I requested this from my library because it was classified as a graphic novel, but it is actually an illustrated history text with no sequential art whatsoever. But I like history texts about interesting subjects, so I went ahead and read it anyway.

I was most engaged with the book in the beginning as it discussed the First Great Migration from the 1910s through the 1930s, outlining the reasons millions of Black Americans moved from the rural American South to urban centers in the North and on the West Coast and the initial impacts this had on them and the regions where they moved.

But the book is more a survey than an in-depth study so it moves briskly on to subsequent decades giving brief overviews that don't really dig into the subject and even start to wander away from details about the direct causes and impacts of the Second Great Migration from the 1940s through the 1970s as the narrative becomes more a general review of the Civil Rights movement and the accomplishments of Black Americans, most of which I am already familiar with and thus found less engaging, important as they are.

Still, this would be a great introduction for younger readers or someone unfamiliar with the subject.

The illustrations are nice and help break up the text so it doesn't become too burdensome, but they are sort of static, being mostly head-and-shoulder portraits of the people mentioned. The art is a bit stiff and formal as every image is heavily photo-referenced. I do not see original photo image credits in the indicia, but I was able to find the actual photographs for many of the illustrations with pretty simple Google searches. ( )