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Like A Mighty Stream: The March On Washington
Uses eyewitness accounts, photographs, reports, and observations to provide a history of the 1963 March on Washington from the perspective of everday men and women,
- GenresNonfictionHistory
160 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 25, 2018
August 28, 1963 was a most significant day in the history of the United States. People from all over the country came to Washington D.C. to march for jobs and freedom and to support civil rights legislation. Rich, poor, black, white, male, female, young and old, came together as never before in our history. Patrik Henry Bass chronicles the march on Washington in great detail. He brings together events of the march, itself, the thoughts and actions of some of the participants, and the historical context leading up to that day. And, in so doing, history and the events of that day are woven in to an event that rallied many to the cause of civil rights in a way that had never been seen or experienced before.
This account of the march had many personal echoes for me, as well. As a little white girl about the start 1st grade, I was home with my dad watching television. It was a hot summer day. We had no air conditioning, and the floor fan was on high speed, close to the TV. I liked to get as close to the television as possible, so I could hear every footstep and nuance of sound. When the coverage of the march began, I was totally astounded that people had to "march" just to get the things I took for granted in my world. We were by no means well off, financially, but I had enough to eat. I had nice clothes to wear. I would be going to a newer school in a nice neighborhood. I knew a little about being treated differently, sometimes, because I am blind, but I had no idea that people were treated differently, just because of the color of their skin.
During the TV coverage of the march, as we watched, I peppered my dad with questions. How could this be? Weren't these folks Americans just like us? Didn't they live in houses, just like us? Why couldn't they vote like you and mom? Why couldn't they go to the dime store and eat at a lunch counter like we could? Why were so many poor? Why couldn't all children go to the same schools? On and on. It was so perplexing to me. I felt surprise, anger, and absolute shame that I had so much and these people didn't have the same rights as me and my parents. I told Dad, and later, Mom, that when I grew up I was going to do something that would help people. It was my first exposure to activism, the need for social justice and the need for change. I didn't decide to go to law school right then, but that day changed my life and put me on my future path to law school and government service. I'm retired now, but social media is my platform to continue to speak out. I can still feel the emotion of that day as it emanated from the television screen and the commentator's voices--and the speeches. I can still hear, in my mind, the voices coming together and the words of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Truly a life defining and life changing moment for me which still brings tears to my eyes, even today. We've come far, but we have so much more that needs doing.
I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the events of that day. What I find so unique about it is the way it combines the events of the day with the chronology leading up to it. If I could give it ten stars, I would do so. I also recommend it to anyone who is tired of fighting the good fight--to anyone who is discouraged about our back slide since 2017. One theme Mr. Bass remarks on and emphasizes over and over is "we shall overcome." We have. We must. And, we shall continue to overcome.
This account of the march had many personal echoes for me, as well. As a little white girl about the start 1st grade, I was home with my dad watching television. It was a hot summer day. We had no air conditioning, and the floor fan was on high speed, close to the TV. I liked to get as close to the television as possible, so I could hear every footstep and nuance of sound. When the coverage of the march began, I was totally astounded that people had to "march" just to get the things I took for granted in my world. We were by no means well off, financially, but I had enough to eat. I had nice clothes to wear. I would be going to a newer school in a nice neighborhood. I knew a little about being treated differently, sometimes, because I am blind, but I had no idea that people were treated differently, just because of the color of their skin.
During the TV coverage of the march, as we watched, I peppered my dad with questions. How could this be? Weren't these folks Americans just like us? Didn't they live in houses, just like us? Why couldn't they vote like you and mom? Why couldn't they go to the dime store and eat at a lunch counter like we could? Why were so many poor? Why couldn't all children go to the same schools? On and on. It was so perplexing to me. I felt surprise, anger, and absolute shame that I had so much and these people didn't have the same rights as me and my parents. I told Dad, and later, Mom, that when I grew up I was going to do something that would help people. It was my first exposure to activism, the need for social justice and the need for change. I didn't decide to go to law school right then, but that day changed my life and put me on my future path to law school and government service. I'm retired now, but social media is my platform to continue to speak out. I can still feel the emotion of that day as it emanated from the television screen and the commentator's voices--and the speeches. I can still hear, in my mind, the voices coming together and the words of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Truly a life defining and life changing moment for me which still brings tears to my eyes, even today. We've come far, but we have so much more that needs doing.
I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the events of that day. What I find so unique about it is the way it combines the events of the day with the chronology leading up to it. If I could give it ten stars, I would do so. I also recommend it to anyone who is tired of fighting the good fight--to anyone who is discouraged about our back slide since 2017. One theme Mr. Bass remarks on and emphasizes over and over is "we shall overcome." We have. We must. And, we shall continue to overcome.
May 3, 2021
It is clear that the path to clearing centuries of inequalities in America is longer that expected.In any country that systemic inequality occurs towards citizens that are displaced, it cuts both ways and we should remember this and do what is right.
January 16, 2026
The personal responses to the March on Washington were fascinating. There was just enough context for clarifying purposes. The editing was abysmal.
February 1, 2020
Chose this as my MLK Day read and I’m proud to say I finished it in one day! It was a short and easy read but gave some interesting perspectives on the March on a Washington that I hadn’t known about before. Primarily it showed me how much of a BAMF John Lewis is - wow! I knew he was an icon but never really knew why. I don’t recall learning about him in school at all. I did appreciate reading MLK’s I have a Dream speech in its entirety at the end, and it was interesting to not only learn about the historical backstory of the organizers and politicians of the day but also to get perspectives from “real, ordinary” people who were there.
