Although it has been decades since the historic social upheavals of the 1960s, Americans continue to look to the Civil Rights Movement as the apotheosis of political expression. With an engaged electorate once again confronting questions of social inequality, there’s no better time to revisit the lessons of the ’60s and no better leader to learn from than Congressman John Lewis. In Across That Bridge, Congressman Lewis draws from his experience as a leader of the Civil Rights Movement to offer timeless guidance to anyone seeking to live virtuously and transform the world. His wisdom, poignant recollections, and powerful ideas will inspire a new generation to usher in a freer, more peaceful society. The Civil Rights Movement gave rise to the protest culture we know today, and the experiences of leaders like Congressman Lewis have never been more relevant. Now, more than ever, this nation needs a strong and moral voice to guide an engaged population through visionary change. Congressman John Lewis was a leader in the American Civil Rights Movement. He was chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and played a key role in the struggle to end segregation. Despite more than forty arrests, physical attacks, and serious injuries, John Lewis remained a devoted advocate of the philosophy of nonviolence. He is the author of his autobiography, Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of a Movement, and is the recipient of numerous awards from national and international institutions, including the Lincoln Medal; the John F. Kennedy “Profile in Courage” Lifetime Achievement Award (the only one of its kind ever awarded); the NAACP Spingarn Medal; and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor, among many others. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia. “The most important lesson I have learned in the fifty years I have spent working toward the building of a better world is that the true work of social transformation starts within. It begins inside your own heart and mind, because the battleground of human transformation is really, more than any other thing, the struggle within the human consciousness to believe and accept what is true. Thus to truly revolutionize our society, we must first revolutionize ourselves. We must be the change we seek if we are to effectively demand transformation from others.” —from John Lewis’s Across That Bridge
Across That Bridge: Life Lessons and a Vision for Change
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Book Description
Although it has been decades since the historic social upheavals of the 1960s, Americans continue to look to the Civil Rights Movement as the apotheosis of political expression. With an engaged electorate once again confronting questions of social inequality, there’s no better time to revisit the lessons of the ’60s and no better leader to learn from than Congressman John Lewis. In Across That Bridge, Congressman Lewis draws from his experience as a leader of the Civil Rights Movement to offer timeless guidance to anyone seeking to live virtuously and transform the world. His wisdom, poignant recollections, and powerful ideas will inspire a new generation to usher in a freer, more peaceful society. The Civil Rights Movement gave rise to the protest culture we know today, and the experiences of leaders like Congressman Lewis have never been more relevant. Now, more than ever, this nation needs a strong and moral voice to guide an engaged population through visionary change. Congressman John Lewis was a leader in the American Civil Rights Movement. He was chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and played a key role in the struggle to end segregation. Despite more than forty arrests, physical attacks, and serious injuries, John Lewis remained a devoted advocate of the philosophy of nonviolence. He is the author of his autobiography, Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of a Movement, and is the recipient of numerous awards from national and international institutions, including the Lincoln Medal; the John F. Kennedy “Profile in Courage” Lifetime Achievement Award (the only one of its kind ever awarded); the NAACP Spingarn Medal; and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor, among many others. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia. “The most important lesson I have learned in the fifty years I have spent working toward the building of a better world is that the true work of social transformation starts within. It begins inside your own heart and mind, because the battleground of human transformation is really, more than any other thing, the struggle within the human consciousness to believe and accept what is true. Thus to truly revolutionize our society, we must first revolutionize ourselves. We must be the change we seek if we are to effectively demand transformation from others.” —from John Lewis’s Across That Bridge
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Congressman John Lewis was a leader in the American Civil Rights Movement. He was chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and played a key role in the struggle to end segregation. Despite more than 40 arrests, physical attacks, and serious injuries, John Lewis remained a devoted advocate of the philosophy of nonviolence. He is the author of his autobiography, Walking With the Wind: A Memoir of a Movement and is the recipient of numerous awards from national and international institutions including the Lincoln Medal, the John F. Kennedy "Profile in Courage" Lifetime Achievement Award (the only of its kind ever awarded), and the NAACP Spingarn Medal, among many others. He lives in Atlanta, GA.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
42 of 42 people found the following review helpful
By sugapie
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book discusses social change from the perspective of someone who was a young American activist and it distills the lessons he learned in the movement. He brings out some interesting points. It never really occurred to me that the civil rights movement was not led by political grassroots folk, but by ministers....so it had a deeply spiritual center. Lewis tries to talk about this in a way that would be accessible to anybody, not just someone interested in history. The book is inspirational and it introduces some deep concepts. You can read it quickly, but it's the kind of book you want to re-read and reflect upon to get the full understanding of what he is saying. Great gift for Father's Day or graduation. I loved it.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By Vada Pinson
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
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!
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!
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
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.
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.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
John Lewis was there.
Read the history of John Lewis and he segregated South during his childhood. You will see a man from Pike County, Alabama going all the way to Washington, D.C. Read more
Published 11 days ago by Wendell F. Wentz
4.0 out of 5 stars
Remembering our shame
This memoir awakened a shameful past involving white racism,segregation and legal system that abused its power. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Andrea
5.0 out of 5 stars
Little Book, Big Message
This is a very honest and heartfelt read from the author. How far we've come, how far we must go.
Published 5 months ago by JackieBlue623
5.0 out of 5 stars
Across That Bridge
After you have read this book once, you will want to pick it up again from time to time as the lessons of Mr. Lewis experience can be meaningful in the choices in our own lives. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Wade Burns
5.0 out of 5 stars
A good man
An amzing, moral man. Makes you think, you haven't done enough for others. So many have given so much, for the rest of us. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Terri Kimball
5.0 out of 5 stars
Combines biography, spirituality and advice in a great book
John Lewis put his life on the line for freedom and equality--beaten into a coma during the Freedom Rides, he did not give up, but continued marching, continued leading, and never... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Alan Mills
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful little book
This is a very good little book that has many inspirational lessons from an iconic American. My wife enjoyed it very much.
Published 8 months ago by Mark
5.0 out of 5 stars
Across That Bridge
This is a wonderful account of the civil rights struggle - I learned so much. Every American should read this book.
Published 9 months ago by CASDW
5.0 out of 5 stars
Across That Bridge by John Lewis
This is a book that holds you spellbound. It's informative and easy to read; and you can't put it down until the last word is read.
Published 9 months ago by Johnnie M. Jones
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good book, incredibly cheap paper
I'm a big Amazon fan, and I like this book. But the paper is of such poor quality--only slightly above that used in comic books--I doubt they could sell this book in book stores. Read more
Published 10 months ago by William Schwabe
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