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Summary Of We Must Free Ourselves Finally By John Lewis

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On August 23, 1963 a quarter of a million men and women marched towards Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, during the March on Washington. They peacefully demonstrated the need for extending civil rights to African-Americans (Wynn). Overheated people passionate towards the cause of equal rights for all, not just the selected white majority, filled the streets (Madison). No one spoke, and everyone looked up towards where the next speaker would begin. A man welcomed John Lewis to the stage. As he took the podium people wondered what his speech would contain, for the night before the press received leaked portions of his speech (Feeny). Although he altered his speech the day of, this analysis will focus on the original version. In John Lewis’ memorable speech “We Must Free …show more content…

For example, Lewis points out things missing from the bill, “This bill will not protect. . .” “This bill will not protect. . .”. By starting each sentence this way the audience sees his point, that the bill is missing many things. Also, Lewis uses anaphora by asking numerous sources to “listen” to what the African-Americans are asking for, “Listen Mr. Kennedy. Listen, Mr. Congressmen. Listen, fellow citizens”. By repeatedly saying listen he points out that many people, especially the government, are not listening to what the African-Americans need, and that it is time for them to listen up. Lastly, Lewis uses anaphora while discussing the African-American’s needs by beginning phrases with we, “We cannot be patient”, “We want”, and “We cannot”. By beginning these phrases with “we” he emphasizes that the audience has similar needs, and those need to be granted. When a significant proportion of the population has an opinion, it must be responded to. Thus, Lewis enlists anaphora to emphasize his points, and to effectively win over the audience’s agreement on his opinions and

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While the ideals of the younger generation took a backseat in the March on Washington, Lewis’ speech used language and tone that was much more representative of what the younger generation and SNCC stood for. Lewis wrote in the initial draft: “The revolution is a serious one. Mr. Kennedy is trying to take the revolution out of the streets and put it into the courts” (Lewis, 1963). In the original draft of the speech written for the march, Lewis addresses President Kennedy and politicians, asking them to listen to their statements then suggests that there will be no “cooling off” period. It was a concern of the older generation including A. Philip Randolph and Dr. Martin Luther King, that directly calling out President Kennedy and other politicians in such a manner, would lead to a different reaction from those in attendance and watching around the world.

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This book brings a hard and appalling reminder piece of American history, March is an effective work of explicit storytelling, and brings about a sense of unity. This book also goes to show how much of importance the coexistence of geography, community, and politics play in peoples’ lives. They play as the three pillars of March, in which the circumstances they fall in shape John Lewis as a man of

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Let’s begin with John Lewis as he is the primary focal point. John Lewis is known to be a great contributor and influence on the civil rights movement. He faced much tribulation alongside those whom stood up for their egalitarian communal beliefs. Thus, defending

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MLK realizes this is not the intent of Lewis and claims, “John. I know who you are. I think I know you well. I don’t think this sounds like you” (Lewis and Aydin 163). This brings Lewis to the conclusion that he should edit his speech, which would turn out to be the best speech at the March other than MLK’s.

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Although John Lewis had forces like segregation hold him back, there are four turning points such as his first bible, the trip to Buffalo, first arrest, and meeting Martin Luther King for the very first time. From the book March, written by John Lewis, I will show how these situations really made a difference for him to become a public speaker and activist for equal rights. In this essay, I am going to describe how these impacted his life. I will first start with when he was given his first bible.

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This is a very arduous achievement, necessary to achieve the change you want to see in the world. That if enough people group together and walk, sing, pray, and show that injustice we can become the nation aware and acting upon their dilemmas (Netflix). Enough people to stop and say, “That’s not right.” Lewis, and many others, aside from getting us to ask questions, pathed the way for many minority groups and people, specifically Barack Obama, to lead, a quote on quote, normal life, or hold office. After Obama’s election John Lewis stated, “When we were organizing voter-registration drives, going on the Freedom Rides, sitting in, coming here to Washington for the first time, getting arrested, going to jail, being beaten.

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He repeated that these journalists “really ought to be attacked, who ought to be exposed, who ought, if possible, to be put in the penitentiary.” His strong opinion on the matter forces the audience to side with him and agree that the “Muck-rake” is the worst type of people. The repetition ingrains the idea that this form of journalism is unacceptable and should be stopped. In persuasive speeches such as this, anaphora is used to convince the reader of one main idea through rapid repetition of similar phrases. Roosevelt used this technique well by repeating strong verbs to implant an idea of how dire the situation and the necessity for action to be

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On March 15, 1965, during the height of the civil rights movement, President Lyndon B. Johnson delivered a famous speech entitled We Shall Overcome to a joint session of congress. His speech revolved around the oppression of certain groups at the time and the actions which both congress and all Americans must take in order to overcome the adversity presented by roadblocks to social progress. While his speech mainly focused on the right to vote, the ideas contained within spoke beyond this and ultimately looked at what it means for America to be on the top of the world stage, both from a legal and individual perspective. His speech spoke directly to the American people with lines such as “Because it’s not just Negroes, but really it’s all of

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John Fitzgerald Kennedy delivered his “Civil Rights Address” on June 11, 1963 to talk about how everyone is born equal and just because you are born with darker skin you shouldn’t be considered less of a person and have less rights. It was filmed in the oval office and broadcast on national radio and television. This speech is about equal rights for african americans. It was made because two black children had to be escorted to school by state troopers after numerous threats. John F. Kennedy used diction as well as logos and ethos to make listeners believe that his argument is right and they should take his side.

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On August 28th, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr gave us one of one of the most rhetorically moving speeches ever given. Titled as the “I Have a Dream Speech,” he read this speech to the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom”. As a civil right mover he gave this great speech to all Americans (black and white) so that he could give off the idea of equality on the same level. Because of his crowd of mix races King made sure to make his speech imploring to all no matter what the race that they may be. He uses metaphorical imagery, powerful diction,and symbolism to create an impact on the audience.

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