Munoz-Gallegos 1

Brian Munoz-Gallegos

Corri Ditch

English 115

8 November 2020

Transforming Suffering: Activism

The word alchemy stumps many people, some think of it as chemicals, and others

associate it with magic, but one meaning that stands out is that alchemy means taking something

ordinary and turning it into something extraordinary. In the article “The Alchemy of Suffering”

Mathieu Ricard believes there are different types of suffering and also that suffering can

transform into something greater. While in the graphic novel “March: Book One” by John Lewis,

it depicts the life of the late congressman John Lewis from a young boy to a young adult who

took part in the civil rights movement in the United States. The book displays the ways that John

Lewis transforms his suffering of segregation and oppression into something greater, into a

movement that would change history. John Lewis uses his care for the next generation, and his

passion for religion, to transform his suffering into compassionate and non-violent personal

traits, and this ultimately influences his activism to be peaceful and powerful.

Throughout John Lewis’s life, he was a target of invisible suffering, however, his

passions for religion and community contributed to him transforming his suffering into a greater

purpose. Mathieu Ricard speaks about the different modes of suffering and includes the paths

that people can take to overcome their suffering and to transform it into something greater.

Ricard brings up Invisible suffering which is best explained as the mode of suffering which “is

the hardest to distinguish because it stems from the blindness of our own minds, where it remains

so long as we are in the grip of ignorance and selfishness” (Ricard 36). John Lewis has gone
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through invisible suffering growing up in the United States because he was born into the period

when African Americans were discriminated against, and he had to face harsh suffering because

it was around for so long that it became a normal function of society at the time. This opens the

question “how was John Lewis able to transform his suffering?” and can be thought about when

referring to Ricard’s article when he mentions that to overcome suffering you must come to

peace with your inner self “Once we have required inner well-being, it is easier to maintain

fortitude or to recover it quickly, even when we are confronted externally by difficult

circumstances” (Ricard 41). Growing up during the rough times of racial segregation was hard

for John Lewis, but what helped him push through was his passion for education, religion, and

community. John Lewis faced invisible suffering while growing up in a segregated America, and

his passion for religion and his community helped him transform his suffering into something

greater, being a part of the peaceful civil rights protests.

Similar to the way John Lewis overcame his suffering, there have been others outside of

the civil rights movement in America who’ve transformed their suffering into pro-social

movements after facing hardships in their country. The article “Altruism Born of Suffering: How

Colombian Human Rights Activists Transform Pain Into Prosocial Action” by Pilar Hernandez-

Wolfe, it presents the story of Colombian human rights activists that had traumatic pasts due to

politics and overcame this because they cared for the new generation in their country. The

similarity between John Lewis and the civil rights movement in the United States and the

Colombin human rights activists is their compassion for the next generation, to have a better life

to not experience the same suffering that they went through. Both of these groups the civil rights

movement and the Colombian Human Rights Activists were both significantly oppressed in their

country because of the governing that limited their rights as human beings. The suffering that
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these groups faced had affected their activism by influencing them to accomplish the protests

peacefully as a means to allow the next generations of their family to not undergo the same

suffering that was placed upon them. Similar to John Lewis a large factor placed upon them was

to do this peacefully to succeed, they shared the characteristic of non-violence as a result of the

hardships they faced. A Colombian priest had this to say regarding their suffering “I may not see

the fruits of the human rights work we do during my lifetime, but this is not relevant. I am

determined to do whatever I can for the next generation. The legacy of violence… needs to be

interrupted.” (Hernández-Wolfe 243). Something that stands out about this quote is in the end he

makes sure to include that the history of violence needs to stop, once again this is because of

their non-violent and compassionate characteristics. Through the suffering that John Lewis and

the others faced they developed these characteristics to successfully end the suffering placed on

them peacefully, with no violence to leave the best legacy for the future generations. John Lewis

with the civil rights activists and also the Colombian human rights activists both came to peace

with their minds after their history of suffering and they transformed this into compassionate

characteristics, which conclusively shaped their suffering into something greater, peaceful

protests for the human rights of their future generations.

