March: Book Two (March, #2) in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Feb 23, 2017 Sarah rated it it was amazing

Shelves: american-nonfiction, black-history-and-culture, graphic-form

My class watched Ava DuVernay's "Selma" today and coming home to finish this just felt appropriate. Book Two of March is even more fascinating than Book One, and the form is growing on me as I think about its accessibility. It's particularly poignant as Obama's inauguration is woven into the narrative, and we now have to contend with 45; the contrast is jarring. Throughout both books, I've grown as an activist by learning about some of the minutiae of the organizing, the kind of things you can o ...more

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Feb 07, 2017 Nadine in NY Jones rated it really liked it

Shelves: memoir-and-autobiographical-essays, history, non-fiction, graphic-novels-and-comics, non-fiction-graphic-novel

Just as powerful as book one. I had some trouble with the art in this one, sometimes I got confused about who was talking.

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Mar 30, 2025 stephanie rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, young-adult, american-history, graphic-novels-comics, biography, sac-pub-library

Following March Volume 1, this second installment covers John Lewis’ growth from college student participating in protests to one of the Big Six in the movement leadership.

Once again following John Lewis (and therefore not covering other aspects of the movement), we see the movement struggle against the federal government in terms of timing and keeping the movement going. What is fascinating to me is how involved the Kennedy administration was in the actual movement, and how the movement’s lead Following March Volume 1, this second installment covers John Lewis’ growth from college student participating in protests to one of the Big Six in the movement leadership.

Once again following John Lewis (and therefore not covering other aspects of the movement), we see the movement struggle against the federal government in terms of timing and keeping the movement going. What is fascinating to me is how involved the Kennedy administration was in the actual movement, and how the movement’s leaders chose when to push and when to pause (and how that caused strife inside the movement).

We go to movie theater stand ins to the Freedom Riders, and we see how pernicious and organized the resistance is as well - sending the Riders out of Alabama and back to Tennessee - but just dropping them over the state line at night, knowing Klan lands surround them. They pack people into cars, they do what they do knowing they might die. One of the first Freedom riders was a white college professor from Michigan and his wife - he was beat so badly he never recovered. The specter of Emmett Till is always looming. The white mobs are always a threat, but perhaps more so are the police.

Lewis spends his 21st birthday in jail. They will not post bond - to pay into their oppressors - so they stay in jail for months. The scale of organization - Diane Nash’s extreme talent - and the risks they all took - it’s pretty motivational.

We see Stokley Carmichael and Malcom X introduced, but we don’t go into much depth regarding them or the later separation, but again, this series is really about Lewis and a jumping off point for further research.

I really appreciated the care going into what was said, and the inclusion of Lewis’ whole speech (said right before MLK Jr’s I have a Dream) and how that needed to be changed - couldn’t antagonize the government too much now. Had to agree in part. Had to take what was given and see progress for progress. I also was interested in how Bobby Kennedy seemed to have grown as man who did become a more integrated member of the movement. I’ve never really known much about him, and this means I have another topic to research - something I love to have happen! ...more

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Aug 02, 2016 CrystalIsReading on StoryGraph rated it really liked it

Shelves: history-non-fiction, graphic-novels-comics, memoir-bio-autobio, black

Another gripping, horrifying, important installment of March by John Lewis. The first book had some tender moments, in Lewis' childhood, but in book two, we are fully in the swing of his work with the Civil Rights Movement, the various sit-ins and marches and meetings. You begin to see the true horror of white responses to the protests, the water hoses and dogs, spitting and beating and killing. It's truly horrifying, especially when it's turned on children and pregnant women and even lawyers/ g ...more

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Mar 19, 2015 Kate McCartney rated it it was amazing

Shelves: graphic-novels, memoir, 2015

What an amazing story. I feel I know a lot about the real history of this country. I wasn't surprised at the things that happened to the Freedom Riders, I was ashamed that people have so much hate and fear in their hearts. ...more

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Jan 21, 2017 Christina, Join Me on Storygraph! rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-i-recommend, 2017

This series is so beautiful because it humanizes the icons we've always studied. It's so accessible for any reader. ...more

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Jan 15, 2017 Julianne Dunn rated it it was amazing

This book focuses on the Freedom Rides, the Freedom Schools, and the bombings. This is such a great way to read Lewis' story. The visuals really underscores how violent and terrifying the time was. ...more

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