March Trilogy
Book Study
Join Deacon Ari Wolfe in an antiracism book study. We will be reading the graphic memoir trilogy, March, authored by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin
"An incredible accomplishment. It is the history of John Lewis, the Civil Rights Movement and his role in it...a book that explains - more deeply than anything else I've ever read - the methods and the moral foundations of the civil rights movement, how civil rights activists did what they did and won what they won, and how they had the strength to do it in the most difficult circumstances imaginable."
~Rachel Maddow
Like most effective lessons, ‘March’ is the story of an education, an introduction to the difficult art of principled dissent — or, as Lewis has called it, ‘necessary trouble.’ A galvanizing account of coming-of-age in the movement, it’s a capsule lesson in courage of conscience, a story that inspires without moralizing or simplifying in hindsight.
~Julian Lucas, New York Times
We will meet for discussion via Zoom every other week on Wednesdays, April 6th through May 18th, from 2:30 - 4pm PST. All are invited to join, even if you are not able to attend the Zoom discussions.
The three books recount major events of the Civil Rights Movement from Lewis' position as a leader and later the chairman of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. Book One encompasses his childhood in rural Alabama, his religious education and his involvement with the sit-ins protesting Nashville's segregated businesses. Book Two centers on the freedom rides protesting segregation in interstate transportation, which were met with bombings, bus burnings, mob attacks and the mass imprisonment of riders at Mississippi State Penitentiary, Parchman Farm. Nate Powell's illustrations shine in the testimony of Fannie Lou Hamer, a Mississippi sharecropper who was arrested, beaten and tortured by the police after attempting to register to vote. Hamer's speech at the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City serves as the fulcrum for Book Three's account of the Freedom Summer. Her nationally televised address, confidently delivered as an indictment of America's character, was so alarming to President Lyndon Johnson that he interrupted the broadcast with an improvised news conference.
Donations Appreciated
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The Reverend Ari Wolfe, MTS The Reverend Ari Wolfe (she/her) is a deacon in the Episcopal Church, currently serving at St. Columba’s Church & Retreat House in Inverness, California. With an eclectic spiritual background, she holds a Master's degree in Theological Studies from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, with a focus in the area of Queer Theology and how congregations can better extend welcome and support to people who are LGBTQ-identified. Deacon Ari was ordained in November, 2019 at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco and currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the School for Deacons. She has three adult children and lives in El Cerrito with her husband and 3 cats. A life-long social activist, she is excited to bring conversations of racial justice and a curriculum for anti-racism to the community. For more information, please visit www.deaconsjourney.com.
