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Voting Rights Act of 1965

Name: Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement
Author: John Lewis

United States Congress

1965

Liberation

3-Minute Summary

Prohibited discriminatory voting practices that had disenfranchised Black voters for nearly a century. Section 5 required jurisdictions with histories of discrimination to obtain federal preclearance before changing voting laws — a provision gutted by the Supreme Court in 2013.

Why It Matters

The Voting Rights Act restored what the 15th Amendment had promised in 1870. Its partial dismantling in Shelby County v. Holder (2013) demonstrates that civil rights gains are not permanent without continued vigilance.

Important Passages

'No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color.'

Where to Read

Congress.gov (free)

Verified: National Archives, Congress.gov

Key People

Lyndon B. Johnson

John Lewis

Fannie Lou Hamer

Selma marchers

Key Policies & Events

Section 5 preclearanceLiteracy test banFederal examinersShelby County v. Holder (2013)

Related FBA Leaders

John Lewis Fannie Lou Hamer

Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement

John Lewis

1998

Liberation

3-Minute Summary

Lewis's memoir of his life from rural Alabama through his leadership of SNCC, the Freedom Rides, Bloody Sunday at the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and his decades in Congress. The most comprehensive first-person account of the Civil Rights Movement from a participant.

Why It Matters

Lewis was beaten nearly to death for the right to vote. His memoir is the most important first-person account of the Civil Rights Movement's ground-level organizing — the courage, the strategy, and the cost.

Important Passages

'Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime.'

Where to Read

Available at public libraries and online booksellers

Key People

John Lewis

Martin Luther King Jr.

Diane Nash

Bob Moses

Stokely Carmichael

Key Policies & Events

SNCCFreedom RidesVoting Rights ActBloody SundaySelma to Montgomery marches

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