MY NEXT GUEST TONIGHT IS A CIVIL RIGHTS LEGEND, A CONGRESSMAN,
AND NOW A COMIC BOOK AUTHOR.
PLEASE WELCOME CONGRESSMAN JOHN LEWIS!
♪ ♪ ♪ ( APPLAUSE )
GOOD TO SEE YOU.
AFTER YOU, SIR.
( CHEERS ) NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN.
>> GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN.
>> Stephen: ALWAYS GOOD TO TALK TO YOU AND FIND OUT THE
LATEST THINGS YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT.
THE FIRST THING I WANT TO ASK YOU.
ABOUT IS EARLIER THIS YEAR YOU LED A SIT-IN ON THE FLOOR OF
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
REPRESENTATIVES.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) TELL ME WHAT-- TELL ME WHAT THE
THE GOAL OF THAT SIT-IN WAS, AND WHETHER YOU THINK YOU HAD SOME
SUCCESS THERE.
>> WELL, THE GOAL OF THE SIT-IN WAS TRYING TO FIND A WAY TO
DRAMATIZE TO OUR COLLEAGUES IN THE CONGRESS THAT WE NEED TO DO
SOMETHING ABOUT GUN VIOLENCE.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) SOMETIMES, YOU HAVE TO FIND A
WAY TO GET IN THE WAY OR GET IN TROUBLE, GOOD TROUBLE, NECESSARY
TROUBLE.
>> Stephen: NOW, THAT IS ACTUALLY SOMETHING YOU WERE
TALKING ABOUT AT THE TIME, IT WAS THE HASHTAG ASSOCIATED WITH
THE SIT-IN, WHICH WAS AFTER THE TRAGIC SHOOTINGS IN ORLANDO.
WAS-- GOOD TROUBLE.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN "GOOD TROUBLE?" >> WHEN I WAS GROWING UP IN
RURAL ALABAMA AS A YOUNG CHILD, AND WE WOULD VISIT PLACES LIKE
TROY AND MONTGOMERY, AND I WOULD SEE THOSE SIGNS THAT SAID,
"WHITE MEN, COLORED MEN, WHITE WOMEN, COLORED WOMEN, "I ASKED
MY MOTHER, MY FATHER, AND GRANDPARENT, THEY WOULD SAY,
"THAT'S THE WAY IT IS.
DON'T GET IN THE WAY.
DON'T GET IN TROUBLE."
BUT I HEARD ROSA PARKS, A HEARD MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
I MET ROSA PARKS IN 1957 WHEN I WAS 17.
IN 1958, I MET DR. KING, AND THESE TWO INDIVIDUALS INSPIRED
ME TO GET IN TROUBLE, AND I'VE BEEN GETTING IN GOOD TROUBLE,
NECESSARY TROUBLE EVER SINCE.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) >> WELL, ONE OF---- DID YOU ALL,
AFTER WHAT PROTEST, DID YOU ALL END UP GETTING A VOTE TO THE
FLOOR?
>> WE DIDN'T GET A VOTE TO THE FLOOR.
BUT WE HELPED EDUCATE AND INSPIRE HUNDREDS AND THOUSANDS
AND MILLIONS OF PEOPLE AROUND THIS NATION.
THEY WANT US TO DO SOMETHING.
MORE THAN 90 OR 95% OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE SAYING PASS
LEGISLATION TO STOP THE KILLING.
WE HAVE LOST TOO MANY OF OUR CHILDREN, TOO MANY OF OUR
SISTERS AND BROTHERS, TOO MANY OF OUR MOTHERS AND FATHERS.
WE'VE GOT TO STOP THE KILLING.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) >> Stephen: WELL, NOW-- AS I
SAID, YOU'RE A CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER FROM THE 1950s, UP TILL
NOW, AND NOW YOU HAVE A THREE-VOLUME SET CALLED "MARCH,"
WHICH IS A GRAPHIC NOVEL OR A GRAPHIC RETELLING OF THE MARCH
ON THE EDMUND PETTIS PRIVILEGE, AND THE RAMIFICATIONS OF THAT
ACTION.
WHY MAKE THIS A GRAPHIC-- WHY TELL THIS HISTORY THROUGH
PICTURES LIKE THIS?
>> WELL, IT IS IMPORTANT.
IT IS A MUST THAT PEOPLE UNDERSTAND-- YOUNG CHILDREN,
YOUNG CHILDREN, THOSE ARE THE THREE, FOUR, FIVE, AND SIX,
THOSE IN MIDDLE SCHOOL, THOSE IN HIGH SCHOOL, IN COLLEGE, AND
ALSO ADULTS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENED AND HOW IT HAPPENED.
IN 1963, WHEN I WAS 23 YEARS OLD, I MOVED FROM NASHVILLE TO
ATLANTA, AND WOULD ATTEND DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.'S
FATHER'S CHURCH, AND SOMETIMES THE FATHER WOULD BE SITTING IN
THE AUDIENCE, AND HIS SON WOULD BE PREACHING.
AND THE FATHER WOULD SAY, "MAKE IT PLAIN.
MAKE IT CLEAR.
MAKE IT REAL."
SO WHEN YOU USE GRAPHICS AND MAKE IT PLAIN AND MAKE IT REAL,
AND THE YOUNG AUDIENCE, NATE PAUL, HE HAS THE ABILITY TO MAKE
THE WORDS JUMP OFF THE PAGES AND SING AND DANCE.
