Run: Book One

Run begins immediately where March left off, and its initial pages are familiar to anyone who has read the previous trilogy. By beginning the story in medias res, the author places the reader directly into the action, creating the sense of an ongoing, complex narrative instead of one that is just beginning. Additionally, by beginning the graphic novel with Lewis and the SNCC attempting to worship at a church alongside the white congregation and being arrested, Lewis emphasizes the dire state of society at this time and the lengths that the white majority would go to avoid Black people entirely—this produces immediate conflict and tension, propelling the story forward.

Immediately after the title page, the narrative makes a decisive shift to the outbreak of mass violence in Watts, Los Angeles, which was more about broader societal issues of “police brutality, economic and social discrimination, and the failure and refusal of men with power to meet the needs of an oppressed people” than formal segregation (18). While Lewis himself will continue to focus his efforts on voter registration in places like Lowndes County, to help realize the legal promises of the Voting Rights Act for the Black citizens of the South, he also emphasizes The Challenge Against Systemic Racism at large, a nationwide effort to tackle racism in forms that are less overt than Jim Crow. This shows the interconnectedness of all forms of anti-Black racism, highlighting the monumental scale of the issue.

There is also tension within the organization SNCC itself, as Lewis points out. He notes that “SNCC’s staff in Atlanta had grown considerably” (22), even as much of the original leadership has moved on to other aspects of a sprawling movement or left it altogether. Those who are accomplished veterans, such as Lewis and Carmichael, are in leadership positions because of their experience and prestige, but there are considerable differences among those leaders which time has only exacerbated. The movement under Lewis’s leadership is experienced and effective—they prove themselves capable of holding together under a police assault (it also surely helped to have federal observers nearby). Even Carmichael, known for his more skeptical attitudes toward nonviolence, is steadfast in making sure that the rage over Watts does not boil over into Lowndes County.

However, the growing ideological rift within SNCC reflects the understanding that “confronting systemic racism and economic injustice” would require far more than highly publicized marches (30). Ultimately, it rests on the question of whether to continue relying on cohesive organizations like SNCC (as well as their leaders), who can reasonably expect to get along with the Democratic establishment and win their favor, or unleash the fury of the masses and frighten that establishment to the bargaining table. It would require either a moral or political transformation that is not likely to be imminent, especially when that system routinely defends itself through the use of deadly force.