Civil Rights....Comic Book Style

 

So, it's no secret that I'm a huge comic book geek, but I'm also kind of a history buff, so when you combine the two, I'm in geek heaven.  

Congressman John Lewis was an active member of the Civil Rights movement in the 60's and actually shared the stage with Martin Luther King the day he gave his famous "I Have A Dream" speech.  He has released a graphic novel which chronicles his experience entitled March.

March was inspired by the comic Martin Luther King and The Montgomery Story, which not only told the story of Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, but was also a how-to journal of non-violent protest. 

 

It speaks of the peaceful methods used by Gandhi to achieve independence in India and how to find the strength to not strike back at your attackers with violence or hate.  The 14-page book was distributed widely throughout the south during the civil rights movement, in South Africa during the fight against apartheid and ever in Egypt during the Arab spring.

 

Tonight I got to meet John Lewis and his co-author, Andrew Aydin, at a booking signing in DC.  I shook his hand and told him how moved I was by his speech at the Democratic National Convention last year, in which he told a story about a recent reconnection with a face from his past.....
  
 "A few years ago, a man from Rock Hill, [South Carolina], inspired by President Obama's election, decided to come forward. He came to my office in Washington and said, "I am one of the people who beat you. I want to apologize. Will you forgive me?" I said, "I accept your apology." He started crying. He gave me a hug. I hugged him back, and we both started crying. This man and I don't want to go back; we want to move forward."

He said to me that we've come to far to be held back by anger from the past.  I then asked him if there were any plans in Congress for a new Voter Rights Act, in the wake of the recent Supreme Court decision.  He said, "Oh yeah. We're gonna fix that.  We've got a bi-partisan bill coming up next year."  In that moment it totally hit me....I was speaking with someone who had literally been beaten, spit on, arrested....you name it, in the fight for equal rights.  Someone who stood next to Martin Luther King!  Someone who continues to fight now in Congress.  I shook his hand again and said, "Thank you....for everything".

It just didn't seem like enough.