(RNS) 鈥� At cross-cultural gatherings in Bethlehem, West Bank, groups of children and adults turn to a 67-year-old, with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.鈥檚 image on its cover, his tie and shirt collar visible beneath his clerical robe.
As they read from 鈥淢artin Luther King and the Montgomery Story,鈥� the group leader is prepared to discuss questions about achieving peace through nonviolent behavior.
鈥淲hat are the teachings we have from Martin Luther King?鈥� asks Zoughbi Zoughbi, a Palestinian Christian who is the international president of the Fellowship of Reconciliation and founder of Wi鈥檃m: The Palestinian Conflict Transformation Center.
鈥淗ow can we benefit from it, and how do we deal with issues like that in the Palestinian area under the Israeli occupation? How to send a message of love, agape with assertiveness, not aggressive?鈥�
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Zoughbi told RNS in a phone interview that the comic book, published in 1958, remains a staple in his work, which includes both English and Arabic versions. (It is available in six languages.)
Over the decades, it was used in Arabic in the anti-government Arab Spring uprisings, in English in anti-apartheid activism in South Africa and in Spanish in Latin American ecclesial base communities, or small Catholic groups that meet for social justice activities and Bible study.
It continues to be a teaching tool and an influential historical account in the United States as well.
The book was distributed in January at New York鈥檚 Riverside Church and has been listed as a curriculum resource for Muslim schools. And it remains a popular item, available online and in print for $2, at the bookstore at Atlanta鈥檚 Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. Store director Patricia Sampson called it 鈥渙ne of our best sellers.鈥�
The 16-page book was created by the Fellowship of Reconciliation, a Christian-turned-interfaith anti-war organization. It was written by Alfred Hassler, then FOR-USA鈥檚 executive secretary, in collaboration with the comic industry鈥檚 Benton Resnik. A gift of $5,000 from the Ford Foundation鈥檚 Fund for the Republic, a nonprofit advocating for free speech and religious liberty, helped support it.
鈥淲e are a pacifist organization, and we believe deeply in the transformative power of nonviolence,鈥� said Ariel Gold, executive director of FOR-USA, based in Stony Point, New York. 鈥淎nd where this comic really fits into that is that we know that nonviolence is more than a catchphrase, and it鈥檚 really something that comes out of a deep philosophy of love and an intensive strategy for political change.鈥�
The comic book bears out that philosophy, in part by telling the story of King鈥檚 time in Montgomery, Alabama, where he was chosen to lead the Montgomery Improvement Association as Black riders of the city鈥檚 buses strove to no longer have to move to let white people sit down.
Their nonviolent actions, catalyzed by Rosa Parks鈥� refusing to give up her seat in 1955, eventually led to a Supreme Court decision that segregated public busing was unconstitutional.
The comic book ends with a breakdown of 鈥渉ow the Montgomery method works,鈥� with tips for how to foster nonviolence that include 鈥渄ecide what special thing you are going to work on鈥� and 鈥渟ee your enemy as a human being 鈥� a child of God.鈥�
Ahead of publishing, Hassler received 鈥渁dulation and a few corrections鈥� from King, to whom he sent a draft, said Andrew Aydin, who wrote his master鈥檚 thesis on the comic book and titled it 鈥淭he Comic Book that Changed the World.鈥�
The name of the comic book鈥檚 artist, long unknown, was revealed in 2018 to be Sy Barry, known for his artwork in 鈥淭he Phantom鈥� comic strip, by the blog comicsbeat.com.
In an edition of FOR鈥檚 Fellowship magazine, King wrote in a letter about his appreciation for the comic book: 鈥淵ou have done a marvelous job of grasping the underlying truth and philosophy of the movement.鈥�
The book quickly gained traction. The Jan. 1, 1958, edition of Fellowship noted the organization had received advance orders for 75,000 copies from local FOR groups, the National Council of Churches and the NAACP. An ad on its back page noted single copies cost 10 cents, and 5,000 could be ordered for $250.
By 2018, the magazine said some 250,000 copies had been distributed, 鈥渆specially throughout the Deep South.鈥�
The comic book has led to other series in the same genre that also seek to highlight civil rights efforts, using vivid images that synopsize historical accounts of the 1960s.
鈥淢arch,鈥� a popular graphic novel trilogy (2013-2016), was created by U.S. Rep. John Lewis, along with Aydin, his then-congressional staffer, and artist Nate Powell, about Lewis鈥� work in the Civil Rights Movement. A follow-up volume, 鈥淩un,鈥� was published in 2021.
鈥淚t was part of learning the way of peace, the way of love, of nonviolence. Reading the Martin Luther King story, that little comic book, set me on the path that I鈥檓 on today,鈥� said Lewis, quoted in the online curriculum guide on FOR鈥檚 website.
More recently, a new grant-funded webcomic series, 鈥淏ad Catholics, Good Trouble,鈥� was inspired by both the King comic book and 鈥淢arch,鈥� said creator Matthew Cressler.
Described as a 鈥渟eries about antiracism and struggles for justice across American Catholic history,鈥� it chronicles the stories of Sister Angelica Schultz, a white Catholic nun who sought to improve housing access for African American residents in Chicago, and retired judge Arthur McFarland, who as a teenager worked to desegregate his Catholic high school in Charleston, South Carolina, and later encouraged the hiring of Black staff at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.
Cressler said the King comic book鈥檚 continued distribution and use in diverse educational settings 鈥渕ake it one of the most significant comics in the history of comics 鈥� which is something that might seem wild to say, given how when most people think about comic books, they think of superheroes like Superman or Batman.鈥�
Though different in topic and artistic style, Cressler said, the MLK comic book can be compared to 鈥淢aus鈥� by Art Spiegelman and 鈥淥n Tyranny鈥� by Timothy Snyder 鈥� more recent graphic novels about a Jewish Holocaust survivor and threats to democracy, respectively 鈥� 鈥渁s a medium through which to teach, to educate and specifically to politically mobilize.鈥�
Anthony Nicotera, director of advancement for FOR-USA and an assistant professor at Seton Hall University, a Catholic school in South Orange, New Jersey, uses the King comic book in his peace and justice studies classes.
鈥淧eople are using it in small ways or local ways or maybe even in larger ways,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd we don鈥檛 find out until after it鈥檚 happened.鈥�
Gold, a progressive Jew who is the first non-Christian to lead FOR-USA, said future versions are planned beyond the six current languages to further share the message of King, the boycott and nonviolence. She said this year, her organization is aiming to translate it into French and Hebrew, for use in joint Israeli-Palestinian studies and trainings on nonviolence, as well as for Jewish religious schools.
鈥淓specially in this political moment, I think we really need sources of hope, and we need reminders of the work and the strategy and the sacrifice that is required to successfully meet such an intense moment as this,鈥� she said.
Adelle M. Banks, The Associated Press
