The idea of fate having a determining factor in how someone's life is impacted never appealed to me, but after reading the book “March” written by John Lewis and co-author Andrew Aydin which narrates the story of Lewis as he grows up and closely looks at how fate played a role in his life if any, and maybe calls into question the possible different outcomes that might have come out differently during the civil right had it not been for possible for John Lewis. At the very early age of four, it is evident that fate has a significant role in John Lewis’s life with the bible that was gifted to him by his uncle Otis Carter. This gift resonated with Lewis at an early age and gives light to the idea of appreciation of all life and living things …show more content…
Visiting Buffalo was a powerful experience as this served as first-hand experience living in a city where whites lived next door to blacks which was not the norm during the civil right era. This inevitably helped John Lewis visualize that the idea of integration, while it might be progress towards the future, it was far from perfect. After returning from Buffalo “home never felt the same, and neither did I.” (Lewis and Aydin 1: 47). The trip was eye opening in many ways and returning home only pointed out the visible injustice that was allowed by segregation. The interrelation of equality and segregation as part of the civil right movement emphasized that separate but equal, was never equal. This realization would probably not be as prevalent had his uncle Otis had not taken to Buffalo in the summer of 51’ giving him insight to what another place of the world are …show more content…
Luther King Jr. In this sermon Dr. King introduced the idea Social Gospel in which they applied injustices they were living every day, to the teaching of the church. For the first-time John Lewis felt that not only was Dr. King sermons speaking the truth of what was currently happening, but also was evoking action take place instead of watching it happen. Dr. Kings message was very powerful, so much that is caused an internal need to make change for Lewis, it “felt like he was preaching directly at me.” (Lewis and Aydin 1:56) After hearing Dr. Kings Sermon it left Lewis with the feeling of restlessness of is what made him seek to become a minister. Unknowingly John Lewis moved to Troy, Alabama in hopes of becoming a minister. This too would quick be affected as his want to make change outweigh that watching it happen and do nothing about it, as fate would cross paths with Lewis again, this time shining light to the idea of spirt of the history. This all changed when Lewis attempted to gain admission a school that no blacks were allowed. This changed as Lewis met Dr. King for the first time in person. When Dr. King met John Lewis, he made it clear that it was possible to try and make the school integrate, the retaliation should be something to be considered as it would be affecting his family indirectly, and maybe death if he chose to attend or
Lewis states, “February 27, 1960 was my first arrest. The first of many” (Lewis and Aydin 1: 103). (See figure 1) John Lewis was not afraid of being arrested for doing the right thing. At this moment, the Nashville students were still trying to desegregate the department store lunch counters. Lewis says, “We wanted to change America-- to make it something different, something better” (Lewis and Aydin 1: 103). All of the students were willing to do what it takes to make a change happen. 82 students went to jail that day alongside with Lewis, they were offered bail however they refused. They did not want to cooperate with the system in any way because the system is what was allowing segregation in the first place. At around 11 p.m. they were all released and had to attend court the next day. They found the students guilty and ordered them to either pay a fine of 50 dollars each, or spend 30 days in jail. Of course they didn’t pay the bail and did their time in jail. As a result, when John Lewis’s parents later on found out he had gone to jail. They were devastated and he had become an embarrassment and a source of humiliation and gossip to the
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an eloquent speaker and a powerful figure during the Civil Rights Movement. In “Letters from Birmingham Jail,” he uses the classical rhetoric to engage his audience and present his ideas clearly. This particular text was initiated due to the non-violent demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama, which led to the arrest of many African-Americans, including King himself. Although this was not a spoken document, the letter was directed to several targeted audiences: first, the clergymen who wrote “A Call for Unity,” secondly, the “white moderate” (47), and finally, to black men and women across the nation who lacked the initial courage to fight for their rights. Dr. King establishes himself as an authoritative voice in the religious community who connects with his multiple audiences through the use of gruesome imagery and hardened logic. An essential part of his intent was to express his deep concern with his fellow clergymen, whom were not at all sympathetic to the movement, yet practiced the word of God.
