Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.65 AVERAGE
4.65 AVERAGE
Wow... this one was really powerful. So enlightening. Also so disheartening to see things on these pages that look to earlier familiar to things I could see on the news today.
Maybe due to lesser feeling of exposition, I found this installment notably more impacting than the first. So haunting and poignant given the unrest presently felt in our daily society.
The March trilogy is an incredible work of memoir and graphic novel. The power of the civil rights movement as embodied in the person of The Boy from Troy, Rep. John Lewis, takes on new meaning as the story told in March progresses.
The books are set up within a frame of the 2009 inauguration of Barack Obama. While receiving visitors at his office he leads into the story of his childhood. The books are all told through the voice and perspective of Rep. Lewis in a highly skilled fashion. At no point is there any lecturing or moralising, we never lose sight of Rep. Lewis and others in the movement as human beings, as flawed as humans beings can be.
I had the great fortune to be at the University of San Francisco this year for a talk with John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell; an event I will never forget. I am able to personalise the story even more than before I'd met them. It is clear that this is a team effort and that great care has been taken to represent the movement and the time as truthfully and as honestly as possible.
I cannot recommend this trilogy highly enough.
The books are set up within a frame of the 2009 inauguration of Barack Obama. While receiving visitors at his office he leads into the story of his childhood. The books are all told through the voice and perspective of Rep. Lewis in a highly skilled fashion. At no point is there any lecturing or moralising, we never lose sight of Rep. Lewis and others in the movement as human beings, as flawed as humans beings can be.
I had the great fortune to be at the University of San Francisco this year for a talk with John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell; an event I will never forget. I am able to personalise the story even more than before I'd met them. It is clear that this is a team effort and that great care has been taken to represent the movement and the time as truthfully and as honestly as possible.
I cannot recommend this trilogy highly enough.
What it's about: The second book continues John Lewis's story. This volume is both longer and darker as it wades into the central conflicts of the Civil Rights movement.
What I thought: This story is so incredibly compelling that I had trouble putting it down, even as it filled me with shame and anger and sadness, because there is also a strength and purity that comes through in the story of John Lewis and the other people who were willing to literally risk their lives in order to stand up to - not even to end, but simply to stand up to - the racism and blatantly unethical laws under which they had grown up.
This book gets very heavy. There is lots of offensive language, both in terms of racial slurs and swearing. There is also a lot of violence, and a drawn reproduction of the picture of Emmet Till's dead body.
This is an incredibly powerful story of a very dark time. I found myself repeatedly getting scared on behalf of the characters as they confronted racism in a variety of forms, particularly since I knew that almost any confrontation between a Black person and a white person could ultimately end with the Black person being murdered, no matter how non-violent the Black person was.
That was also a stunning part of this story that my mind knew but which had not really sunk into my heart - the embrace of non-violent tactics by John Lewis and his group, despite the hatred and physical violence with which they were met. It was truly awe-inspiring. I do not think I could have held to that principle in the face of the brutality those seeking justice were faced with so frequently.
I was also floored by their willingness to head directly into dangerous situations. While they repeatedly said they were not planning to be martyrs to the cause, they also regularly put their lives on the line, with full knowledge that they would almost certainly be beaten and could likely be killed. To see that sort of resolve in pursuit of a cause is humbling and amazing. That it was required to achieve a semblance of equality is horrifying.
I truly could not wrap my mind around what it was that drove (and sadly continues to drive) racists to hate a person they don't even know based on one physical characteristic. It makes no sense to me, but that they were (and are) willing to visit violence on people with whom they disagree is sickening. As depicted in the art of these books, it was men and women, young and old, with no division for their hatred.
Reading about racism in textbooks established for me that it happened. Seeing it in a graphic format made me experience it in a completely different way.
Racism truly comes across as madness, as insanity, in this format. That seems fitting and appropriate.
Why I rated it like I did: This second book is more brutal than the first, both in terms of the physical travails to which Black people were subjected, and in terms of the psychological weight of realizing that there are people who would encourage violence against, and even the murder of, another person because of the color of one's skin. I found myself repeatedly horrified, and with tears in my eyes as I made my way through this volume.
This book should be required reading in high schools.
What I thought: This story is so incredibly compelling that I had trouble putting it down, even as it filled me with shame and anger and sadness, because there is also a strength and purity that comes through in the story of John Lewis and the other people who were willing to literally risk their lives in order to stand up to - not even to end, but simply to stand up to - the racism and blatantly unethical laws under which they had grown up.
This book gets very heavy. There is lots of offensive language, both in terms of racial slurs and swearing. There is also a lot of violence, and a drawn reproduction of the picture of Emmet Till's dead body.
This is an incredibly powerful story of a very dark time. I found myself repeatedly getting scared on behalf of the characters as they confronted racism in a variety of forms, particularly since I knew that almost any confrontation between a Black person and a white person could ultimately end with the Black person being murdered, no matter how non-violent the Black person was.
That was also a stunning part of this story that my mind knew but which had not really sunk into my heart - the embrace of non-violent tactics by John Lewis and his group, despite the hatred and physical violence with which they were met. It was truly awe-inspiring. I do not think I could have held to that principle in the face of the brutality those seeking justice were faced with so frequently.
I was also floored by their willingness to head directly into dangerous situations. While they repeatedly said they were not planning to be martyrs to the cause, they also regularly put their lives on the line, with full knowledge that they would almost certainly be beaten and could likely be killed. To see that sort of resolve in pursuit of a cause is humbling and amazing. That it was required to achieve a semblance of equality is horrifying.
