Book 1 And 2 Of The March Trilogy By John Lewis

John Lewis from SNCC, to Mahatma Gandhi, to the abuse of Bull Connor, John Lewis lead a life of non-violence. Reading book 1 and 2 of the March Trilogy by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, John Lewis talks about his current life, as well as his past. Lewis is in a good place when talking about his current state (President Obama becoming President). But then we get into his life in the 50's and 60's, he learns a lot from becoming part of the SNCC movement. It's while being part of the organization that Lewis learns of the teachings/learnings of Mahatma Gandhi, and how he himself fought with no violence, and at the end won. We then get to Bull Connor. He was everything that Lewis fought for. Connor was a bully, treated people of color bad, and that's

Through this organization Lewis, along with his peers, could coordinate more sit-ins, without fear of following a leadership structure that in a way was ok with “segregation and discrimination” (Lewis/Aydin, Book 1, 111). Through the years SNCC, changed, especially in 1962 during a conference. In the conference, some members started to think that it was ok to hit back. That was a big change for Lewis, one he didn’t believe in! That same year he was “elected SNCC’s Executive Coordinating Committee” (Lewis/Aydin, Book 2, 118). While serving as chairman of SNCC, Lewis, fought for change for People of Color. Lewis, while in the SNCC, fought hard to continue the fight of nonviolence within the organization. In the website John Lewis.house.gov, it says that “despite more that 40 arrests, physical attacks and serious injuries, John Lewis remained a devoted advocate of the philosophy of nonviolence” (Johnlewis.house.gov, para. 8). Lewis left SNCC in 1966, but continued his fight for the Civil Rights Movement, also following the teachings of Mahatma

An example of that violence was the police chief of Birmingham, Eugene ‘Bull” Conner (Image 1). Lewis’ first encounter with Connor was after a protest that happened in Anniston, Alabama, where the Freedom Riders were attacked. When asked why no police officers, we available, Connor states, “[…} Mother’s Day. We try and let off as many of our policemen as possible, so they can spend Mother’s Day at home with their families” (Lewis/Aydin, 2: 48). In making this comment, Lewis gives a prime example of what Connor was all about, and then the Freedom Writers later found out that what Connor stated was a lie. Lewis himself writes, “We found out later that he’d promised the Ku Klux Klan fifteen minutes with the bus before he’d make arrests” (Lewis/Aydin, Book 2, 48). The essence of Lewis’ argument is that he did not like the fact that Connor lied about the police not being available, but more importantly seeing how physical the police, as well as Connor were being with the Freedom Writers. Who were not being violent at all. Connor was such a bully, that even the Mayor of Birmingham was afraid of him. But, that did not stop the Freedom Riders, especially Lewis, for doing the sit-ins, or protests in Alabama. Lewis was not afraid of Connor, it lit a fire within him to continue fighting for the rights of colored people.