March: Book One (2013)

A while ago, I picked up this book, the first in the late John Lewis’s three-part graphic memoir. Co-created with Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell, Book One takes us through Lewis’s childhood into his early adulthood and his first involvement in organizing for civil rights.

On a cold January morning in 2009, Sen. John Lewis goes to the Capitol for Barack Obama’s inauguration. Before the ceremony begins, he meets two young boys and starts to tell them the story of his life. From his youthful sermons delivered in front of his “congregation” of chickens, to his experiences doing sit-ins with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, he shares his story with the boys and, in turn, the story of America.

This is clearly a book that was written/drawn with an educational aim, and that’s all right. It’s wild that Lewis’s story and those of other Civil Rights leaders have been so rarely dramatized, given America’s penchant for projects based on true stories, so this one was certainly overdue. The framing device of Lewis talking to two kids about his life is handy – it takes us through the major historical/biographical events while still allowing for slice-of-life tangents or clarifying questions from the boys. Lewis lays out the history of his story as it happened, not shying away from the indignity, danger, and injustice but also emphasizing victories and flashes of hope within a long struggle. He includes lots of good details; I especially like the time he takes on the sit-in campaigns, all the planning, training, and strategic decisions that went into them.

The artwork is really effective – I like the stark contrast of the black-and-white, and the progression of the panels is often very cinematic. It draws you in further to what’s already an engrossing story, making its sights and sounds come alive in a way that feels very immediate for history. Between the way that Lewis tells the story and the way it’s drawn, I can easily picture the boys imagining themselves in Lewis’s shoes.

I’ve mentioned this before, especially in relation to other Civil-Rights-related media, but there can sometimes be a tendency to see historical figures as icons rather than people. Lewis’s very personal story defies that. Even when he talks about highly-admired/quasi-canonized figures of the movement, like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., it’s filtered through Lewis’s own perspective: a Civil Rights hero before he was a hero, just so happening to catch part of a speech from Dr. King on the radio and being bowled over by the force of this young Atlanta preacher’s words.

Also, because it needs to be said, we need to thank this book for a truly special moment. After it was written, Lewis went to Comic Con to promote it, and while there, he cosplayed as his younger self from the the March on Selma. And as if that wasn’t enough, he led a group of kids on a mini-march around the convention. How cool was John Lewis?

Warnings

Violence (including police brutality) and strong thematic elements.