Creating a Leader
The Visual Representation of Leadership in Civil Rights Protests
Diplomarbeit
zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades einer Magistra der Philosophie
an der Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz
vorgelegt von
Lisa KARNER
am Institut für Amerikanistik
Begutachter: Ao.Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr.phil. Klaus Rieser
Graz, 2019
Declaration on Plagiarism
I hereby confirm that this thesis is the result of my own independent academic work. All sources (books, articles, essays, dissertations, the internet, etc.) are cited correctly in this paper; quotations and paraphrases are acknowledged. No material other than that listed has been used.
I also certify that this paper or parts thereof have not been used previously as examination material (by myself or anyone else) in another course at this or any other university. I understand that any violation of this declaration will result in legal consequences possibly leading to my expulsion from the University of Graz.
Graz, Date Signature
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of the people who have supported me during the time of writing this diploma thesis and during the length of my entire studies.
First, I would like to thank my supervisor Klaus Rieser whose advice, input, and academic supervision made it possible for me to transform my vague idea into this diploma thesis.
I would also like to thank my family and my friends for their support, their encouraging words, and for the many hours they helped me get my mind off of things. To my mum and dad, thank you for believing in me, for making it possible for me to study, and for always being there for me.
Thank you!
Table of Contents
1. Introduction 1
2. The Civil Rights Movement 2
2.1. Segregation Now, Segregation Tomorrow, Segregation Forever 2
2.2. We Shall Overcome: Protest in the Civil Rights Movement 5
2.3. Leadership and Gender in the Civil Rights Movement 13
3. Autobiography: A Critical Overview 16
3.1. The Autobiographical "I" 18
3.2. Autographics 19
4. Analysis 21
4.1. Analysed Works 21
4.2. Methodology 23
4.2.1. Semiology 23
4.3. Sit-ins 25
4.4. Marches 32
4.5. Speeches 39
4.6. Gender 48
4.7. Police 51
5. Conclusion 59
6. Works Cited 62
7. List of Figures 66
1. Introduction
What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear "Civil Rights Movement"? It is probably names such as Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, or Malcolm X. These are, without any doubt, notable and clearly important figures of the movement, however, they were not the only driving forces in the 1950s and 1960s. In fact, a great number of people, regardless of age, ethnicity, or social status participated in the protests of the Civil Rights Movement and contributed their part to the social change of the time.
Take, for instance, a march or a sit-in protest – if five people participated, would it be as powerful as a mass protest? How would an organization work if there were only a few members in it? Are a few single voices heard as loud as a crowd of people? All these questions lead up to the fact that a movement such as the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s needs the power of a crowd, or rather a mass of people who speak up, act, and fight for equal rights. Yet, in many instances, the movement is depicted as if there were only a few single leading figures that were responsible for the progress and the many changes that were made as a result of the protests.
In this thesis, I will examine graphic novels according to their visual representation of said protests with a specific focus on the portrayal of leadership. The aim is to find out whether there are any individual leading figures overshadowing the masses of the movement and, if so, in which way the depiction of these central figures in visual media makes the audience perceive them as leaders. Furthermore, the key features and recurring qualities in the representation as well as the relation of the leading figures to the masses of people will be taken into account. The analysis will be based on three graphic novels, namely March I (2013) and March II (2015) by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell and Stuck Rubber Baby (1995) by Howard Cruse. The main focus will lie on the graphic novels by Lewis et al., which, despite being a coproduction of three people, have a strong autobiographic character. Stuck Rubber Baby, which deals with a fictional story that also springs from autobiographical experiences, will only be used as a point of reference and comparison in order to illustrate the various possibilities of perspectives with regard to this topic. Hence, taking into account the
1 autobiographical aspects of these graphic novels and the issues that may come up thereby will be of significant importance in my analysis.
Before analysing selected passages and images of the graphic novels, I will provide an overview of the historical context in which they are embedded. This overview will only concentrate on the protests and their underlying causes as well as on the question of leadership and community within the Civil Rights Movement. However, it will not get into detail regarding political circumstances and the consequences of the movement, as this is of no relevance to my analysis.
With regard to the analysis, I have come up with five different categories or aspects through which I will look at the images. These categories include: sit-ins, marches, speeches, police, and gender. Throughout the thesis a combination of semiological approaches and certain aspects of film analysis will be applied in order to come to a conclusion about the impact and effects of the different kinds of representation of leadership, key figures and protests.
2. The Civil Rights Movement
2.1. Segregation Now, Segregation Tomorrow, Segregation Forever 1
"The goal of [the] Movement is total freedom". (Ansbro 2004: 115)
Since the era of slavery, the life of African Americans in the United States has been marked by frustration regarding the lack of power, rights, and equality. Not only were they denied the same political rights as white citizens, but they also had to deal with an inferior position in society. While it is not debatable that there is still a certain degree of
1 "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" is a quote from George Wallace's inaugural speech from 1963, after he was elected Governor of Alabama. 2 injustice and racial tensions existing in the United States, particularly with regard to police violence and unjustifiable court decisions, the focus of this paper will lie on the time period between 1955 and 1965, which represents some of the most famous and most progressive years in African Americans' fight for equality and the climax of the Civil Rights Movement's nonviolent protests.
During the 1950s, American society was characterised by inequality. Especially in the South, blacks often worked for white families in jobs that were considered to be of a lower socio-economic standing, such as nannies or farm workers. They had to endure a life as "second-class citizens" (Bureau of International Programs 2008: 40), with less education, less rights, and less opportunities. White Southerners saw African Americans as inferior to themselves and less capable in terms of intellect and cognitive abilities. They enjoyed their high status in society and the respect their African American fellow citizens had to treat them with. While the Northern states of the U.S. seemingly experienced an increase in comparatively liberal and progressive beliefs, stereotypes and the idea of white supremacy were still visibly present in the Southern states.
However, the inferior status of African Americans was not only upheld in society – the legal situation held only few opportunities for them as well. So-called Jim Crow laws regulated segregation and restricted black peoples' lives in all public places. Miller et al. define Jim Crow laws as follows: Jim Crow is a term for officially sanctioned segregation that affects every aspect of American life, including schools, restaurants, trains, and all forms of transportation, theaters, drinking fountains, as well as public and private facilities. (2001: 197)
According to the Collins Dictionary, the name derives from a black minstrel song from the nineteenth century. Because of Jim Crow laws, black citizens in the South were not only degraded on a regular basis, but actually had to fear for their lives, especially in more rural areas, where they had to face violence, insults, and threats. On the one hand, there was the legal injustice, which Wilson sums up in the following way: Not following social customs and encroaching into white spaces often led to arrests and fines, public ridicule, physical altercations with law enforcement officials or nonofficial protectors of white supremacy, or death. Jim Crow signs were a constant reminder to African Americans that they were not full citizens and were unwanted in the land of their birth and could live only as a docile, subjugated people. For many who found Jim Crow intolerable, leaving the South was seen as the only way out. (2013: 14)
3 African Americans living in segregationist states were not allowed to use the same diners, parks, buses, schools. or restaurants (to name only a few examples) as white Southerners. Public facilities were clearly marked with "WHITES ONLY" or "BLACKS ONLY" signs. Most of the time, those places or amenities reserved for blacks were much worse in quality and service.
On the other hand, there was the resistance of white citizens, who were mostly opposed to a change in legislation. They were afraid they might lose some of their own privileges if black citizens received more rights and, thus, insisted on maintaining segregation instead of promoting integration. In fact, around eighty percent of white Southerners were against desegregation in schools (cf. Harding et al. 2005: 195) and many of them actively fought against the integration of black citizens in their everyday life. This fighting back took on various forms. Some white Southerners used their position as members of the dreadful Ku Klux Klan while others used their political positions as governors or mayors and simply refused to take any action towards equality or sometimes even ignored federal law.
As a result of this legal and social situation, African Americans suffered not only from a lack of rights, but also from an absence of self-worth and happiness, as a study conducted by Kenneth and Mamie Clark (1947) and on behalf of Thurgood Marshall and his NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) Legal Defense Fund shows (cf. Bureau of International Programs 2008: 29). The psychological study found that African American children between the ages of three and seven preferred playing with white dolls rather than black dolls. Moreover, they associated more positive characteristics with the white dolls than with the black ones, which gave an insight into their perception of themselves, of race and of the society they were part of. The conclusion that Kenneth and Mamie Clark made was that the segregated society caused not only a lack of self-esteem in black children, but also made them feel inferior and less valuable (cf. NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund).
Despite this, at the beginning of the 1950s, the abolition of segregation was slowly but steadily becoming a continuously more significant topic in the U.S. The federal government and the U.S. Supreme Court were starting to desegregate schools in the South, which was met with both resistance from society as well as from local and state
4 governments. It seemed as if the legal side of segregation had its limitations; there could be new laws introduced or old laws abolished or altered, but that did not automatically change society. Various stereotypes and racial beliefs in the deeply conservative South would continue to be upheld regardless of legal changes.
2.2. We Shall Overcome: Protest in the Civil Rights Movement
"We'll walk hand in hand, we'll walk hand in hand, we'll walk hand in hand some day, Oh, deep in my heart I do believe: We'll walk hand in hand some day". (From the gospel song "We Shall Overcome", source: Genius.com)
Even though the black Civil Rights Movement had already started during World War II, it was not until the 1950s that it flourished, received public attention and, therefore, encouraged more participation and action. African Americans all around the United States began to rebel against the way of life that they were forced to follow. A large movement, marked by nonviolent protests and an increase in black confidence, formed itself in order to overcome the problems, restrictions, and struggles that black Americans had to face. It is often stated that one single incident, which occurred in December 1955, was the starting point of what became known as the Civil Rights Movement.
In December 1955, a seamstress named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat in the front of a public bus to a white man on her way home from work. At that time, blacks had to sit in the back of public buses and were fined and arrested when they occupied a free seat in the front. However, Parks, who was also an active member of her local NAACP (cf. Bureau of International Programs 2008: 35) and who had already taken part in various attempts of legal advancement for African Americans, did not leave her seat when asked to. As a result, she became a well-known fighter for civil rights. Typically, African Americans were hesitant to refuse orders by bus drivers, as they were confronted with rudeness (cf. Harding et al. 2005: 181) and had to fear fines and jail time, which was exactly what happened to Rosa Parks eventually.
5 Only a few days after her arrest, African American community leaders started to organize a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama (cf. Harding et al. 2005: 183). The idea came from a woman named Jo Ann Robinson, who was the president of the Women's Political Council in Montgomery (cf. Kirk 2007: 143). The idea behind the boycott was rather straightforward: African Americans were asked to refrain from using public buses. It was seen as a simple but risky act with great expectations. People started to walk by foot, used taxis or shared their private cars instead of using the public buses. This was expected to have dire effects on Montgomery's public transportation system, seeing as a great number of the usual daily passengers were black. Therefore, if blacks did not use and pay for the service, it would resultantly have consequences, primarily financial, for the city. The boycott was initially planned to go on for a few days, but when Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. succeeded in focussing the public eye on the protest, more and more people joined in; most of them from the North. There were also numerous white supporters attending the boycott, who were facing even more antipathy than black protesters, as they were seen as traitors. There had already been boycotts similar to this one many years before (cf. Miller et al. 2001: 84), but with Rosa Parks and shining figures like King, it all started over again with much wider spread effects.
When there were no signs that the boycott might stop soon, Martin Luther King, Jr. and other community leaders formed the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) in order to organize and plan the boycotts. King, who inspired the protesters with his speeches and his stance on nonviolence, was not only appointed president of the MIA (cf. Wilson 2013: 37) but was also widely accepted as an actual leader of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. It was decided that the protest should continue until three goals were achieved: firstly, a more friendly attitude by bus drivers towards blacks, secondly, a first come first serve basis with regard to seats and, thirdly, African American bus drivers for routes that were mostly used by blacks (cf. Wilson 2013: 37). In the end, the protests went on for more than a year until Montgomery buses were finally desegregated in December 1956. It was the first actual use of the nonviolent technique that became so characteristic for the Civil Rights Movement and it showed that masses of people could achieve something and that they could be heard. After the success in Montgomery, many activist groups in other cities followed the idea or applied similar methods.
6 Even though the Montgomery Bus Boycott was a mass protest and was successful because of the participation of a great number of people, its public figure Martin Luther King, Jr., an eloquent and charismatic young man, quickly became a leading figure in the fight for black civil rights. His thoughts on nonviolent action heavily influenced and shaped the way activists protested. For him, the Civil Rights Movement was not only a political but also a religious movement (cf. Wilson 2013: x). He urged for peaceful protests, led through religion, and was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and the concept of agape, which King called an "unconditional, understanding, redemptive goodwill that can enable [someone] to love all persons not because they are so likeable but because God loves all persons" (Ansbro 2004: 117). The credo was to never fight violence with violence, to remain peaceful, to love your enemy and to believe in the power of love (cf. Ansbro 2004: 118). These principles were well received and promoted by other key figures of the movement like John Lewis, Ella Baker, or James Farmer. Organizations within the movement, such as the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference), even held workshops and training sessions dedicated to nonviolent resistance and integration for groups that participated in protests. The idea behind it was to not blame people with different views, but to make them think and reflect and help them understand why their behaviour is wrong. Their objective was not to fight but instead was rooted in fairness, as Martin Luther King, Jr. stated: "This is not a war between the white and the Negro but a conflict between justice and injustice" (Harding et al. 2005: 188).
