Muhlenberg Job Corps students recently attended a free public lecture and book signing for John Lewis who is a U.S. Congressman (representing the 5th District of Georgia), civil rights hero, 2016 Nashville Public Library Literary Award Honoree, and author of the three volume book titled, “March.”

Congressman Lewis is one of the key figures of the civil rights movement.  His commitment to justice and nonviolence has taken him from an Alabama sharecropper’s farm to the halls of Congress, from a segregated schoolroom to the 1963 March on Washington, and from receiving beatings from state troopers to receiving the Medal of Freedom from the first African-American president.  He shares his story through this graphic novel trilogy.

In attendance were several members of the original Freedom Riders who the students had the opportunity to personally meet.  Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated southern United States in 1961 and following years.  The Freedom Riders challenged the local laws and customers that enforced segregation in seating.

The students truly enjoyed learning about this crucial moment in history that eventually lead to the American Civil Rights Movement.