Book Review

March: Book Two
by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell

March: Book Two picks up where the earlier volume leaves off. After the success of the lunch counter sit-ins, SNCC expands the protests to fast food places and cafeterias. In addition, the Freedom Riders program to integrate interstate bus lines starts up. SNCC, other related groups, and John Lewis himself become more visible, but their successes and growing visibility also bring increased danger. The members of the movement face arrests, imprisonment, and beatings, but they carry on, gaining increased support from more powerful men, including Martin Luther King Jr and Robert Kennedy. When Lewis is elected chairman of SNCC, he becomes on the the Big Six of the Civil Rights movement.
This book is every bit as compelling as its predecessor. Once again I enjoyed finding out about the details and the work that went on between big events. The theme and role of non-violent action continues and becomes even stronger as these ideals are tested via the increasing violence towards the protestors.

Book Review

March: Book Three
by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell

The conclusion of this series is rather amazing. March: Book Three concentrates on the push for voter registration and the events leading up to Bloody Sunday and the march from Selma to Montgomery, AL. It begins with a wrenching account of the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, and ends with the march and its aftermath. Given the escalation of violence, this book is a more intense read than the first two, and every bit as gripping. The graphic novel format is quite effective in all three books, too, giving the events an immediacy and a concrete reality that text alone could not have provided.