Nevertheless, it must be said that the idea of nonviolent resistance did not emerge with King or Gandhi. People often tend to illustrate the peaceful protest of the Civil Rights Movement as something that Martin Luther King, Jr. invented; however, this concept has existed for as long as conflicts and discrimination have existed. King is merely one of many internationally famous people that advocated the method and brought publicity to it and, thus, is associated with it. Another common notion is that nonviolent resistance can be equated with pacifism. With regard to this, John A. Kirk states that nonviolent resistance is a form of "active resistance", which means that the protester actively fights against injustice, albeit without violence or such. In contrast to that, pacifism implies some sort of passivity from the oppressed individual or group (cf. Kirk 2007: 83).
7 A few years after the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the formation of many activist organizations, a group of four college students did something simple yet risky: they went into a department store in Greensboro, North Carolina, and asked to be served at a lunch counter. At that time, black people were allowed to purchase goods at the counter, but were not allowed to sit at the "whites only" lunch counter and consume their purchase (cf. Harding at el. 2005: 202). The college students did not do anything except for sit there quietly and ask politely yet persistently to be served. The idea behind this move was to make business owners and clients aware of the unjust treatment that was happening in public facilities. As Harding et al. put it: "For these students the central issue was not the hamburgers or Cokes. The issues were justice, human dignity, fairness, equality, and freedom" (2005: 202). This peaceful and calm course of action started yet another popular method of protest: sit-ins. The Oxford Online Dictionary defines sit-in as a form of protest in which demonstrators occupy a place, refusing to leave until their demands are met.
As to be expected due to laws and degrading treatment, blacks were not served and frequently had to encounter demeaning comments by employees and white costumers. Nevertheless, the protesters kept sitting and remained polite while their objectors disrespected, insulted, and harassed them by pouring drinks over their heads, throwing food at them, or even beating them. Usually, the police did not even intervene when whites attacked the – by conviction – peaceful and defenceless protesters, who never hit or swore back. However, the police still took action against the harmless protesters and arrested them. When it came to serving jail time, the protesters always refused to pay a fine as they were convinced that they would support the injustice against them if they would cooperate with the police. Instead, they opted to spend a night in prison, also with the ulterior motive to make the situation more difficult for the local authorities by filling up the jails.
The idea of lunch counter sit-ins spread quickly from Greensboro to other cities and was particularly well-received by college students. In only a few months, sit-ins as a civil rights tactic had expanded to around 50 cities in the United States (cf. Bureau of International Programs 2008: 37). As more and more groups began to use this tactic, they improved their organization and supplemented the sit-ins with simultaneous peaceful marches. Some people demonstrated or marched in tranquillity on the streets,
8 holding signs and signing songs, while others sat at the lunch counters of the department stores. Others became active by making sure that their friends and acquaintances heard about the protests in order to make it a nation-wide movement (cf. Harding at el. 2005: 205). They were all well aware of the fact that what they were doing was dangerous, not only because of the violent attacks against them, but also because of the consequences they were facing with regard to their jobs, their studies, or even their life. As more students and other activists joined them, civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and James Lawson organized so-called "training seminars" where protesters were taught appropriate behaviour for the sit-ins and marches. People who later became significant to the movement, such as Diane Nash or John Lewis, attended these seminars (cf. Bureau of International Programs 2008: 37). John Lewis even established a list of rules that lined out how protesters should behave when they became active in the protests. These rules concentrated on peacefulness and self- control, following the principles of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s idea of nonviolent action. The list included points such as "Do not strike back or curse if abused", "Do not leave your seat until your leader has given you permission to do so", or "Show yourself friendly and courteous at all times" (Lewis 2013: 97).
However, these rules and the behaviour associated with them often had the consequence of provoking opposed white citizens into using even more violence and the protesters had to face some criticism about their nonviolent tactics. In its 1964 "Man of the Year" issue, Time Magazine wrote that King's nonviolent protests often lead to the opposite of what was intended, namely brutal and savage behaviour and while King and other ministers kept preaching about a peaceful fight with God in mind, they were also aware of the fact that they were using the provocation of white citizens as an instrument. (in Kirk 2007: 96).
After some time, the sit-ins caused a first major breakthrough when a number of lunch counters in Nashville, Tennessee began serving blacks, after the press had reported about the sit-ins (cf. Bureau of International Programs 2008: 38). Eventually local businesses gave in as the press coverage meant bad publicity for them, which made them revise their regulations. Because of this success, sit-ins continued in various cities and were soon complemented with so-called "wade-ins" (in public pools), "kneel-ins" (in churches) and "read-ins" (in libraries) (cf. Harding et al. 2005: 205).
9 At the beginning of the 1960s another protest tactic emerged. By that time, there was already a federal law set in place that public interstate buses had to be desegregated; however, it was not very well executed by the authorities in the South, as blacks still had to face restrictions and disrespect when using public transportation. Therefore, a group of activists and the SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) united in 1961 in order to find out whether the laws were actively realized or not. The initiative was named 'Freedom Rides' and started with a small group of thirteen people led by CORE's (Committee of Racial Equality) director James Farmer. Amongst them were both blacks and whites, as well as people such as SNCC member John Lewis or Dr. Walter Bergman, an acclaimed university professor, and his wife Frances.
Farmer found this kind of protest similar to sit-ins (cf. Miller et al. 2001: 200) and envisioned a nonviolent protest where they could see how the attitude towards blacks in interstate buses in the American South and, in addition, in the corresponding waiting rooms at bus stations and bus terminals was. After thorough planning and training, the group eventually travelled from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans with several stops scheduled, where they would try to use the "whites only" waiting areas and bathrooms. Their aim was not only to challenge segregation in these states, but also to draw some public attention to the topic. If they happened to be attacked, they would not fight back, which was rather dangerous, but at the same time would highlight the unjust and violent behaviour towards them.
Even though some of the Freedom Riders were arrested over and over again, the initiative was rather successful until one of their buses entered Anniston, Alabama. There, a large group of white people was already waiting for the activists and attacked them by breaking the bus windows, destroying the tires, and eventually by throwing a fire bomb inside the bus. The Riders had to get off the bus and were, partially, badly injured by the attackers. Dr. Walter Bergman even suffered from paralysis for the rest of his life as a result from the injuries the violent mob had caused him (cf. Lewis 2015: 52). As a white civil rights supporter he had to face even worse verbal and physical attacks than the black Freedom Riders. For many of the attackers it was incomprehensible that a white citizen would support the protest and, hence, put their privileged status at risk.
10 At roughly the same time, another bus full of Freedom Riders went to Birmingham, Alabama, where the passengers were attacked by a mob of white citizens and members of the Ku Klux Klan. However, the local police chief, Bull Connor, refused to help them or to get rid of the brutal mob. In general, protesters like the Freedom Riders had to face a lot of backlash and obtained little support from local administrations. This meant that they had to primarily rely on representatives of the federal government such as Robert F. Kennedy. These federal representatives were more cooperative mainly out of the fear of bad publicity. In fact, many newspapers covered the incidents in Alabama, which sparked sympathy in society and encouraged more protesters to join the Freedom Rides, when they resumed after some complications of finding a bus driver that would join them. Eventually, the Freedom Riders gained hundreds of supporters who continued the rides for various months until segregation laws in interstate transportation and the corresponding bus terminals were banished in the fall of 1961 (cf. history.com).
Opponents of the Civil Rights Movement never really succeeded in shutting down the protests with violence and aggressive behaviour. Even though most of the time, aggressive whites were not arrested or even fined for their treatment towards the protestors, the protesters did not want to give the impression that violence and brutality could stop them. Despite this, in particular the aforementioned Birmingham police chief Bull Connor, who had refused to help the Freedom Riders, put quite a few obstacles in the movement's way.
Birmingham, Alabama, was a deeply racist and segregated city with a very active Ku Klux Klan. This was also reflected in its police chief's actions towards protesters. Connor was – as Marshall Frady (in Bureau of International Programs 2008: 41) puts it in his biography about Martin Luther King, Jr. – "a bombastic segregationist of the old, unapologetically bluff sort – a podgy, strutful, middle-aged bossman in a snap-brim straw hat who [...] held a famously irascible temper". He acted exceptionally brutal towards the activists and tried to make it as hard as possible for them to achieve equal rights. As local shops and restaurants began serving African Americans as a result of the successful sit-in protests, Connor threatened them by claiming that he would take away their business licenses if they would continue doing so (cf. Bureau of International Programs 2008: 41). In addition, he had many black and white protesters arrested and put into jail on a regular basis, among them also Martin Luther King, Jr.
11 After his arrest, in 1963, King started planning new protests and marches together with other strategists such as, for example, James Bevel. This time, they wanted to include children and teenagers as well; not only because they were as eager as the adults to join the protests but also because of tactical reasons. The repulsion they would eventually face by opponents and the following media coverage about the march would cause tremendous empathy in people who would read about it in the newspapers or see it on television. If the police and authorities would act brutally against them, they would at least have the certainty that the other citizens would witness it. Thus, they let the children of black families go on the streets and the students and pupils did the same as the adults before them did: they simply marched, some of them held signs, some of them occasionally sang songs like "We Shall Overcome". They also held sit-ins at "whites only" lunch counters or wanted to be served in "whites only" shops. The plan was once more to get arrested in order to fill the jails of Birmingham (cf. Wilson 2013: 41). Going to jail for such a cause was endurable and had the perk that it meant extra effort for the opposing police forces.
However, only part of the plan worked out the way King and his companions had anticipated. Bull Connor and his men arrested most of the protesters but, as the jail cells were full, they decided to use rather drastic and violent methods. Connor ordered the fire department to bring fire hoses, which they would then use to repel the protesters. The adults and children were hit by powerful jets of water that knocked them down or hurled them across the streets. Furthermore, police dogs were allowed to enter the scene unleashed. This went on for a few days and, as a result, many of the protesters were injured. However, there was still a sense of contentment within the movement as it later emerged that the press had captured everything that had happened. At the beginning of the sixties, a television set had already become part of many U.S. households and, thus, the audiences that were confronted with the vivid and brutal images were quite large. A lot of people who saw the images were shocked and upset about the violent treatment and, hence, the sympathy for the protesters and the involvement in the movement increased rapidly. Therefore, the federal government acted quickly – whether this was out of conviction or public pressure is debatable – and President John F. Kennedy intervened. As a result, it was decided that businesses in Birmingham had to become desegregated. In the same year, more precisely in August 1963, a group of Civil Rights Movement activists planned what would later become the
12 famous March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. In 1941, there had already been the idea of a big march in Washington, D.C. by A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin, but it was called off before it could even happen. This time, however, the movement worked closely together with President Kennedy and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and was actually able to successfully mount the mass march. Responsible for the event was a group of six men, namely A. Philip Randolph, James Farmer, Martin Luther King, Jr., Roy Wilkins, John Lewis, and Whitney Young, Jr. The idea was to march in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Meier mainly attributes the March on Washington to Randolph and Rustin and calls the latter the movement's "ablest strategist and tactician" (in Kirk 2007: 24).
On August 28, 1963, around 250,000 people from all over the United States, both black and white, came to Washington, D.C. and participated in the march (cf. Harding et al. 2005: 234). There were performances by famous supporters as well as a great number of speeches, amongst them probably one of the most famous speeches ever by Martin Luther King, Jr., which is commonly referred to as the "I Have A Dream" speech, a powerful speech by John Lewis and a performance by Bob Dylan. The images of the event spread across the country and the reaction was rather positive, seeing as the year after that as well as in 1965, the then president Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, which had a crucial impact on the rights of African Americans.
2.3. Leadership and Gender in the Civil Rights Movement
"The movement made Martin rather than Martin making the movement". (Ella Baker in Kirk 2007: 16)
Even though the Civil Rights Movement was a mass movement with a great number of participants, both black and white, what still comes to mind is single striking personalities that led the protests and who were responsible for the changes. King, Lewis, Farmer – these are the people that are widely known. In addition, practically all
13 of the Civil Rights Movement leaders one can read about are male. Therefore, it is necessary to also make connections between gender and visible leadership in the Civil Rights Movement.
There are several factors that have to be considered when delving into the role that leading figures played in the movement, the first of which is the religious aspect. As the movement was strongly linked to the African American Christian church, a great number of its public figures were ministers or active in other religious positions. The Christian church was – and still is – male-dominated, with primarily men in leading positions. The distribution of positions within the Civil Rights Movement reflected the traditional gender roles that the church promoted. Women were encouraged to stay at home instead of going on the streets to become active; they were virtually excluded from some crucial aspects of the movement like the planning and execution of the protests. With regard to this, Belinda Robnett criticises the fact that "a woman's position was more naturally suited as a support to her husband and as a mother to her children" (in Kirk 2007: 152). Women were a significant element of the movement; however, they did not even get the chance to include themselves as actively as their male counterparts.