In the journal “Invoking Crisis: Performative Christian Prayer and the Civil Rights

Movement” Tobin Miller Shearer speaks about the connection that the civil rights movement had

with religion influenced their activism to be more powerful, meaningful, and have a greater

outcome. John Lewis had a rough upbringing while growing up in Alabama but as a child, there

were many factors of life that he was passionate about like education and religion which

supported him while living in a segregated America. As a child, he grew up in a very religious

household which can contribute to how it played a major role in influencing his life decisions in
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his life. Even so, all grown up John Lewis discussed how he “really wanted to be a preacher” and

very fond memories like his uncle giving “a bible for Christmas when [he] was four” which is a

clear sign that he was introduced to religion young and this was the start of his passion (Lewis

26). Another interesting fact about John Lewis’ childhood is throughout the suffering he faced

from segregation to struggling with money he still maintained a cheerful life, for example, he

had a henhouse of chickens in which he said he would “preach to [them] just about every night”

in addition to feeling sad and refusing to eat when his parents would use of the chickens for their

dinner when it was their only option (Lewis 27-35). John Lewis being introduced to religion at a

young age helped him get through the struggles he had, as it was a goal for him at one point to be

a priest and regularly read the bible, it had some involvement within his personality influencing

him to be peaceful and kind. Furthermore, these personality traits have shaped John Lewis’s

activism by having religion and non-violence be substantial methods of his activism and the civil

rights movement protests. According to Shearer, leaders of the civil rights movement “studied

Gandhi’s thought on nonviolence and developed their perspectives in the context of the civil

rights struggle,” to make their protests more meaningful (Shearer 503). But another topic they

included that stood out was religion, for example, the inclusion of prayers during protest makes

their movement very powerful while practicing non-violence. Another example of a protest that

exerted non-violence was the restaurant sit-ins that John Lewis took part in, where African

Americans would walk into a restaurant and order food at the counter, and when asked to leave

they would refuse to, they would sit there emotionless. An important tip given to John Lewis for

these sit-ins was x“to find love for your attacker” and to “not let them shake your faith in

nonviolence--LOVE them!” (Lewis 82). These rules are centered around nonviolence, no matter

what is thrown at you don’t act out in violence, you must “disarm [your] attackers by connecting
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with their humanity” (Lewis 82). The practices above are the result of the process that John

Lewis and the civil rights movement inclusion of religion within their protests. Overall John

Lewis grew up with religion being a large part of his life, his beliefs were a cornerstone to his

life, being his passion as he suffered growing up in segregated America, his activism was shaped

by religion into becoming centered on peace, power, and morals.

In conclusion, John Lewis’s passion for religion and his care for the next generation

supports him in transforming his suffering into his compassionate and non-violent

characteristics, which will eventually influence his activism during the civil rights movement to

be peaceful and powerful. John Lewis grew up in the United States during the era of segregation

where he faced invisible suffering because he was born into discrimination as it was a normal

function of society at the time. Major factors that had a large influence on John Lewis’ life is his

religion and his community, his passion for these held him together to keep pushing to overcome

his suffering and it created his compassionate traits which led to his activism being powerful all

while utilizing the practice of nonviolence.

Works Cited
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Hernández-Wolfe, Pilar. "Altruism Born of Suffering: How Colombian Human Rights Activists

Transform Pain Into Prosocial Action." The Journal of Humanistic Psychology 51.2

(2011): 229-49. Web.

Lewis, John, et al. March: Book One. 1st ed., Top Shelf Productions, 2013.

Parfitt, Matthew, Dawn Skorczewski, and Matthieu Ricard. Pursuing Happiness: A

Bedford Spotlight Reader. First Edition, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016, pp. 34-42.

Shearer, Tobin Miller. "Invoking Crisis: Performative Christian Prayer and the Civil

Rights Movement." Journal of the American Academy of Religion 83.2 (2015): 490-512.

Web.