March: Book Three

The final book in the March series won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature in 2016.  As with Books 1 and 2 it was written by GA Congressman John Lewis and it is about the civil rights movement of the 1960s.  Book 3 covers the period of time from September, 1963 when 4 girls were killed in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL to August, 1965 when the Voting Rights Act was signed into law.

The danger that has surrounded the marchers since the beginning of the movement gets pretty violent in book 3, violent enough to get the nation's attention.

The book opens with African American citizens being asked to count the correct number of jelly beans in a jar or the number of bubbles in a bar of soap in order to be eligible to register to vote.  Many voter registrars required literacy tests be taken by only African American applicants.  If they were able to pass these tests and actually get registered to vote their names were printed in the newspaper which made them targets for violence and to be fired by their employers.

There was some nasty politics between the movement and President Johnson who wanted total control over the movement so that he could have his moment being nominated by his party for president as well as trying to get votes in Congress for a voting rights act.  In the end, the Act was passed by Congress and signed into law.

The March books are incredibly powerful graphic novels.  They present the civil rights movement with extraordinary storytelling. While the movement began the year I was born, I remember watching many of these events unfold on tv when I was a child.  The book is just as gripping as watching the events as they happened.  Congressman Lewis did a great job at capturing the spirit of the times, a story he told from his memory.

More than highly recommended!

Drawing the Vote

 

Tommy Jenkins has written an informative graphic novel with the history of voting and voting rights in the United States.  Voting rights issues have been debated by Congress since the Continental Congress era, even before the passage of our Constitution.  Originally, only white male land owners were allowed to vote.  Now we are fighting to keep the rights that were previously granted by earlier generations.  Much of the book is about the Trump era, the suffragette era and the civil rights era of the 1960s.  It is a sad judgment on my country.

The artwork was done by Kati Lacker.  She primarily used blue tones in her drawings but there are also red drawings.  Is there a red, white and blue theme here?  Drawing the Vote is Lacker's first graphic novel.

The book is well suited for young readers.  It gives the history of a topic that is current in our politics and is told in an easy to understand way.  Adults would likewise benefit.  5 out of 5 stars.

March: Book Two

The 2nd book in Congressman John Lewis's trilogy on the civil rights movement focuses on the period of time from November, 1960 to August 28, 1963 when Dr. Martin Luther King made his famous "I Have a Dream" at the March on Washington, DC.  Rep. Lewis also spoke at that event.  As with Book 1, the story alternated between the 1960s and the Obama inauguration.

Book 2 did not seem to me to be as dramatic as Book 1.  However, some pretty dramatic events took place here.  The Freedom Rides, the killing of 3 Freedom Riders by law enforcement officers/KKK and the beginning of the push for a Voting Rights Act are depicted.  For the uninitiated the freedom rides were organized to protest a U.S. Supreme Court opinion in Boynton vs. Virginia where segregation on buses was upheld by the Court.

I am looking forward to reading Book 3 which won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature in 2016.

March: Book One

Georgia Congressman John Lewis wrote this book in 2013 with one of his staffers Andrew Aydin.  Nate Powell was the illustrator.  The book presents the beginning of Lewis's life as well as the beginning of the civil rights movement in the U. S.

Lewis grew up in Troy, Alabama hoping to be a preacher.  A trip one summer with an uncle to visit relatives in Ohio opened his eyes to the inequalities between the white and black races in the American South.  He was shocked to find his Ohio relatives living in a home in between 2 white families.  When he returned home he had some trouble concentrating on his studies and in his free time was pouring over newspapers and listening to radio reports.  It was on one of these radio stations that he first heard a sermon by MLK, Jr. that hit him like a bolt of lightening.  MLK had applied the principles of the church to what was happening in the world at that time.  It was called the social gospel.

Lewis wanted to attend Troy State University near his home but blacks were not admitted there.  He wrote MLK about it and after being invited to meet with him, Lewis traveled to meet MLK where they discussed his parents  suing the school on his behalf because he was a minor.  His parents declined due to the threats and terror the family and neighbors would have to endure if they sued.

After beginning college Lewis participated in sit-ins at lunch counters in Nashville, TN. At first the sit-ins involved  a group of blacks entering a white only store and asking to be served. They would leave when told that colored people were not served there. Later the group decided to not leave until they were arrested upon which another group took their place. The groups prepared themselves for abuse to be heaped upon them by practising being "insulted" by white people.  They wanted to be able to handle the abuse with dignity.

Folks.  This is history being told in an easy way for the younger generation to learn about how the civil rights movement got started.  Whoever came up with the idea to write this as a graphic novel is a genius.  No kid wants to read a political tome but a comic is another story.

I personally met John Lewis at a fundraiser that an attorney I worked for in Atlanta sponsored for him at the law firm we worked at during his campaign for his first term in Congress. I was quite impressed with Mr. Lewis.  He was incredibly grateful for the opportunity to speak at our firm.  I had never met a grateful politician before, and none since, and I have now been in politics for 42 years. He had something inside him that was compelling to me.  I now know that I recognized a moral rectitude in him.  He is truly a national treasure.

I already have purchased books 2 and 3 in the March series and will be reading them next.

Something New

I have followed Lucy Knisley for several years.  Something New:  Tales of a Makeshift Bride is about Knisley's engagement and marriage to her longtime boyfriend John.  It is a humorous look into the world of all things bridal, illustrated with colorful comic strips by Knisley herself.

As an artist Knisley wanted a DIY wedding that reflected her and John's personality.  Her mother is a retired caterer who insisted that she not only get married at home but that her mother would build a barn on her property to hold the festivities in.  Knisley and her mother had built many things together over the years and both of them thought that the barn would be easy to accomplish.  It wasn't.  Nor were all of the decisions that needed to be made on items such as linens, dresses, decor and music.  Mom basically got her way though.

Something New is a funny graphic memoir and I enjoyed the author's journey to adulthood.  It is especially recommended for newly engaged women.   5 out of 5 stars.

Brazen

Penelope Bagieu's graphic novel Brazen is subtitled Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World. It contains 30 short biographies of women who challenged the norms of their eras and made changes to society.  As a feminist, I could not help but love this book.

With the exception of Wu Zetian, Nellie Bly, Josephine Baker, Hedy Lamarr and Mae Jamison I had not heard of any of  these women. One in particular surprised me. Agnodice was a female gynecologist in the B. C. era. I didn't know there were gynecologists back then let alone women gynecologists.  She had to masquerade as a man to practice because prior women gynecologists were accused of performing abortions and women were then outlawed from working in that profession. Some things never change do they?

Be prepared to be inspired to dream big and learn how to persevere to reach those dreams of you read Brazen. I recommend this book as a must read for all girls for this reason.  Us older gals like myself could use a good dose of inspiration to either keep us on track or be inspired to find another path as a few of the rebel ladies did.

The artwork is done in a traditional comic book page layout using primarily colored layouts but occasionally black and white drawings. What strikes me about the drawings is how well the author captures women's emotions on their faces.  When a rebel lady gets treated badly or gets bad news, the author has drawn the perfect expression on her face.

Highly, highly recommended!