Another reason for the lower position and smaller number of women in the Civil Rights Movement might also be the fact that it took place in the 1950s and 1960s. It was not until the mid 1960s, that the feminist movement gained popularity and women all over the U.S. became more emancipated within their four walls and on the work place. However, black women were in a position where they had to fight for both their rights as women and their rights as blacks, which made Frances S. Foster (1973) describe black women as "victims of double discrimination". Most of the time, they felt excluded from the feminist movement, which focused mostly on equal rights for white women and neglected the extraordinary position that African American women found themselves in. With regard to this, the writer Alice Walker coined the term "womanism", which describes a kind of feminism that is rooted in black culture, with a focus on maturity, sexuality, womanliness and, most importantly, inclusiveness and self- appreciation (cf. Tally 1986: 214-220).
Despite all of this, many women still participated in the Civil Rights Movement, however, they simply were not seen in official positions neither were they assigned public work
14 like the church services and speeches that were so significant. These services and speeches were all held by men, as typically, only they were in the position of ministers and priests. In general, the ratio of men and women within the movement was quite low, especially when it came to decision-making positions. Most of the women's activities in the organizations were "fundraising, membership, recruitment, and community welfare" (Robnett in Kirk 2007: 150). They often acted as so-called bridge-leaders, i.e. as a "link between movement organizations and their potential grassroots membership, along with an important forum for mediation between the formal and informal aspects of movement activism" (Kirk 2007: 143), which did not include a large amount representational work for the movement. Because of this, they were not as prominent in public appearances as the men. It is important to note, however, that there were still a few prominent female members, such as Diane Nash or Ella Baker. Baker was even temporarily the director of the SCLC, but was still frustrated about the male dominance and the lack of outstanding women within the Civil Rights Movement (cf. Waldschmidt- Nelson 2001: 94). She later left the SCLC and said: "In the first place, I had known, number one, that there would never be any role for me in a leadership capacity with SCLC. Why? First, I'm a woman. Also, I'm not a minister" (Robnett in Kirk 2007: 151).
Furthermore, Baker heavily criticised Martin Luther King, Jr.'s position and the general perception of him as the most important activist, as well as his own views on leadership. While there were also women that were involved in crucial changes, like Diane Nash, who was a founding member of the SNCC and played a significant role in the sit-ins and Freedom Rides or Jo Ann Robinson or Rosa Parks, the public and supporters of the movement as well as the organizations primarily praised King for his actions and made him the centre of attention. Baker once claimed that she believed that "collective leadership" was the key to success in a movement (cf. Waldschmidt-Nelson 2001: 95) and, thus, favoured a focus on the community and the masses that were all involved in the fight for justice.
Many others claim that Martin Luther King, Jr. was only partly involved in crucial changes, as he merely participated in the actual protests (cf. Meier in Kirk 2007: 19). While he was charismatic and eloquent and motivated the masses with his speeches, he did not actively participate in sit-ins or the Freedom Rides and, therefore, was more of a symbolic leader than an actual force (cf. Meier in Kirk 2007: 27). The SNCC, CORE, and
15 other organizations carried the movement at its beginnings, but Martin Luther King, Jr. – as well as a few other "leaders" – provided it with the publicity it needed.
3. Autobiography: A Critical Overview
Given the fact that March is an autobiographical graphic novel, it is necessary to discuss this genre in order to best analyze and interpret its content. In this section, I will briefly present some essential aspects of autobiographical texts, films, and other visual media and also deal with the restrictions that may come when critically analyzing such materials. In the simplest terms, autobiography can be defined as the product of someone writing about his or her own life in retrospect. This means that the author is not only the narrator and creator of the text, but also inhabits the role of the protagonist and is thus both the subject and the object of the text (cf. Lebow 2012: 4). Authors usually describe instances in their life from childhood up to the events that make them significant in some way. Smith and Watson (2010: 18) call the genre a self-referential narrative that includes characteristics of a novel, history, and biography. However, an autobiography is not the same as a novel (cf. ibid: 9), which already discredits the term graphic novel for John Lewis' book. Nevertheless, I will stick to that term when discussing the books for reasons of simplicity and the common labelling of Lewis' work as such.
Thoughts such as what we read or see in an autobiography is without any doubt or questioning true or if the person has experienced something first hand, their story can be understood as truthful probably come to everyone's mind when first encountering autobiographies. Yet, this is not the case at all as autobiographical writing is something quite complex and diverse. When a person is reproducing their life story in retrospect, it has to be taken into account that they are not an omniscient individual but are rather a subject that is merely using their own memories as reference and, at the same time, as evidence. There are limits concerning self-reflection, interpretation, and expression (cf. Smith and Watson 2010: 236). Therefore, the reader has to bring into question a
16 number of aspects that influence the reliability of the narrator and, hence, take on an active role in interpreting the truth (cf. Smith and Watson 2010: 16).
First and foremost, there is the fact that autobiographical texts, films, and images all have omissions. It is practically impossible for the author to tell their story the exact way that it happened. Instead authors select a few significant events that they classify as relevant while leaving out other parts of their life story, often unconsciously. Smith and Watson state that memory is the "reinterpretation of the past in the present" (2010: 22) and add that no one can remember the past the exact way it was. There are several factors such as society and personal development that influence one's memory in a way in which they simply cannot remember everything that has ever happened, even if they wanted to do so (cf. ibid). The current state of the author as well as the cultural and political circumstances they find themselves in always influence, that is modify and limit, the way they deal with their past and their memory (Smith and Watson 2010: 16- 17). Depkat states that the biographer "decides on beginnings and endings, about periodization and turning-points, about linear or non-linear patterns of narrative, about what he tells and what he chooses not to tell" (2014: 40).
In addition to these inevitable gaps in the reproduction of memory, there is also the tendency to make a coherent story out of single major events in one's life. Bourdieu (cf. 1987: 298) explains that autobiographical and biographical texts are always conveyed in a way in which they make sense, hence, in a chronological order with passages that are linked to each other in order to give meaning to the past, the present and the future. He adds: So we may assume that the autobiographical narrative is always at least partially motivated by a concern to give meaning, to rationalize, to show the inherent logic, both for the past and for the future, to make consistent and constant, through the creation of intelligible relationships, like that of the cause (immediate or final) and effect between successive states, which are thus turned into steps of a necessary development. (Bourdieu in Hemecker et al. 2017: 211)
Therefore, what an author creates when writing about his or her life is a narrative that is intended to be interesting for readers and viewers. Autobiography is a chronological, coherent and, most of the time, linear story of one's life that simply overlooks the fact that a life is never a single-stranded, linear story. A life is also always embedded in and tied to context, history, and culture and cannot stand for itself (cf. Bourdieu 1987:
17 298ff.). It is therefore essential that the reader or audience perceive the narrator as an unreliable one who can never offer the full picture, instead of accepting that they are reading historically truthful facts. Despite this, sometimes readers and viewers of autobiography presuppose that they are provided with authentic facts. They believe that the narrator knows best about what has happened in their lives or there is a focus on the documents or photographs that give proof to some events. Smith and Watson (2010: 33) call this the "authority of experience", in other words, it is the narrator's right to recount the story (cf. ibid: 237). This phenomenon is also intensified if the author/narrator is a somewhat famous or respectable person or if they happen to give a lot of background information about the cultural and political circumstances of their story. In cases like this, autobiography and the subjective memories and perceptions it deals with can sometimes be confused with historical novels (cf. Smith and Watson 2010: 13). It must be remembered, however, that the "history" that is conveyed in an autobiography is always a subjective one.
3.1. The Autobiographical "I"
Sidonie Smith and Julia Watson provide a useful model for the deeper understanding of the complex autobiographical "I" in their book Reading Autobiography: A Guide for Interpreting Life Narratives (2010: 71 ff.).
First, they argue that the traditional assumption, that the speaker is made up of an "I- now" and an "I-then", which equals an "I" that is now talking about an "I" in the past, is quite superficial and does not suffice for a profound analysis of the narrative "I" in autobiography. Instead, they divide it into four parts, namely the historical or real "I", the narrating "I", the narrated "I" and the ideological "I".
The historical or real "I" is the one that actually exists; it represents the person behind the life story. In an autobiographical text, with all of its restrictions and subjectivity, it is the part that the reader will never have full access to. The narrating "I", in contrast, is the part that is fully visible to the reader. It is the narrator of the autobiographical story,
18 which is a fragmented, and, hence, modified and subjective version of their life (Smith and Watson 2010: 72).
The narrated "I" represents an "objected and remembered I" (Smith and Watson 2010: 73) that the narrating "I" creates in order to pass on their memories. In some cases, it is not addressed with the first person singular but the second or third person singular. This stylistic method enables the narrator to create a certain amount of distance between the past "I" and the "I" that is now narrating.
The last part of Smith and Watson's distinction constitutes the ideological "I", which, very simply put, represents the subject that the author has become in his or her society, in his or her location or in his or her historical circumstances. It is, as Smith and Watson (2010: 76) quote Paul Smith (1988: 105), "the concept of personhood culturally available to the narrator when he tells his story". Therefore, it is necessary to think of the author/narrator as a subject placed in specific historical or cultural circumstances.
3.2. Autographics
In order to gain a deeper understanding of the specific genre that March can be classified as, I will briefly discuss so-called autographics. This rather new form of telling autobiographical stories is gaining in popularity and is marked by its status as a "hybrid form" (Smith and Watson 2010: 169), i.e. it is a type of narrative that includes both verbal and visual components (cf. ibid.). As McCloud (1994: 9) defines the art of comic as "juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer", this means that comics or graphic novels are both examples of autographics. Comics and graphic novels per se can treat a variety of topics and stories, hence it is not possible to generally assign this literary form to a specific genre unless taking the content into consideration. Autographics, therefore, tell an autobiographical story in the form of a comic. While these literary forms are commonly perceived as catering to youth and, therefore, do not hold a reputation as a particularly high art form, the easy understanding as well as the unique ability to represent an autobiography have made these narratives become a mass
19 compatible form of literature and a significant part of popular culture. The most interesting aspect of autographics is the fact that they usually treat rather serious topics such as gender, sexuality, or political issues (cf. Smith and Watson 2010: 171) as well as personal trauma or crises (cf. Whitlock and Poletti 2008: ix) and embed them in a medium that enables easy access to these difficult subjects for the reader.
As a medium with several narrative levels and a multimodal way of self-representation, autographics make it possible for authors to express themselves in both a verbal way through actual written words and in a visual way, which is almost like in a film, through drawings and pictures. Andrew Aydin, one of the authors of March, suggests: "In many ways, I think comics are even more capable than film of conveying so much emotion in a single frame" (in Seymour 2015: 29). He adds that "unlike a theatrical film, you can absorb that experience and examine your reactions at your own pace" (ibid.). In fact, the verbal-visual medium, as Watson (2008) calls it, and its "overlapping layers of self- representation" (Smith and Watson 2010: 169) facilitate the expression of memory and emotion for the author, as we not only remember events as words, but as pictures. However, the ability to convey personal memories on an additional visual plane in comics also requires more action and interpretation on the side of the reader. The comic or graphic novel is composed of single frames with spaces in between; the fragmented segments cause many breaks within the plot line and the reader has to ask himself or herself: What happens between the images? (cf. Smith and Watson 2010: 169ff.) This affects the authenticity of the story and, furthermore, the boundaries between reality and fiction that at times seem to be blurred in autographics.
When it comes to subjectivity, there are only a few aspects that I have not mentioned yet in this chapter and that are specific to autographics. Here, the visual plane, that includes the drawing style, the graphic design, or the layout, makes up part of the story and, therefore, has to also be considered with regard to objectivity and subjectivity. In the simplest terms, this basically means that not only the narrative level is subjective, but also the drawings in the graphic novel are subjective. Hence, the story can be modified on two different levels and, as James Olney argues: [the] splitting of self into observer and observed is redoubled in autographics, where the dial media of words and drawing, and their segmentation into boxes, panels, and pages, offer multiple possibilities for interpreting experience, reworking memory, and staging self- reflection. (in Watson 2008: 28)
20 More generally speaking, Jared Gardner proclaims that graphic novels emphasise how the representation of memory always comes with a degree of fiction: "[...] it is the graphic memoir that foregrounds in its very form the ways in which the power of memory must always share the act of self-representation with the devices of fiction" (2008: 6).
Moreover, "the autobiographical avatar" (2008: xii), the preferred term by Whitlock and Poletti when referring to the protagonist of the autobiographical comic or graphic novel, is even more distorted in autographics than in ordinary autobiographies that only feature written text. The reason for that is the fact that the author represents himself or herself not only on a verbal level but also in the form of a drawing. This drawing, however, has to align with their memories and their self-reflexion and also with the art form it represents; hence, with the "conventions of comics" (Whitlock 2006 in Watson 2008: 28f.) and is, therefore, often modified to a certain degree.
