Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement
In 1957, a teenaged boy named John Lewis left a cotton farm in Alabama for Nashville, the epicenter of the struggle for civil rights in America. Lewis’s adherence to nonviolence guided that critical time and established him as one of the movement’s most charismatic and courageous leaders. Lewis’s leadership in the Nashville Movement—a student-led effort to desegregate the city of Nashville using sit-in techniques based on the teachings of Gandhi—set the tone for major civil rights campaigns of the 1960s. Lewis traces his role in the pivotal Selma marches, Bloody Sunday, and the Freedom Rides. Inspired by his mentor, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Lewis’s vision and perseverance altered history. In 1986, he ran and won a congressional seat in Georgia, and remains in office to this day, continuing to enact change.
The late Edward M. Kennedy said of Lewis, “John tells it like it was…Lewis spent most of his life walking against the wind of the times, but he was surely walking with the wind of history.”
Reviews (190)
Please make an eBook or Audio Version
It's a worthwhile read about an important part of American history. The book has been reviewed by others and the description says it all. Problem is, the book is too thick to carry easily. PLEASE, someone make this available in ebook, audible or at least pdf format. It's a book that most readers will likely want to add bookmarks and notes.
Modern hero
For those of you unfamiliar with John Lewis, his is truly an inspirational story, a driven and courageous man who rose from relative poverty to play a crucial role in the civil rights movement and during his crusade was beaten, threatened and jailed numerous times simply for standing up for African-American rights. Eventually he became friends with Martin Luther King, the Kennedy's and virtually everyone who was anyone in the civil rights movement and was known for his honesty, integrity and gritty determination to forge ahead regardless of the cost. This is a wonderful book about a unique and remarkable man and is an essential and fascinating look at a truly remarkable man, an American hero. Essential reading for anyone interested in race relations in America.
Important reads
I have a black stamp collection for my kids already. My new goal as a senior is to collect books that I can read and pass down to my grands. This book will be part of that.
A true American hero
Reading Lewis' autobiography "Walking in the Wind" is a transformative experience. As a child growing up in the sixties and seventies, I heard a lot about the horrors of the Holocaust, but the horrors of Jim Crow were given short shrift in U.S. history classes. What Lewis experienced in the Freedom Rides were nothing short of horrific. At one point, he and a fellow activist were locked in a hamburger joint. The manager had locked both doors and vacated the store except for Lewis and his friend, then turned on a fumigator. The room filled with insecticide and Lewis was certain he was doomed. Just luck that someone called the fire department, and they were narrowly saved from death. That is just one example of what he went through. Of course the walk in Selma has been shown over and over again, but there are many, many instances like that that Lewis somehow miraculously lived through. A true testament to courage, integrity, and love, Lewis is an American hero right up there with Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr. They should have a statue of him in D. C.
An Inspiration and an Education
This book is really a must-read, as it covers in depth the Civil Rights struggle of the late 1950s and early 1960s as lived by someone at the heart of it, who knew all the leaders and put his own body on the line over and over. It is also immensely readable, and if there are times I simply can't keep all the names straight (he is very thorough) they are more than balanced by Lewis's deep and beautiful reflections, excerpts from speeches and the sheer readability, humility and honestly of his story. It would be five stars for the story from which the title gets its basis. We need this reminder that peaceful protest requires great strength and courage, resolution and planning, and will always be needed.
Carrying the torch of love, mutual respect and courage forward to an eagerly awaiting America.
I still mourn the loss of Dr. King, but feel Mr. Lewis echoes his timeless sentiments and carries the torch for another generation. He is as good a writer as he is an honest, decent, engaged human being. It was an honor to hold his work product in my hands as I read it. I felt his strength against all odds and cheered with his victories and felt the cruel sting of racism radiate off the pages. His superior writing ability is a powerful delight. A highly recommended read.
The book to read if you are disheartened by current politics
Engaging, well-written and thought-provoking. I could hardly put this book down after reading the first few pages, and three days later as I finished it, I really wished for a second volume. The time period covered is from 1940 to the end of the 20th century. This book helped so much in coming to grips with the new political situation in the U.S. An extraordinary story of a remarkable person.
Printing of book was crooked
This is an excellent book with inspiring historical content. Unfortunately, the printing was EXTREMELY SHODDY! I've read the book before and gave it to a friend. I ordered this book to replace it, and I am disappointed to find such a poor print job. Cannot return the book as I immediately signed the inside cover.
John Lewis Provides America with His Wisdom
What am I going to say that would be different from anyone else? Probably nothing. However, I feel there is a lot to learn for anyone who reads this book about John Lewis who spent his life fighting for equal rights for minorities and suffered great physical harm from it. Violence begets violence according to Lewis who preached and practiced non-violence as did Martin Luther King, Jr. For those who lived through it the 1960s was a violent decade with the Vietnam war, racial strife, and assassinations. It's all here in Lewis's book. I believe any reader of this book should pay special attention to the last chapter in which John Lewis sums up his feelings and beliefs for America. We stand at a crossroads right now as to which way will we go, forward or backward to the time when discrimination reigned supreme. We will have the choice this November as to which way we choose. I pray the lessons of the past and the strife we are going through right now can be put behind us. John Lewis would be proud to have us move forward.
I was surprised at how open and honest John Lewis ...
I was surprised at how open and honest John Lewis is in this memoir. Not only does he offer a blow-by-blow account of the civil rights movement, but he dissects the tensions and conflicts within the movement and offers a voice of moral clarity throughout.