I truly could not wrap my mind around what it was that drove (and sadly continues to drive) racists to hate a person they don't even know based on one physical characteristic. It makes no sense to me, but that they were (and are) willing to visit violence on people with whom they disagree is sickening. As depicted in the art of these books, it was men and women, young and old, with no division for their hatred.
Reading about racism in textbooks established for me that it happened. Seeing it in a graphic format made me experience it in a completely different way.
Racism truly comes across as madness, as insanity, in this format. That seems fitting and appropriate.
Why I rated it like I did: This second book is more brutal than the first, both in terms of the physical travails to which Black people were subjected, and in terms of the psychological weight of realizing that there are people who would encourage violence against, and even the murder of, another person because of the color of one's skin. I found myself repeatedly horrified, and with tears in my eyes as I made my way through this volume.
This book should be required reading in high schools.
+ This was very hard-hitting, even more so than the first book. The racism and violence was just horrific and unforgettable to read about.
+ I enjoyed learning about the freedom riders and how their movement inspired so many others to join.
+ There was a lot more politics in this book and it was interesting to read about the Kennedy's reactions and involvements during this time period as well as other reactions of other people in power.
+ There were sections that included Barack Obama's inauguration and these moments were very impactful as it showed how far the movement had come.
- I wish we got to see more of Martin Luther King Jr. speech and the effect it had that day
+ I enjoyed learning about the freedom riders and how their movement inspired so many others to join.
+ There was a lot more politics in this book and it was interesting to read about the Kennedy's reactions and involvements during this time period as well as other reactions of other people in power.
+ There were sections that included Barack Obama's inauguration and these moments were very impactful as it showed how far the movement had come.
- I wish we got to see more of Martin Luther King Jr. speech and the effect it had that day
I really have no words to describe this book. I loved it, but it was a hard read. It made me angry, sad, and frustrated. That being said, this is a fantastic book and I would highly recommend reading it.
March: Book Two picks up right where Book One left readers off. After the sit-ins at local diners, the SNCC widens their reach and decide to start performing sit-ins on the county busses. These Freedom Rides were perilous and often put participants at extreme risk. This volume also follows Lewis' journey to becoming one of the speakers at the March on Washington.
Much of my thoughts on this volume are similar to those I had when I read Volume One. Reading this trilogy this year has been eye-opening, horrifying and heart-wrenching (it didn't help that I read the scene where Obama takes the Oath of Office the same day of Trump's inauguration...)
I love literature because it can be both a mirror that reflects our experiences, but it can also be a window that let's us see into a different time/place/experience - this work definitely falls in the "window" category for me, and not just because these events took place over 40 years ago. Getting to see behind-the-scenes of the Civil Rights Movement (at least, from Lewis' perspective) is illuminating both as a Canadian with a very limited knowledge of the movement, and as a white woman. To go back to the window metaphor, this window was incredible large and clear - Lewis doesn't sugarcoat anything and he's honest in his account of how brutal the protests were as well as the strife among the African American community in protests and action should be done.
At the time of writing this, I've already read Book Three, and I believe that this volume is the strongest in the trilogy. I love these comics, even though it breaks my heart that our history is what made them possible to exist. I can't recommend these highly enough.
Much of my thoughts on this volume are similar to those I had when I read Volume One. Reading this trilogy this year has been eye-opening, horrifying and heart-wrenching (it didn't help that I read the scene where Obama takes the Oath of Office the same day of Trump's inauguration...)
I love literature because it can be both a mirror that reflects our experiences, but it can also be a window that let's us see into a different time/place/experience - this work definitely falls in the "window" category for me, and not just because these events took place over 40 years ago. Getting to see behind-the-scenes of the Civil Rights Movement (at least, from Lewis' perspective) is illuminating both as a Canadian with a very limited knowledge of the movement, and as a white woman. To go back to the window metaphor, this window was incredible large and clear - Lewis doesn't sugarcoat anything and he's honest in his account of how brutal the protests were as well as the strife among the African American community in protests and action should be done.
At the time of writing this, I've already read Book Three, and I believe that this volume is the strongest in the trilogy. I love these comics, even though it breaks my heart that our history is what made them possible to exist. I can't recommend these highly enough.
This second volume of John Lewis’ graphic novel memoir covers a lot of historical ground: his participation with the Freedom Riders, his jail stint in Mississippi, and his part in the March on Washington, to just highlight a few. This book also introduced me to Bayard Rustin, who I am embarrassed to say I knew nothing about and had never learned about in school.
This volume is as impactful and impeccably done as the first. The most striking difference between the two is the increased focus on violence toward civil rights activists. Truly moving, disturbing, and thought-provoking.
“What we found as we pushed our protests deeper into the heart of a segregated society, was that our nonviolent actions were met with increasingly violent responses."
This volume is as impactful and impeccably done as the first. The most striking difference between the two is the increased focus on violence toward civil rights activists. Truly moving, disturbing, and thought-provoking.
“What we found as we pushed our protests deeper into the heart of a segregated society, was that our nonviolent actions were met with increasingly violent responses."
This is the second book in the March graphic novel trilogy that is told by Congressman John Lewis, one of the key figures of the civil rights movement. In this graphic novel trilogy John Lewis tells his story about his participation in the civil rights movement. In this book he talks about the protests that he and his fellow Freedom Riders participated in. These graphic novel books are amazing. I love the art and the way the story is told. John Lewis is an amazing, iconic figure and I'm happy that I reading his story about what he and many others faced to get to where we are today. This is a very eyeopening book and the art makes it even better because we get to see the story unfold in a unique way. I would highly recommend reading this book because it's powerful and it's a book that I think everyone should read. I'm very excited to pick up the third book in this trilogy!