March: Book One (March #1)
Author: John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell
Published: 2013
On Goodreads
My Rating: 
Rated R for racial reality up close and personal.
On the eve of Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2009, John Lewis recounts his time during the Civil Rights Movement and all the strength and fight he gave to it and still does. This first book journeyed through his life-changing meeting with Martin Luther King Jr., the birth of the Nashville Student Movement and the beginning of the end of segregation with lunch counter sit-ins.
March is 1 of 4 graphic novel series that I’m doing for my New Year’s Resolution.
First off, before I jump headfirst into the review, I want to apologize. Life has taken a sharp turn lately and it’s thrown off my blog-game a bit. I’m still here, I promise. There is just a lot of overwhelming things going on at the moment. Love you , guys. Thank you for sticking with me. Now, on we go!
March was outstanding story and incredible artwork. I was blown away by every page. Compelling in its violence and truth of the Civil Rights Movement through Lewis’s eyes. I’ve always believed that the Civil Rights Movement should be a history class in and of itself. More so, this is definitely a collection that needs to be brought into history classes. Every high school student should read this. It is a powerful and unique way to put the reader as close as possible to being in the Congressman’s shoes.
This is a piece for the soft at heart. This is a time in history that was, and still is, at unrest. This isn’t sugarcoating any of what Lewis and his fellow protestors went through. Vulgarity. Violence. Racism. The U.S. wasn’t, and in so many ways still, isn’t the land of the free. This is a part of our history. It’s ugly, but it’s a part of us and to get past it we must address it and I still feel like we don’t. We say we are but we still repeat it. Fucking hell.
Sit-ins, the study of non-violence, Martin Luther King Jr., it’s mind-boggling in the best way possible. Though utterly horrifying, The protests for basic rights wasn’t an easy feat though it shouldn’t have to be fought for to begin with. It should be a given, period. Still, Lewis sharing his harrowing experience and how scary it was was illuminating.
There is so much hope and strength in this and I’m in awe. The artwork is as bold as the narrative. From meeting Martin Luther King Jr. to facing danger and the possibility of death while learning the art of protesting and change, this is certainly something that carried through to today.
Overall
Astounding and vivid. A moment in history seen through the eyes of a man who is a part of history and change and continues to be. Worth the read and the emotions. A life-changer. Pick this up. Read it. Keep it. It’s history in gripping form. This isn’t anything a textbook can give you.
Quotables:
“Fury spends itself pretty quickly when there’s no fury facing it.” (p. 101)
More to come soon…
-K.
Song Today? River by Leon Bridges.
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The Scarlet Reader 
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