Review: Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement by John Lewis

Title: Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement
Author: John Lewis
Publisher: Mariner Books
Publication Date: October 18, 1999 (first published 1998)
Edition: Paperback (496 pages)
Genres:

• Nonfiction
• African American History
  
• Autobiography


• Civil Rights


• History


• Memoir


• Politics

Literary Awards:

• Anisfield-Wolf Book Award (1999)
• Lillian Smith Book Award (1998)

Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement by John Lewis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

John Robert Lewis, the son of Alabama sharecroppers, writes an amazing account of his life, growing up in the deep South, his involvement in the civil rights movement, and his government service to America at the local, and national level. And he is still going strong and continuing that service today.

This book goes well beyond the sound bites and photos we are familiar with. It is a deeply personal and honest book about the civil rights movement--where it began, its progress and complexities, it successes, and where Congressman Lewis believes it is still falling short. I feel as if I've gotten to know this wonderful man through the pages of this book. He is a hero to me, not only because of what he has accomplished, but also because of his principled honesty. The America he desires and works toward, every day, is the same America I long for, and have also desired all my life.

If you want to learn about this man, his roots, beliefs and his convictions, I highly recommend you read this most excellent book.