Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement

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What an amazing life! John Lewis was, in my humble opinion, the greatest Civil Rights leader in US history, bar none. He left home as a youth with nothing but the principles & ethics he learned as a sharecropper’s son, and he didn’t need much more than that. He was the personification of non-violent, passive resistance during the Civil Rights movement, never wavering from his strict moral code. When he was being approached by an army of Alabama state troopers, some of their deputies on horseback, at the base of the Edmund Pettus Bridge on what came to be known as “Bloody Sunday”, and he was at the front of the march, he just stood and let them knock him down. He was such an inspiration, at first as the leader of SNCC, and then as a city councilman in Atlanta, later as a Representative in the US Congress, and he always held to his ideals and strict ethical code I can think of NO better book to read to get a feeling of those who had “boots on the ground” in the struggle for Civil Rights, and what they struggled through to get where they got. All praise to Congressman John Lewis, one of this country’s greatest heroes ever!

I eagerly anticipate delving into this book and expanding my knowledge of John Lewis's life. I am particularly interested in learning about the challenges he faced and the accomplishments he achieved.

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.

I am about 3/4 through this 500-page book of John Lewis' life as a peaceful protester for civil rights. I feel that anytime a writer can actually take you to the place they've been and you can feel what they are feeling, it is a good read. I felt like I have personally been on the freedom ride buses, the sit ins, the beatings, kicked and jailed for protesting what is right. John Lewis was truly an American Hero and was so deserving of the medal of honor given to him by President Barack Obama. It should have been given to him years ago after all of the pain and suffering he has done in the fight for civil rights all the way to the end of his 80 year life! You will not be disappointed in reading this book and you will learn of the struggles of black America that we are STILL dealing with in 2020! The more things change, the more they stay the same. Buy this book!

Have you ever read a book that you couldn’t stop reading? Have you ever read a book that you can put down for a few days, a week and pick up right where you left off and never have missed a beat? Well, Walking With the Wind was everything for me. I took me to his place, in his mind and in his spirit. This made me want to get up and do something, for my fellow man and essentially for myself. A message that came as clear as day from reading this book. When we want something, we have to in some way want it for other people. In return, we will be fruitful. This book is like a reference guide for our future. In order to know where we’re going, we have to know where we’ve been. And while I didn’t live that life, I see the comparisons today and understand even more what needs to be done. Thank you Congressman John R. Lewis.

This is a fascinating read. I don't know why Congressman Lewis hasn't received as much credit as he deserves for the courage he showed in risking his life to make our country better for everyone. Perhaps it is because he is a modest man. The memoir provides great insight as to what made up the character of Lewis and other brave young persons who were willing to take action to change a system that was immoral and was a hinderance to everyone, regardless of the color of his or her skin. Would the rest of us be as brave as Congressmen Lewis and his friends were in that very dangerous time? In all likelihood, very few of us probably would have been willing to do what these American heroes did. Learning why they were willing to risk their lives and the steps they took to prepare for the dangerous task ahead is more than worth the time and the very small amount of money you will trade for this experience. Thank you, Congressman, for what you did. Thank you for taking the time and effort to share your experiences with the rest of us.