Across That Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future of America

John Lewis is a National treasure his words and actions will help define our nation long after he is gone. Like many great historical figures neither he nor his work will be celebrated until he's gone. I had the pleasure of meeting him on several occasions when we took groups of fourth grade students to Washington DC to meet him. Fortunatly we had a teacher who understood the wisdom and beauty of this great American and spent class time with her students helping them understand his life's contribtions to equality and his fellow man.The first time this group met him after studying his life's work reading his thoughts on the civil rights movement and watching hours of those painful video tapes of the civil rights struggle they were well prepared. They met him in the rotunda of the office building and one by one they seemed to be overjoyed at their first sight of the hero they had studied , There he is"..they SHOUTED as if they had spotted Michael Jordan. We visited him ( I was the principal of the school and have since retired) for several years. On my last visit we presented him with a framed collection of baseball cards of the first black baseball player from each MLB team.He was ALWAYS more gracious and caring with each of our students ( signing autographs, posing for pictures and answering EVERY question)than anyone could ever imagine.I mention this because it is through teachers like this connecting young people with heros like John Lewis that demonstrates the true meaning of education. Studying the life of John Lewis and other Civil Rights leaders like him empowers young people. Far too many young people believe that Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech and Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus and that's how Aferican Americans were freed from the horrors of Jim Crow.In this book John Lewis has prepared a masterful next step for students and teachers who want to understand the real lessons of the Civil Rights struggle. It should be required reading in American History classes in EVERY college in this country.I will be purchasing more than a few copies for teachers, friends and students. What better gift for a young student of American history.Thank You again Mr. Lewis you are a true American Hero and more importantly a beautiful human being.BUY and READ this book!

What John Lewis did during his lifetime was an example to us all. Nonviolent protest is the ultimate expression of humility - to be compliant in the face of brutality is extraordinary. He made “good trouble” all his wonderful life!

Anyone who knows John Lewis, or is familiar with his role in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, is aware that this is no ordinary person. Lewis is a man of undeniable integrity and inner strength, who triumphed over unspeakable brutality. He was beaten many times, and arrested and jailed 40 times, for no other reason than standing up for his rights as an American citizen. What makes him unusual—as with many who partook in the Movement—is that he forgave his attackers, not partially, but completely and whole-heartedly. “We were consciously aware that unity was our ultimate goal, and if that was truly our aim, we had come to grips with the fact that after all the warring was done, reconciliation, love, and forgiveness would have the final say.” Lewis is a living testament that love triumphs over fear and hate.Lewis’s short book (178 pages) chronicles some of what it was like to be brought up in the Deep South in the days of Jim Crow, of being the son of a poor share cropper, of barely getting by, living on hand-me-downs, attending second-rate schools, seeing his father whom he loved and respected being referred to as “boy” and ordered around whenever he set foot in town. Living such an existence was more than degrading, it was dehumanizing. It robbed people of their self-worth, their self-respect, and their dignity as human beings. The people Lewis grew up with were impoverished, yet “these people were actually rich,” he says, “rich in character and rich in faith. They may have been denied the most basic material resources, but they did not lack the drive.”Hearing a speech on the radio by Martin Luther King Jr., encouraged Lewis to join the Civil Rights Movement. “(King) was preaching about the responsibility of Christians to respond to the injustices of segregation,” remembers Lewis. “He was delivering the message I had prayed to hear.” Further on, Lewis writes: “It was no accident that the movement was led primarily by ministers—not politicians, presidents, or even community activists—but ministers first, who believed they were called to the work of civil rights as an expression of their faith.” King and others, including Lewis, studied the power of nonviolent resistance as practiced by Mohandas Gandhi and adopted into their faith.“We not only had grown together as we discovered the transformative power of nonviolent resistance, but we had risked our lives to see its truth manifested before our eyes.” Protest marches, sit-ins, freedom rides drew the rage of Southern whites who attacked with billy clubs, lead pipes, rocks, bricks, and attack dogs, to no avail. “After the initial fear, each protest became an exercise in freedom instead of a cause for alarm.”Among the many marches that drew the nation’s attention, the most significant was the march from Selma to Montgomery. The focal point, as it turned out, was the horrific violence reigned down on the marchers as they attempted to cross Edmund Petus Bridge. “We were silent,” says Lewis. “Just six-hundred of us walking in quiet persistence. To me, it felt like a holy march. . . . I had made peace with the understanding that if I died on that bridge, I would have offered my life in contribution to an effort that was larger than myself.” They didn’t make it across the bridge that day, but would a few weeks later. The 600 peaceful protestors would grow to 10,000 by the time they reached their destination, Montgomery, the capital of Alabama.Among the chapters in the book is one entitled “Patience.” Among the subjects is The National Museum of African American History and Culture on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. From its inception until the time of its creation, exactly 100 years elapsed. The setbacks were many, and the project was thought dead many times, but persistence and patience—lots of patience—and at last the museum opened its doors in 2015. As fate would have it, Lewis, elected to Congress in 1986, played a significant role in seeing the project get restarted, properly funded, designed and built. “Patience is a guiding light in all the work of change,” says Lewis.The following are a few quotes that struck me as significant while reading this book:“Faith, to me, is knowing in the solid core of your soul that the work is already done, even as an idea is being conceived in your mind.”“We had nothing to prove. Our worth had already been established before we were born. Our protests are an affirmation of this faith, and our belief that we could never be separated from the truth.”“We in the movement decided to actualize our belief that the hatred we experienced was not based on any truth, but was actually an illusion in the minds of those who hated us.”“Our approach was not passive, as some believed; it was uncompromising.”“(E)very change in the world starts within. It begins with one individual who envisions his or her micro-universe the way it can be, and settles for nothing less.”“Being willing to withstand their rage, to serve as a reflection in which they could see themselves, was actually an act of compassion and love that helped release millions of white Southerners from the burdens inherent in the work of hate.”“Darkness cannot overcome darkness, only light can do that. Violence can never overcome violence, only peace can do that. Hate can never overcome hate, only love can do that.”This is a beautiful book. It’s proof positive that there is an active moral force in the universe guiding the hearts of those willing to listen, and willing to act.

