click image to enlarge
Good Trouble, Necessary Trouble
Artwork Title: John Lewis in Cairo, from "Memories of the Southern Civil Rights Movement"
Artist: Danny Lyon
1962, gelatin silver print on paper, Gift of Thomas Wilson '79 and Jill Garling '80, 2014/2.319
This photograph shows politician and Civil Rights leader John Lewis kneeling in prayer in front of a segregated swimming pool in 1962 while local white people shouted and harassed the activists. Lewis, who died last week at the age of 80, had become a living legend for his decades of involvement in Civil Rights protests and activism — from being a member of the original Freedom Riders in the early 1960s to his decades of service in the US Congress. In 2018 Lewis tweeted, "Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble."

Danny Lyon, a photographer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee who photographed many important moments of the Civil Rights era, took this photograph of Lewis in Cairo, Illinois. He later said that Lewis was “somebody [who] put action where their mouth was.”

Reflection Prompts:
  • What is one thing you can do to make "good trouble, necessary trouble" in your personal life? In your city? In your workplace or school?
  • Lyon's image of John Lewis kneeling projects a feeling of calm during an intense, chaotic period in U.S. history. What might we learn from that as we experience the intensity of our current moment? Is there strength we can draw from this?
Detroit Youth Choir Sings "Glory" in Dedication to John Lewis

This week, in a powerful tribute to John Lewis, the Detroit Youth Choir released a video of their rendition of the Oscar-winning song "Glory" from the 2014 movie Selma.
John Lewis and March —  A 2017 Penny Stamps
Speaker Series Event

In 2017, John Lewis visited U-M as part of the Penny Stamps Speaker series to discuss his life and the publication of the graphic novel trilogy March , which chronicles his time as a Civil Rights leader.
© 2020 UMMA, All rights reserved.