It is no secret that Martin Luther King Jr. did great things. We have learned in school that he was a leader in the movement to desegregate the South. He has served as a role model for people across the globe. But even though Martin did change the world for the better, it was not without hardships. We gathered new information on Dr. King in the essay, “Heeding the Call” by Diana Childress. From his childhood to his last days, Martin faced massive opposition. Still, all of these challenges brought Martin the wisdom and idealism he used throughout his life.
When it all comes down to it, one of the greatest intellectual battles U.S. history was the legendary disagreement between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois. This intellectual debate sparked the interest of the Northerners as well as the racist whites that occupied the south. This debate was simply about how the blacks, who just gained freedom from slavery, should exist in America with the white majority. Even though Washington and DuBois stood on opposite sides of the fence they both agreed on one thing, that it was a time for a change in the treatment of African Americans. I chose his topic to write about because I strongly agree with both of the men’s ideas but there is some things about their views that I don’t agree with. Their ideas and views are the things that will be addressed in this essay.
Martin Luther King, Jr., born on January 15, 1929, was well known for his nonviolent movement to bring justice and to an end to the segregation of the people in the United States back in the 1950s. With King being the leader of a peaceful protest, it failed to bring equally to the colored people. Martin Luther King, Jr. was labeled as an “outsider” who was “hatred and violence” and that his actions were “unwise and untimely” from the Public Statement by Eight Alabama Clergymen (clergymen). In response, on the day of April 16, 1963, he wrote the Letter from Birmingham Jail to declare and defense his movement was not “unwise and untimely” at all. To analyze his points, King used the powerful literary devices of pathos- use of an emotional appeal.ethos-
Segregation is the act of setting someone apart from other people mainly between the different racial groups without there being a good reason. The African American’s had different privileges than the white people had. They had to do many of their daily activities separated from the white people. In A Lesson Before Dying there were many examples of segregation including that the African American’s had a different courthouse, jail, church, movie theater, Catholic and public school, department stores, bank, dentist, and doctor than the white people. The African American’s stayed downtown and the white people remained uptown. The white people also had nicer and newer building and attractions than the African American’s did. They had newer books and learning tools compared to the African American’s that had books that were falling apart and missing pages and limited amount of supplies for their students. The African American’s were treated as if they were lesser than the white people and they had to hold doors and let them go ahead of them to show that they knew that they were not equal to them and did not have the same rights or privileges as they did just because of their race. In A Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass segregation is shown through both slavery and the free African American’s during this time. It showed that the African American’s were separated from the white people and not
Lewis’s viewpoint is not without it’s truths. The Harlem renaissance was overseen by a number of intellectuals such as Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey, and W.E.B. Dubois. Booker T. Washington‘s, a highly influential speaker of the age, words appealed to both Caucasians and African-Americans. Washington forged an interracial bridge of communication through his unique tactics in the quest for equality. He believed in more subtle ways of gaining equality through hard work, cunning, and humility. He stated, “The wisest among my race understands that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremist folly, and that progress in the enjoyment of all the privileges that will come to us must be the result of severe and constant struggle rather than of artificial forcing.”(Salley, 15) With this statement, Washington himself denies that this new awakening in equality and arts could be forced,...
Christianity was the root of King’s life, as most of his activism was derived from his religious beliefs. Christianity, to King, is “a spirit of brotherhood made manifest in social ethics.” (Safi) The bible says seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. ( Matthew 6:33) The bible also states, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” ( Matthew 22:37) King was committed to the Lord and to these bible verses through his work as a reverend preaching to others. In 1954 King became a pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. ( Nobel Media) As a reverend, King had become a great speaker while sharing his testimony. King preached his words very powerfully and wisely. This helped King with his strong speeches and talking in front of a large crowds. For example, his “I Have a Dream” speech proclaimed to 250,000 people, was one of the most dominant speeches given of all time. (James Melvin Washington) Clearly, Martin Luther King Jr was a man who was heavil...
