Summary Of March On Washington By Martin Luther King

The first book of the March trilogy, follows the story of Congressmen John Lewis. As a child, he grew up in rural Alabama on a farm with his parents. His uncle took him on a trip to New York that opened up his eyes to segregation and social injustice. This is when he realized what Jim Crow laws were. After returning home, he saw that his own hometown had civil injustices between races. As a young college student, he met a member of the Fellowship of Reconciliation named Jim Lawson who got him involved with the organization. Lewis led nonviolent sit-ins on local department stores and rode on the first Freedom Rides. As sit-ins became progressively more frequent and increased in numbers, reactions grew with court convictions and arrests. Finally, six department stores agreed to serve food to black patrons on May 10, 1960. This is where the first book ends. The second book picks up where it ends with the success of the nonviolent protests. They decided to expand their protests to movie theaters, restaurants, and …show more content…
The American Yawp vaguely describes this incident with little detail. Protestors demanded civil rights legislation, school integration, raises in minimum wage, and much more. Martin Luther King, Jr 's “I Have a Dream” speech is heard on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Kennedy is said to have offered support for a civil rights bill, but it stalled in Congress. Shortly after, he is assassinated and killed. In the second book of March, all six of the speakers and leaders of the march are named and included as the “Big Six”. The president invited all of these men back to the white house to discuss his current civil rights bill (174). Another small detail that the novel showed is that the protestors were respectful and courteous by keeping the entire protest site clean of litter and filth (175). Showing this side of protesters isn’t something that a textbook would normally