RUN: BOOK ONE (graphic novel) by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin





Illustrated by L. Fury and Nate Powell.
Published by Harry N. Abrams in 2021.

This spring I read the MARCH, the three volume graphic novel series about Congressman John Lewis (1940-2020) and the Civil Rights movement. When I finished the series, I thought to myself that it would be interesting to see how John Lewis ran for Congress and the struggles he encountered in an era where the KKK still openly marched.

My Synopsis:

The graphic novel RUN picks up right where MARCH trilogy left off. At the end of the MARCH trilogy, there was a celebration of the passage of the Civil Rights bills - a moment of success. There was also the murder of a volunteer who was helping with the celebration by anti-Civil Rights forces.

RUN explores what happened after the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) had it first taste of success. At the end of MARCH, there was a celebration of the passage of the Civil Rights bills. With that, a long-term goal achieved there was a lot of discussion about where to go next. there were a lot of things to consider, including the beginnings of the Vietnam War.

The discussions soon became arguments and those arguments led people to leave the SNCC and for the movement to fragment. Some pushed for more of the same strategies due to a belief in the power of non-violence and for the simple reason that they had been effective up to this point. 

Others, led by Stokely Carmichael, wanted to pursue separatist strategies. Eventually, this leads John Lewis to leave the SNCC and run for political office.

My Review:

As I look over what I wrote in my synopsis of the book, it sounds boring. It really was not. You normally don't hear much about the Civil Rights movement after the passage of the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and 1965, so I found it interesting.

Sadly, Lewis died before this book was finished and I doubt there will be more in this series. 

I rate this graphic novel 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: RUN by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin.

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