MARCH for civil rights and social justice with John Lewis

I’m making March, books one through three, by Congressman John Lewis, my first recommendations for Resistance Reads. While Lewis also tells the powerful story of his involvement in the Civil Rights movement in his (much larger) book Walking with the Wind, this three-volume graphic novel set is an easy and accessible way for both teens and adults to read his story—and no less powerful. Lewis co-wrote these graphic novels with his staffer, Andrew Ayden, and Nate Powell illustrates them in stark, evocative black-and-white art. There’s a sense of visceral immediacy in the art and writing that makes you feel like you’re there as it’s all happening, from Lewis’ childhood in rural Alabama to his early civil rights activism as a college student to the infamous Bloody Sunday march in Selma. These books made me cry. They made me stay up late reading them. They taught me about the civil rights movement. They’re that powerful.

Lewis isn’t as flashy as some of the other major early Civil Rights movement leaders. Martyrs like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X rightly get a lot of attention. But Lewis, as the sole surviving member of the “Big Six” who planned and led the famous March on Washington, among other actions, has a lifetime of knowledge and wisdom about the struggle for civil rights in America, and he shares some of it with us in these books. Want to know how to resist oppression? Representative Lewis’ life example and and his work is a good place to start. Use these books as an engaging introduction to the struggle for civil rights for teens in your life, or as a powerful introductory telling of Lewis' story for yourself.

John Lewis marching in Selma

Congressman Lewis leading a Children's March from a panel presentation to his book signing, dressed in the same "costume" he wore to march in Selma so many years ago.