John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, And Black Power By Stokely Carmichael

Both March: Book One by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell and Black Power by Stokely Carmichael recount the difficulties African American citizens faced in receiving their basic rights as free people. March specifically details John Lewis' growth as an advocate for the Civil Rights movement inspired by the injustices he faced both in childhood and as an adult. Black Power makes a compelling argument that the issue of black people being denied their rights is actually the responsibility of white people. Each of these articles supports the claims that opponents shaped the movement more than long-standing grudges, white Americans' misguided help was, in reality, a hindrance to the movement, and nonviolence was significant in attaining …show more content…
For example, John Lewis and other activists chose to hold sit-ins, where they sat at lunch counters that prohibited them from ordering food. They recognized the issue of being denied service in a specific place and decided to peacefully invade that space and make their presence and their purposes known. Because the white supremacists chose this place to assert their discrimination, the Civil Rights movement chose this place to display their intention of inspiring change. Therefore, this exemplifies a manner in which the movement was defined by its opponents. In Black Power, Carmichael argues that the entirety of this issue rests on the shoulders of white Americans. It was the white people that prevented the black people from accessing the services and livelihoods that both knew they had the right to access. This had an immense effect on the Civil Rights movement. Because many white citizens did not willingly give their black neighbors the respect and treatment as equals that they deserved, the Civil Rights movement strove to assert the rights of black people for themselves. In this way, the inaction of the white community inspired the action of advocates of the …show more content…
In March: Book One, John Lewis explains in detail the process of implementing nonviolent protest to stand up for the rights of black people. Lewis and other advocates received intensive training to learn how to respond to violent opposition and remain calm and peaceable despite direct insult, injustice, and even physical harm. This method proved beneficial to them, as angry white supremacists did not know how to respond to such protest. In the implementation of this protest at the lunch counter sit-ins, white opponents to the movement eventually could not continue raging furiously at such a peaceful and non-reactive group of people. The authors of Black Power, on the other hand, empathize the necessity of nonviolence being taught to white citizens as well. They rightfully argue that the majority of white violence towards black people is unprovoked and unpunished. Therefore, it is more beneficial to teach the white community how to communicate through nonviolent means in order to move forward in ensuring that all American citizens receive fair and equal