Latest news with #nonviolence
Washington Post
8 hours ago
- General
- Washington Post
An interfaith group's 1950s MLK comic book remains a prominent nonviolence teaching tool
(RNS) — At cross-cultural gatherings in Bethlehem, West Bank, groups of children and adults turn to a 67-year-old, colorful comic book with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s image on its cover, his tie and shirt collar visible beneath his clerical robe. As they read from 'Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story,' the group leader is prepared to discuss questions about achieving peace through nonviolent behavior.
Associated Press
12 hours ago
- General
- Associated Press
An interfaith group's 1950s MLK comic book remains a prominent nonviolence teaching tool
(RNS) — At cross-cultural gatherings in Bethlehem, West Bank, groups of children and adults turn to a 67-year-old, colorful comic book with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s image on its cover, his tie and shirt collar visible beneath his clerical robe. As they read from 'Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story,' the group leader is prepared to discuss questions about achieving peace through nonviolent behavior. 'What are the teachings we have from Martin Luther King?' asks Zoughbi Zoughbi, a Palestinian Christian who is the international president of the Fellowship of Reconciliation and founder of Wi'am: The Palestinian Conflict Transformation Center. 'How 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?' ___ This content is written and produced by Religion News Service and distributed by The Associated Press. RNS and AP partner on some religion news content. RNS is solely responsible for this story. ___ 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's 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's Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. Store director Patricia Sampson called it 'one of our best sellers.' 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's executive secretary, in collaboration with the comic industry's Benton Resnik. A gift of $5,000 from the Ford Foundation's Fund for the Republic, a nonprofit advocating for free speech and religious liberty, helped support it. 'We are a pacifist organization, and we believe deeply in the transformative power of nonviolence,' said Ariel Gold, executive director of FOR-USA, based in Stony Point, New York. 'And where this comic really fits into that is that we know that nonviolence is more than a catchphrase, and it's really something that comes out of a deep philosophy of love and an intensive strategy for political change.' The comic book bears out that philosophy, in part by telling the story of King's time in Montgomery, Alabama, where he was chosen to lead the Montgomery Improvement Association as Black riders of the city's buses strove to no longer have to move to let white people sit down. Their nonviolent actions, catalyzed by Rosa Parks' 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 'how the Montgomery method works,' with tips for how to foster nonviolence that include 'decide what special thing you are going to work on' and 'see your enemy as a human being … a child of God.' Ahead of publishing, Hassler received 'adulation and a few corrections' from King, to whom he sent a draft, said Andrew Aydin, who wrote his master's thesis on the comic book and titled it 'The Comic Book that Changed the World.' The name of the comic book's artist, long unknown, was revealed in 2018 to be Sy Barry, known for his artwork in 'The Phantom' comic strip, by the blog In an edition of FOR's Fellowship magazine, King wrote in a letter about his appreciation for the comic book: 'You have done a marvelous job of grasping the underlying truth and philosophy of the movement.' 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, 'especially throughout the Deep South.' 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. 'March,' 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' work in the Civil Rights Movement. A follow-up volume, 'Run,' was published in 2021. 'It 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'm on today,' said Lewis, quoted in the online curriculum guide on FOR's website. More recently, a new grant-funded webcomic series, 'Bad Catholics, Good Trouble,' was inspired by both the King comic book and 'March,' said creator Matthew Cressler. Described as a 'series about antiracism and struggles for justice across American Catholic history,' 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's continued distribution and use in diverse educational settings 'make it one of the most significant comics in the history of comics — 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.' Though different in topic and artistic style, Cressler said, the MLK comic book can be compared to 'Maus' by Art Spiegelman and 'On Tyranny' by Timothy Snyder — more recent graphic novels about a Jewish Holocaust survivor and threats to democracy, respectively — 'as a medium through which to teach, to educate and specifically to politically mobilize.' 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. 'People are using it in small ways or local ways or maybe even in larger ways,' he said, 'and we don't find out until after it's happened.' 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. 'Especially 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,' she said.
