This summer, we want to help you craft the perfect Summer Reading List. We asked Southeastern Seminary professors what books they would recommend, and we’ll share their recommendations in coming weeks.
Today, Dr. Brent Aucoin recommends a book for your summer reading list.
Lewis chronicles his participation in virtually every important event and meeting in the civil rights movement.
Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement
by John Lewis and Michael D’Orso (Mariner Books, 1999)
If I was told that I could only recommend one book for people to read in order to get an overview and understanding of the civil rights movement, it would be John Lewis’ Walking with the Wind, which as the book’s subtitle indicates is A Memoir of the Movement. Lewis, who represented Georgia’s 5th Congressional District in the House of Representatives from 1987 until his death in 2020, participated in most of the important events in the movement after the Montgomery Bus Boycott. While telling his personal story (rather minimally) of growing up poor and black in rural Alabama and then attending the American Baptist Theological Seminary to study to become a preacher, Lewis chronicles his participation in virtually every important event and meeting in the civil rights movement. Lewis participated in some of the first Sit-Ins, was beaten unconscious during the Freedom Rides, became the president of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and had his skull fractured by Alabama State troopers on “Bloody Sunday” as he led marchers across the Edmund Pettis bridge in Selma, Alabama. As a leader who also functioned as a foot-soldier in the movement, Lewis provides fascinating behind-the-scenes insights into the major figures, events, and controversies in the movement. One of the most enlightening features of his memoir is the monumental but ultimately unsuccessful effort that he, Martin Luther King, Jr. and a few others made to keep the movement true to its Christian, non-violent origins. Lewis convincingly contends that the Black church and Christianity served as the foundation of the movement, although it is apparent by the end of the book that Lewis’ ecclesiology is unorthodox and his definition of Christianity is rather nebulous and based on the social gospel.
Sign up for the CFC newsletter now!
Learn how to to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate 20th century perspectives on theology and cultural context with our Dmin Faith and Culture.
Ibram X. Kendi on Race Relations in America: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Ibram X. Kendi’s works are widely read, celebrated, and no doubt quite influential. But are they helpful or grounded in reality?
One Race or Many? Reflections on Dr. Joshua Swamidass’ Lecture on Genetics, Human Origins, and Race
We are all one race. And this should shape the way we view, treat, and think about those who look, think, and act differently than we do.
Explainer: The Tulsa Race Massacre and Baptists’ Divided Response
By Dr. Brent Aucoin Later this month America will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the deadliest and most […]
Billy Graham and “One Soul at a Time”| Brent Aucoin’s Summer Reading Recommendation
This summer, we want to help you craft the perfect Summer Reading List. We asked Southeastern Seminary professors […]
A Primer on Southern Secession and the Civil War
More than 150 years have passed since the end of the Civil War, but controversies surrounding Confederates statues […]
Serving the Church, Engaging the Academy: Thomas Kidd on Benjamin Franklin and George Whitefield
Dr. Thomas Kidd of Baylor University is one of the most respected and prolific Christian historians teaching and […]
Brent Aucoin on the Baptist Pastor Who Popularized Racism in the 20th Century
Christianity is inextricably linked to America’s shameful racist past – Dr. Brent Aucoin The connection between Christianity and […]
Want to Fight Poverty? Resist the Sexual Revolution.
The Sexual Revolution of the 1960s has swept across the entire country and into the White House, the […]
Brent Aucoin: History of Christianity and Economics
Sign up for the Christ and Culture newsletter now!
No comments have been added.