March

March by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell just happens to be the selection of our Pierce County Reads program.  It also seems an apt choice for this week’s challenge to read a comic written or drawn by a person of color.

Illustrated dramatically in shades of black and white, Congressman John Lewis, a Civil Rights activist, narrates the story which opens on January 20, 2009. As Congressman Lewis is waiting to go to the inauguration, he is visited by a woman from Atlanta who wants to show her boys his office. Not expecting to actually meet him, she is amazed when he starts telling them his story.

In Book One, he starts with his boyhood raising chickens and his ambition to get an education despite the challenges of segregation and his parents’ wish for him work. He then tells his young visitors about his participation in the nonviolent sit-ins at lunch counters around Nashville. As the book ends, Dr. King’s words flow through panels depicting two young black men trying to get service at the newly integrated restaurants. “Walk together children," Dr. King proclaims. “Don’t get weary.”