The Independent
12 hours ago
- General
- The Independent
An interfaith group's 1950s MLK comic book remains a prominent nonviolence teaching tool
At cross-cultural gatherings in Bethlehem, West Bank, groups of children and adults turn to a 67-year-old, colorful comic book with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s image on its cover, his tie and shirt collar visible beneath his clerical robe. As they read from 'Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story,' the group leader is prepared to discuss questions about achieving peace through nonviolent behavior. 'What are the teachings we have from Martin Luther King?' asks Zoughbi Zoughbi, a Palestinian Christian who is the international president of the Fellowship of Reconciliation and founder of Wi'am: The Palestinian Conflict Transformation Center. 'How 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?' ___ This content is written and produced by Religion News Service and distributed by The Associated Press. RNS and AP partner on some religion news content. RNS is solely responsible for this story. ___ 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's 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's Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. Store director Patricia Sampson called it 'one of our best sellers.' 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's executive secretary, in collaboration with the comic industry's Benton Resnik. A gift of $5,000 from the Ford Foundation's Fund for the Republic, a nonprofit advocating for free speech and religious liberty, helped support it. 'We are a pacifist organization, and we believe deeply in the transformative power of nonviolence,' said Ariel Gold, executive director of FOR-USA, based in Stony Point, New York. 'And where this comic really fits into that is that we know that nonviolence is more than a catchphrase, and it's really something that comes out of a deep philosophy of love and an intensive strategy for political change.' The comic book bears out that philosophy, in part by telling the story of King's time in Montgomery, Alabama, where he was chosen to lead the Montgomery Improvement Association as Black riders of the city's buses strove to no longer have to move to let white people sit down. Their nonviolent actions, catalyzed by Rosa Parks' 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 'how the Montgomery method works,' with tips for how to foster nonviolence that include 'decide what special thing you are going to work on' and 'see your enemy as a human being … a child of God.' Ahead of publishing, Hassler received 'adulation and a few corrections' from King, to whom he sent a draft, said Andrew Aydin, who wrote his master's thesis on the comic book and titled it 'The Comic Book that Changed the World.' The name of the comic book's artist, long unknown, was revealed in 2018 to be Sy Barry, known for his artwork in 'The Phantom' comic strip, by the blog In an edition of FOR's Fellowship magazine, King wrote in a letter about his appreciation for the comic book: 'You have done a marvelous job of grasping the underlying truth and philosophy of the movement.' 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, 'especially throughout the Deep South.' 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. 'March,' 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' work in the Civil Rights Movement. A follow-up volume, 'Run,' was published in 2021. 'It 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'm on today,' said Lewis, quoted in the online curriculum guide on FOR's website. More recently, a new grant-funded webcomic series, 'Bad Catholics, Good Trouble,' was inspired by both the King comic book and 'March,' said creator Matthew Cressler. Described as a 'series about antiracism and struggles for justice across American Catholic history,' 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's continued distribution and use in diverse educational settings 'make it one of the most significant comics in the history of comics — 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.' Though different in topic and artistic style, Cressler said, the MLK comic book can be compared to 'Maus' by Art Spiegelman and 'On Tyranny' by Timothy Snyder — more recent graphic novels about a Jewish Holocaust survivor and threats to democracy, respectively — 'as a medium through which to teach, to educate and specifically to politically mobilize.' 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. 'People are using it in small ways or local ways or maybe even in larger ways,' he said, 'and we don't find out until after it's happened.' 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. 'Especially 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,' she said.
Mail & Guardian
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Mail & Guardian
Trump exposed white fragility during his theatrics in the Oval Office
President Cyril Ramaphosa had the upper hand in the Oval office meeting, but US President Donal Trump does not have the emotional intelligence to recognise this. 'Love your enemy, turn the other cheek.' Many of us have been brought up with these Christian adages. Many who are not Christian, are generally aware of them. Indeed, it is said that if you are able to not succumb to violence even in the face of violent oppression, somehow you are the better person. Militant Argentinian-Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara may not be an obvious example, but he said, 'At the risk of seeming ridiculous, let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of love. It is impossible to think of a genuine revolutionary lacking this quality.' India's Mahatma Gandhi built an entire liberation movement of daring the oppressor to be openly evil and not reacting. The United States' Martin Luther King Jnr was famously moved by Gandhi's non-violent philosophy of satyagraha , and made it a central plank of his civil rights movement. Even Malcolm X, who embraced violence but after he returned from a holy pilgrimage to Mecca where he witnessed black and white Muslims, he started to walk back from his message of anger towards white people. American revolutionary socialist and one of the leaders of the Black Panthers, Fred Hampton, was militant and advocated for the oppressed and working class to be armed. He drew no distinction between black and white working class people. He organised and called for unity of the working class so that they are able to take on the bosses and elites of American society. And this is the conundrum. We can be starry-eyed, turning the other cheek and loving our neighbour as the height of radical struggle, in the hope that the oppressor's morality kicks in and they see the error of their ways? Nothing in the history of humankind reveals such a Damascus moment and conversion. At the same time we cannot discount that liberation struggles, which placed the military pillar at the centre, generally get consumed by their own violence. As Brian May from supergroup Queen sang, 'Too much love will kill you, it will kill you every