Best for: Anyone who thinks we don’t still need the voting rights act. In a nutshell: This is the final – and longest – of three graphic novels about the life of John Lewis. It covers the mid-60s, culminating in the march from Selma to Montgomery and the passing of the voting rights act. Line that sticks with me: “In Mississippi that summer we suffered more than 1000 arrests, 80 beatings, 35 shootings, 35 church burnings, and 30 bombings.” Why I chose it: Because the […]
February 27, 1960 was my first arrest.
I bought John Lewis and Andrew Aydin’s March: Book 1 last year in a frenzy of buying graphic novels on sale. I started reading it before Trump decided to go after John Lewis on Twitter. I was born just a few months after Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. I grew up in a predominantly white, liberal bubble in Austin, Texas. My mother was more politically minded, but my parents were both aware of, and opposed to racism. In school, my teachers were mostly white […]
We Are Alderaan
Beginning with the award ceremony on Yavin 4, Princess Leia tells the story of Leia’s mission to save what remained of Alderaan, the people who had settled on other worlds. Leia and fellow Alderaanian Rebel, Evaan, set out to reunite the diaspora as the Empire threatens to wipe out all surviving Alderaanians. It wasn’t a bad story, but it had weaknesses not found in Darth Vader or Chewbacca. It didn’t really make sense to me that Leia would try to gather the survivors in one spot. It seems […]
Meeting Violence with Non-Violence
Best for: Anyone who doesn’t know about John Lewis. Also, anyone who does. Also, judging from the latest Pajiba post, Rob Schneider. Ooof. In a nutshell: This is the second of three graphic novels about the life of John Lewis. It covers the early 60s, focusing on the Freedom Rides and the March on Washington. Line that sticks with me: “We found out later that [Birmingham Police Chief ‘Bull’ Connor] had promised the Ku Klux Klan fifteen minutes with the bus before he’d make any […]