March: Book 1 & 2 by John Lewis is a graphic novel that reflects on what it was like to live in the Civil Rights era. Lewis and many others fought to have equal rights just as whites, which eventually come years later. Fast Forward to 2009, Lewis is standing beside Barrack Obama, America's first black president with joy that the struggles of blacks in the Civil Rights era paid off. However, one thing that hasn't changed is the police brutality against Black Americans. Comparing the police brutality to modern day, there appears little to no change of violent occurrences from the police.
Book One magnifies the march across Edmund Petty Bridge in Selma, Al. The graphic novel displays a chilling capture of how policemen treated the protesters who marched; policemen wore gas masks, pointing shotguns toward the protesters as if they were wild animals. The March is very similar to a more modern situation that occurred in Louisiana in 2005, when Hurricane Katrina victims walked across the Danziger bridge to Gretna. Just like the protesters in Selma, many victims were shot by the policemen, leaving two civilians killed. In addition, the policemen fabricated their side of the story, claiming that the Katrina victims were a threat to the policemen.
One scene from the novel that stands out to me the most is the movie theater scene in Book Two. Lewis and others wait in line for a ticket to see Ten Commandments, but are rejected by the white box office workers. Suddenly, an officer arrives, but makes the situation a lot worse. The officer approaches Lewis in an angst manner, demanding that he "Better get outta here before I arrest you." (Lewis 20) Suddenly, the cop pulls out his baton and starts beating on Lewis.In comparison to the first scene- fast forwarding to 2014- Eric Garner was a New York citizen who was killed by the police after allegedly selling cigarette boxes. If one watches the video, Garner only made verbal actions to police, which later Influenced the police to apprehend and choke him to death. The movie scene from the Graphic Novel is similar to Garner's death because both Lewis and Garner seem to be no threat to police; they only make verbal actions that questioned the police's reason to arrest them.
After reading the graphic novel, and being a witness to modern day police brutality, I cannot help but to ask myself if the police brutality against blacks will ever end. Though much has changed, such as the election of a Black president, the murder of black people by policemen seems to be a scar that is deeply wounded in America. Murders such as Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, etc. seem to escalate as the years go by. How can one stop this? Maybe this generation needs a John Lewis, or Martin Lither King Jr. To stand up and put an end to what seems to be an everlasting atrocity.
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