4. Analysis
"A picture is worth a thousand words". (English idiom)
4.1. Analysed Works
As already mentioned a number of times, I will primarily focus on the autobiographical graphic novel March by John Lewis in my analysis. However, before actually starting with the analysis, it is necessary to present a few characteristics of the graphic novel. While I have mostly referred to it as an autobiographical graphic novel so far, it needs to be repeated that Lewis is not the sole creator of this book. Rather, it is the product of a collaboration or coproduction between the co-authors Lewis, who provided his story, his memories and his words, Andrew Aydin, a cartoon writer and Lewis' digital director and policy advisor, and Nate Powell, a cartoonist. Thus, Aydin and Lewis wrote the story together and Powell provided the illustrations. However, it can be argued that, even
21 though there are some events included at which Lewis was not present, March is largely autobiographic, as it is mostly based on Lewis' memory and accounts, hence making him the centre of narration throughout the book.
Aydin held interviews with Lewis and people such as James Lawson in order to prove that the instances and facts that Lewis was stating were truthful. Additionally, they consulted documents and records from the 1950s and 1960s during the writing process (cf. Seymour 2015: 31). According to Aydin, the motivation for the book arose from the desire to tell a new kind of story about the Civil Rights Movement: "A lot of people would be very happy if the civil rights movement weren't taught beyond the usual nine-word- summary"(in Seymour 2015: 29). He continues: "Rosa-Parks-Martin-Luther-King-I- Have-A-Dream – that's usually as far as it goes" (ibid.). For my analysis, I will use the first two books of the March trilogy, which deal with the sit-in campaigns and Freedom Rides as well as the March on Washington from 1963. Most importantly, these books also provide an insight into the campaigns and organizations of the movement from the perspective of John Lewis. This autobiographical aspect will influence the visual and narrative representation of the involved individuals to a relatively high degree and I intend to expand on this more precisely in my analysis.
I deliberately chose to use another, quite different book, namely Stuck Rubber Baby by Howard Cruse for my analysis in order to provide a point of reference and comparison to emphasise the influence of perspective, memory, and autobiography when dealing with a topic such as the Civil Rights Movement. While March claims to tell a true story, the graphic novel by Cruse does not. Yet it is, in fact, inspired by the author's real life experience of growing up in in Birmingham, Alabama as well as by his sexuality, his relationship to a woman and their newborn daughter they gave up for adoption. Cruse claims: "[...] Readers should never assume that any particular incident in the book is part of my actual life experience, since Stuck Rubber Baby is a big gumbo made of all kinds of ingredients, many of which spring fully from my imagination" (cf. Cruse: "22 – Oh, By The Way, Kim..."). The result is a fictional story of a man, Toland, and his personal struggles regarding homosexuality, family, and race, which is placed in the context of the Civil Rights Movement, activism, and a conservative society. Hence, this graphic novel takes on a far different approach to the topic than March does. There is less focus on individual figures of the movement and much more emphasis on the collective nature of
22 the movement. Therefore, it might be interesting to look at all three of the graphic novels and observe where the differences in the visual representation of the movement and its leaders lie.
4.2. Methodology
For my analysis of the graphic novels I chose to work with a combination of traditional semiological approaches and film analysis (see Monaco 1981). Even though a graphic novel is not a motion picture like a film, these two media still have a great number of similarities as they both represent a sequence of images. Thus, it was evident to me that I needed to take into account both of these approaches in order to come up with a detailed and multi-layered analysis and, consequently, with a meaningful conclusion. However, it is also of great importance to take into consideration the specific characteristics of comics and graphic novels and adapt traditional film analysis or, respectively, semiology with regard to it. In the following section I will briefly discuss the concept of semiology and its connection to graphic novels and comics. I will not, however, dedicate a whole chapter to the various aspects of film analysis, as this approach will prove itself to be rather self-explanatory over the course of my analysis.
4.2.1. Semiology
The way we perceive the world is neither objective nor purely individual; rather, it is something cultural. As Lacey explains: "People born into different societies have a different understanding of the world, because they learn about it in different ways" (2009: 7). Hence, the culture we are born in determines the way we perceive the meaning of language, visual representations and other systems. "How does something make meaning?"– this is the question that semiology examines (cf. Rose 2016: 106ff.).
Essentially, semiology is the study of signs (ibid: 107) and, simply put, signs are something that stands for something else or are the "language through which meaning is communicated" (Hall 2013: 21). If we take into account Ferdinand de Saussure's definition of a sign, then it can be said that it is made up of two components, namely the
23 signifier and the signified. The signifier is a sound or an image that is supposed to represent the signified, which is a certain concept or object in our mind. The thing that the sign refers to in the real world is called the referent (cf. Rose 2016: 113f.). Hence, representation is this relation between the signifier and the signified, which individuals create actively according to their cultural code. While Saussure claimed that the relationship between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary (cf. ibid), others such as Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen argue that the creation of a sign is not characterised by arbitrariness but that there are specific reasons behind the relation, which they call "motivated" (cf. 2006: 8).
However, the meaning of those signs is not something that is fixed or uniform. In fact, nothing in our world has a fixed meaning per se and meaning is simply an actively created result of culture, which can change over time. Subjects of a culture give meaning to certain objects, images and language in an active process, taking into account certain conventions (social, cultural, and linguistic) that are fixed in their proper culture and which every human being learns as they become a subject of their culture. Hence, the meaning of a sign is the same for every individual member of the same culture, as they all share the same code (cf. Hall 2013: 9). Furthermore, meaning is always linked to ideology, which goes hand in hand with particular cultural conventions, ideas, and beliefs and which increases once more the interplay between culture and meaning.
As already mentioned above, people that are brought up in one and the same cultural setting share the same code, which Rose defines as "a set of conventionalised ways of making meaning that are specific to particular groups of people" (2016: 128). Lacey adds that codes are "objects of symbols that have a consensual meaning" or, in other words, a "generally agreed meaning" (2009: 32). Thus in order to make meaning out of something like, for instance, an image, it is necessary to decode it (cf. Rose 2016: 128) and, as codes are culturally fixed, people who belong to different cultures do not share the same code; therefore, they usually interpret signs differently, which also has to be taken into account when conducting an analysis of visual representations.
Over the last few years or even decades, comics have rised in popularity and respectability. This might be due to the fact that visual literacy, as Eisner (1996: 3) calls it, has become more and more important as a skill since new media have entered our
24 everyday lives. Another reason might be the increase in the number of graphic novels that are being published now, as they are usually considered less juvenile and more serious because of their length and target audience. For my analysis, I chose three graphic novels because of their complex interplay between narrative and visual plane and the unique way in which words and images create meaning. If one would look at the images and the text of a comic or a graphic novel separately and try to make meaning out of it, they would decode them far differently than the combination of those two planes.
In the following sections, I will analyse selected images and sequences from March I and March II and will compare them with similar representations in Stuck Rubber Baby. As the three graphic novels provide a vast amount of possible images and sequences for the analysis, I have decided to divide the scenes and images into five categories, each with a different focus. The analysis will, therefore, consist of images that can be put into these categories and will deal with them in detail in order to narrow down the possible areas of focus and provide an organized structure.
4.3. Sit-ins
I will start my analysis by focusing on the representation of sit-ins in March I, which is the only one of the three graphic novels that deals with this kind of protest. The first sequence of images I am going to analyse consists of four panels (Figure 1). It shows a small group of protesters who are holding a sit-in protest at a lunch counter. They are asking to be served by a waitress, who denies their request. In graphic novels there exists a whole new narrative level, which is made up of the images. Rather than just accompanying the text, it takes up the same significance and creates a narrative that can be observed on two different planes. Both text and image are absolutely indispensable. If one plane was missing, the representation would convey a different meaning, e.g. if we only had the images without the text, this particular scene might also represent a group of people placing an order at a diner.
25 The first panel is a long shot of the protest group sitting at a lunch counter. It has the role of an establishing shot that introduces the scene, as the audience is familiarized with the setting – the lunch counter – and the people involved – the group of protesters. Furthermore, the composition of the image is quite typical for an establishing shot; it seems as if the lunch counter would part it into two parts of equal width and the alignment of the figures is almost symmetrical, with the same spacing between each of them. It is quite pleasing to the eye and highlights the context instead of the actions within the frame. According to James Monaco, the establishing shot "emphasizes context over drama" (cf. 1981: 162), which is exactly what this panel does. The protesters are foregrounded and are the sharp elements, while the setting or background appears to be comparable to a quick sketch, with little saturation and light, thin lines. The group in the foreground is drawn with dark lines and shadows; they are the most prominent part of the image and thus are perceived as the subject and most important element. Moreover, Monaco argues that the top of an image is usually less significant than the bottom (cf. 1981: 156), hence, the people are more important than the diner itself. Regarding the background, even though it seems blurry and indistinct, it is recognized as a lunch counter due to the prior knowledge of the reader, the context and the posters, pictures, and boards that are seen.
In all four panels, the counter stays visible and works as some kind of barrier between the black protesters and everything that is behind it. In this case this includes the white waitress. The scene represents a microcosm of the whole racial struggle that the Civil Rights Movement was about. During the entire conversation, the barrier stays between them and what is behind and symbolizes the hard struggle for understanding, communication, and cooperation. In fact, there is always juxtaposition of black and white people in March, which will become evident over the course of this analysis. The most obvious element that adds to this juxtaposition is the colour choice. The entire graphic novel (applicable to both March I and March II) is composed in black and white. This not only highlights the connotative meaning of a segregated society and the difference in race, but also suggests a certain degree of seriousness. Moreover, it makes the reader focus on the narrative and on the plot of the graphic novel instead of only giving them exciting and cluttered drawings. It may also stress the fact that the whole story is a flashback, made up of Lewis' memories. In visual media, memories are often represented in a light, dreamy, obscure manner or lacking colour. This also accentuates
26 the mood of the whole story, which is neither fun nor particularly exciting in terms of action.
Figure 1: Sit-in (see March: Book One. p. 85)
With regard to "non-verbal communication", as Lacey (2009: 9) refers to it, the tension in this sequence sticks out. When we observe the image concerning eight parts of body language that Michael Argyle (1972: 37-47) names, which are facial expression, gaze, gestures and movement, posture, body contact, spatial behaviour, clothes and appearance, and non-verbal aspects of speech, then it can be deduced that the protesters sit rather straight and stiffly during the entire scene, they seem orderly and their facial expressions suggest calmness, especially when Nash gazes at the waitress during their conversation. In contrast to that, the fourth panel shows the waitress with wrinkles around her eyes and pressing together her lips as if she was quite tense. Even though her eyes are not visible due to the glasses, these facial expressions still let her seem annoyed with the group. It may be interesting to add that the protesters are quite neatly dressed and that the social equality is at least symbolized in that way, as this kind of clothes are typically a symbol of higher social status.
27 Another important aspect concerning the waitress in this sequence are the symbols that make the audience perceive her as such. She is wearing a name tag and a typical waitress uniform; furthermore, she is readily holding her notebook – even though she is not going to take an order in this particular scene. The illustrator uses these symbols to categorize her as a waitress. In addition, we can deduce that the close-ups in the second and third panel show her feet and her hand. Our ability to create the whole in our minds while only perceiving part of something makes this possible for us. McCloud calls this phenomenon closure and argues that we complete fragmented representations "based on our experience"(1994: 63). Because of closure and the fact that we can go back a few images in the otherwise linear reading process, we can logically recognize the waitress as the subject in these panels. In the second panel, the feet and the "CLIP CLIP CLIP" sound, represented as text next to the moving object, symbolize the approaching danger or, in better words, conflict, that the protesters will have to face. This adds an element of suspense to the sequence, which increases in the third panel, with the close-up of the waitress' hand. We can, therefore, also conclude that the "Um", in the word balloon in the third panel belongs to the waitress. The hand is foregrounded and appears to be extremely big. In the background we can see the group of activists that is calmly sitting at the lunch counter – a lot smaller than the hand. This representation indicates the dominance and superiority of the waitress. Moreover, the fourth panel increases her superiority as she occupies half of the frame while the three protesters that are shown occupy the same amount of space together. She is foregrounded, appears to be much bigger, and looks down at them. Nevertheless, Diane Nash's gaze and the calmness with which she is depicted diminish part of the superiority of the waitress. At first glance, it seems as if only the two women were active in the scene and the other protesters appear to occupy a passive role. However, they are actually quite active, although in a different manner. They are following the rules and agreements of a sit-in protest, hence, calmly but firmly occupying their seat at the lunch counter.
In the first panel, the protesters are only seen from behind, so the reader does not know who they are and, therefore, they all seem to be equally important. They are all facing the wall except for one, who might look at the others for reassurance, tell them something, or correct them. Only one person appears to be white, but it stays unclear whether they are a protester as well or an ordinary client. However, the focus of this sequence lies on the small group of protesters as the driving force. Only in the fourth
28 panel there is the impression of a single key figure, namely Diane Nash, who, according to the narrative was the assigned spokesperson of that day. John Lewis is depicted as the man sitting on her left side. Personally, I think it is an interesting choice by Lewis to show specifically the day on which Diane Nash, a woman of the movement, was the leader of his group of protesters. In fact, he mentions and shows her a lot over the course of his graphic novel, however, I can only speculate that he might have wanted to emphasise her leading role, because she never really got as much credit as her fellow male activists. In this scene, Nash comes across as a strong woman, gazing confidently at her interlocutor. Even though she is depicted as sitting between two males, one of them John Lewis himself, she appears to be bigger than them in size, which contributes to her leading role in this situation. I will further discuss the representation of gender in section 4.6; however, it is rather unusual that Lewis opts for various scenes in which Nash is the focus of attention.
