Filed under: News, Politics, Race and Civil Rights
Last week, millions of Egyptians erupted in joy when they found out their 30-year tormentor Hosni Mubarak would be stepping down, signifying that their social media-driven rebellion worked.It's hard to draw lots of comparisons between that cultural movement and our own of 55 years ago, when thousands of Montgomery, Ala., residents bought their own dictator down in the form of a private bus company that wouldn't let African Americans sit where they wanted to.
With that said, it is possible that the latter influenced the former and resulted in a historic change that may well be spreading throughout the Middle East - and it may have been done by a comic book (pictured).
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that a comic book printed during the civil rights era about the Montgomery Bus Boycott was distributed in Cairo's Tahrir Square. Dalia Ziada, who works for the American Islamic Congress, got hold of the copies that had been translated into Arabic in 2008.
The comic illustrates Martin Luther King Jr.'s philosophy on civil disobedience through non-violent means, and Ziada, a young activist in the Middle Eastern world, distributed copies of the booklet from Morocco to Yemen. She wrote in a recent AIC newsletter that placing the comic in Tahrir Square inspired the change that took place:
"We also translated a forgotten 1958 comic book about Martin Luther King's Montgomery Bus Boycott into Arabic. When, at first, we went to print the comic book, a security officer blocked publication. So we called him and demanded a meeting. He agreed, and we read through the comic book over coffee to address his concerns. At the end, he granted permission to print and then asked: 'Could I have a few extra copies for my kids?'
"The comic book has been credited with inspiring young activists in Egypt and the larger region (we have a Farsi version as well). Last week, I distributed copies in Tahrir Square. Seeing the scene in the square firsthand is amazing. Despite violent attacks and tanks in the street, young people from all walks of life are coming together, organizing food and medical care, and offering a living model of free civil society in action."
Now, no Egyptian has specifically said that they read copies of the MLK comic and decided to overturn the government, but the news of America's Civil Rights Movement has certainly spread around the world and has influenced people like Nelson Mandela in South Africa and Andrei Sakharov in the former Soviet Union.
Martin Luther King III acknowledged the book may well have had a role in the Tahrir uprising, although he does not know to what extent:
"I don't know if we can specifically measure the impact, but we certainly know it was significant," the King told the Journal-Constitution. "This is the first time we've seen a major nonviolent revolution within the Islamic nations, and it's quite amazing. Clearly the teachings of my dad and Gandhi were quite meaningful."
Copies of the comic are kept in the King Center and have not yet been reprinted.
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