End of the book but a new beginning (March #3)

Dear John Lewis,

So we have finally read the end of the book. We still see the challenges that were faced and the barriers that had to be overcome. We had bloody Sunday, which was such a tragic event. However, we also skip ahead to when Obama was elected president to show how far we have gotten. Lastly, we end the with you wanting to make a book (this book) which leads us to now.

MARCH Book written by John Lewis

Now that I have read the whole book there is a lot to reflect on. However, I would like to focus on the impact of the format of the book. I personally loved the book because it helped induce some pathos to the readers. The visual illustrations made me understand what it must have been like and helped put things into perspective. You made this book in a perfect way for anyone to be able to read it as well as comprehend it. The last page of the book was your phone ringing but you never revealed to us who it was. My question is who was it? I have been pondering that and some of my classmates talked about it too however, we can’t seem to understand who it is. My opinion is that it might be Obama telling you he is running for president because this was in 2008 one year before Obama was inaugurated.    

John Lewis receiving a metal

In society today we just need to keep doing what we are doing. For the most part, I think (or like to think) many people seem to be on the side of justice. However, there are outliers who get in our way but as history has shown the good are always the last ones standing. As the years have gone by not only has racism become closer to eliminating but many types of discrimination. We just have to keep grinding it out. John Lewis, I want to thank you for being one of the people who took that first step no matter how hard it was.

 

Thanks so much,

Jonathan Nooriel

Everyone has their breaking points MARCH #3

Dear John Lewis,

In this part of March, we dive deep into Selma. Things were not very good there and it seemed that it was getting worse so people were sent there to help and protest. However, this was not easy and took much time; it was a very long and frustrating time for everyone. One thing that really captured my attention was when Martin Luther King had his first thought about ever hitting someone (or in this case the police officer) and he realized that he even has his breaking points.

This made me think a lot. You have someone like MLK who was one of the most incredible people in our history and was so peaceful and promoted only nonviolence. If someone like him had a thought about hitting someone it tells you something about how messed up it was back then. He finally hit his breaking point and it took A LOT to finally get to it. So imagine how bad it must have been. I personally could never do the things he did I would have broke and lashed out a long time ago.

It’s sad because in society today I feel like many things seem to be resolved by violence. Think about the number of wars we have gotten into. If we look closer to our societies we see people getting mad at each other and swinging punches without even thinking. Our culture and social media also make violence seem not so bad which does not help the cause either. If everyone took one step back and tried to resolve issues by nonviolence I like to think a lot more could get done. Violence does not seem to help much, it just puts one person down so the other can stand higher. Why not try to have both people stand higher even if it may be the tougher route.

All the best,

Jonathan Nooriel 

Dear John Lewis

Dear John Lewis,

First, let me quickly recap what I have just read so you know where in the book I am. We continue to see the disgusting acts of discrimination and the suffering brought to many people however we also see people starting to do something about it. In this section, many historical events were brought or expressed such as the mass meetings, Kennedy assassination, freedom vote, and the Democratic convention. The rally for justice was starting. 

I can’t really pinpoint how an exact feeling when reading this besides how real it all felt. I think that has to do with the pictures. I remember first opening up this book seeing a bunch of pictures thinking to myself “I never knew we would read a picture book in college.” However, that is what makes this book so incredible, all the images really help capture what it was like, to help the reader engage and really understand what was happening. Without it, this would just be another history book but you make it more than that which is special and I think every person should experience. One image in particular really got me, I believe in was on page 66 there was an image of a Klu Klux Klan meeting. Just seeing it in an image made it so much more real and filled me with so much more rage on how they were allowed to do the things they did.

I believe in the same thing I have said before and that is knowledge. Every person needs to learn about what happened so we can learn what to do and not do. However, I think one thing needs to be added. I think we should also teach each person acceptance, equality, and justice. Teach them and have them instill it in their lives. This way when the next generation gets older, they can help make our society a little better. 

 

All the best,

Jonathan Nooriel

 

 

 

MARCH

Dear John Lewis,

          I just finished reading your first part of MARCH. It was just a regular day, kids were at Church and people gathered together to have a conversation. Suddenly, out of the blue they were bombed. They did nothing wrong, but yet they were bombed and killed in vain. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of it there were even teenagers, part of the boy’s scouts, targeting African Americans. It was then when Dr.King gathered together with a few other individuals and realized change had to happen. There was a lot packed into the first part.

          My favorite part of this section was the last 2 pages. You advance many years into the future to you shaking President Obama’s hand welcoming him. It really showed the hard work and effort many people put in, including you, in order to come to this incredible milestone. It really helped put things into perspective as well as prove that we can irradicate hate even at times we think it may be impossible. It gave me a sense of hope that even though things may be rough we can always prevail against any type of hate.

          My question for you is now in our society today how can we go about eliminating any hate? In my opinion, I believe it all comes down to knowledge. People can not stop something they do not know. We have to teach people the history so we know what not to do, and how to make sure it does not happen again. As well as look at the positive, look at the successful things done and learn from that, giving us an outline of what to do. It’s a tough question with many answers and it’s hard to know which one the best answer is.  

All the best,

Jonathan NoorielPresident Obama and John Lewis