There's a really fascinating post over at the Book Patrol blog about a comic book produced in 1957. The 'Montgomery Story' is a depiction of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the leadership of Rev. Martin Luther King. Beyond its value as a historical curiosity, what makes this artifact so interesting is that at the time, it was used by the civil rights movement as a means of accessibly conveying the message of non-violence to a variety of audiences (e.g., students or those with little formal education) in an engaging format.
Moreover, the medium had distinct advantages. As Nancy Matton argues in her post:
- The use of a comic book as a text for the fight against Jim Crow
was inspired on many levels. Comics are cheap to produce; lightweight;
small in size; easy to disguise, hide or smuggle; and highly
disposable. Joe Wos, founder and director of Pittsburgh's ToonSeum, spoke of the dangers of possessing a copy of The Montgomery Story
in the segregated South of the 1960's: "People were told to read it,
memorize it, and destroy it because if they were caught with it, they
could be killed."
It would seem that comics played an important--and often forgotten--role in disseminating the message of civil rights and non-violence at this pivotal point in American history. I'd be curious if readers could point to the use of comics for similar purposes in other countries?
Anyhow, if you'd like to view 'The Montgomery Story' for yourself, an electronic version is available from the always fantastically weird Ethan Persoff comic collection.
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