Against the backdrop of the US Presidential election, one of the most
influential political cartoonists of his generation, Khalid Albaih, travels from Washington, D.C. to Memphis, TN (via New York, NY and
Houston, TX) exploring the shared struggle for human and civil rights
between the Arab World and the United States. The journey culminates in Memphis with an event at the National Civil Rights Museum,
located at the former Lorraine Motel, where civil rights leader Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968.
In partnership with
Release Date
July 2016
Project Artists
Locations
Houston, TX
New Orleans, LU
Greenwood, MS
Memphis, TN
The Story of Civil Rights is Unfinished, 2016
"I think what attracted me most about the trip was the development that happened in the United States through the Civil Rights Movement. You know, from not having a chair on the bus to having a black president — and that for me was really amazing in such a short time, even though with all the troubles that are still going on." Khalid AlBaih
Photo by John Mireles
The Story of Civil Rights is Unfinished, 2016
“Politics is a big part of why I don’t have a home, and with these cartoons I’m trying to create change so my kids can have a home.” Khalid AlBaih
Photo by John Mireles
The Story of Civil Rights is Unfinished, 2016
"We don’t really have heroes in the Arab world and the Muslim region – we don’t have those characters that young people can look up to. Our heroes have only been religious heroes, which are like holy figures who never made any mistakes." Khalid AlBaih
Photo by John Mireles
The Story of Civil Rights is Unfinished, 2016
Khalid AlBaih, Stephen Stapleton and Matteo Lonardi on board the CULTURUNNERS RV.
Photo by John Mireles
The Story of Civil Rights is Unfinished, 2016
Khalid AlBaih, Stephen Stapleton and Matteo Lonardi discuss the breakdown of CULTURUNNERS RV with local police.
Photo by John Mireles
The Story of Civil Rights is Unfinished, 2016
CULTURUNNERS RV breaks down during the roadtrip.
Photo by John Mireles
The Story of Civil Rights is Unfinished, 2016
CULTURUNNERS RV breaks down during the roadtrip.
Photo by John Mireles
The Story of Civil Rights is Unfinished, 2016
Khalid AlBaih at the place in Mississippi where in 1966, Stokely Carmichael broke ranks with civil disobedience and made his famous black power speech. Albaih was stunned when he spoke to local residents, only to learn that they didn’t know anything about it.
Photo by John Mireles
The Story of Civil Rights is Unfinished, 2016
Albaih timed his trip to coincide with the American elections. And between the lofty lessons he learned at each stop on the civil rights tour, he made sure to speak with regular Americans.
Photo by John Mireles
The Story of Civil Rights is Unfinished, 2016
Khalid AlBaih, Stephen Stapleton and Matteo Lonardi at a diner in Mississippi on the road between Washington, DC and Memphis, TN.
Photo by John Mireles
The Story of Civil Rights is Unfinished, 2016
Khalid AlBaih with CULTURUNNERS founder, Stephen Stapleton, in front of the Freedom Riders bus at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis.
Photo by John Mireles
The Story of Civil Rights is Unfinished, 2016
Khalid AlBaih looking at the reserved Lorraine Hotel room where civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was staying when he was assassinated on April 4, 1968. The Lorraine Motel is now the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis.
Photo by John Mireles
The Story of Civil Rights is Unfinished, 2016
The former Lorraine Motel (now the National Civil Rights Museum), in Memphis, where civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968.
Photo by John Mireles
The Story of Civil Rights is Unfinished, 2016
The former Lorraine Motel (now the National Civil Rights Museum), in Memphis, where civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968.
Photo by John Mireles
The Story of Civil Rights is Unfinished, 2016
Khalid Al Baih speaking at a panel discussion at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, May 2016. "The younger generation here in America are taking their civil rights for granted, and I think that’s what sets America back. I mean, if you don’t know your own rights, and you don’t how you got there, it’s gonna take time for you to understand what’s happening right now with the rise of Trump."
Photo by John Mireles
Khalid Albaih is a Sudanese artist, political cartoonist, illustrator, designer and a writer. As an African Muslim, brought up in the Gulf, he explores race, politics and the global struggle for civil and human rights. Khalid publishes his cartoons on social media under the name 'Khartoon!', a word play on cartoon and Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. Albaih's cartoons, which have become symbols for resistance and a challenge to the status quo, have been published widely in international publications including The Atlantic, PRI, NPR, New York Times, BBC, The Guardian and Al Jazeera. Khalid Albaih currently lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark where he is the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN) PEN Artist-in-Residence. He is the 2018 inaugural Soros Arts Fellow for the Open Society Foundation and was the 2016 Oak Fellow at the Oak Institute for the Study of International Human Rights at Colby College in Maine.
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