March Hits a Wall

March: Book one by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and [illustrated by] Nate Powell
Marietta, GA : Top Shelf Productions, [2013]
121 p. : chiefly ill. ; 24 cm.

I had not planned on reading March just yet, but then current events caught up with history in the strangest of ways, and I knew I had to read it.

March - a graphic novel - recounts the autobiography of the early years of civil rights icon and US Congressperson, John Lewis.  We see his boyhood years in Alabama in the 1950s and his growing awareness of the racist injustices that he wants to change.  By the end of this first book in the series (click links for more about book 2 and book 3), he is a key activist in the Civil Rights movement in Tennessee, has led lunch counter protests, desegregation marches, and met Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Turns out the Lewis' role in history is not over yet.  With the recent election of Donald Trump and his twitter attacks on John Lewis, the Lewis story and the struggle for racial justice are front and center once again.  The controversy has not hurt sales of the March.  Right after Trump's attacks on Lewis, sales of his book skyrocketed on Amazon.  Along with the many prizes that the books in the March series have won (including a National Book Award) the future of this book, at least, looks bright.      

Civil Rights Sailors and the Big Explosion

The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights by Steve Sheinkin
New York : Roaring Brook Press, 2014.
1st ed.
200 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.

From the dynamic cover, to the epilogue - I loved this book.  It is an amazing story of unsung Civil Rights heroes who took against racism in the US Navy during WWII and helped force greater opportunities for African Americans in the military - and at great cost to themselves.

This book has all the elements of a great tale - a massive tragic explosion, tales of personal courage, rumors of a conspiracy, the suspense of a trial/court martial, and a positive but not rosy ending. And in telling the tale, Steve Sheinkin brings to life the stories of very young men who simply wanted to be given a fair opportunity to be part of the US war effort in WWII.

I really like this book for bringing together so many important threads - worker safety, segregation and racism during WWII (including extreme violence against enlisted African Americans in the south), the stirrings of the great Civil Rights movements of the 50s and 60s, the early career of Thurgood Marshall, and the ways in which change occurs in fits and starts through resistance and personal courage.  And it's all done in the relatively brief space of just over 160 pages (along with great photos and illustrations).

I would recommend this book to any student interested in WWII, disasters, the Civil Rights Movement, the military, and US history in general.