“We must not be afraid. We must be hopeful.” US Representative John Lewis, who died July 17 after a six-month battle with cancer, said that in an interview with Trevor Noah. As Rep. Lewis is remembered and honored for his lifetime of activism and public service, this quote stood out to me. It positions fear as the opposite of hope. Fear of difference, of change, of oppression, of others. It was Rep. Lewis’ relentless hope that took him from segregated rural Alabama in the American south, to organizing non-violent protests, and acting as one of the original 13 Freedom Riders, riding a racially integrated bus from Washington, DC to New Orleans. His hope propelled him to public service, serving in the Carter administration, and later as a US congressman.
What gave him hope? As an inspiring speaker, Rep. Lewis spoke of learning about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the radio at the age of 15. That’s quite the role model. He learned more about Dr. King through a comic book, reading about a man who looked like him, and peacefully fought for equal rights. A comic book about Martin Luther King? I did some digging. As a child, Rep. Lewis was an avid reader, having been denied a library card because he was Black, his teacher told him to not be discouraged, but to read whatever he could get his hands on. He found The Montgomery Story, a 16-page comic book about non-violent protest and other heroes like Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Protest. In comic books, Lewis found inspiration and hope.
Of course John Lewis’ story starts with more than a comic book, but seeing himself reflected in media and public life is something that remains so important for all of us who are underrepresented from public office to the boardroom. Role models and superheroes that look like us show us what’s possible. If we are to create a level playing field, where everyone has an equal chance to succeed, representation matters. Which is why organizations that are inclusive towards diverse groups of people, supporting them to feel understood and valued is so important. When one generation rises into leadership positions, they have the power to pull up and inspire others like them.
When Rep. Lewis was peacefully protesting for civil rights, “Diversity & Inclusion,” wasn’t a set of corporate buzzwords. They weren’t a “nice to have” PR campaign. “Diversity & Inclusion” meant being able to sit wherever you wanted on a bus. It meant attending school and sharing a water fountain with someone who had a different skin color than you. And yet, today we are still struggling for equity, for equal treatment in the workplace, judged for the quality of work we do, instead of what we look like. The pathway to success is recognizing where unfair privilege exists in our team cultures and working to dismantle it. It takes time. Even with how far we’ve come thanks to people like John Lewis, what he taught us was the power of representation to inspire relentless hope to keep advocating for equity.
I wonder if when teenaged John Lewis was reading comic books about Dr. King he ever imagined that someday there would be a comic book about him to inspire young and old readers? When we open up spaces to new voices, we tell more compelling stories and build more compelling companies.
