March: Book One

March Book One is something that should be taught in every high school across the United States. After I finished reading this, it reminded me of everything that I love as well as everything that I find very frustrating about humanity. The story begins with Georgia Congressman John Lewis awaking from a dream the morning of January 20^th, 2009; also known as the morning that a former Illinois Senator named Barack Obama was sworn into the Presidency of the United States of America. The perfect place for the story to start.

When Congressman Lewis arrives to his office later that morning, a mother with her two young sons who have arrived from Atlanta wanted to see his office. Surprised to find that Congressman Lewis was in his office he ushers them in and begins to show them around and begins pointing out various photographs. One of the photographs he points out is of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivering his infamous I Have a Dream speech. After that the congressman states that he is the only surviving speaker from that August day, which is incredibly moving and bone chilling.

The story of Congressman Lewis that is revealed within the pages of March Book One is incredibly candid, compelling, and almost unbelievable. There are certain generations of people born during a time of great change that stand by and help enforce the change, as well as those that sit and do nothing: this is what I love and what frustrates me about humanity. People that are afraid of change, and decide to bully others by enforcing the status quo. March Book One is the story of Congressman John Lewis, a man led by great conviction to join in the struggle of non-violent protest during the Civil Rights Movement to bring about equality in an era of high racial tension.