Thursday, September 03, 2009

Dalia Ziada talking about Martin Luther King on CBC Radio One





On August 30th, The Canadian CBC Radio One broadcast a log interview with me on my work for promoting nonviolent action in Egypt and the Middle East. We spoke about the challenges I faced while translating and publishing the Montgomery Story Comic Book, in early 2008. I was interviewed by the outstanding filmmaker Joan Leishman who said while introducing me to her audience:
"In Montgomery, Alabama, 50,000 Negroes found a new way to work for freedom, without violence and without hating. Because they did, they put new hope in all men who seek brotherhood, and who know you don't build it with bullets."

These words neatly sum up the impact of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, one of the early victories of the American Civil Rights movement. And they come not from a speech, or a historic plaque or a newspaper editorial.

They are the opening lines of a comic book. "The Montgomery Story" was first published in 1956 by the Fellowship of Reconciliation to help spread the word of the boycott and Martin Luther King's message of non-violent protest. It was, had to be, a subversive move given the explosive hatreds of the day. Thousands of copies of the comic were destroyed.

Thankfully, not all of them. More than fifty years after its first publication, the comic has inspired another human rights organization.

Earlier this year, the American Islamic Congress translated "The Montgomery Story" into Arabic and distributed 2,000 copies throughout the Middle East.

Dalia Ziada edited and translated the Arabic version. She is the North Africa director of the American Islamic Congress and she joins us from Cairo this morning.
I am so proud of this interview. To download or listen to the complete interview online click HERE. If this link does not work, click HERE.

Looking forward to know your feedback.