Contact: Bill Kolb
Supervising Librarian, North Branch
Berkeley Public Library
510-981-6256
bkolb@ci.berkeley.ca.us
Berkeley Public Library Presents
Congressman John Lewis Talking About His Book, March
Berkeley, September 4, 2014—Berkeley Public Library is excited to be presenting a special program in September. Congressman John Lewis (D GA-5) champion of the Civil Rights Movement and current member of the U.S. House of Representatives is coming to Berkeley to talk about his book, March on Sunday September 21, 2014, from 2:00-4:00 pm, at Northbrae Community Church, located at 941 The Alameda in Berkeley. This event is part of the Library’s National Library Card Sign up Month and Banned Books Week celebration. For a listing of all events go to http://www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org.
Rep. Lewis will talk about his life and experiences in the Civil Rights Movement, as well as why he chose to write about it in graphic novel form. Also speaking is co-author Andrew Aydin, who is adapting Lewis’ life into a series of autobiographical graphic novels. Fantastic Comics of Berkeley will have copies of March - Book One available for purchase. Lewis and Aydin will sign books after they speak. This event is free and open to the public. This is the only East Bay speaking engagement for Lewis and Aydin.
Congressman John Lewis (GA-5) is an American icon, one of the key figures of the Civil Rights Movement. His commitment to justice and nonviolence has taken him from an Alabama sharecropper’s farm to the halls of Congress, from a segregated schoolroom to the1963 March on Washington, and from receiving beatings from state troopers to receiving the Medal of Freedom from the first African-American president.
With March, Lewis aims to share his remarkable story with new generations. March is a vivid, first-hand account of Lewis’ lifelong struggle for civil and human rights reflecting, in the modern age, on the distance the he and America has traveled since the days of Jim Crow and segregation, and presenting the highs and lows of the broader Civil Rights Movement.
March: Book Two of Lewis’ three-book graphic autobiography is scheduled for release in January 2015. More information is available at http://www.topshelfcomix.com/catalog/march-book-two/896. Information about March: Book One, released in 2013, can be found at http://www.topshelfcomix.com/march.
Made possible by a generous gift from the Pace Trust, in support of the North Branch of the Berkeley Public Library.
Wheelchair accessible. For questions, to request a sign language interpreter or other accommodations for this event, please call (510) 981-6195 (voice) or (510) 548-1240 (TTY); at least five working days will help ensure availability. Please refrain from wearing scented products to public programs. Visit the library’s website: www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org.
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