The remarkable life story of Rep. John Lewis and his part in the civil rights movement continues in Run: Book One, the follow-up to the late congressman’s award-winning graphic novel trilogy March. Run: Book One picks up where the previous volume left off, detailing what happened after the g of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It chronicles the continued struggles of Lewis and other civil rights activists to overturn segregationist policies and voters while also confronting the war in Vietnam and infighting among allies. At times both heartbreaking and inspiring, Run is a startlingly relevant work of art that shines a light on elements of the civil rights movement that do not receive much attention, and shows how the struggle continues even to this day.
Lewis, who ed away in 2020, was a Democratic congressman for Georgia who served 17 in the U.S. House of Representatives. Prior to that he was a key figure in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. As chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), he helped organize the 1963 March on Washington and the 1965 marches from Selma to Montgomery in of voting rights for African Americans. He was arrested 40 times in the 1960s while taking part in nonviolent protests and demonstrations. Even decades into his congressional career, he continued to take part in protests. While serving in the House of Representatives he was arrested twice for protesting apartheid, twice for protesting genocide in Darfur, and once while demonstrating for immigration reform.
Co-written by Lewis and Andrew Aydin with art by Nate Powell, March was first published between 2013 and 2016 by Top Shelf Productions. Run: Book One reunites the same creative team and adds artist L. Fury. It is published by Abrams ComicArts. After Lewis and Aydin completed the script for Run, they worked closely with the artist, and the majority of the pages for the book were completed and reviewed by the time of Lewis’ ing.
The March Trilogy Continues A Proud Comic Book Legacy
One of the reasons that Lewis chose the graphic novel format to tells his story was because he himself was heavily inspired by a 1957 comic book about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Titled Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story, the book was given to Lewis when he was 17 and demonstrated the power of nonviolence in the civil rights movement. Aydin served as Lewis’ digital director and policy advisor who encouraged Lewis to write his tale as a comic, and later co-scripted it with him.
Set against the backdrop of the 2009 inauguration of Barack Obama, March recounts Lewis’ life from his youth in Alabama to his work in the civil rights movement. The first book depicts Lewis’ early encounters with racism, his beginnings in the civil rights movement, his first meeting with King, and his first arrest during a sit-in at a lunch counter in Nashville. The second book centers around his time with the Freedom Riders in the early 1960s up to the Birmingham Church Bombing in 1963. The third book details Lewis’ time as chairman of the SNCC, the marches in Selma, including the “Bloody Sunday” assault on marchers by deputies of the Dallas County Sheriff’s department. It ends with the ing of the Voting Rights Act.
All three volumes of March were met with widespread critical acclaim. Between them the books won numerous awards, including the National Book Award, the Coretta Scott King Award, Eisner Awards and a Robert F. Kennedy Book Award. They were New York Times bestsellers and have been taught in schools and colleges since their publication.
First You March, Then You Run
While the age of the Voting Rights Act was a major achievement that deserves celebration, it is not the end of the story. The civil rights movement had won a victory but as Run shows, there was still plenty of work to be done. The book begins on August 8, 1965, just two days after the g of the Voting Rights Act, with Lewis and a group of African Americans getting arrested for trying to worship at an all-white church in Americus, Georgia. Throughout the book are several scenes that could just as easily take place in 2021 as in 1965. The beating of an unarmed Black man by police in Watts, California sets off days of uprisings and riots. Black people lined up to to vote in Lowndes County, Alabama face intimidation from white supremacists. Peaceful protesters are set upon by armed police. A young Black man is shot and killed by a white gas station attendant, who is later acquitted by an all-white jury.
While the struggle for civil rights and equality rages on, a different kind of fight takes place behind the scenes. More and more activists in the movement are drafted to fight in the Vietnam War, leading to division among the SNCC and other civil rights groups on how vehemently they should oppose the war and the draft. There is also disagreement over whether the civil rights protesters should continue to follow a strict path of nonviolence, like Lewis and King advocate, or whether they should embrace more militant and separatist philosophies in the wake of the violence they face.
This divergence leads to Lewis being voted out as chairman of the SNCC in favor of Stokely Carmichael, who became a major figure in the Black Power movement. Readers see how the phrase “Black Power” became popularized and it’s impossible not to see similarities between that phrase and “Black Lives Matter.” In both cases, opponents have denounced the slogans as “harmful” and “racist,” detracting from their actual messages in favor of riling up anger over their wording. It is just one of many examples that underlines the relevance of Run in 2021.
A Brilliant And Moving Work
The history taught in most American schools tends to present the civil rights movement as a unified coalition working towards a common goal. But Run unveils a more nuanced look at the time period that does not get as much attention. The civil rights activists are divided at several times throughout the story, disagreeing about messaging and philosophies. With the country gripped by the horrors of war, racism and riots, Lewis manages to make these monumental moments in history feel both grand and personal at the same time. Readers feel his frustration as the movement faces setbacks and challenges. The weight of the dilemmas facing Lewis is very palpable as he strives to reconcile his nonviolent beliefs with a rising anger in the civil rights movement. But there is also a sense of hope, as even though he loses his position of SNCC chairman to Carmichael, he does not give up the fight and moves forward to the future.
Fury and Powell’s stunning black-and-white artwork perfectly accompanies Lewis and Aydin’s words. Each scene, from small personal moments to large historical demonstrations, is depicted in astounding detail with careful attention paid to everything from clothing, hairstyles, cars and scenery. But even beyond capturing the visual representation of the era, they are able to convey the emotions of the time and put the reader in the shoes of the people who were there. Every face in every crowd is unique and expressive, letting the reader feel the anger, pain, hope, frustration, fear and joy of the time.
There is a moment in Run when the SNCC distributes comic books to the public to inform them of elections and what is on the ballot. “Everybody can read comics,” Lewis writes. Even then, Lewis and the SNCC understood the power that comics can have, how they can transport readers to a different time and place. Run: Book One is able to bring the story of John Lewis and the civil rights movement to life in a way that other memoirs or history books cannot. Just like Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story, this is a comic that deserves to be shared and has the potential to inspire a new generation of people to keep running toward a bright future.
