Loved this graphic novel series. Makes the history feel very real. ( )

Every American should know about the pain and sacrifice suffered by those activists who insisted that African Americans in the South should be able to vote. John Lewis was at the center of the movement, and was beaten, harassed, and jailed. Now he is a Congressman. In 2013, the US Supreme Court effectively neutered the Voting Rights Act. Since then, we have seen an onslaught of attempts, whether through gerrymandering or onerous requirements, to disenfranchise as many people of color as possible.

March 3 combines a visceral first person account with some inside baseball specifics of how a grass roots nonviolent movement can eventually win over a resistant populace. ( )

Have to admit this one was my least favorite. I feel too much information, too much storytelling, was packed into this volume. There was too much text =/ Also, I wanted to learn about Lewis beyond all the marches.....I would have enjoyed what got him to Washington. ( )

I think the third book improved on the second in that the illustrations conveyed more of the information they were trying to convey without the narrative. I got lost a couple times wondering what was going on on a few pages of the second one, but not this one. There were several parts that were very moving, but it is still very troubling to realize that all of this happened in my parents' adulthood, and the culmination just two years before my older sister was born. The freshness is both comforting and disturbing. Comforting in that it helps explain why this problem still hasn't gone away, but still deeply disturbing in that we forget the struggle, brutality, and deaths so easily. ( )

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. ( )