March Book Two comes after the success of the cafeteria and luncheon sit-ins in Tennessee. Lewis star is rising among the different Civil Rights groups and within his own SNCC. The SNCC decide to take on the bus companies in the wake of the US Supreme Court decision of Boynton v. Virginia. This new campaign would become known as the Freedom Riders. The book ends with the 1963 March on Washington and Lewis' speech.
The pictures and story were engrossing and powerful, but still historically accurate. Lewis begins to spend some time with MLK Jr. but also describes how Malcolm X was a part of the struggle, even though the two men had differing ideas of how to go about fighting. Lewis also has no issue with mentioning Bayard Rustin and his role (and the backlash that came with him) in the planning of the march. Lewis talks about the divide within the SNCC between the voter enfranchisement sect and the direct (non-violent) action sect. Both would play a key part in continuing the fight, and much like MLK Jr and Malcom X, both showed a range of personalities and ideas within the Civil Rights Movement, making the movement less monolithic than simple history lessons often show the movement being.
I decided I needed the entire trilogy for my own personal library (the first two volumes were borrowed from the library). This is the type of story I am going to give to my children to help expand their knowledge of their country's history.
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