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Last updated on December 10th, 2021
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, the African-American civil rights march held in Washington, DC that saw Martin Luther King give his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. I thought I’d make this week’s post a compilation of previous posts about the Black civil rights movement:
- Martin Luther King in animation: appearances of Dr. King in animation, including a reference to the March on Washington in an episode of “Histeria!”
- Martin Luther King in comics: appearances and mentions of Dr. King in comics.
- The NAACP and comics: a few comics were produced by the NAACP during the civil rights movement, covering various issues concerning African-Americans at the time.
Aside from the “Histeria!” reference, I wasn’t able to find any other mention of the March on Washington in comics or animation. Nor have I found much mention in comics or animation of Bayard Rustin, a gay African-American man who was the key organizer of the March, as well as a major figure during the civil rights movement. Rustin also played a role in the gay rights movement in the 70s and 80s. One mention of Rustin is in Keith Knight’s comic strip “(Th)ink.”
I did find one major new addition to the comics side of things. John Lewis, a keynote speaker at the March on Washington (and currently a Congressman) has written an autobiographical graphic novel titled “March.” Lewis is the first sitting person in Congress to author a graphic novel. “March” was published by Top Shelf Comics and released earlier this month. Lewis also appeared at this summer’s San Diego Comic-Con to help promote “March.”
