John Lewis and the Selma to Montgomery Marches: 1965
One of our readings this week was March by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell. March, a graphic novel, tells the story of Congressman John Lewis from his childhood to his role within the civil rights movement. The first page shows the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the site of one of Lewis’ protests fighting African American voter discrimination. As the novel depicts, the nonviolent march was met with violence from the Alabama State Troopers.
First Selma march: Bloody Sunday
Citation: http://www.oprah.com/own-master-class/rep-john-lewis-firsthand-account-of-surviving-bloody-sunday
In March of 1965, Lewis and 600 others attempted to march from Selma to Montgomery, protesting voter discrimination against African Americans. Voter discrimination included unfair literacy tests, poll taxes, and finding a registered voter that was “willing to say they were good people and would make fine voters” (Schons). When the protestors reached the Edmund Pettus Bridge, they were told to return to their houses or church. The marchers, however, did not disperse and were quickly met with violence. The police used clubs, tear gas, and other weapons. John Lewis suffered a fractured skull from being beaten (Schons).
In response, Lewis said, “I don’t see how President Johnson can send troops to Vietnam—I don’t see how he can send troops to the Congo—I don’t see how he can send troops to Africa and can’t send troops to Selma” (The King Institute). The violence during the march sparked national outrage, and Martin Luther King Jr. soon spoke out about it. Two days later, Dr. King led over 2,000 protestors on the same march to the Edmund Pettus Bridge and prayed at the site before returning to Selma (The King Institute).
President Johnson’s March 15, 1965 Voting Rights Speech to Congress (CSPAN):
The Voting Rights Act of 1965, aiming to remove voting barriers for African Americans, was signed into law by President Johnson on August 6, 1965 (History).
Congressman John Lewis
Citation: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/john-lewis-congressman-civil-rights-icon-dies-80/story?id=68033988
Congressman John Lewis passed away on July 17, 2020 at the age of 80. For the past two decades, he had continued to lead a march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, reminding all of the challenges that African Americans faced and continue to face today (Trent).
Citations
History.com Editors. Voting Rights Act of 1965. 9 Nov. 2009, www.history.com/topics/black-history/voting-rights-act.
Schons, Mary. The Selma-to-Montgomery Marches. 15 Oct. 2012, www.nationalgeographic.org/article/selma-montgomery-marches-and-1965-voting-rights-act/.
Selma to Montgomery March. 27 June 2018, kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/selma-montgomery-march.
Trent, Sydney. “John Lewis Nearly Died on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Now It May Be Renamed for Him.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 30 July 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/07/26/john-lewis-bloody-sunday-edmund-pettus-bridge/.
“1965 Selma to Montgomery March Fast Facts.” CNN, Cable News Network, 2 Mar. 2020, www.cnn.com/2013/09/15/us/1965-selma-to-montgomery-march-fast-facts/index.html.
Hi, nice post and I enjoyed watching the videos you uploaded! When you said that when the protestors reached the Edmund Pettus Bridge, they were told to return to their houses or church and when they didn’t the police used clubs, tear gas, and other weapons it reminds me of the protests today. There have been a lot of peaceful protests where the police responded with violence which isn’t the right thing.
Hello,
I thought it was cool that you added videos to your context research! Luckily, I read this before reading March because I did not know exactly know the history of the March he led from Selma to Montgomery and how it was met with such violence, a trend we still see today. I was confused about one quote though was “willing to say they were good people and would make fine voters,”(Schons) in favor of Black suffrage or against it?
Nice post, I liked the use of videos in addition to text. Its very powerful how King and other went back just days after the violence. The fact that John Lewis would return and march every year is incredibly brave and admirable, given how much suffering he had to endure the first time.
I really loved this post. I appreciated the way you broke up your post with pictures and videos. I felt that I was more invested to continue learning throughout your post as opposed to reading the several articles themselves. I was interested to see the way in which you simplified everything, and made it simple to understand. I like that you provided us with the videos of both President Johnson, and John Lewis, as I was able to learn more about the situation from two completely different perspectives. I liked being able to hear the tone in each of their voices because I feel that it held a little bit more meaning to me, being able to see and hear how they felt while this was happening. Great job!
The combination of text and videos does great help in providing me a general concept of the March. President Johnson’s speech impressed me, especially the series of sentences, “A century has passed and more than a hundred years since……” The request for justice and the equality between white and black has last for centuries, but there are still people sacrificing their lives for equal rights, this pushes me into deep consideration of the barriers between races. Different from President Johnson, John Lewis offered a detailed description of this distressing protest. In addition to the sense of sorrow, I can also feel the bravery of those protesters. I now have a concrete cognition of what I am going to learn thanks to the Blog Post. Great job!
Adding videos to your text is a great way to grab the readers attention and help them understand the text more. It is weird to think that in the 1960’s the African Americans had barriers to stop them from voting. Of course they wanted to protest as it was not right they did not have all the voting legibility that the other Americans did. John Lewis had the bravery to go back and march every year even when he went through hardships his very first time. This shows his dedication and time toward trying to change the way voting was for African Americans.
This presentation is so interesting and so sad to me. Living in Columbus over the summer I got to witness and partake in a few walks and protests involving Black Lives Matter. Seeing the art work lining the streets and people of all races and cultures uniting, it was very surreal to me. These protests continued all over the country…. just in fight for equality. It is absurd to me that in 1965, 55 years ago, our grandparents were fighting the same battle. When everything else in life progresses (technology, education, information), it is insane that our fight for something as simple as equality has made little progress.
I like the addition of the videos along with information from the reading. It gives provides a better understanding of the text. Considering this isn’t my first time working with the subject since I took a course on Civil Rights and Black Power. That this was not the only march or demonstration that was met with violence. If anyone reads more on the topic I can almost guarantee you’ll be surprised at the restrictions on Black people, the acts of police, and the involvement or lack off by government officials/politicans.
I enjoyed watching the videos as I was reading the information, I felt like it gave me a better understanding of the topic and helps me visualize what I am actually reading. John Lewis would show up every year, which showed his courage throughout these tough times. I think it is unfortunate something that was being protested and fought for so long ago is still a problem in our world today.
Great post.