Wow, the more I dive into these memoirs by John Lewis, the more I realize how little I know about the Civil Rights movement. The players. Just how much there was division even among those who wanted freedom and equal rights and desegregation.

John Lewis was quite the man. Truly his nonviolence stance makes me wonder how he would be with all of the current events/politics since 2009....... ( )

Graphic Novel Book Club, April 2017

I read all three volumes together for the last book club meeting and so all of these reviews are going to end up going together.

Like many people I felt the need to get this book into my hands and the hands of those reading with me as soon as our president decided to slander the wrong congressmen for not understanding how the world worked, or having done enough for it. What I didn't know going into this book, I feel is printed on my heart coming out of it.

I felt so deeply moved and charged by this book. I felt the use of gorgeous color covers of such wam colors but deeply rooted images and messages of the time worked amazingly against the stark, straight to the point black and white of the interior pages. I love the inclusion of it being a story to children, and a leadup to the meeting with Obama, and how it ended with the idea for making these books.

The story between the beginning and ending frames is one to break the heart and make the soul of America, marked in blood and bloodied courage. I felt weak, ashamed, proud, angry, and sorrowful in so many different places. I felt so glad that these books had sold out twice on Amazon from so many people wanting to educate themselves, and I feel like I've been changed in ways beyond words for adding it to my/our ongoing and current fight. ( )

Volume 2 was as moving and as powerful as the first volume. I highly recommend these graphic novels. ( )

I want to learn more about Bayard Rustin. He was considered a "strategic liability" to the movement because he was gay, but he organized the March on Washington anyway. ( )

This edition details the civil rights activists as they work to get people registered to vote in the midst of bombings. There were people in power who openly work to keep the black people from getting any rights, including police. It's a good look at the challenges John Lewis and the other black people were facing as well as their courage. Once again, it's a first hand account of a major historical time. The people involved were willing to lose their lives and many did, so the right to vote should be cherished and used even though shenanigans still happen in politics to keep black people from voting. The fight will probably never be over. ( )