Representative John Lewis, a leader of the civil rights movement and long-serving congressman from Georgia’s 5th district, died on July 17, 2020. In addition to his political career, John Lewis was also an author who won the National Book Award for March: Book Three, the final volume of his graphic novel memoir (written with Andrew Aydin and illustrated by Nate Powell). In his acceptance speech for the literary award, Lewis noted that, “I remember in 1956 when I was 16 years old, with some of my brothers and sisters and cousins, going down to the public library and trying to get library cards. We were told that libraries were for ‘whites only’ and not for ‘coloreds.’” To remember John Lewis, here are some books and films by and about his life and career.
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| Preaching To The Chickens : The story of young John Lewis by Jabari AsimJohn wants to be a preacher when he grows up–a leader whose words stir hearts to change, minds to think, and bodies to take action. But why wait? When John is put in charge of the family farm’s flock of chickens, he discovers that they make a wonderful congregation! So he preaches to his flock, and they listen, content under his watchful care, riveted by the rhythm of his voice. Celebrating ingenuity and dreaming big, this inspirational story, featuring Jabari Asim’s stirring prose and E. B. Lewis’s stunning, light-filled impressionistic watercolor paintings, includes an author’s note about John Lewis, who grew up to be a member of the Freedom Riders, chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and demonstrator on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, and is now a Georgia congressman. |
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| March: Book one by John LewisA first-hand account of the author’s lifelong struggle for civil and human rights spans his youth in rural Alabama, his life-changing meeting with Martin Luther King, Jr., and the birth of the Nashville Student Movement. |
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| March: Book two by John LewisThe award-winning, best-selling series returns, as John Lewis’ story continues through Freedom Rides and the legendary 1963 March on Washington. |
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| March: Book three by John LewisCongressman John Lewis, one of the key figures of the civil rights movement, joins co-writer Andrew Aydin and artist Nate Powell to bring the lessons of history to vivid life for a new generation, urgently relevant for today’s world. |
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| Because they marched : the people’s campaign for voting rights that changed America by Russell FreedmanPresents an account of the 1965 civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, an event that sparked the signing of the Voting Rights Act. |
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| Twelve days in May : Freedom Ride, 1961 by Larry Dane BrimnerDocuments the heroic 1961 campaign of the civil rights activists known as the “Freedom Riders,” describing their peaceful protests to raise awareness about unconstitutional segregation and the increasing violence they endured as they traveled south. |
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| The King years : historic moments in the civil rights movement by Taylor BranchA succinct and accessible chronicle of key events in the Civil Rights Movement by the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author of the trilogy that includes Parting the Waters traces how the Movement evolved from a bus strike to a political and social revolution. |
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John Lewis: Get In the WayChronicles the life of African American congressman John Lewis and his fight for civil and human rights over the past fifty years. |
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Freedom ridersDocuments the story of a group of civil rights activists who travelled by bus in the South during 1961 to challenge segregated travel facilities. |
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SelmaFollows Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s efforts in the civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965. |