Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

March: Book One by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin

26 reviews

leweylibrary's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

5.0

It's hard to write a review for the individual books in this series when I read them back to back to back lol but I can say that I especially liked this one because it remained the most focused on John Lewis and his life which were my personal favorite parts. It helped to remember that this was his story in addition to this bigger narrative of America's story and the Civil Rights Movement.

I absolutely think this book is how kids should start to learn about the Civil Rights Movement. It's not only easy to digest in graphic novels form, but it talks about aspects of the movement that I absolutely never learned about in school. I think the way I learned about it is such a disservice not only to the movement but to people like John who fought so hard for so long and did so much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, Hate crime, Gun violence, Grief, Racial slurs, and Cursing

Moderate: Slavery

singernotthesong's review

challenging informative inspiring fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Hate crime, and Murder

Moderate: War, Death, Blood, and Slavery

danimacuk's review

hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Racism, Violence, Racial slurs, and Hate crime

cheryl6of8's review

challenging emotional informative inspiring fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Hate crime

Moderate: Cursing, Police brutality, Violence, and Physical abuse

cassielaj's review

challenging hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Police brutality

Moderate: Animal death

keeganrb's review against another edition

informative inspiring fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, and Violence

Moderate: Police brutality and Hate crime

anniefwrites's review

dark inspiring tense medium-paced

I had the privilege to hear John Lewis speak once, and his voice jumps off the page in this first volume of his graphic memoir. It covers a wide swath of time, from his youth through the sit-ins of the early civil rights movement. I think the only thing that takes away from the story is the black and white color palette—I think if it were in color, it would emphasize that this didn’t happen very long ago. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Physical abuse, and Violence

criticalgayze's review

hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

While (and I know this will be fairly obvious) I think I would need to give the whole collection a chance to give the most accurate and fairest rating, March: Book One was an incredibly moving and captivating piece of graphic memoir. The powerful nature of visual storytelling is, while running the risk of asking to see the pain of others, an effective choice for chronicling tales of injustice. Much in the way I found it moving in Mira Jacob's Good Talk, the use of the graphic memoir here again highlights the experience in an undeniably emotive way.

I also found the framing of the story very interesting. The memoir narrative in Book One is framed around Lewis getting prepared to leave his office for the inauguration of President Obama on January 20, 2009. In much the way Scrooge is prompted to reconsider his choices by spectral visitations in A Christmas Carol, Lewis's life stories are instigated by things that play out during the preparations. He is first visited by a family of constituents from Atlanta, which leads to a reflection on his childhood and schooling. Next, a message from Reverend Jim Lawson prompts a reflection on his initiation to direct involvement with civil rights in Nashville. Finally, a missed phone call on the way out of his office leads to scenes from Lewis's first march on the office of the Mayor of Nashville, which led to the integration of lunch counters in the city.

Very powerful, very stylish, and very well constructed: All the things you want in a piece of graphic art.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism

Moderate: Police brutality, Violence, and Animal death

Minor: Murder

nrogers_1030's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Hate crime, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death and Police brutality

rynicolereads's review

emotional informative medium-paced

4.25

Growing up on the West Coast, we learned about the Civil Rights Era in a way that glossed over how difficult and dangerous things were for those who were part of the movement. This graphic novel is very accessible but doesn't shy away from covering the darker aspects of the period. I'm so glad it exists, and I want every American to read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Hate crime and Police brutality