Voices of Children

Brumsic Brandon, Jr. named his comic strip after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The second mainstream comic with an African American protagonist, Luther ran from 1968 to 1986. It featured a group of children living in a poor urban neighborhood probably similar to the area of northeast Washington, D.C., where Brandon grew up. The first comic strip shows two boys discussing Martin Luther King, Jr., and non-violent demonstrations. In this example, Luther tells his friend Pee Wee that he was named after the civil rights leader, and Pee Wee then tells him that his mother was beaten up during a non-violent demonstration. In the second strip, Luther learns that Pee Wee has fainted again in school, due to hunger.