During the 1950s and 1960s, violence and protests wreaked havoc in cities, because at this time, segregation was the main focus for a divided America. Advocating for himself and followers, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. makes appealing arguments in response to a public statement sent to him by eight Alabama clergymen. In a letter from Dr. Martin King Jr., the iconic civil rights leader, King uses emotional appeals to defend the nonviolent resistance effort. To enumerate, when King addressed the clergymen, he used “my dear fellow clergymen,” rather than addressing them formally, which would allow a separation of conversing individuals. The significance of this statement is meant to invoke a sense of common ground between the clergymen and himself in order to establish a sense of unity. The effect of this specific appeal is that King grasped the attention of people with conflicting viewpoints
Martin Luther King, Jr. is known to be a civil rights activist, humanitarian, a father, and a clergyman. He is well known for fighting for the equal rights of colored people and ending discrimination. King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail is an important part of history that showed King’s opinion of a letter that he happened to read in the newspaper written by a group of clergyman. In this letter, the group of clergyman report that colored people, also known as black people, are being violent towards Birmingham City. Also, the clergymen believed the time that will allow segregation to be diminished was not happening anytime soon because it is not convenient. King refuted the clergymen’s argument in a variety of ways using tactics of argumentation and persuasion like appeal to emotion through real life examples, appeal to logic, and even articulating certain phrases through metaphors and word choice. Many of these different tactics of argumentation and persuasion made his letter very effective and is now seen as a great piece that is looked upon highly today.
Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist minister and a leader of the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He protested against all forms of discrimination, and believed that the power of words were better weapons than fire. The man started his preaching career as a third generation preacher at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, in Atlanta. Later, he was elected president for a leadership conference, and through this experience, he inspired racial equality using his speeches as a voice for minorities everywhere. Through hard work and cleverly planned boycotts, Martin Luther King Jr. managed to change the minds of people, showing them that change is possible no matter how bad the odds seem.
John Lewis is an African American man born on February 21st, 1940, into a sharecropping family in Pike County, Alabama (Moye, 2004). He grew up on his family's farm, and attended segregated public schools as a child. Even when he was just a young boy, Lewis was always inspired by the happenings of the Civil Rights Movement. Events such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott or hearing the wise words of Martin Luther King Junior over the radio stimulated his desire to become a part of a worthwhile cause, and was a supporter of the Civil Rights Movement ever since ("Biography," para. 3). Lewis went to school at both the American Baptist Theological Seminary and Fisk University, both in Nashville, Tennessee. He graduated from the American Baptist Theological Seminary, and received a Bachelors degree in religion and philosophy from Fisk University. While at Fisk, he learned the philosophy of how to be nonviolent, and would soon incorporate that into his civil rights work ("John Lewis Biography," para. 3). While he was a student at Fisk University, Lewis began putting together sit-ins at local lunch counters to protest segregation. Many...
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a pastor, activist, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. Mr. King was a man of honor and respect, even in the troubling situations of serving jail time. People who were supposed to support him questioned his actions, but Dr. King still stood by what he believed in. In Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. King hoped that the white religious leaders would come to his aid but instead found reluctance and opposition. In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King, Jr. refutes his critics claims through the use of passionate tones, metaphors, and allusions.
During the late 19th and early 20th century, racial injustice was very prominent and even wildly accepted in the South. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois were two of the most renowned “pioneers in the [search] for African-American equality in America” (Washington, DuBois, and the Black Future). Washington was “born a slave” who highly believed in the concept of “separate but equal,” meaning that “we can be as [distant] as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress” (Washington 1042). DuBois was a victim of many “racial problems before his years as a student” and disagreed with Washington’s point of view, which led
This was the beginning of King’s passion to obtain freedom and equal rights for all of the American people (Phillips, 2001). King was a ministers son, learning about God throughout his life; this allowed him the spiritual guidance and the opportunity to practice public speaking at the church (Phillips, 2001). King later went on to obtain a degree in ministry as well (Phillips, 2001). Upon graduation, King decided to move back home to Georgia because he felt that, “there were great opportunities there to transform a section of the country into something rich. I mean rich in spirit-and beautiful” (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as cited by Phillips, 2001, p. 452). King grew overtime into his leadership role, first he was “suddenly catapulted” as the leader of the bus protest (p. 587), but as he learned more of what the people wanted and needed, he began to take a more active role in leadership (Phillips,