God will meet you at the jailhouse: Christianity and gender in the Fellowship of Reconciliation’s civil rights comic book

Abstract

ABSTRACT In 1957, the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), a pacifist Christian group, published a comic book entitled Martin Luther King and The Montgomery Story. This document has received some attention in recent years in light of Congressman John Lewis’ recent comic series March, which was inspired by this 1957 work. While there has been some discussion of its creation, there has been less discussion about the comic book as a format for promotion of particular views of Christian activism and movement gender roles. FOR was founded in the WWI era, and advocated for Christian pacifist views in both of the World Wars. In the United States, it worked to help conscientious objectors and to build labor and social movements. Members of FOR, such as James Farmer, were significant in the formation of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). In the postwar era, FOR became active in civil rights. Members associated with the organization often worked on civil rights campaigns including the Montgomery bus boycott. It was as a result of this involvement that FOR published the comic book on King’s life. The comic book serves to solidify the movement’s adherence to Christian principles and to nonviolence. The work also emphasizes the importance of the church as an institution, particular versions of ministry, loving one’s neighbor, an image of God as the ultimate defender and protector as well as provides the readers with gendered examples of respectable activism.