John Lewis (1940-2020): A Life in Politics

Research and writing contributing to a complete biography of civil rights activist and former congressman, John Lewis (1940-2020).John Lewis: A Life in Politics (under contract with Simon & Schuster) will be the first full-fledged biography of the civil rights leader and U.S. congressman. From a young age, John Lewis was an indispensable part of historic campaigns for racial equality, from the 1960s sit-ins to the 1963 March on Washington to the 1965 Selma voting rights march. Ousted as chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in 1966, he turned to politics, joining Robert Kennedy's presidential bid, leading the Voter Education Project, serving in the Carter administration, and in 1986 winning a seat in Congress. The book spans his activism and political career, his rise in the House Democratic leadership, and emergence as a moral beacon in dark times. In narrating Lewis's life, the book explores the relationship of grassroots activism to institutional politics; the fate of Lewis's nonviolent and integrationist ideals; and history's own role in shaping the vision of those pursuing social change.