I really appreciate the ability of these books, as graphic novels, to give such a sweeping overview of the 1960’s civil rights movement in such a short amount of reading time. I learned a great deal, and I especially appreciated the capturing of the tensions between the approaches of different major players.

Over the last year, I’ve become increasingly aware how impossible it is, while living in the midst of history being made, to be sure one is making the right decision. That very point is brought out as we watch SNCC, SCLC, the NAACP, and others argue about which tactics are wise at various junctures.

I also hardly knew anything about John Lewis until his death, a major omission in my learning. As someone who believes deeply in nonviolent resistance in the model of Jesus Christ, I find him to be an incredibly compelling role model, and I look forward to reading more by and about him.

My only complaint about these books is that the illustrator’s style left me confused about what happened on perhaps a dozen occasions. Not that a little internet research is a terrible thing, but I think it should not be necessary to determine how a given event occurred. The choice to blur words and obfuscate some pictures may have been made intentionally and on artistic grounds, but I wish it wasn’t.