Published as a comic book in 1958, 'Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story' went on to inspire hundreds of thousands to use active nonviolence in the fight against injustice, and inequality.

1. Illustrating Freedom:
Martin Luther King and the Montgomery
Story as a Rhetorical Parallel to U.S.
Civil Rights Movement Culture
Ryan Schill
Kennesaw State University
rschill@kennesaw.edu
twitter: @rpschill

2. Martin Luther King and the
Montgomery Story comic is a
visual rhetorical argument
advocating for the use of
nonviolent resistance to
end segregation, inequality,
and Jim Crow laws in the
United States.
The comic became a tool
that gained power and
credibility by linking itself
to established Civil Rights
movement culture through
its use of black Christian
church imagery and
themes.

3. Martin Luther
King and the
Montgomery Story
Comic book format
Recounts the story of the
Montgomery bus boycotts in
1955-1956
Published by the Fellowship
of Reconciliation in 1958

4. Fellowship of Reconciliation
Founded in 1911, close to the beginning of World War I
Interfaith organization that promotes active nonviolence
Wanted to find a way to build on the successes of the
Montgomery bus boycotts and show the effectiveness of
nonviolent resistance

5. Historical context
FOR chose to create a comic book
Format was popular during that time period
Came out shortly after the development of the Comics
Code Authority, the comics industry’s response to
public pressure to reduce the amount of violent and
sexual content in comics
Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story comic was
independently published, and did not bear the CCA
seal
Not bearing the seal meant that most mainstream retail
outlets would not carry the comic
FOR believed that comics were an ideal medium for
reaching “semi-literate audiences”

6. Martin Luther King worked
with the FOR in writing the
script for the comic
The comic sold more than
250,000 copies
Influenced future civil rights
leaders to take action
John Lewis was so inspired
by the comic, he produced a
memoir in graphic novel
format called March
The Greensboro Four
staged their 1960
Woolworth’s sit-in after
reading the comic

7. Inspired activists
internationally
Distributed in South Africa
during Apartheid
Translated into Spanish,
Arabic, and Farsi
In 2006, smuggled into
Egypt
Read by young
Egyptians protestors
during the Arab Spring
revolution

8. Structure
Divided into three sections
First section tells “The Montgomery Story” and introduces Martin
Luther King with brief, one-page bio
In second section, MLK describes how Ghandi helped India win
independence from Britain by using nonviolent tactics
Final section explains the principles behind nonviolence and gives
step-by-step instructions on its use for affecting social change

9. The Comic as a Movement Tool
“Instant historicizing”
Told the story of a recent victory
Allowed current/younger generation to “claim its specific
place in the long tradition of black struggle.” — T.V. Reed,
The Art of Protest (2005, pg. 15)
Organizing/Mobilizing
Easy to pass around
Appealed to college students, thus engaging the black college
network
Education
Taught basic elements of nonviolent action
Showed how nonviolent tactics had worked in the recent past

10. Identification
Black church culture transformed into movement
culture
In both white and black communities, church
involvement “sanctified the movement [and] made it
more legitimate and less frightening in the eyes of many
people.”
Church provided essential infrastructure:
Meeting places
Money-raising network
Recruitment
(Reed, 11-12)

11. Theoretical framework
Stephen Toulmin’s model of argumentation (first triad)
Breaks the rhetorical argument into three parts or
functions:
Claim: the proposition or thesis statement
Grounds (data): the evidence that supports that claim
Warrants: the logical link connecting the claim and the
grounds

12. The Comic’s Claim
The comic will encourage more instances of nonviolent
protest and resistance and increase participation in the
Civil Rights movement

13. Evidence Supporting the
Comic’s Claim
Repeated visual references
to Christian love and
God, as well as to the
black church’s integration
with movement culture

17. The Comic’s Warrant
Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story is a
legitimate piece of Civil Rights movement culture, and
thus a legitimate tool for the movement

18. Future Research
Civil Rights-era comics produced by the NAACP