he was thrown into the cell, and letting people know why he is protesting the way he is and what his beliefs are. He mentions also on how to run a nonviolent campaign, which he was currently attempting to do before getting bombarded by the white police.
Joe Louis: All-Around Champion Joe Louis was a very important role model during the civil rights movement. Joe Louis was one of the most major figures in the civil rights movement in his time. Joe Louis was an amazing boxer with good values and morals, which was a very rare thing for anyone to have around then. Although he may not have attended every sit-in, he was still a major role model to all African-Americans and every other race. He was a knock-out superstar in the ring and in protests.
John Lewis has been the U.S. representative for Georgia since 1987, but that is not where his political career began. In the series, March, by John Lewis, it takes the reader back to the very beginning of Lewis’ life where he lived on a chicken farm in Alabama. He then begins fighting for civil rights as a young man and was even one of the famous speakers in Selma. Before he could get to where he is now, John Lewis had to go through a series of events that would change his perspective on life. Lewis has had many turning points throughout his civil rights journey, but there are four specific moments that helped him grow into the man that many people of color looked up to in hope of change.
Who was John Lewis? John Lewis was born in Troy, Alabama and grew up in a family of sharecroppers. He also grew up in an area of segregated schools. Lewis went to college in Nashville, Tennessee at Fisk University, where he learned about nonviolent protests. Lewis helped found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and joined the freedom riders.
The comic book “March Book One & Two,” illustrates the difficulties that the African American community had to face during the Civil Rights Movement. The “Excerpts from Understanding Comics,” article is able to show readers what comic books represent and the way in which both the author and artist portray the story on one page and then throughout the story. It helps readers understand “March: Book One & Two,” because the reader will be able to understand the book and the meaning that they are trying to get across to others. Book one is more about the actual actions that were being taking for the civil rights movement, while book two was about the ideas of the civil rights movement and how the leaders of each organization in the movement needed to watch everything that they were doing. This happens because John Lewis moves into different types of leadership roles between both books.
The graphic memoir, March, is a biography about Congressman John Lewis’ young life in rural Alabama which provides a great insight into lives of black families in 1940s and 50s under Jim Crow and segregation laws. March opens with a violent march at the Edmund Pettus Bridge, which the gruesome acts later became known as “Bloody Sunday,” during this march, 600 peaceful civil rights protestors were attacked by the Alabama state troopers for not listening to their commands. The story then goes back and forth depicts Lewis growing up in rural Alabama and President Obama’s inauguration in 2009. This story of a civil rights pioneer, John Lewis, portrays a strong influence between geography, community, and politics. The correlation between these pillars of March is that they have to coexist with other in order for John Lewis to exist that the world knows today.
Lewis accomplished this by illustrating an emotional appeal in his speech when he expressed, “But what did the federal government do when Albany’s deputy sheriff beat attorney C.B. King and left him for dead? What did the federal government do when local police officials kicked and assaulted the pregnant wife of Slater King…and she lost her baby” (Lewis and Aydin 169). Clearly the tone set is that of disgust and anger by not only emotionally charging his statement but by disclosing repugnant behavior (e.g. see figure 1). Essentially, helping the audience understand his stance when he exclaims, “And then you holler, ‘Be patient.’ How long can we be patient?
Civil Rights Through Civil Disobedience "Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison" (Thoreau). This is a quote from Civil Disobedience, an essay written by Henry David Thoreau in 1849. Within this essay, Thoreau emphasizes the importance of taking action to combat injustice instead of doing nothing beyond pointing it out and calling it wrong. Civil Disobedience eventually became a strong influence for the civil rights movement, as illustrated in the graphic novel March by John Lewis. The book tells the story of the civil rights movement from John Lewis' perspective, enlightening its audience with numerous previously unknown details about various protests and marches during the time
Most of the other activists would choose to fight the prejudices by speaking out in protests, speeches, and on the radio. But the way Ali did was by denying what they wanted him to do, his most famous instance of this was when the government wanted him to join the army and help fight during the Vietnam War and he continuosly denied them and remained in the United States. In the article ¨The Importance of Muhammad Ali¨, it states ¨Ali’s impact was growing—among black Americans, among those who opposed the war in Vietnam¨ (Hauser par. 10). Ali standing up against these prejudices helped spark the rest of the nation to join him in the fight. Muhammad Ali wouldn’t do all of this alone, he would frequently meet with others who want to fight this problem in the country and help raise awareness in their different ways.