Civil Rights Activism and the Life of John Lewis: A Graphic Novel Analysis
Overview
This paper analyzes the graphic novel 'March: Book 1' by John Lewis and Nate Aydin, tracing Lewis's journey from childhood on an Alabama farm to his pivotal role in the Civil Rights Movement. The essay examines key moments including the Selma to Montgomery marches, sit-in protests, and Lewis's transformation into a civil rights leader, demonstrating how personal experience shaped his commitment to nonviolent resistance and social justice.
What this essay covers
- Opening scene at Edmund Pettus Bridge depicting police brutality during the Selma march
- Flashback to Lewis's childhood and formative experiences with equality in Buffalo, New York
- College years and participation in sit-in protests and nonviolent civil disobedience campaigns
- Legal challenges and court proceedings representing arrested protesters
Preview
March Book 1
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March Book 1
The novel is based on the life of John Lewis and opens with a group of African American protestors marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. A series of frames show police officers wearing gas masks and shouting at the protestors to disperse (Lewis & Aydin, 2016). The police denied the demand of one of the protestors, Hosea, who requests to speak with the Major. The police tell the protestors they have two minutes to turn around, but they choose to kneel instead. The next series of frames shows police brutality images against the African American protestors who have tear gas thrown at them and are dragged off the bridge.
The subsequent narrative then flashes forward to January 20, 2009, in Washington DC, inauguration for the new president. Congressman John Lewis wakes up early, gets dressed, and prepares for President Barack Obama's inauguration (Lewis & Aydin, 2016). In his office, Lewis greets a few visitors, a woman and her two young sons, who were not expecting to see Mr. Lewis. One of the boy’s notices Mr. Lewis has several pictures of the chicken in his office, and he decides to ask why. Lewis recalls his childhood on a farm in Alabama. He had a connection with chickens and treated them as his friends. As a kid, after being introduced to the Bible, he could practice his sermons on the chicken, baptize them and hold proper funeral service when they died of natural causes.