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A review by kierscrivener
March: Book One by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin
4.0
John Lewis was 23 when he led and spoke at the Washington March, speaking third to King's I Have A Dream eighth. He worked in social justice and advocacy for twenty years before serving seventeen consecutive terms as a Congressman from 1987 until his death thirty-three years later at age eighty.
March is a trilogy of graphic novel memoirs, beginning with his youth and his early involvement in sit ins and calls to desegregate. It is a fantastic way of conveying history in an accessible medium, and beginning with his March from Selma to Montgomery, the same route his casket would take fifty-five years later, his first trip was met with white fists and his blood, the last with Black fists raised and honour.
We then move to him on the day in January 2009 when he was preparing for the inauguration of Barack Obama, he had seen his country go from not letting him sit in a restaurant to electing a Black man president. But as we follow him back memory lane and through his childhood, youth and first protests and sit ins, we are reminded of how far we've come and how similar this all still is.
In his last public words, published the day of his funeral an written days before his death he says: 'Emmett Till was my George Floyd. He was my Rayshard Brooks, Sandra Bland and Breonna Taylor. He was 14 when he was killed, and I was only 15 years old at the time. I will never ever forget the moment when it became so clear that he could easily have been me.'
And ends with a call and encouragement to continue on his legacy: 'Though I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe. In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.
When historians pick up their pens to write the story of the 21st century, let them say that it was your generation who laid down the heavy burdens of hate at last and that peace finally triumphed over violence, aggression and war. So I say to you, walk with the wind, brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide.'
March is a trilogy of graphic novel memoirs, beginning with his youth and his early involvement in sit ins and calls to desegregate. It is a fantastic way of conveying history in an accessible medium, and beginning with his March from Selma to Montgomery, the same route his casket would take fifty-five years later, his first trip was met with white fists and his blood, the last with Black fists raised and honour.
We then move to him on the day in January 2009 when he was preparing for the inauguration of Barack Obama, he had seen his country go from not letting him sit in a restaurant to electing a Black man president. But as we follow him back memory lane and through his childhood, youth and first protests and sit ins, we are reminded of how far we've come and how similar this all still is.
In his last public words, published the day of his funeral an written days before his death he says: 'Emmett Till was my George Floyd. He was my Rayshard Brooks, Sandra Bland and Breonna Taylor. He was 14 when he was killed, and I was only 15 years old at the time. I will never ever forget the moment when it became so clear that he could easily have been me.'
And ends with a call and encouragement to continue on his legacy: 'Though I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe. In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.
When historians pick up their pens to write the story of the 21st century, let them say that it was your generation who laid down the heavy burdens of hate at last and that peace finally triumphed over violence, aggression and war. So I say to you, walk with the wind, brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide.'