Every middle school should require students to read this. John Lewis holds nothing back and describes both sides!

I loved this so much that I bought gift copies for a few of my graduating seniors. Lewis shared the origin stories behind his success, which I was always curious about. (I.e., what kept you motivated? How did you never give up? What served as a foundation for perseverance?). One of the best books I’ve read and can recommend for those ready to make a difference in social activism.

Very interesting and knowledgeable

John Lewis gives us the playbook for non-violence, and articulates the language needed to continue our march & protests for justice in this country, Yes, much was accomplished in the Civil Rights Movement, but Jim Crow & racism persist under other names in the same systems. Let your Light shine...

This book will tear at your heart, question your actions, and provide a different response to violence. It will lead you to ask what you have done and what you can do differently. It is a guiding light in a world filled with darkness and hate.

Having lived through the times of civil unrest and the non-violent protests that eventually dealt racial inequality its fatal blow, my mind, but not my heart, was only involved in the struggle. I, like some readers of this text, am a WASP and, being so, I could never fully feel the overwhelming experiences that my black brothers and sisters were experiencing. Yes, I could say the words, but, no, I could not feel the depth of the emotions involved. John Lewis, with his patient and soul-revealing manner, has allowed me to further understand not only all pain that was felt and the accomplishments that were made but all the similar painful mountains we have yet to scale.Faith, Patience, Study, Truth, Peace and Love are not only the chapter titles of this riveting handbook but are the steps each individual, each community and each nation must take in order to quell this era of hatred in which we find ourselves. While initially Mr. Lewis's prescription of non-violence may seem a bit naive and non-productive to the average reader, allowing this concept to settle deep into one's mindset brings a stunning realism; This is the Only Path to Peace That is Available to Us! We have fought countless wars and slaughtered numerous innocents under the guises that only these atrocious actions can bring peace to our planet. But, in spite of our self-proclaimed accolades we find our present state angrier and more hostile than ever before. How many times must we repeat the same deadly mistake before we turn our hearts inward and realize that peace can only begin when each person, each soul, can have not only peace within himself but with those in his immediate surroundings before we attempt to extend this concept outwards? It is long past the time when we should build international schools and not military drones, extend our hands in an embrace and not to disguise the grenade clutched to our palms, and truly see that ALL men are created equal and not merely made as serfs who can enhance our national political and monetary standing.To all of you who are reading this review; Buy this book not only as a means of self and national evaluation for today's morass of problems but as a valuable handbook as your life moves on in years. The truths that lie within it will prove to be as applicable as King's and Gandhi's words are today. Lastly, I hope that you will be as humbled by author's simplistic truths as I have been.

This is an amazing book, written by a man who was instrumental in the desegregation of USA, suffered for his belief and went on to become a US congessman for over 25 years. I met him at a lecture some years ago and was amazed at the humility of such an important figure.

A must read for everyone. We still have a long way to go. John Lewis is an inspiration to my generation.

As a reader living in the UK, I thought the writer offered great insight into history of American social and racial troubles of the time.

With the climate that we are living in an excellent book that relates the true path in which we should follow through life. A real legend of a man.