About the Authors

About the Authors

The Honorable John Lewis is Georgia’s Fifth Congressional District Representative and an American icon widely known for his role in the Civil Rights Movement. As a student at American Baptist Theological Seminary in 1959, John Lewis organized sit-in demonstrations at segregated lunch counters in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1961, he volunteered to participate in the Freedom Rides, which challenged segregation at interstate bus terminals across the South. From 1963 to 1966, Lewis was Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). As Chairman, John Lewis became a nationally recognized leader. Lewis was dubbed one of the Big Six leaders of the Civil Rights Movement and at the age of 23, he was an architect of and a keynote speaker at the historic March on Washington in August 1963.

Despite more than 40 arrests, physical attacks and serious injuries, John Lewis remained a devoted advocate of the philosophy of nonviolence. After leaving SNCC in 1966, he continued his commitment to the Civil Rights Movement as Associate Director of the Field Foundation and his participation in the Southern Regional Council’s voter registration programs. Lewis went on to become the Director of the Voter Education Project (VEP). In 1977, John Lewis was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to direct more than 250,000 volunteers of ACTION, the federal volunteer agency.

In 1981, he was elected to the Atlanta City Council. He was elected to Congress in November 1986 and has served as U.S. Representative of Georgia’s Fifth Congressional District since then. In 2011 he was awarded the Presidental Medal of Freedom.

Watch Rep. Lewis describe being denied a library card as a child, on CBS This Morning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlD2qsfiBrg

Andrew Aydin serves as Digital Director & Policy Advisor to Congressman Lewis in Washington, D.C. A graduate of Trinity College in Hartford and Georgetown University in Washington, Andrew wrote his master’s thesis on the history and impact of Martin Luther King & The Montgomery Story. Andrew frequently lectures about the history of comics in the civil rights movement and has appeared as a guest on The Rachel Maddow Show, National Public Radio, CBS This Morning, CNN, the BBC and many other programs. He is a popular presenter at Comic-Con and at U.S. corporations and recently appeared as a guest speaker at Google and at the Apple headquarters in California.

Nate Powell is a New York Times best-selling graphic novelist born in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1978. Powell’s work has received a Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, an Eisner Award, two Ignatz Awards, four YALSA Great Graphic Novels For Teens selections, a Best American Comics selection, and has been nominated for a total of 8 Eisner Awards, a Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and 3 Harvey Awards. From 1999 to 2009, Powell provided full-time support for adults with developmental disabilities alongside his cartooning work. He managed underground record label Harlan Records for 16 years, and performed in punk bands Soophie Nun Squad and Universe. He lives in Bloomington, Indiana.

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