time', we could also add, that too much hate will also do the same. Today, we are witnessing the weaponising of white fears by their leaders in countries around the world. These leaders, like the US's Donald Trump, Italy's Giorgia Meloni and Hungary's Viktor Orban have successfully convinced themselves that white oppression because of past mistakes (which are deliberately downplayed) is the greatest challenge, not that the majority of the world's poor and oppressed are black. We are yet to witness a reaction to this growing weaponising of white fear. Already there is a growing terrorising of black activism, and it has not yet resulted in a rising of black anger, but it could be just a matter of time. The post-apartheid government of South Africa was an exercise in restraint when it came to getting the beneficiaries of apartheid to pay for the sins of the past. South Africa's liberation struggle, as led in the main by the ANC, famously did not place its military struggle at the centre, compared to contemporaries such as the Irish and Palestinian liberation movements. Its military wing was under civilian and political control, and its activities were by and large restricted to urban and rural guerrilla missions, not armed insurrection. It focused on liberating South Africa, not just for black people, who were the targets of colonial dispossession and systematic oppression, but for all people, even those who benefited from apartheid. It is that ethos that primarily influenced how it constructed the South African Constitution and the laws, policies and programmes, including those that promoted transformation. The problem with a turn the other cheek philosophy is when there is no cathartic moment. A moment where white people in general admit that apartheid and racism was wrong and not just an expedient instrument they used because of fear. Where they admit they either turned a blind eye to the violence meted out to thousands of black people on a daily basis or they were the perpetrators of the violence. In South Africa there have been newsworthy moments such as when former apartheid government minister Adriaan Vlok washed the feet of the ANC's Frank Chikane in public. But Vlok did it when he represented nobody. It was not popular white leaders like Tony Leon or Helen Zille who offered to wash the feet of black people to say sorry. It was the opposite. The behaviour of white leaders was more that they should be thanked and appreciated for giving up power. FW de Klerk did not have the humility to say that he was embarrassed to be receiving the Nobel peace prize for agreeing to dismantle an obviously wrong system. Any reminder of their oppressive past is viewed as an attack. Hence, instead of dealing with the sins of the past, there is a false narrative of the victimhood of white people. The cathartic moment is not one where ownership is taken for being oppressive. On the contrary ownership is taken that they will not apologise for being superior to others. In the light of this, how does one then advocate for turning the other cheek? How do you even contemplate turning the other cheek when it can mean you risk losing your dignity? On 21 May 2025 in the White House's Oval Office, with the world's media looking on, South Africa gave a lesson to the world that it is possible to turn the other cheek no matter how belligerent, sneaky, cunning and intransigent the other person is. The US president tried to ambush South Africa, in particular President Cyril Ramaphosa, by playing a video of militancy and anger in South Africa. His ambushing only succeeded in him being witness to something he wishes he has. The only natural ally of Ramaphosa present who spoke in his defence was the Congress of South African Trade Union's Zingiswa Losi. The rest who rose and spoke in defence of South Africa and Ramaphosa were those who politically oppose d him. Trump had insisted that golfers Ernie Els, who exposed himself as a probable apartheid supporter, and Retief Goosen, attend the meeting. It was those two who began the defence of the South African government and pooh-poohing that there is a white genocide. Even the leader of the second largest party and the historical class enemy of the ANC, the Democratic Alliance's John Steenhuisen, was at pains to explain that the ANC and his party are working together so that there is no rising support for this misplaced anger and militancy. For me, though, it was Johan Rupert, the face of Afrikaner capital and who for many epitomises those who refuse to accept that it was not their magnanimity that brought down apartheid but a noble struggle, that really showed that Ramaphosa and the ANC's starry-eyed turning the other cheek can actually work. Rupert said a lot. He said that as much as Trump may be angered by the video of militancy and anger, he, Rupert, is the object of that anger more than anyone else. He told Trump that he does not lock his door at night when he sleeps. He openly and simply stated that there are too many deaths in South Africa, 'but it is across the board not only white farmers'. He cleverly reminded Trump, the property mogul, what New York was like in the 1970s, where it resembled a war zone and how they overcame that. He showed his commitment to South Africa was not just words; he is building three houses for his grandchildren on a farm near Graaff Reinet, the implication being that if he believed for a moment that white people faced imminent danger of being, why would he place his grandchildren in harms' way. Of course his advocacy for Elon Musk's Starlink will require more discussion. Rupert was unafraid, like many poor black people, to highlight the problem of illegal immigrants and their involvement in crime. Moreover, he reminded Steenhuisen that his political party is in charge in Cape Town and the Cape Flats is the murder capital of South Africa. Rupert showed why leaders like Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki and now Ramaphosa always engage with him. It is not just because of his money, it's because you do not detect any bitterness in him, and there is a deep-founded commitment to South Africa, not just white South Africa, but this diverse and real South Africa. I doubt that Trump has the emotional intelligence to understand the moment. There was no chance that he went to bed envious that Ramaphosa and South Africa had what he yearns for — that despite a history of enmity, South Africans are willing to give each other a chance. What he would not give for any of the opposition Democrat and business leaders stepping up to the podium and defending him and his administration. I will not hold my breath. The Oval Office scene can become as valueless as Vlok washing Chikane's feet if we do not harness the constructive energy of Rupert into a real economic recovery programme that visibly lifts black people out of poverty. Otherwise the disappointment that black people feel in South Africa will result in their own cathartic moment and they openly and unapologetically own their anger and act it out as well. Donovan E Williams is a social commentator. @TheSherpaZA on X (formerly Twitter).
