Walking with the Wind

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1998

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Key Figures

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Symbols & Motifs

Spirit of History

Throughout Lewis’s memoir, he recalls feeling the presence of a power that he calls the “Spirit of History.” At moments of crisis, he describes being touched by this spirit, which guides him to where he is needed most. Lewis first encountered this guiding force when he learned about the philosophy and practices of nonviolence through Lawson’s workshops. Lewis felt this spirit again when the SNCC elected him chairman in that same week that Medgar Evers, a World War II veteran and the NAACP’s Mississippi field secretary, was murdered and Dr. King announced plans for a march on Washington. To Lewis, these cascading events occurring in a single week was “the Spirit of History at work” (201). Lewis underscores the importance of being in tune with this force and allowing oneself to be used for a greater purpose.

Walking with the Wind

To build a more just, equitable, and inclusive society, Lewis urges all of us to be active participants in our democracy through voting and volunteerism. When we choose to act, we "walk with the wind"—a metaphor Lewis creates out of a childhood memory of helping prevent his aunt’s house from blowing away by joining hands with his siblings and cousins and walking with the wind to keep the house on the ground. Throughout Lewis’s involvement in the CRM, there were plenty of times where he could have walked away. Instead he chose to continue fighting—walking with the wind rather than fleeing it.

Beloved Community

To Lewis, these words “‘Beloved’—not hateful, not violent, not uncaring, not unkind. And ‘Community’—not separated, not polarized, not adversarial” (499), combined into the “Beloved Community,” symbolize the ideal society. When Dr. King spoke of a “Beloved Community”—a just, interracial democracy that lived up to its notion as the “land of the free” —he inspired people to pour their souls into the CRM. After Dr. King’s assassination and the crumbling of the CRM, many Americans lost faith in the political process and in leaders. Yet Lewis firmly believes that we can achieve a “Beloved Community” if we reach across the lines that divide us and find common ground that unites us. We cannot run away from the most vulnerable of our people because we are “one people, one family, one house—the American house, the American family” (503).