The first thing that strikes me is the amount of contrast and space. Its moments in time that commits certain details or words are blurred, but you can feel the conversation like memory. Yet, it all seems purposeful note that the bridge with the protestors is closed into a frame yet the army-like authority is completely open as if they were numerous. There is a sense of bleak atmosphere in the white of the page as if it caught a moment of time. In fact, I would say that is one of the strengths of being a graphic novel is the fluidity of having a nonlinear timeline without having to over explain. It being shown though that age of the character, a transfer of sound (ringing of phone or key quote from the moment), or even just words of the time. I would never think of the significance of a scarf, but her it is used to make a transfer in time talking about how the authority needed to see your face to be reminded of your humanity. Because of that we get to see how past experience shape the character in the current. It is also interesting to see the involvement of a figure who I feel like I should now compared to how involved he was in history brushing by other famous African American Figures. This novel highlights the amount of people who were needed to bring along the change even at the sacrifice of family, lifestyle, or even their actual life.
Experiences are interesting because their is a certain specificity that comes with having the same events happening, but different environments. Hearing John's farm life reminded me of of a group culture or ethnicity in the fact of how many other African American grew up on a farm like that. Noticed that their school bus was different from the whiter kids like that. I think what strikes true is the smaller details we would never notice due to our privilege. Things like not stopping at certain rest stops of town when on a trip is something I feel a lot of us don't particularly think about nowadays.
The conclusion of the book only reminds me of what I already know in the sense of we have a long way to go. Oddly enough, the mayor speaking at the end sounded like he still feared them becoming a mob even when all their interactions have been nonviolent. Furthermore, while he sought to integrate (after a tragedy no less) he still left it to owner's to have bias. Change takes time and while we think that all this stuff happened far in the past the fact is there are people still alive who were there firsthand. I thin though, this graphic noel really throws a sense of intent and personal narrative behind everything.
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