What is interesting is the fact that, even though he is the author and narrative voice of the graphic novel, the sequence – like the majority of the book – is not shown from Lewis' point of view. The leading role is occupied by Nash and by placing the point of view on an external level he not only increases her significance in this scene, but also the truthfulness of the account. At least partially, it feels as if the story is less autobiographical and more reliable due to this external, supposedly objective point of view. The reader simply experiences the same as he did, but does not feel like they were in his shoes. Nevertheless, Kress and van Leeuwen (2006: 116-24) argue that a so-called "aerial view" is better in terms of identifying with the figure. Personally, I would claim that in this case, it contributes to identification not with one particular figure but with the small group of protesters. Again, this emphasises the fact that Lewis did not only want to draw attention to himself here but rather chose to focus on Nash and the fellow activists as well as on the communal spirit of the early stages of the Civil Rights Movement. In contrast to many other scenes, with which I will be dealing with in this paper, neither leadership nor group dynamics of the movement seem idealized in this particular example.
The second representation of a sit-in protest is no less important to discuss. Figure 2 presents another group of protesters entering an establishment and trying to be served. They are rejected and leave shortly afterwards. The sequence starts with a close-up of
29 four protesters' feet. The reader can deduce that they are the protesters' feet as they always appear in small groups in the graphic novel and are somehow always more neatly dressed than the other characters in the comic. Moreover, the lined up feet resemble the act of sitting at a lunch counter, which the activists mostly do in the crucial scenes of March I. There are no borders around the image, so it differentiates itself from the other visuals of this sequence. While McCloud (1994: 103) mentions that a borderless panel that runs off the edge of a page appears to be timeless, with this particular panel it seems more as if its content should be read like background information that introduces the actual scene. The following panels show images that are like a shot-reverse shot in film, switching from the point of view placed behind the shoulders of two dialogue partners. As these two panels also show close-ups of two different characters who are speaking with each other, these two figures can be classified as the subjects of the sequence.
What stands out here is the fact that there is absolutely no depth in these images. There is no clear background and the blurriness reminds one of a shallow focus. Only in the fourth panel, one can guess that it is a diner or a similar establishment in which the scene takes place, however, this guess can only be made due to the known context and the previous pages in the book.
Figure 2: Sit-in (see March: Book One, p. 87)
The most salient element of these images is the waitress, who, again, can be recognized as such by her clothes particularly her small hat and her apron. She is bright, sharp, and big and the reader automatically concludes that what she is saying is the core message 30 of the sequence. As she appears to be much taller than the other figures (among them John Lewis), especially in the third panel, this waitress once again conveys a sense of superiority and dominance. In the second panel, two protesters – or at least what appears to be protesters – are merely depicted as shadows that frame the waitress, who occupies the centre of the image. Naturally, what is in the centre is perceived as the more important element. The text clearly presents the waitress' rejection as a "win" over the group of activists as they leave the diner. The images highlight that fact by letting her also win on a visual level. Hence, the only element of the whole sequence that sticks out is her. In addition, her body language indicates her dominance in this situation as well. In the second panel she is not even looking at the protesters as her eyes are closed and in the third she looks clearly angry and annoyed. Both her gestures in panel two and four imply rejection, she clearly does not want to serve the protesters and expresses this by having her arms crossed and by using a simple hand gesture that accompanies her saying "Hold up".
In the last panel, the waitress is joined by her manager, after Lewis asks to speak to him. What catches the reader’s attention is their bright, white clothes in contrast to the rather dark clothing of the protesters. That way, the black and white contrast is accentuated and the differences and the disagreement between these two ethnic groups is represented on a visual level. Concerning this kind of contrast, Hall (2013:232) claims that sometimes, meaning is created via visual differences through binary opposition. There is opposition on a different level as well, namely regarding the frame in the fourth panel. Powell has placed the waitress and the manager at the far left side of the frame and the protesters at the right side, creating some kind of invisible wall between them, just like the counter did in the previous sequence. Taking into account Kress and van Leeuwen's explanation of left-right composition (cf. 2006: 181), which claims that the direction in which we read, namely from left to right, influences the way we perceive an image, one could conclude that the side showing the white staff represents the "familiar" and "self-evident" while the other side shows what is not yet known (cf. ibid.). In the fourth panel it is already known that the staff is angry and annoyed with the protesters due to the previous text and images. However, it is new information to the plot that the group then actually leaves the establishment. The interesting part is the way they are presented when they are leaving. They thank the waitress and the manager and Lewis is even shown politely waving goodbye at them.
31 In general, the depiction of the protesters emphasizes their calm and polite appearance. John Lewis himself inhabits the role of the leader and his body language and size within the frame convey a sense of calm confidence. Even though the spatial behaviour of the waitress is much more dominant, with her being drawn a lot bigger, salient, and central and with a spatially inferior Lewis whose word balloon is even at the very bottom of the panel, Lewis does the role of a leader, which he is obviously supposed to occupy here, justice. His confident gaze at the waitress and his short and firm statements make up for differences in size and lighting.
Nevertheless, I would argue that in this sequence the focus is, again, not only on one leading person but on the small group that holds the sit-in. At least in this particular example, the spatial dominance of Lewis in contrast to his fellow protesters does not convey the message that it is his sole activism that carries the narrative and the protest. I would explain this through the historical setting of the first part of March I. The sit-in protests were the beginning of a larger movement and, thus, there was still room to focus on a few individuals instead of a whole mass or a few single key figures. Lewis only stands out here because of his participation in the conversation and the close-up that goes with it as well as the fact that the narrative only covers the group that he went with on that day.
4.4. Marches
In this section, I will present three different representations of marches taken from March I and Stuck Rubber Baby. Typically, images of marches include a vast number of people; however, the manner of representation of these crowds shows clear differences. The first image (figure 3) is a scene from March I, which shows a crowd of protesters on a bridge (as can be deduced from the fifth panel that shows a big sign with the word BRIDGE on it) as they encounter police troops who prevent them from continuing their march. One of the protesters, whose name seems to be Hosea, asks the policemen for permission to speak to the major. However, his request is declined.
32 The panels in this sequence are arranged in a chaotic, convoluted way. They are overlapping, some of them do not have borders, and some of them almost blur together. There is a lot happening in a short period of time and this dynamic arrangement reflects the mood and the actions in the scene. This instance demonstrates rather well that the panels are also an instrument to create, change, and transmit meaning (cf. McCloud 1994: 98). The fact that the reader still knows what order they are supposed to read the panels in has to do with the way we read, namely from left to right.
The key figures in this scene are clearly noticeable. John Lewis and the man named Hosea, who is most likely supposed to be civil rights activist Hosea Williams, take up most space, both visually and on a textual basis. They are the only ones who are speaking and in most panels, just the two of them are visible. Whereas most people in the crowd are only either dark, shadowy, and indistinct figures and silhouettes or expressionless, anonymous characters behind Williams and Lewis. The pair is then depicted in front of everyone else, leading the group. There are also close-ups as well as extreme close-ups of the two, such as in panels one and two or in panel three, where we can only see part of Williams' body from behind. All frames primarily show Lewis and Williams, so the reader has no other option other than to identify these two as the subjects that are, in addition, foregrounded and somehow sharper and more detailed than the others. Without context, it would not be possible to identify this group as a large, marching crowd of protesters and the frames are open, as they would not make sense without their context. This not only adds to the convolution of the scene, but also stresses the insignificance of the seemingly passive mass and the dominance of two single active figures here. Lewis and Williams are characterised as brave leaders of the group, who stand up against the police.
By paying attention to the body language in this sequence, the seemingly leading role of these two figures can be evaluated further. In the second panel, the facial expression of the two key figures Williams and Lewis connotes concern; an extreme close-up is used to show this by focusing on their eyes and eyebrows. Moreover, Lewis is gazing at Williams from the corner of his eyes as if he was waiting for his approval or his next move. That way, Powell emphasises the teamwork and the mutual support of these two leaders. In the fourth panel, Williams seems to be a bit distressed as he is looking into the distance as if he was thinking and searching for an answer on what to do next. Lewis,
33 on the other hand, appears to be calm and confident, determined and knowing how to act next. A word balloon shows that he tells Williams how they should precede to act and, thus, complements him.
The people behind the two key figures do not seem to be bothered much, their faces are drawn rather emotionless and, therefore, they inhabit an anonymous and passive role in this sequence. As Williams and Lewis start to pray and kneel down, they seem to slowly do the same thing, which is visible in the fifth panel. However, there is a third group of people in these images that has to be discussed, namely the police troops. Just like the waitress in the previous images, this group is recognized as the police by certain symbols such as the megaphone, the hats, and their batons. In the sixth image, there is a close-up of one of the men whose body language implies anger, his eyes are narrowed and focused and his mouth is open wide as if he was screaming. In fact, the word balloons that can be assigned to this character (in panel two, three, and six) are jagged and the text is written in large, bolded capital letters. In addition, the illustrator underlined a few words. This is a great example of the transmission of sound in comics and other visuals. In this case, the reader gets the feeling that the policeman's utterances were loud and rough words, filled with aggression. In contrast to that there is Williams' word balloon in the first or third panel, which is written in much smaller and less dynamic letters and, therefore, implies a much calmer and politer way of speaking. The word balloon in the fourth panel even contains words that are written in lowercase letters and thus express a quiet utterance by Lewis.
I would also like to comment on the placement of the various figures in the images and the underlying effects. There is the low angle in the third panel, which makes Williams seem superior and even more confident than his posture already does. I would claim that he almost has a majestic look in this image, which was presumably the intention the illustrator and authors had in mind. In the same image, the police troops are placed in the right bottom corner, seeming smaller and less significant and, hence, do not appear to be of danger to Williams. The placement of these two elements is also interesting as it emphasises the confrontation of two opposing and very different groups. On the far right side we have the police and on the far left side there is Williams and the crowd, which, thanks to closure, can be concluded by the reader. Moreover, the left/right rule is
34 applicable here, as the panel reveals whom Williams is speaking to in panels one and two and thus provides new information.
Figure 3: March (see March: Book One, p.7)
During the entire sequence, it is never mentioned that Williams and Lewis are the bravest or are the leaders of the crowd, however, the placement, mise-en-scéne, and various frames suggest that they are. Nevertheless, it should not be forgotten that the limited autobiographical point of view of the novel might simply omit the fact that the others were as brave and courageous as these two people. Lewis can only repeat what he heard, experienced, and remembers, which is probably why Williams, who was at his side during this march, is so prominent in this scene and why the other protesters were not actively included in this scene.
35 Finally, it is important to add that, according to James Monaco (1981: 131), images are very denotative but, however, work with connotative meanings. In this case, the denotative meaning of the images would be that the crowd gives in and starts praying instead of continuing their march, which is what the reader sees at first sight. The connotative meaning, on the other hand, would be calmness, strong characters, and non- violence. Therefore, this scene is a useful and powerful example for what the graphic novel claims to be about, namely the movement's non-violent protests.
The second example of the representation of marches is taken from the same novel, but, nevertheless, conveys a vastly different image of such marches. Figure 4 shows a sequence of five panels, which depict a march in Tennessee. In this sequence, however, there is not a single person in focus and even the faces of the figures stay unrecognisable. In the second panel, we can only see a close-up of their feet and in the rest of the images the characters are drawn like blurry pictures and are quite dark. Because of that, the protesters carry a sense of anonymity and the focus on the crowd as a whole and on the mass is highlighted. During the entire scene, an external point of view is maintained and it feels like a vague reconstruction of memory, probably due to the fact that Lewis himself does not appear in this scene. Additionally, if the characters were not holding signs, which are a symbol of protest and demonstration, and if the text in the first panel did not exist, then the meaning of the images could be interpreted quite differently.
Here, again, the first image works as an establishing shot that introduces the scene. It is an extreme long shot of the crowd that becomes blurred further in the back. The first and the last panel are quite rich in depth in order to show a lot of people, however, the depicted mass is only a fragment of the crowd and as there are no borders in images one and five, it seems as if the crowd is never-ending. Moreover, another effect of borderless panels comes into play here: McCloud (1994:103) argues that such panels create a sense of timelessness and set a certain mood in the scene. In fact, these two particular panels do cover a greater time span than the other images of the sequence. For example, the relatively small frames of the third and the fourth panel appear to be like quick random snapshots of individual people that are part of the march. The short amount of time that it takes the reader to look at these images reflects the brevity moment that is represented in them.
36
Figure 4: March (see March: Book One, p. 117)
The second panel is rather notable regarding the point of view. The scene is shown as if the reader was placed in between the crowd and was watching the people who are passing by from a very low angle. This has the effect that it highlights the mood of the scene and also puts emphasis on the atmosphere rather than on a few characters. The image only shows legs and feet – with a few exceptions in the far back of the image. Due to closure, the reader is aware that those are the feet of the protesters in the crowd and the busy nature of the representation adds a feeling of determination and team spirit.
