Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement

By John Lewis and Michael D'Orso

Book Overview

An award-winning national bestseller, Walking with the Wind is one of our most important records of the American Civil Rights Movement. Told by John Lewis, who Cornel West calls a "national treasure," this is a gripping first-hand account of the fight for civil rights and the courage it takes to change a nation.

In 1957, a teenaged boy named John Lewis left a cotton farm in Alabama for Nashville, the epicenter of the struggle for civil rights in America. Lewis's adherence to nonviolence guided that critical time and established him as one of the movement's most charismatic and courageous leaders. Lewis's leadership in the Nashville Movement--a student-led effort to desegregate the city of Nashville using sit-in techniques based on the teachings of Gandhi--set the tone for major civil rights campaigns of the 1960s. Lewis traces his role in the pivotal Selma marches, Bloody Sunday, and the Freedom Rides. Inspired by his mentor, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Lewis's vision and perseverance altered history. In 1986, he ran and won a congressional seat in Georgia, and remains in office to this day, continuing to enact change.

The late Edward M. Kennedy said of Lewis, "John tells it like it was...Lewis spent most of his life walking against the wind of the times, but he was surely walking with the wind of history."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1476797714
• ISBN13: 9781476797717
• Release Date: February 2015
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 544 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

The story of a true American hero

John Lewis was seemingly everywhere during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's. From the Nashville Sit-Ins, to the Freedom Rides to the famous march from Selma and more. It is akin to someone having been at the Boston Tea Party, Lexington and Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. Not only was Lewis there but he was an active participant, one of the many brave souls who risked injury, even death to bring down segregation. Lewis knew all the key figures in the Movement, such as Dr. King, and was a leader himself. Today, of course, Lewis serves his country in the House of Representatives.It's hard to go wrong with such a compelling story to tell and Lewis doesn't dissapoint. With the help of co-author Michael D'Orso, we learn not only of one person's participation in the Civil Rights' Movement, but gain insight into the Movement as a whole.Lewis is vastly under appreciated by Americans today. Hopefully Waking With the Wind will help future generations appreciate John Lewis, an American hero.

A great American triumph

Uplifting. Eloquent. Brilliant. Inspiring. Patriotic. John Lewis' life story is the story of a genuine American hero. The depth and strength of his moral conviction shows what character can accomplish. This book, just as this man's life, cannot be overrated or over-appreciated.John Lewis, as a young man had the calling. His deeply religious upbringing ultimately led him to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and work with Rev. Martin Luther King. He sat in where Black people were not wanted. He demanded for Black people the rights to which all Americans have an expectation. He walked the walk at a time when it was not only unpopular, but downright death defying.He moved from the pulpit to the halls of Congress, where he serves to this day.As inspiring a work as I have ever read. Ought to be required reading by everyone in the Nation for a deeper understanding of the power of the American spirit.

AWESOME AND INSPIRATIONAL!

Each night I can't put "Walking With the Wind" down! Reading the autobiography of Congressman Lewis' life and work in the civil rights movement brought tears to my eyes and a heaviness of heart to realize that people hate their fellow man so much that they'd commit such acts of violence based solely on the way someone looks!Whenever I read a book like this, I think to myself: "Thank God someone went before me because I couldn't have done it!" The tremendous amount of bravery these people had is so inspirational and heart wrenching! Not knowing your enemey is one thing, but these people knew the enemy and what they were capable of and yet, they still persevered and triumphed. As an African American I am so proud of all those who sacrificed so very much, even sometimes making the ultimate sacrifice with their lives. Every American needs to realize the great courage these people exhibited to make this land a better place for us all.

The best memoir I've ever read

I don't like memoirs. They're usually self-serving, ego-driven and full of cheap shots. Walking With the Wind is none of those. John Lewis and his co-author have crafted a marvelously told tale of the civil rights movement. Perhaps no one but Lewis, King and Abernathy could write about the movement with this scope. Lewis was there for all of it, from jails, to voting, to sit-ins. And he describes it beautifully with the perfect pace. I think the book's best chapters are the ones that cover what happened in Selma. I've read a half-dozen histories of the civil rights movement and none of them have recounted the Selma story better than Lewis does here. Lewis also gives us insight into several other movement leaders. Not even Taylor Branch (the Pulitzer-winning historian and journalist) tells us about Jim Bevel with this much color. Lewis tells fascinating stories about Diane Nash, Stokely Carmichael and the relations between SNCC and the other movement-leading groups. It's the kind of inside baseball a good memoir delivers.I'm thrilled that I read this book. It has greatly contributed to my understanding of the civil rights movement.