In 1958, the Fellowship on Reconciliation published a short comic book called “The Montgomery Story” in English and Spanish, on the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a campaign led by Martin Luther King, Jr., to end segregation on buses in the Alabama capitol. The comic book ends with a section on “how the Montgomery Method works,” outlining essential techniques of nonviolence. On the 50th anniversary of the comic’s initial publication, AIC released new Arabic and Farsi editions, distributed via the Internet. After overcoming several challenges by the local censor, several thousand copies were first printed in Cairo in 2008 and have been distributed to young activists across the region. The Washington Post, NPR, and other major media outlets have credited the comic book for helping spark nonviolent activism during the Arab Spring. Read the comic online by clicking on the image below or download PDFs of the Arabic, Farsi or original English version.
- NPR: Martin Luther King’s Ideas Reverberate in Egypt (1/16/2011)
- Boston’s Southend Patch: Even Martin Luther King Jr. Got a ‘C’ in School (1/16/2011)
- NPR: MLK Comic Book Helped Inspire Arab Spring (8/24/2011)
- The Washington Post: Martin Luther King’s nonviolent civil rights efforts still inspire around the world (8/23/2011)
- CNN: Freedom Riders inspire new generation of Arab protest leaders (5/15/2011)
- The Washington Post: Amid revolution, Arab cartoonists draw attention to their causes (3/7/2011)
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Comic heroes of the Egyptian revolution: How Martin Luther King found his way to Tahrir Square (2/20/2011)
- Comics Alliance: Egyptian Activists Inspired by Forgotten Martin Luther King Comic (2/11/2011)
- The Fellowship of Reconciliation: Martin Luther King, Egypt, and the Fellowship of Reconciliation (2/2/2011)
- The Huffington Post: Near forgotten MLK comic gains fans in the Middle East (1/18/2011)