However, it must be pointed out that the scene continues on the next page, which I will not analyse here, but will elaborate on in section 4.6. On that consecutive page, there are actually two representatives of the crowd speaking to the mayor. This is already visible in the last panel of the sequence of images that I chose to include in this section; in the form of the only visible word balloon that introduces the conversation. I still chose to 37 only show this page for now, as it is an example of a very strong visual part of the book due to the fact that there is one single word balloon that indicates sound; the rest of the panels rely only on visuals and the meaning they carry.
A similar scene can be found in Stuck Rubber Baby, where the image in figure 5 depicts a big crowd of people marching. A few people are holding signs and on the far right, the reader can identify shadowy silhouettes, however, if the text in the panel would not refer to what is depicted here as a crowd, it would be nearly impossible for the reader to recognize it as such. This image shows that what is visible is not as important as how our brain decodes the image. The crowd of people holding signs is interpreted as a protest, even if the figures are barely identifiable as humans. Nevertheless, this only shows that the mass is much more significant here than the individual activist. Moreover, the importance of the whole crowd over the single characters is highlighted insofar as only a fragment of the crowd is presented. Unlike the previous example, there is no leading figure visible here and the front row of the march is not even inside the frame. In addition, a few people at the far right of the panel are actually depicted walking past the border of the panel. This was probably done intentionally in order to create an open frame that emphasises the vastness of the crowd. The reader concludes that the march continues nearly infinitely in the part that is not shown inside the frame.
Figure 5: March (see Stuck Rubber Baby, p. 23)
The image is an extreme long shot of a street or a park. A small number of policemen are in the foreground (who can be identified as such by the cars and their uniforms as well as their posture) and in the background the crowd is pictured. Despite Lacey's (2009: 18) assumption that the element that is foregrounded is conventionally understood as the subject of the image, the subject in this panel is definitely not the police but the large group of people behind them. Its placement along the entire length of the panel as well as the depth of the image attract the most attention to the crowd and emphasise the enormous size of the mob. The great length of the panel not only enables the illustrator
38 to fit in a large number of people in the mise-en-scéne but also represents the time span. As McCloud explains, time and space are practically the same in comics concerning visual representation. The longer the panel, the more time it covers and the longer the actions it shows usually last (cf. 1994: 100). That way, not only the crowd but also the covered time is stressed, which makes the endlessness of the panel even more prominent. To conclude, this representation in Stuck Rubber Baby does not specify age, gender, ethnicity, looks, or social status of individuals but shows one big and strong force that acts and brings about change. The subject is the crowd and the fact that it is made up of individual people is not of importance as they stay anonymous and unknown.
4.5. Speeches
Speeches at marches and gatherings made up a large part of the Civil Rights Movement. No matter if it was a small speech at a local church or organization meeting or one of the famous speeches that were held at the March on Washington, representations can be found in all three of the graphic novels that are covered in this paper. I will start with a scene taken from March II, in which John Lewis is holding his famous speech at the March on Washington. It is a rather long sequence that stretches over eleven pages, however, in order to observe the representation of the individual figures in the sequence, it is sufficient to look at the first panels of the scene. Therefore, I will cover the first page of the scene, which can be seen in figure 6.
The autobiographical aspect is very strong in this scene, not only because of the point of view shot in the second panel but also because of the emphasis on Lewis' own speech rather than on one of the other speakers' words. The fact that there is a large amount of text on the page increases the truthfulness of the account, as it was probably transcribed from recordings rather than just reproduced from Lewis' memory. The fact that the text on this page carries a sense of historic accuracy increases Lewis' authority as both the narrator and the speaker depicted on this page. Therefore, the "authority of experience", as Smith and Watson (2003: 33) call it, is rather high here, because not only does the
39 reader assume that Lewis himself, as the author and narrator, knows best about what happened during his speech, but resultantly the seeming truthfulness is increased.
The setting here is the March on Washington. There is a large crowd and Lewis is standing at a podium on top of stairs. In the first panel, only Lewis himself as well as the person introducing him are sharp and in focus, while the group of people behind them is unrecognizable and anonymous, drawn only with light lines, little saturation, and shades of grey. In this panel as well as in the fourth panel, Lewis is framed by a white border that looks almost as if a spotlight was directed towards him. This makes him – and, in the case of the first panel, also the figure introducing him – appear as a shining figure that stands out from the crowd.
The fourth panel, which I have already mentioned, adds to the lighting situation the spatial arrangement within the frame. Lewis is pictured standing on top of stairs and speaking down to the crowd. He is also bigger than the people in the crowd. The stairs leading up to him highlight his importance and dominance in this scene, which has the effect that the crowd seems more like a setting rather than an active element in the images. In addition to that, the representation of the scene switches from a long shot that shows both Lewis and the crowd to a medium close-up in the fifth panel, which then only focuses on him as the speaker rather then the totality of people present. Notably, the crowd is never depicted as individual people anyway and rather comes across as part of the background and, hence, as part of the setting. It is quite blurry and the focus is, therefore, more on the vastness of the crowd than on individuals. Another function of the crowd is the framing of Lewis, which becomes visible in the fourth panel: even though he is not foregrounded here, he is still the most salient element as a result of the composition. The white border is around him and additionally there is a small space between him and the crowd that is drawn around him as if it was a frame.
The second panel is a point of view shot that not only emphasises Lewis' role as the author and narrator but also as a leader, as he is looking down from his podium into the crowd. The reader identifies with him and feels as if they were up on the stage, looking at the thousands of people that are waiting for him to begin with his speech. There is also an eyeline match between the second and the third panel (an extreme close-up of his eyes) that shows what the character sees and, therefore, highlights the fact that it is
40 his big moment. Furthermore, the extreme close-up of his eyes show a determined, confident, and trustworthy look on his face. However, there are certainly omissions as the only speeches included in the book are the ones by Lewis himself and by Martin Luther King, Jr., which I will look at in more detail later. What Louis does by omitting the others' speeches is putting his own and King's words and appearance into focus. As he is automatically the subject of the autobiography and, therefore takes up most of the space, the fact that he dedicates so many passages to King brings me to the conclusion that he wants to define King as the prominent leading figure of the Civil Rights Movement.
Figure 6: Speech (see March: Book Two, p. 166)
Before moving on with a discussion of the body language that is shown here, I would like to briefly mention a few interesting formal aspects of this scene. First, there is the heavy reliance on closure, as the reader is supposed to fill the gaps between the images and the
41 different actions they show. For example, the first panel shows Lewis walking towards the podium while the second one and the third one already show him standing at the podium. Hence, the active role of the reader is already fixed on the succession of the images. The second aspect is the use of lettering to create meaning. The word balloons in panel four and five include single accentuated phrases that are written in thicker and slightly bigger letters. In their mind, the reader reads these phrases as louder and firmer and hence, the lettering contributes to the characterisation of Lewis as a confident and eloquent leader in the movement. Moreover, the word balloons in the fourth and fifth panel are connected, which creates a continuous transition between these two images. In fact, I would claim that they both show the same moment but from a different shot and angle. This connection is stressed by the lack of borders in the fourth panel, which affects the perception of time in this scene. The amount of words in the word balloons suggests that the panel covers more than just a short moment in time and rather covers the time span of a long speech. This formal aspect also creates a sense of timelessness.
With regard to non-verbal communication, Lewis fulfils the role of a leader on many levels. First, he is depicted in an upright and self-confident posture in every long shot that shows his whole body. Second, he is gazing at the crowd (see, for example, panels three and five) in a way that makes him look as if he did not feel the least bit shy or nervous when delivering his speech in front of such a large number of people. The microphones pointing in his direction that are seen in the last panel might represent the crowd that is listening and observing him, waiting to be inspired and lead by what he has to say. The fact that Lewis is wearing a suit adds to his appearance as a confident and serious man. To sum up, this sequence of images shows a man that is depicted as a typical leader. He is drawn as a shining figure who is standing up at a podium, who has something to say, and who conveys a feeling of confidence and trust to the masses, who are nothing more than a blurry background that emphasises the leader's importance.
Stuck Rubber Baby also offers a scene set at the March on Washington (figure 7). It shows the protagonist Toland speaking with his girlfriend Ginger on the phone and then cuts to the march, where they meet. What distinguishes this sequence from the previous one is the point of view. The reader is not up at the podium with the speaker but experiences the march from an external, aerial point of view in an extreme long shot. The shot does not show which musician or speaker is up on the stage, they are merely
42 depicted as dots just like the people in the crowd. This conveys that it is irrelevant who is speaking or singing for the crowd in that moment and that both the people on stage and the protesters in the crowd are equally important. However, the lines that come from the dot on the stage as well as the music notes indicate that there is, in fact, one or more people singing loudly. These lines and notes represent the only form of emphasis or attention to the people on stage and, in addition, make up part of the language and meaning of this sequence.
Figure 7: Speech (see Stuck Rubber Baby, p. 101)
The majority of the scene, however, includes medium shots of single people that are relevant to the narrative, namely Ginger, Toland, and their friends. They are cheerful and having fun, which is expressed by the laughing faces, the hugs, and the exciting shouting (the shouting being illustrated once again through the thick and bold lettering). These images focus on the community and the friendship, on the interpersonal relationships, and the small groups that got together and participated in the protests of the movement. It shows a rather casual scene embedded in the great March on Washington and gives the unknown protesters a face. Furthermore, the sixth panel does not even have a visible background, which makes the group stand out even more.
The last panel connects the group with what is shown in the third panel, namely the mass of marching activists. It shows the friends marching in a crowd full of people but, 43 in contrast to the examples in March, which I have already discussed, they do not seem to lead the march nor do they appear to be bigger, sharper, or otherwise more prominent. Moreover, the only part of Ginger that is visible is her hair while the unknown woman in front of her is visible as a whole, which makes this stranger seem as significant for the action as her if not – at least visibly – more important. The men and women around them do not seem to differ much from them, in fact, it seems as if they were just a few people in a crowd of thousands of ordinary, equal activists. The angle places the reader on the same height as the protesters and thus makes them seem neither superior nor inferior. This scene completely lacks a leading figure and emphasises the importance of a group within the big crowd instead of focusing on one person speaking or performing.
Next, I want to look at the representation of Martin Luther King's speech in March II. Of course, the most well-known speaker and representative of the Civil Rights Movement is also included in the book, delivering his famous speech at the March on Washington. Unlike John Lewis' speech, this one is narrowed down to one image and, therefore, acts more as an impression than as part of the narrative. However, this image (figure 8), which stretches over two pages in the novel, obviously stands out as it is the largest image that only focuses on one subject. It shows Martin Luther King, Jr. in quite an idolized way. Everything around him is black, so it seems as if the crowd, the other organizers, and the media were not there at all; their significance is removed by simply not including them in the frame. The authors convey the message that everything that counts in this moment is Martin Luther King, Jr.
In the centre of the two pages, we see Martin Luther King, Jr., framed by a white spot as if he was illuminated by a big spotlight in the upper left corner, which is directed towards him. The juxtaposition of black and white illustrates the difference between the relevant subject (King) and the irrelevant parts (everything else). The depiction is not dynamic at all but more like the capture of one significant moment in time.
The lines that come from his face indicate that he is speaking loudly and pervasively (as is also expressed by the phrase "his words carried through the air like arrows") and symbolize his eloquence and ability to give interesting and captivating speeches. The text layout and lettering emphasises this with a few underlined, bigger, and thicker
44 words that all refer to his speaking, for example, "POWER" or "NEVER FORGET". In general, there is not much room for interpretation on the side of the reader regarding his speaking and appearance, as the minimal yet unambiguous representation on both the visual and the textual plane create meaning just as Lewis intended it. The reader accepts King as the leader in this moment, not only because he is the only visible element in the frame but also because he is illustrated as a rather large and light figure, framed by a white background. In addition to that, the reader is placed in an angle that looks up to King, which makes him look more dominant, and almost gives him a godlike appearance due to the background and size. Because of closure, it is possible to suggest that the other characters of the graphic novel, or at least the previously shown crowd, inhabit the same role as the reader, placed under King. They are all listening and looking at him mesmerized and the black background makes it appear as if everything around him was not of importance to his audience.
Figure 8: Speech (see March: Book Two, p. 172-73)
Also Martin Luther King, Jr.'s body language in this image conveys a sense of leadership, but also one of optimism. The fact that he is looking into the distance and has his view directed towards the sky and, thus, does not face the crowd or the reader, makes him seem even more unapproachable and untouchable but at the same time connotes hope
45 and positivity. As we do not hear him speak, the only indicator of volume and way of speech – besides the lines that I already mentioned – is his widely opened mouth, which means that he is talking quite loud, almost shouting confidently and persuasively. The fact that he is standing at a podium, wearing a suit, and talking into microphones highlights the meaning that he is saying something important and loud. His gesture, namely the open arms stretched towards the sky, makes it seem as if he was begging for something; considering the religious background of the movement and of King himself, it could be interpreted as a plea to God. At the same time, however, the pose symbolizes a welcoming and open "Join me".
On Martin Luther King, Jr.'s left side a word balloon is visible. It belongs to a person that is urging him to tell the audience about his dream. The left-right composition of these two elements is interesting on two levels. Firstly, it follows the way the implied target group naturally reads, namely from left to right, indicating that the utterance in the word balloon is made before he then includes his dream in his speech. Secondly, by leading the reader's eyes from the word balloon to the most prominent and relevant subject, it emphasises King's importance in this image. Moreover, as the person to whom the word balloon belongs to is not visible in the frame, the illustrator might have chosen to use this as a way to highlight King's presence even further. It is not important who said it, but merely has the function to introduce King's speech, even though it was one of the famous performers of that day, Mahalia Jackson (cf. Hansen 2013) who, that way, was excluded from the image. Finally, I would like to talk about the modality and truthfulness of this image, as it greatly contributes to the perception of the leader Martin Luther King Jr. as well as to some of the figures in the previous examples of my analysis. The speech was an actual moment in history and by including it in the narrative and connecting the image with a truthful and somewhat reliable instance, the impression that King was actually exactly the way the authors portray him in this case is established in the reader's mind.
A rather different image of a speaker in a similar pose can be found in Stuck Rubber Baby. In figure 9, a crowd that is listening to a man holding a speech is depicted. The man is drawn in a similar posture as King in the example from March II, holding his hand up in the air like he was teaching or indoctrinating someone. I can only guess that we are dealing with a man here based on the physique of the silhouette as well as on the clothes
46 that are possibly a suit but, of course, it is not completely certain that the speaker is a man. However, the scene is set in front of a Christian church and due to cultural conventions, it is more than likely that the silhouette is, indeed, a male. The church, on the other hand, can be identified by the crosses and the architecture, which can only be decoded by cultures or individuals who know about the characteristics of a Christian church and who can make meaning of the "Smith City Baptist" which is mentioned in the text.
Figure 9: Speech (see Stuck Rubber Baby, p. 77)
The image is a long shot of the group and the front of the church, almost like a landscape shot. In the frame, only a small group of people are visible, however, the open form suggests that there might be more protesters, who are simply not depicted in the shot. In the right lower corner, one can see the protagonist Toland and his acquaintance Rose, who, according to the text, he happens to meet in the crowd. The two characters are only distinguishable from the other people in the crowd as they are, besides the speaker, the only black silhouettes in the image, which makes them stand out. There is also a little bit of white background behind Rose and Toland, but other than that, they are one with the crowd, neither bigger nor foregrounded. With regard to the crowd, Howard Cruse said about a similar drawing of his that he intended to capture the diversity of the crowd and the individuality of each participant and, hence, focused on giving each character in the crowd a "unique bit of visual energy" rather than just drawing black dots to represent them (cf. Cruse: "23 – Drawing Crowds").
47 In this example, the speaker is clearly not portrayed as a key figure of the same importance as the ones in the examples in March I and II. While he is in the centre of the image, he is still an anonymous black silhouette, which the reader cannot identify with. The speaker is framed by the crowd and slightly bigger and stouter than the rest of the people, which gives him a minor sense of dominance and force contrasted to them. In this example, again, there are lines that come from the speaker as well as the loudspeaker above his head, which indicate a certain amount of volume in his speaking. Again, I would claim that this adds to his status as a leading figure of this scene, as he is the one who has a voice and an opinion that is heard. Even though the reader is not able to hear anything, the figure is still perceived as the most prominent one in this image. He is clearly holding a microphone, as there are cables and a loudspeaker visible. The most interesting aspect with regard to this is that the word balloon does not point to the figure, but to the loudspeaker that broadcasts his voice. Moreover, the crowd is facing him and, being the most active character in the image, the group's as well as the reader's attention and gaze are drawn towards the speaker.
4.6. Gender
Most of the representations discussed so far feature either no particular leading figure or a male leader. In this section, therefore, I would like to look at an example that features a strong female character and observe if and how her portrayal differs from the ones that I have included so far. The sequence of images, which I will analyze with regard to this, is the follow-up from figure 4, when the perspective of the scene changes from one on the marching crowd to one that focuses on two spokespeople of the protesters. The two sit-in leaders C.T. Vivian and Diane Nash, who confront the mayor of Nashville, Tennessee at the march are visible. The group is surrounded by a large crowd of protesters. However, I will not focus on the crowd in this example, but only on the men and the woman on stage, who are the subjects of the images, in order to find out whether there are any differences in the representation of female and male leaders.
First of all, the status of Nash, Vivian and the mayor as the subject of the images has to be determined and explained. The three people are standing on top of the stairs of the
48 City Hall (see figure 4), which acts almost like a stage, where everyone in the crowd, the media, and the reader are able to see them clearly. Behind them, a huge mass of people is depicted, however, they are at the bottom end of the stairs and rather blurry with little saturation, which decreases their relevancy in this scene. The key figures, namely Nash, Vivian, and the mayor, are higher up than the rest of the people in the images and, thus, are more important here. Furthermore, in the very first panel and last panel of figure 10, the group is placed in the middle of the frame, with the mayor seemingly appearing smaller than Nash and Vivian in the latter. His height and stooped posture make him appear shy and anxious as he looks over at Vivian and Nash, while the pair is portrayed in a confident and strong way, gazing at him. The leading figures and centre of attention are, therefore, Nash and Vivian, who are framed by the crowd and the mayor as well as a small number of policemen and the media, who are identifiable through their hats and uniforms and through their cameras and flashlights.
Figure 10: Gender (see March: Book One, p. 118-19)
However, it is quite evident that the focus here is especially on Diane Nash, just like it already was in the sit-in sequence discussed in 4.3. The close-ups are of her and the mayor and not of C.T. Vivian. Additionally, other frames such as the last panel on the first page are clearly focused on her due to spatial arrangement, as she is depicted right in
49 the middle of the frame. When one takes a closer look at the first panel on the second page, Nash's status as the key figure of the sequence can be further deduced. In this image, Nash and the mayor are both foregrounded and in focus, while the background consisting of the crowd and all the people around them is completely blurred out. There is an emphasis on their dialogue, with Nash on the far left of the panel and the mayor on the far right. Even though both of the representations are close-ups, the panel still emphasises Nash, as it seems as if it was a shot/reverse shot with a frontal depiction of Nash that originates from a point of view behind the mayor's shoulder.
When observing the characters' body language, it becomes rather clear that the representation of Vivian and Nash could not be more different. On the one hand, there is Vivian, who looks angry and outraged, his mouth opened as if he was shouting and his eyes narrowed in rage. His posture implies that he is using his hands wildly, which usually means that someone is upset or excited. In addition, he appears to be much taller than Nash, which could, of course, be an accurate depiction of their actual height, however, it may have also been used as a way to increase the effect of his angry appearance by surpassing Nash on a spatial level. On a textual level, his anger is not only visible in the words and punctuation through the use of "?!" or "!", but also in the lettering. Certain words are underlined or are different in size, which emphasises the chaos and volume of an enraged utterance.
On the other hand, we have Diane Nash, who, in contrast to Vivian, transmits rationality and calmness. She is standing still next to him, holding what seem to be her notebooks which carry a sense of organization, but also calmness and, therefore, she appears well behaved and almost shy. Her facial expression is almost scared, at least concerned. Nash does not play a big role in this scene until the bottom half of the page, when she speaks up and confronts the mayor. During the conversation, she maintains her calm and pleasant attitude; for example, in the first panel of the second page her face is soft and the word balloon shows a polite question. However, in the last panel, Nash's face also suggests anger and disappointment, just like Vivian's.
Nevertheless, the meaning of the sequence is established through the difference between the two spokespeople representing the protesters, Vivian and Nash. While C. T. Vivian's rage does not lead to a successful outcome, Nash's rational, calm and polite way
50 of confronting the mayor results in an actual dialogue between the two parties. In fact, the authors and the illustrator may have chosen to highlight this crucial difference in order to create the connotative meaning that dialogue and non-violence is a better option than violence and furiousness. After all, the core of the Civil Rights Movement was peaceful protest, which indeed brought about some change in the end. The message behind this scene might be that the more peaceful your approach, the more suitable and successful you are as a leader. The fact that the mayor addresses her in a rather degrading and misogynist way by calling her "little lady" does not lessen the effect of her being a great leader.
In fact, the juxtaposition of her status as a woman and her not being taken seriously by the mayor at first as well as the mayor's treatment of her male counterpart put even more focus on her. As a female leader, she is represented in a different way than the men around her. I believe, however, that Lewis deliberately chose to present her like that in order to emphasise that she is more than a "little lady" and, indeed, is a significant member of the Civil Rights Movement who shined in that moment. When it comes to Nash, the autobiographical freedom of Lewis, by which I mean his power to choose what to include in his narrative and how to include it, is a great advantage for her representation. In March I, Diane Nash is the only female member of the movement that is addressed and included in certain protest scenes. In figure 1, it was Nash that spoke up during the sit-in and here, again, she is the one talking with an oppositional party. Maybe it is Lewis' connection to Nash and the SNCC that motivated him to include her as the only female key figure with strength and calmness. However, it is still interesting to note that the representation and the amount of women in March I and II reflect the actual situation of female figures in the movement, which pushed them in an almost hidden position, outshined by the male leaders.
4.7. Police
In this section, a completely different topic than the previous categories will be addressed. I have already observed the representation of the protesters and leading figures themselves, but now I would like to also take a look at the people that are on the
51 other side of the conflict in order to get a more thorough view on the role that the leading figures actually play in the books. For that, I chose to take a look at the representation of the police in the three graphic novels as they practically fill the role of the opposing force and the obstacle in the protests.
I will start this section by looking at a scene from March II, which is shown in figure 11. The scene shows a man with a megaphone, who, given the context, is most likely a policeman or a firefighter as well as a fragment of a marching crowd and a man with glasses, who can be identified as Bull Connor from the previous pages. The firefighter tells the crowd to stop their protest before the firemen eventually attack them with fire hoses. This scene represents the march at which Bull Connor and his police forces brutally repelled the protesting men, women, and children with fire hoses. Because of the great number of children present at this protest, the panel in which the crowd is depicted shows individuals who look quite young, maybe in order to emphasise the fact that the police acted violently towards children, which is, at least by the majority of readers, understood as even worse than acting violently towards adults.
The sequence is made up of seven panels, whereas the last three are overlapping and intertwined, as they represent one single moment. The panels before that lead to that moment and the amount of space they take up with regard to the whole page reflects their inferior significance in the narrative. Most of the space deals with the moment, in which the protesters are attacked with the strong streams of water, while Connor watches them. The overlapping panels portray this moment as a rather dynamic and, hence, dramatic one that contains quick and intense actions. The chaotic composition and drawing of these panels makes it quite hard for the reader to distinguish between humans and objects that are flying in all directions. The motion lines and the "PSHHHH", which expresses the loud noises of the fire hoses, add to the energetic feeling of the scene.
The young people from the crowd that are visible in the third panel appear to be anxious, with their eyes and mouths wide open in disbelief. The firefighter's face in the close-up is directed towards them and lacks a background, which makes the reader not only conclude that their reaction is an outcome of his message but also understand that the most important aspect of these two close-ups is not the firefighter or the setting, but
52 the message per se. Due to the ability to make meaning out of a so-called subject-to- subject relation between frames (McCloud 1994: 74) or, simply put, closure, the reader is able to put together the single elements in order to comprehend what is happening. Therefore, they are able to conclude that the humans visible in the large panel are the protesters, of which a small number is already shown in the panel before that. Furthermore, they understand that the firefighter is addressing the protesters when he shouts in the megaphone.
Figure 11: Police (see March: Book Two, p. 137)
Without any doubt, however, the subject and most prominent figure in this scene is Bull Connor. He is depicted in the small panels that are inside the greater, intertwined panel that makes up most of the page. The two close-ups of Connor's face show him drawn very brightly, as if a spotlight was lighting his face. In addition to that, the illustrator used a perspective that allows a full frontal view of Connor's face, which creates an
53 intense and intimidating glimpse at his close face. As the panels that blend together are like a background for the close-ups on him, it becomes quite clear that the importance of this sequence lies in particular on Connor's facial expression and the act of him watching the incident silently. In fact, the reflection in his glasses indicates that the close-up shows the reversed perspective of the great panel, as the "HHHH" is actually a part of the "PSHHHH" text, which is visible in the frame and which depicts the firefighters shooting water out of their fire hoses.
Analysing his face in more detail, I come to the conclusion that, even though it comes across as a bit expressionless due to his glasses, his compressed lips and the downward- facing mouth as well as the wrinkles between his eyes give him a rather evil and cold look as well as a silent, focused, and strict expression. The impact that his still and untroubled face has is impressive when comparing it to the angry and aggressive face of the firefighter, which is full of expression due to lowered eyebrows, wrinkles, and an open mouth. So even though Bull Connor's body is not inside the frame, his face says enough to determine his emotions and mindset.
The crowd as such is barely visible in this scene; nevertheless, these images are used to represent police violence against the protesters, who are mainly African-Americans. Therefore, they not only stand for the obstacles that activists had to face but also for the unfair treatment of black citizens. There is also no leading figure visible, because the aim of including this scene in March II was probably not to glorify or highlight a certain member of the movement, but to display the difficulties that even those figures could barely overcome. The message that John Lewis gives with this sequence is the need for leading figures, for someone that bravely faces these opponents. Bull Connor is used as a symbol and an example for the violence against the protesters due to his famous brutality at events such as the one included in the graphic novel.
A quite different situation is included in Stuck Rubber Baby (figure 12). A drunk white Southerner attacks a black protester at a sit-in. When one of the white protesters, Sammy, complains that the policeman who is present did not act properly, he gets beaten by him with his baton. What is visible in this scene is not only the violence against African-Americans, but against supporters of black rights in general. As a matter of fact, the police are portrayed as non-cooperative forces in all of the three graphic
54 novels that I analysed for this paper. I would claim that they are nearly as negatively depicted as the racist mobs, namely as violent, impolite and unjust. Moreover, in these conflict situations, of which there are plenty in the books, they are usually characterized as more powerful than the leaders due to the combination of superior law and violence in their representation. Therefore, they are the unlikeable antagonists of the narratives. The fact that the policeman in this particular scene appears to be unbothered and calmly smokes his cigarette before taking action underlines the non-cooperation of the police.
Figure 12: Police (see Stuck Rubber Baby, p. 69)
The key figure in this scene is one of the protesters, namely Sammy, who stands up for a fellow protester and who is an ordinary man and no famous shining figure. He acts within the movement and is not one of the well-known individuals that are noticed by the public eye, but nevertheless is an equally driving force as these famous, idolized leaders that can be encountered in the Civil Rights Movement. In the first two panels, the reader gets a small glimpse of the crowd that holds the sit-in and while this conveys the
55 feeling that the protest is an act of a great number of people, it also places Sammy in the role of a man who is "one of them" rather than a leading figure. The close-ups in this scene are mainly of Sammy and the policeman. They are the representatives of this huge conflict and the focus is clearly on their interaction. The two are the most salient elements in the panels and act as an instrument for the juxtaposition of good and evil, which increases the effect of both sides. The scene is a microcosm of the actual situation during the Civil Rights Movement, where protesters were treated poorly and African-Americans were disadvantaged in a great number of ways. The second panel, for example, shows a black man scared and shocked, trying to defend himself against the attacker by holding his arm in a defensive position. However, he is on the ground while the white attacker is upright and running towards him. This image shows what reality was for most black Americans: They were disadvantaged in verbal and physical conflicts, as they did not have laws that protected them and stayed loyal to the conventions of peaceful protest.
With regard to the non-verbal communication in these panels, I would like to focus on the policeman and Sammy. As I already mentioned, the policeman is shown as calm and unbothered before taking action. Actually, his face remains the same during the majority of the sequence. His downward-facing mouth and the pulled up upper lip imply disinterest and annoyance to a certain degree. In contrast to that, Sammy's facial expressions convey shock and disbelief and later on in the scene also anger, which is especially visible in the panel in the left lower corner, where he has his eyebrows lowered and his mouth open while shouting at the policeman. The shouting is represented by thicker and larger lettering. The background in this panel consists of very thin lines that come from Sammy's face and which give the image quite a dynamic look. This dynamic emphasises Sammy's disbelief, his screaming, and the discomfort he is probably feeling. In general, this scene would also work rather well without any text in the word balloons, as the facial expressions and the compositions of the images are quite strong and meaningful. Moreover, the words that represent noises, such as "whack" and "ow", already give away a lot of information that could be easily interpreted.
The composition of the panels is also quite noteworthy to look at. In the middle line of panels, Sammy is in the background, which makes him seem less dominant.
56 Furthermore, he has to shout in order to be heard or recognized by the policeman. The reader gets the feeling that the protester had to beg for the policeman's attention and, hence, appears in an inferior role. In one of the panels in the last line, which shows Sammy, the attacker, and the policeman, the violent attacker is already in the background of the image and seems to just leave the site. He is, once more, not depicted as an actual part of the conflict and this again highlights the fact that the policeman finds the protesters a lot more disturbing than the attacker. This leads to the effect that the reader, on the other hand, finds the policeman unfair and less likeable than they probably would if he was not depicted in such a manner.
The next and at the same time last sequence I am going to analyse is another part of a scene that was previously covered in section 4.4. The images in figure 13 are the panels that precede the ones in figure 3 and provide a bit more information about the police in this scene. The composition of the panels, which show the group of policemen from various angles, gives this scene a rather dynamic feeling. First, there are panels which depict them from a rather low angle, which makes them seem intimidating and powerful, such as the second and the third image. Second, there is the first panel, which basically works as an establishing shot from an external point of view above the heads of the people in this scene. It shows both the protesters and the police, focuses on the setting, and introduces the upcoming conflict (which I analysed in section 4.4.). Finally, there is also a frame that shows one of the policemen from a rather neutral point of view, at what seems to be an eye-level angle. In this frame, he is foregrounded while his fellow policemen are more like a background. From this panel onwards, it becomes clear that he is the most active police officer in this scene, seeing as he is the one speaking to the marching protesters.
The sequence consists of five panels, with the establishing shot at the beginning and then a few close-ups and a long shot at the end of the page. The two close-ups next to the first panel are like snapshots of the setting that go hand in hand with the first panel and support the establishment of the scene. These close-ups show policemen, or at least parts of them, who are wearing helmets and masks, holding their batons and tear gas (as can be seen in the second panel). In addition to that, in the third panel, there are barking and furious looking dogs, of which one of them is drawn very close, showing only his mouth and the sharp teeth inside. These objects and animals carry a certain meaning of
57 danger and power; they establish that these police troops are quite forceful and could overpower the protesters in an instant. As the composition of the panels as well as the masks provide the reader with only the face of one person, the policemen all look seemingly the same, which decreases the significance of the individual and increases the importance of the group. This also can be related back to the protesters of the Civil Rights Movement insofar as it was the force that was the police rather than individual people or policemen who often prevented them from protesting in the way they intended.
Figure 13: Police (see March: Book One, p. 6)
Nevertheless, there is, as I already mentioned, one policeman that stands out, but mostly because of the fact that he is shouting into a megaphone and is placed in the centre of the fourth panel. The jagged word balloons indicate that he is shouting angrily and
58 impolitely during this entire scene and his open mouth and his eyes, which are pressed together, give him an enraged and at the same time determined look. Yet, one could also claim that the fact that his eyes are barely visible adds some anonymity and, hence, correlates with the notion of the insignificance of the individual policeman. With regard to his body language, he is pointing at them in the last panel, which can be classified as an accusing gesture that portrays him as a character who is against the protesters' actions and, consequently, against their beliefs, their worldview, and what they stand for. The megaphone in his hand carries meaning itself, but also creates meaning and evokes aspects of power and dominance by representing the voice of the spokesman, which, in this case, is the source of his power. It creates a lot of volume and, I would claim that the more volume there is, the more voice he has. As a result, he appears to be more significant; because the leader is one who is heard, not only in this case but in the movement in general.
All in all, the brutality and indifference of the police towards the movement's protesters and cause is quite evidently juxtaposed with the peaceful approach of the activists in this scene. First of all, this is visible in the frames alone, such as the first and the last one in this sequence, where the protesters are placed in the upper left corner of the image whilst the policemen are in the far right corner. In between them, there is once again this invisible border, with which the authors already worked with in figure 2 and which separates the people into two clear parties. Then, there is also the representation of the few individuals in this scene, which transmit a feeling of anger, hostility, and violence. This representation of leading figures depends heavily on these characteristics that Lewis attributes to the police. By showing one of the opponent forces and portraying them as an antagonist, the reader sympathizes automatically with the characters that are designated as the key figures of the graphic novels.
5. Conclusion
Analysing March I and March II by Lewis, Aydin and Powell and comparing it to Stuck Rubber Baby showed that the visual representation of something carries much more
59 meaning than might be noticeable at first glance. It became clear that both visually and narratively, these two graphic novels deal with civil rights protests in a very different way.
The March series mostly focuses on a few well-known and seemingly well-chosen characters, who are depicted in an idolized and glorified way. This focus transmits a feeling of insignificance with regard to the broad masses and the crowds that constituted the protests of the Civil Rights Movement, as Lewis mostly provides scenes and images that show these famous people during a confrontation or holding speeches, having sit-ins or leading marches. Hence, the graphic novels denote a rather great significance to portraying strong leadership and the crucial role of leaders, while neglecting the inevitably important and powerful position of the crowd and the mass. Due to the mise-en-scéne, which includes close-ups, fragmented and cropped pictures as well as the degree of detail and salience of individual characters, the reader cannot help but develop a somehow limited perspective of the events that are portrayed. This probably reflects the influence of Lewis' co-authorship in the books and the subjective and fragmented nature it entails, as it mostly contains memories that have become relevant for him. The visual representation in these graphic novels often suggests that the personality of a specific character is much more important than the impact the depicted events and the protesting crowds have on the changing society.
In contrast to that, Stuck Rubber Baby puts its focus on a group of ordinary, common people who are frequenting in quite different circles than the characters one can see in March I and March II. During the protest scenes, there are hardly any representations that put a specific character in the superior position of a leader. It rather shows characters that are part of a larger group and crowd and that stand for normal people who become active during the movement. The depicted people are usually one with the crowd and while there is some focus on specific figures at times, this is rather used in order to represent dialogue. Cruse clearly put more effort in showing everything that is going on around the protagonists of his graphic novel, which includes fellow protesters, than the creators of the March series did. The reader still gets to focus on a small group of people, however, they are not isolated from the rest of the crowd and depicted as equally active and significant, which creates a feeling of community and emphasises the power of the masses rather than leadership.
60
Even though it has become obvious in my analysis that the visual representation of leadership and the crowd differs greatly in March and Stuck Rubber Baby, they still share a few recurring methods and elements. In combination with the textual plane, the images of graphic novels are particularly powerful in creating, modifying, and transmitting meaning to its readers, which makes it quite a unique genre. A number of methods is used in order to make it easy for the authors and illustrators to determine one element of an image as the most salient, the most interesting and the most significant object or character in that representation. Some recurring techniques that I encountered in my analysis were, among others, the placement of the element in the centre of a panel, the high angle, the superiority in height or size, the sharpness, and certain aspects of non-verbal communication, such as specific kinds of gestures and posture. Furthermore, the juxtaposition with police forces makes the key figures look even more brave, admirable, and vital to the movement. All these methods are used more frequently and, above all, more heavily in the March series as most of its protest scenes depict single, individual characters in superior positions.
To conclude, I would claim that the representation of leadership in the March series is rather problematic, as it leads readers to the assumption that a few individuals were responsible for the massive changes of the Civil Rights Movement, which was simply not the case. It is so focused on Lewis and his inner circle, including Martin Luther King, Jr., that the plot becomes secondary and it feels like the graphic novel is rather used in order to present hand-picked events by Lewis, that convey a positive image of famous and well-known people. Even though their speeches or acts were, without any doubt, inspiring and motivating for the broader mass, they were not the single driving force of the movement. Stuck Rubber Baby, on the other hand, celebrates the power of community and masses and shows a movement that is supported by the collaboration of a great number of activists, no matter their background, ethnicity or name. However, read side by side, their different approaches and perspectives make it possible for March and Stuck Rubber Baby to provide a good and insightful picture of the Civil Rights Movement, its protests and, above all, the people who stood up for a better society.
61 6. Works Cited
Primary Sources:
Cruse, Howard (1995). Stuck Rubber Baby. New York City, NY: Harper Perennial.
Lewis, John et al. (2013). March: Book One. Marietta, GA: Top Shelf Productions.
Lewis, John et al. (2015). March: Book Two. Marietta, GA: Top Shelf Productions.
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63 McCloud, Scott (1994). Understanding Comics: (The Invisible Art). New York: Harper Perennial.
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64 et al. , eds. The Civil Rights Movement Revisited: Critical Perspectives on the Struggle for Racial Equality in the United States. Hamburg: LIT. 87-104.
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65 7. List of Figures
Figure 1: Lewis, John et al. (2013). March: Book One. Marietta, GA: Top Shelf Productions. p. 85.
Figure 2: Lewis, John et al. (2013). March: Book One. Marietta, GA: Top Shelf Productions. p. 87.
Figure 3: Lewis, John et al. (2013). March: Book One. Marietta, GA: Top Shelf Productions. p. 7.
Figure 4: Lewis, John et al. (2013). March: Book One. Marietta, GA: Top Shelf Productions. p. 117.
Figure 5: Cruse, Howard (1995). Stuck Rubber Baby. New York City, NY: Harper Perennial. p. 23.
Figure 6: Lewis, John et al. (2015). March: Book Two. Marietta, GA: Top Shelf Productions. p. 166.
Figure 7: Cruse, Howard (1995). Stuck Rubber Baby. New York City, NY: Harper Perennial. p. 101.
Figure 8: Lewis, John et al. (2015). March: Book Two. Marietta, GA: Top Shelf Productions. p. 172- 73.
Figure 9: Cruse, Howard (1995). Stuck Rubber Baby. New York City, NY: Harper Perennial. p. 77.
Figure 10: Lewis, John et al. (2013). March: Book One. Marietta, GA: Top Shelf Productions. p. 118- 19.
Figure 11: Lewis, John et al. (2015). March: Book Two. Marietta, GA: Top Shelf Productions. p. 137.
Figure 12: Cruse, Howard (1995). Stuck Rubber Baby. New York City, NY: Harper Perennial. p. 69.
Figure 13: Lewis, John et al. (2013). March: Book One. Marietta, GA: Top Shelf Productions. p. 6.
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