Munoz-Gallegos 1

Brian Munoz-Gallegos

Corri Ditch

English 115

9 December 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,

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. Growing up John Lewis was a good-natured and educated

child and his care for the next generation, including his passion for religion, helps to transform

the suffering he faced into compassionate and non-violent qualities, which 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
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so long as we are in the grip of ignorance and selfishness” (Ricard 36). John Lewis has gone

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 which shaped him into a better person. 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 greater qualities such as non-violent and compassion which led to

him, 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 qualities that

helped them support 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 of their compassion

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 the traits they gained

from their suffering, such as compassion and non-violence which will end up being shown in
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their activism. Both of these groups the civil rights movement and the Colombian Human Rights

Activists were significantly oppressed in their country because of the governing that limited their

rights as human beings. The suffering that 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

quality of non-violence that they gained in response to 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 that drove them 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

the history that made them develop a compassionate quality for their people, 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 activists such as John Lewis to incorporate their compassionate and

caring qualities into their activism. John Lewis had a rough upbringing while growing up in
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Alabama but as a child, there were many factors of life that he was passionate about like

education and religion which was a supporting factor for 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 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, this also shows the qualities that were formed by his passion for religion such as caring

and compassion. Furthermore, the qualities that John Lewis gained from his love of religion such

as being thoughtful and good-natured influenced his activism to include religion and non-

violence to 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

develop similar qualities to incorporate into their activism (Shearer 503) By practicing religion

and studying Gandhi’s thoughts John Lewis and the Civil Rights Activists gained qualities of

compassion and peace to use in their protests. An 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
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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 with their humanity”

(Lewis 82). The practices above are the result of the qualities that John Lewis and the Civil

Rights gained from religion, the qualities such as peace and love, these were main factors that

were used in the 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 the qualities his religion gave him and became

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 qualities,

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 developed his compassionate and non-violent qualities which led to his activism being

powerful all while utilizing the practice of nonviolence.

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Works Cited

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.