January 21, 2012
Salem Abdulkerim
1/21/12
Book Review
"Like A Mighty Stream", The March On Washington by Patrick Henry Bass, is a biography about black people who go on a march to Washington to declare their rights to have freedom once and for all. They had laws that were made by Jim Crow, a white representative, and he would give them laws that would make them get very mad and that would also start to cause alot of violence.
People from Chicago, from Detroit, from Montgomery especially,and other people all over the world decided to take the favor and march all the way down to Washington and wanted to end segregation once and for all. There were a lot of buses like 45 buses and they would hold about approximately 10,000 people. People from Chicago went all the way to Washington by using rollerskates and some people even from Detroit went their by riding bicycles. The march was scheduled to be in 1941 but that never happened and then it started to happen in 1963, the year in which John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
There were still a lot of communities that were able to help them out and majority of those communities contained blacks and they also contained not many white people. Whites were still under control of the blacks and that caused anger on both sides.Martin Luther King was apart of one community called the Civil Rights Movement in which he mentioned the, "I have a dream" speech. That speech is one of the speeches in which everyone would start to participate in. But, he would get arrested for doing that protest. The main thing that I thought that people should really do if they are in an argument or if I disagree with anything is to just protest as long as you can. Yes, protest is the key to solving these problems but you can't just say that, "I'm not going to protest because I don't want to get in trouble" because that's going to really show you that you're mainly a person that doesn't want to fight for equal rights.
For me, I felt like I was literally apart of the book and that made me feel confident in myself because if I was actually a main character in that book, then what I would do is that I would gather my own group of people and I would lead them in a march all the way to Washington and overthrow Jim Crow. I would be having an imagination if I was in the 1960s. I can also probably be with Martin Luther King and we can both hold a lecture together saying that we can stop violence and segregated laws, once and for all.
No one would really not disobey me because they would like to listen to my speech and they would also want to adhere my footsteps. Everyone should like to do that for real. That is why in the end of the book, the conflicts were all finally solved and no one would have to fight anyone ever again and that no one would need to use violence on others again.
That is why if you want to read a book that is very emotional and that can help people solve other problems such as racism, you should read, "Like A Mighty Stream" by Patrick Henry Bass. Books like these can actually reveal to who you actually are and what you shouldn't be saying bad things to people who are black.
1/21/12
Book Review
"Like A Mighty Stream", The March On Washington by Patrick Henry Bass, is a biography about black people who go on a march to Washington to declare their rights to have freedom once and for all. They had laws that were made by Jim Crow, a white representative, and he would give them laws that would make them get very mad and that would also start to cause alot of violence.
People from Chicago, from Detroit, from Montgomery especially,and other people all over the world decided to take the favor and march all the way down to Washington and wanted to end segregation once and for all. There were a lot of buses like 45 buses and they would hold about approximately 10,000 people. People from Chicago went all the way to Washington by using rollerskates and some people even from Detroit went their by riding bicycles. The march was scheduled to be in 1941 but that never happened and then it started to happen in 1963, the year in which John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
There were still a lot of communities that were able to help them out and majority of those communities contained blacks and they also contained not many white people. Whites were still under control of the blacks and that caused anger on both sides.Martin Luther King was apart of one community called the Civil Rights Movement in which he mentioned the, "I have a dream" speech. That speech is one of the speeches in which everyone would start to participate in. But, he would get arrested for doing that protest. The main thing that I thought that people should really do if they are in an argument or if I disagree with anything is to just protest as long as you can. Yes, protest is the key to solving these problems but you can't just say that, "I'm not going to protest because I don't want to get in trouble" because that's going to really show you that you're mainly a person that doesn't want to fight for equal rights.
For me, I felt like I was literally apart of the book and that made me feel confident in myself because if I was actually a main character in that book, then what I would do is that I would gather my own group of people and I would lead them in a march all the way to Washington and overthrow Jim Crow. I would be having an imagination if I was in the 1960s. I can also probably be with Martin Luther King and we can both hold a lecture together saying that we can stop violence and segregated laws, once and for all.
No one would really not disobey me because they would like to listen to my speech and they would also want to adhere my footsteps. Everyone should like to do that for real. That is why in the end of the book, the conflicts were all finally solved and no one would have to fight anyone ever again and that no one would need to use violence on others again.
That is why if you want to read a book that is very emotional and that can help people solve other problems such as racism, you should read, "Like A Mighty Stream" by Patrick Henry Bass. Books like these can actually reveal to who you actually are and what you shouldn't be saying bad things to people who are black.
August 26, 2012
The March On Washington was when Dr. King Jr. did his speech "I Have a Dream".This book helped me understand a little more about the Civil Rights Movement. People from every race/walk of life was apart of this march and it change many life. I ready enjoyed reading this book. Would recommend it to school for and History or English classes and for pleasure reading.
February 27, 2010
Awesome book. Gave me insight into the March on Washington in 1963. Learned a lot.
December 30, 2014
This is an account of the March on Washington (1963 and before the March on Selma).It was where the I have a Dream speech took place. The book is full of interviews, photos, and eyewitness accounts.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews