Emilie Plateau

Un magnífic retrat de la lluita pels drets civils portada per les dones d'Alabama als anys 1950. La desconguda protagonista és una jove de 15 anys que s' atreveix a testificar contra l'actuació de la policia contra ella per negar-se a aixecar del seu seient per deixar seure a una persona blanca. Uns dibuixos precisos i un texte concís ens narren l'experiència d'una noia normal que reinvindica el seu dret com a ciutadana. El seu nom no ha passat a la història com el de Rosa Parks malgrat iniciar la lluita abans que ella, el seu nom no cal que ningú el recordi, perquè és massa insignificant, però la novel.la de Tania Montaigne el va reivindicar i ara amb format còmic Émile Plateau ho acosta a un públic diferent.
Adreçat a lectores joves proposa posar-se en la pell de la protagonista i intentar que pensin que se sent davant de les injustícies que li van succeint.… (meer)

children's/teen/adult graphic nonfiction (adapted from Noire by Tania de Montaigne and originally published in French), 15 y.o. Black student Claudette Colvin is beaten and arrested for not giving up her seat on the bus in 1955 Montgomery, Alabama.

Told in straightforward illustrations and short text sparing the violence but not the seriousness of the topic in a way that younger readers can understand, though there is some language--bitch, whore, etc., plenty of racist insults, and teenage Claudette's getting pregnant by a married man (prompting the civil rights leaders to shift attention away from Claudette and towards the elderly Rosa Parks in a future boycott). It is occasionally tricky to identify which person is being referred to (I think this man behind the desk is one of the lawyers?--the backmatter helps a lot) but the story moves along quickly.
Backmatter includes more information on Jim Crow, NAACP, WCC (White Citizens' Council), WPC (Women's Political Council), Jo Ann Gibson Robinson, Fred Gray, Rosa Parks, E.D. Nixon, William A. Gayle, MLK, Mary Louise Smith, and Jeanetta Reese.… (meer)

This book was an eye opener for me. I knew of Rosa Parks of course but I had not heard of Claudette Colvin before reading this.

In 1955, she was arrested after she refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. This was a few months before Rosa Parks’ arrest.

Colvin pleaded not guilty and sued the state.

She later was one of the plaintiffs who testified in the federal court case to challenge bus segregation. But Colvin was a teenager and was perceived as unrespectable because she was pregnant. And so her part in the civil rights movement was kept quiet for a long time. Her family is still fighting for her recognition today.

I’m glad that this comic has highlighted her role in the civil rights movement and hopefully more people will recognize her bravery.

*Thanks to NetGalley and its publishers for providing a free ARC*… (meer)