Eduardo Santiago reviewed Run by John Lewis
Review of 'Run' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This is, necessarily, a different and more painful series than March. For starters, we’re now living in a world without John Lewis. Then there’s the story arc: March ended on a triumphant note, the passing of the Voting Rights Act, huzzah. Unfortunately, the VRA did not immediately vanquish intolerance and injustice in the USA.
Run chronicles the slog ahead: new ways to intimidate and disenfranchise Black voters and candidates; the conviction and sentencing of white terrorists for murdering -- oops, my mistake: I meant the continued murder of Blacks with total impunity; and the growing schism in the SNCC, between the nonviolents and those espousing aggression, leading to Lewis’s ouster from his (til then) lifelong path. Book One covers 1965-1966, and I’m worried that at some point they might get to 1968, which was not a good year.
Two panels halfway through serve as a sobering reminder of how …
This is, necessarily, a different and more painful series than March. For starters, we’re now living in a world without John Lewis. Then there’s the story arc: March ended on a triumphant note, the passing of the Voting Rights Act, huzzah. Unfortunately, the VRA did not immediately vanquish intolerance and injustice in the USA.
Run chronicles the slog ahead: new ways to intimidate and disenfranchise Black voters and candidates; the conviction and sentencing of white terrorists for murdering -- oops, my mistake: I meant the continued murder of Blacks with total impunity; and the growing schism in the SNCC, between the nonviolents and those espousing aggression, leading to Lewis’s ouster from his (til then) lifelong path. Book One covers 1965-1966, and I’m worried that at some point they might get to 1968, which was not a good year.
Two panels halfway through serve as a sobering reminder of how far we’ve come:
The number of polling places was reduced, making it almost impossible for poor voters--without access to cars--to cast a ballot. And many of the polling places were moved to new locations.
Can you imagine anything like that happening today, in 2022? Aren’t we fortunate that something like that could never happen again?
