John Lewis : in search of the beloved community

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Title:

John Lewis : in search of the beloved community

Author:

Arsenault, Raymond, author.

ISBN:

9780300253757

Physical Description:

xvi, 552 pages, 12 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm.

Series:

Black lives (Yale University Press)

General Note:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents:

Introduction: In search of the beloved community -- "The boy from Troy" -- Nashville -- In the movement -- Riding to freedom -- Mississippi bound -- SNCC on the march -- "Bombingham" and freedom summer -- Atlantic City and Africa -- Selma and bloody Sunday -- Leaving SNCC -- Transition and tragedy -- Voting rights and the new south -- Sweet home Atlanta -- Mr. Lewis goes to Washington -- Keeping the dream alive -- Politics and remembrance -- The conscience of Congress -- Good trouble -- Perilous times -- Epilogue.

Personal Subject:

Lewis, John, 1940-2020.

Corporate Subject:

United States. Congress. House -- Biography.

Subject Term:

Civil rights workers -- Biography.

African American legislators -- United States -- Biography.

Legislators -- United States -- Biography.

Civil rights movements -- United States -- History -- 20th century.

Genre:

Summary:

"For six decades John Robert Lewis (1940-2020) was a towering figure in the U.S. struggle for civil rights. As an activist and progressive congressman, he was renowned for his unshakable integrity, indomitable courage, and determination to get into "good trouble." In this first book-length biography of Lewis, Raymond Arsenault traces Lewis's upbringing in rural Alabama, his activism as a Freedom Rider and leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, his championing of voting rights and anti-poverty initiatives, and his decades of service as the "conscience of Congress." Arsenault recounts Lewis's lifetime of work toward one overarching goal: realizing the "beloved community," an ideal society based in equity and inclusion. Lewis never wavered in this pursuit, and even in death his influence endures, inspiring mobilization and resistance in the fight for social justice."--

Holds:

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Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	921 LEWIS	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Wildwood Library (Mahtomedi)	921 LEWIS	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

The first full-length biography of civil rights hero and congressman John Lewis

"The perfect book, at the right time."--Michael Henry Adams, The Guardian

For six decades John Robert Lewis (1940-2020) was a towering figure in the U.S. struggle for civil rights. As an activist and progressive congressman, he was renowned for his unshakable integrity, indomitable courage, and determination to get into "good trouble."

In this first book-length biography of Lewis, Raymond Arsenault traces Lewis's upbringing in rural Alabama, his activism as a Freedom Rider and leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, his championing of voting rights and anti-poverty initiatives, and his decades of service as the "conscience of Congress."

Both in the streets and in Congress, Lewis promoted a philosophy of nonviolence to bring about change. He helped the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders plan the 1963 March on Washington, where he spoke at the Lincoln Memorial. Lewis's activism led to repeated arrests and beatings, most notably when he suffered a skull fracture in Selma, Alabama, during the 1965 police attack later known as Bloody Sunday. He was instrumental in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and in Congress he advocated for racial and economic justice, immigration reform, LGBTQ rights, and national health care.

Arsenault recounts Lewis's lifetime of work toward one overarching goal: realizing the "beloved community," an ideal society based in equity and inclusion. Lewis never wavered in this pursuit, and even in death his influence endures, inspiring mobilization and resistance in the fight for social justice.

Author Notes

Raymond Arsenault is the John Hope Franklin Professor of Southern History Emeritus at the University of South Florida. He is the author of several award-winning books on civil rights history, including Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice ; The Sound of Freedom: Marian Anderson, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Concert That Awakened America and Arthur Ashe: A Life .

Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

A comprehensive biography of the Civil Rights leader and legislator. A telling anecdote comes early in Arsenault's life of John Lewis (1940-2020), when he traveled to the Capitol to fundraise for a Freedom Rides Museum. Lewis kept the delegation waiting for an hour because he had promised to discuss Civil Rights history with a high school student from Ohio: "The day's schedule had gotten backed up, but Lewis was not about to short-change the boy." Though Lewis became a luminary late in life, his early years were marked by struggle: He was hounded as both a radical and an idealist, and he bore the scars to prove it. One perhaps surprising revelation is the significant divisions within the Civil Rights Movement. Martin Luther King Jr. may be remembered as the iconic leader, but his leadership was heavily contested, and Lewis himself became alienated from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee over the phrase "Black Power." Said Lewis, "As an organization we don't believe in slogans. We believe in programs." After the police riot at the Edmund Pettus Bridge--now meaningfully renamed the John Lewis Bridge--in Selma, Alabama, the movement turned away from Lewis' message of peaceful resistance, but he kept pushing. As Arsenault writes, one reward for his ceaseless efforts was the election of Barack Obama, whom he supported after turning away from old ally Hillary Clinton because of her support of the Iraq War. At the end of his life, Lewis, always inclined to try to find the good in even his fiercest opponents, saw Civil Rights take a giant step backward with the election of Donald Trump: upon Lewis' death, the "only major Republican officeholder to withhold praise for the man others mourned as an American hero." An exemplary biography of an exemplary person, essential to the history of the Civil Rights Movement. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Preface	ix
Abbreviations	xv
Introduction. In Search of the Beloved Community	1
Chapter 1 "The Boy from Troy"	10
Chapter 2 Nashville	33
Chapter 3 In the Movement	61
Chapter 4 Riding to Freedom	86
Chapter 5 Mississippi Bound	114
Chapter 6 SNCC on the March	152
Chapter 7 "Bombingham" and Freedom Summer	181
Chapter 8 Atlantic City and Africa	202
Chapter 9 Selma and Bloody Sunday	220
Chapter 10 Leaving SNCC	247
Chapter 11 Transition and Tragedy	264
Chapter 12 Voting Rights and the New South	278
Chapter 13 Sweet Home Atlanta	296
Chapter 14 Mr. Lewis Goes to Washington	310
Chapter 15 Keeping the Dream Alive	327
Chapter 16 Politics and Remembrance	350
Chapter 17 The Conscience of Congress	368
Chapter 18 Good Trouble	402
Chapter 19 Perilous Times	426
Epilogue	446
Notes	457
Note On Sources	511
Acknowledgments	515
Index	519

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