Getting In The Way

"You must be bold, brave, and courageous and find a way to get in the way."

— John Lewis

John Lewis (1940–2020) was a civil rights leader and longtime U.S. Congressman from Georgia. As a young man, he helped organize sit-ins, Freedom Rides, and the 1963 March on Washington, and at 25 he led marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday, where police beat him nearly to death. He carried those scars into a 33-year career in Congress, where he continued pushing for voting rights and racial justice. Lewis coined the phrase 'good trouble' to describe the kind of principled disruption he believed democracy required. His life became a working definition of courage under real, physical risk.

RESILIENCE AND COURAGE

ACTIVISM

MORAL COURAGE

Context

Lewis repeated variations of this line throughout his life, but it crystallized his approach to activism: courage isn't a feeling you wait to arrive, it's a posture you choose before you're ready. He wasn't speaking abstractly — 'getting in the way' meant literally putting his body between injustice and its targets, absorbing beatings and arrests dozens of times. The quote strips away any romance around bravery; it's not about winning or feeling brave, it's about physically inserting yourself into a problem others are avoiding. Decades later, his words are invoked far beyond protest movements — in workplaces, families, and communities — as permission to interrupt harm instead of staying safely on the sidelines.

Today's Mantra

I put myself between the problem and the people it hurts.

Reflection Question

Think of a situation right now where you're staying quiet to avoid conflict. What would it cost you, honestly, to get in the way?

Application Tip

Identify one situation this week where you've been avoiding friction — a coworker undermining someone, a family pattern you tolerate, an injustice you scroll past. Instead of waiting for the perfect moment or full confidence, take one concrete step today: send the direct message, speak up in the meeting, or make the call. Don't wait to feel brave first. Write down what you did and how it felt afterward, then repeat the exercise weekly, gradually choosing bigger moments to get in the way.