1958 MLK comic book republished by FOR

This week, two PBS television specials feature a 50-year-old comic book created by the Fellowship of Reconciliation. This exciting story ties FOR’s civil rights legacy to today’s ongoing work for nonviolence action around the world, and you can not only watch the TV specials but also purchase a copy of this historic resource.

First published by FOR in 1958, Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story made news headlines earlier this year due to its translation into Arabic by a young Egyptian human rights activist, Dalia Ziada. Her story was profiled last night on PBS’s NewsHour program in a compelling interview with journalist and Middle East analyst Robin Wright, who held aloft the comic book.

In the next couple weeks, PBS affiliates across the United States will lift up this unique resource again in a powerful feature story titled “The Living Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.” that is timed to coincide with the Aug. 28 unveiling of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial monument on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The eight-and-a-half-minute segment of “My Generation” shows the comic book in both English and Arabic, and makes a direct connection between the U.S. civil rights movement and this year’s Egyptian nonviolent revolution.

FOR is proud of this continuing legacy, and even more thankful that with your support, FOR has now reprinted this classic resource in English and Spanish. Thank you!

Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story was conceived by the late Alfred Hassler, a former FOR executive director and life-long pacifist who founded a wide number of creative projects for peace, human rights, and environmental sustainability. Benton Resnick, a 1950s writer who had been banished from professional circles for his political associations, is credited with writing the comic, and the images were drawn by an artist working in the Al Capp Studios. Their work illustrates nonviolent protest in action to reach a successful outcome, a great and accessible example for us all.

Place a secure order online for English or Spanish copies of the comic book, or you can download a PDF copy of the order form to order through the mail. The comic book is available for $3 each for single copies (including shipping and handling in the United States), and bulk rates are available. Let’s spread this great teaching tool about the power of active nonviolence as far and wide as possible!

If you are interested in Arabic and Farsi language copies, you may view printable versions in those languages, along with the story of how they were developed by Dalia Ziada and the American Islamic Congress and have been used to great effect in the Middle East in recent months.

Thank you again for your continuing support of the Fellowship of Reconciliation. Your donations to FOR help us to produce new resources that strengthen global campaigns for active nonviolence as well as to reproduce historic documents that lift up the lessons of the past for the work of today.