Rep. John Lewis’ childhood aspiration was to be a preacher, and he practiced sermons in front of the chickens on his family farm in rural Alabama. Little did he know that he would soon lead the “freedom rides” fighting segregation in the south, give a keynote address at the March on Washington at age 23, and become a 17-term congressman. Rep. Lewis shares inspiring stories from that journey in this 2013 address delivered on Constitution Day here at the National Constitution Center, which we’re sharing in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Rep. Lewis discussed his graphic novel March: Book One which spans his youth in rural Alabama, his life-changing meeting with Martin Luther King, Jr., the birth of the Nashville Student Movement, and the battle to tear down segregation through nonviolent lunch counter sit-ins. He was joined by his co-author Andrew Aydin and NCC President Jeffrey Rosen.

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