South China Morning Post
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Top 10: Who would you meet from history, and what would you say?
This week's question: If you could add one rule to your school, what would it be and why? To take part, drop us a line via this form by 12pm on Wednesday, May 21. Sana Zaman Wong Sum-wai, 14, PLK Mrs Ma Kam Ming Cheung Fook Sien College: Mahatma Gandhi was an Indian leader who played a crucial role in the country's struggle for independence. I would ask him about his principles of non-violence and how he would address today's social issues, such as inequality and climate change. His insights could inspire modern movements for change. Lareina Ma Lok-yin, 12, Pui Kiu College: Elie Wiesel was a Holocaust survivor. I would ask him, 'What was it like? How did you persevere despite the horrors?' Lynette Tang Hin-liem, 14, St Mary's Canossian College: Ada Lovelace, known for her groundbreaking insights on the creative potential of computing in the 19th century, continues to inspire us today. I would ask how she envisioned machines going beyond mere calculations in a time before modern technology, and how she blended poetry with logic. Her resilience in the face of gender barriers and her lasting impact on STEM remind us that innovation flourishes where imagination and precision intersect. Top 10: If you could own any piece of artwork in the world, what would it be, and why? Vivi Chui Tsz-laam, 14, Pooi To Middle School: I would choose Thomas Edison and ask him: how did you cope with failures in your quest to invent the light bulb? What motivated you during that time? You mentioned that genius is 1 per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration, but how did you continue your efforts when everyone told you your ideas were impossible? Do you have any advice for students today? Gabrielle Leung Tsz-yau, 16, Tin Shui Wai: Patrick Steptoe is an obstetrician who, along with Robert Edwards and Jean Purdy, pioneered in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and persevered despite societal doubts. If I could meet him, I would say, 'Thank you for your relentless research, which has allowed people like me to be born.' His work transformed science into life-changing miracles. Jenny Chan Tsz-yan, 18, Tak Nga Secondary School: If I could meet Adolf Hitler, I would ask him, 'Your decisions during World War II had a profound impact on the world. How do you view their long-term effects on humanity? Did you ever consider the possibility of achieving peace?' This question could help illuminate his motivations and the historical consequences of his actions. Chrisom Johnbosco Emedom, 12, CCC Yenching College: Julius Caesar. I would tell him, 'As you are the dictator for life now, be careful of traitors and assassination attempts against you.' He died as a result of an assassination. Julius Caesar was a powerful Roman dictator. Photo: Shutterstock Ryan Wong Cheuk-man, 15, TWGHs Li Ka Shing College: Ludwig van Beethoven experienced gradual hearing loss in his midlife. I would love to ask him how he continued to pursue his music career despite such a significant setback. If I could learn from his mindset, I could apply those lessons to many aspects of my life. Jane Tong King-kiu, 15, Christian Alliance SC Chan Memorial College: William Shakespeare was a renowned English playwright, poet and actor. During my junior studies in English literature, I learned about some of his famous works, including the classics Hamlet and Othello, which are widely recognised and discussed. So Wing-yu, 15, Carmel Alison Lam Foundation Secondary School: Empress Dowager Cixi was a ruler during the Qing dynasty. I would advise her not to waste so much money on extravagant decorations and fragrances for her chambers. Additionally, she should avoid taking opium. As a leader, she should serve as a role model and prioritise the well-being of her people over her own desires.