>> Stephen: DID YOU HAVE ANYTHING LIKE THIS WHEN YOU WERE
A CHILD?
WAS THERE ANYTHING THAT INSPIRED YOU?
WAS IT MADE PLAIN FOR YOU?
>> THERE WAS A COMIC BOOK, MARTIN LUTHER KING AND THE
MONTGOMERY STORY.
>> Stephen: I THINK ONE OF MY RESEARCHERS MIGHT HAVE FOUND A
COPY OF THAT.
RIGHT THERE.
( APPLAUSE ) 10 CENTS.
>> YOU'RE RIGHT.
IT SOLD FOR 10 CENT, 16 PAGES, COVER TO COVER.
AND THAT LITTLE BOOK BECAME LIKE A ROAD MAP.
IT BECAME THE WAY IN AND THE WAY OUT.
AND IT'S OUR HOPE THAT "MARCH," THESE BOOKS, WILL BECOME A ROAD
MAP FOR ANOTHER GENERATION.
SO HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF SCHOOL CHILDREN ALL ACROSS
AMERICA AND ADULTS, TEACHERS ARE TEACHING IT IN MORE THAN 40
STATES.
>> Stephen: FOR THOSE OF YOU, PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO DON'T KNOW
THE HISTORY OR PERHAPS DIDN'T SEE THE FILM, THE CELEBRATED
FILM FROM LAST YEAR, HERE'S A PICTURE OF THE ACTUAL ACTION ON
THE EDMUND PETTIS BRIDGE, AND THAT IS YOU RIGHT THERE BEING
BEATEN BY THE POLICE AS YOU TRIED TO CROSS THE BRIDGE.
WHAT-- WHAT WERE YOU THINKING AS YOU WALKED THE BRIDGE?
DID YOU EXPECT THIS TO HAPPEN?
>> ON THE BRIDGE, 600 OF US TRIED TO MARCH FROM SELMA TO
MONT DPOMRY.
I THOUGHT WE WERE GOING TO BE ARRESTED AND JAILED.
I DIDN'T HAVE ANY IDEA THAT WE WOULD BE BEATEN.
BUT I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DOWN THE BRIDGE.
I HAWT I SAW DEATH.
AND SOME FORCE, MAYBE GOD ALMIGHTY KEPT ME HERE TO
CONTINUE TO PUSH AND PULL, TO CONTINUE TO FIND A WAY TO GET IN
GOOD TROUBLE.
I TRULY BELIEVE WHEN YOU SEE SOMETHING THAT IS NOT RIGHT, NOT
FAIR, NOT JUST, YOU HAVE TO DO SOMETHING.
>> Stephen: WHAT DO YOU THINK-- DO YOU THINK THAT SPIRIT
IS BEING CARRIED ON.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) WHERE DO YOU SEE THAT SPIRIT
BEING CARRIED ON TODAY IN CIVIL RIGHTS STRUGGLES?
FOR INSTANCE, WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT WHAT COLIN KAPERNICK HAS
DONE?
HE HAS CAUSED TROUBLE, CERTAINLY, FOR HIMSELF BY NOT
STANDING UP FOR THE NATIONAL ANTHEM.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT WHAT HE'S DONE AND PEOPLE'S RESPONSE
TO IT?
>> WELL, YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO PROTEST.
IT'S PROTECTED BY OUR CONSTITUTION.
YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO DISSENT.
DR. KING SAID YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO PROTEST OF WHAT IS RIGHT?
SO THIS YOUNG MAN, THIS FOOTBALL PLAYER IS ACTING ACCORDING TO
THE DICTATES OF HIS CONSCIENCE.
AND WE SHOULD SUPPORT HIM.
( APPLAUSE ) >> Stephen: THERE'S-- IT'S AN
INCREDIBLE SERIES OF BOOKS.
THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS.
THERE'S ONLY ONE THING THAT I WISH WAS IN HERE, BUT THEY
DIDN'T HAVE A CHANCE TO DRAW A PANEL FOR IT, AND THAT'S YOU ON
MY SHOW RIGHT NOW TALKING ABOUT IT.
IT'S A BIG PART OF THE STORY.
>> WELL, MAYBE IN THE NEXT BOOK.
>> Stephen: WELL, WE'VE ALREADY DONE IT FOR YOU.
WE'VE ALREADY-- MY GRAPHICS DEPARTMENT PUT THIS TOGETHER.
THIS IS ONE PANEL, PEOPLE COULD DOWNLOAD THIS.
CAN WE PUT THIS UP ON THE THE WEB SITE?
PEOPLE CAN DOWNLOAD THIS AND PASTE IT UP ON THE BACK OF THE
BOOK IF THEY WANT.
THIS IS YOU ON MY SHOW.
I'VE GOT A CAPTAIN AMERICA SHIELD, AND YOU'VE GOT THE
INFINITY GAUNTLET RIGHT THERE.
AND USE IT TO REMAKE THE WORLD.
>> THANK YOU.
>> Stephen: CONGRESSMAN, THANK YOU SO MUCH.
DO YOU WANT TO CROWD SURF?
>> YES.
>> Stephen: JUMP INTO THE CROWD WITH ME?
>> YES.
>> Stephen: LET'S DO IT.
♪ ♪ ♪ READY TO GET OVER THE PEOPLE?
JUMP ON TOP?
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE
DOWN BY THE THE RIVERSIDE ♪