Oh my goodness. This trilogy is definitely a must read for all. If you haven’t read it yet, I urge you to go pick it up today. This graphic novel was written by Congressman John Lewis, a key figure of the of the civil rights movement, and Andrew Aydin. And the artwork illustrated by Nate Powell is absolutely stunning.
The March Trilogy Book One
In this first book of the trilogy, we meet John Lewis in his office in 2009 as President Obama was about to take office. A woman and her two young children walk in and she is immediately taken aback when she sees John Lewis is actually there. All she wanted was to show her children his office, but they ended up beginning a lovely conversation about the past. In this conversation, we learn about John Lewis’ childhood growing up in rural Alabama. From there, the story continues on to show how John Lewis got started with nonviolence and began the sit-ins.
The March Trilogy Book Two
In this book, see that John Lewis is more committed than ever to change the world through nonviolence. The main focus of the story is on the Freedom Riders. These Freedom Riders boarded buses headed south and were faced with very violent beatings, police brutality, imprisonment, arson, and murder. But even through all of that, the movement stays strong in their nonviolence and continues to move forward.
The March Trilogy Book Three
This third volume centers around the movement fighting for the right to vote. At this time, the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution had already given all citizens the right to vote, but that was only on paper. In the “real world,” police officer and city officials still prevented black people from registering by creating poll taxes or making them complete “literacy tests.” Many were harassed and beaten; some lost their jobs if they even attempted to register. This volume also covers the march from Selma to Montgomery.
My Thoughts on The March Trilogy
I loved absolutely everything about this gut-wrenching graphic novel trilogy.
Right from the very first illustration, I was hooked. Once I picked each of these books up and started reading, I could not put them down. Needless to say, the storylines in each book was incredibly well organized and perfectly paced. I loved all of the switches between present day and the past that occurred throughout!
The characters were all very well developed, especially for a history-based graphic novel. I am so embarrassed to say that some of these names were new to me. But I am very happy that I now know about them.
The artwork was absolutely stunning and the details were incredible. I loved that the illustrations were black and white because that really created an incredible tone for the story.
Of course, because of the topic, a lot of this was very hard to read and even more difficult to see in illustrated form. A lot of it was incredibly heartbreaking. But of course, it is such an important story to read.
A few panels/pages from book one:
A few panels/pages from book two:
A few panels/pages from book three:
My Final Thoughts on The March Trilogy
I would very highly recommend this for all! This is another item that I would love to see on required reading lists in school.
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