March: Book One

Lewis grew up in rural Alabama where the same opportunities available to white children did not exist for Black children. As he rode the bus to school each morning, Lewis was keenly aware of the disparities he saw. The school the white children in his community attended was nicer, and those children had access to more resources than Lewis and his Black peers. Their busses were in better repair, and the schoolyards were cleaner. He took note of the prison gangs he saw working on the roadsides and how they were comprised of mostly Black prisoners. Rather than growing discouraged or throwing up his arms in defeat, Lewis knew he wanted to do more to challenge the state of affairs that oppressed people of color.

It was this same attitude that led him to apply to Troy University and to meet Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his quest for social betterment. Although he did not pursue Troy further because of his family’s concerns for both his and their safety, Lewis recognized the need to fight injustice, and he organized with others in Nashville to challenge segregation laws. Lewis knew he would be met with challenges. He and his fellow protesters prepared for nonviolent action by taking turns learning what to do when others called them names, harassed them, and even beat them. For Lewis, facing this adversity meant fighting for what was right and fulfilling the principles he had learned as a child through his biblical scholarship and education.

When Lewis and his peers were arrested for their protests at the segregated department store lunch counters, they knew that this too was an opportunity for endurance. They used their incarceration as a means for change by denying bail and insisting the court system face the repercussions of its decision to arrest nonviolent advocates for civil rights. When politicians failed to deliver on promises, and Lewis’s friends faced bombings and threats, Lewis joined the march to City Hall to demand change. The book ends with words from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. which ask those fighting injustice not to despair and not to grow weary. King emphasized the importance of endurance and of remaining steadfast for the cause.

Most of March: Book One is told through the first-person narration of John Lewis to a woman and her two sons. She wanted to impress upon her boys the lessons Lewis could offer about his experiences. While Lewis touched on everything from faith to education, the lasting lesson from his storytelling is the way in which he endured through hardship to fight for and achieve social justice. Perhaps the most striking evidence of this theme appears in the first few pages, which highlight the march on Edmund Pettus Bridge. The protestors discussed whether they could swim and recognized that they may be thrown into or need to escape via the river below. They understood the endurance they would need to make it through this experience and that their peaceful march would be met with violent counter-action by local law enforcement. This simple exchange emphasizes the need for endurance whenever the status quo is challenged.