by Zachary Clemente
When not out fighting fiendish villains, teaming up (adorably) with Wolverine, or being late to class – Kamala Khan AKA Ms. Marvel has found an entirely new spotlight by having her image used on top of anti-Islamic bus ads in San Francisco. These ads, found on Muni busses, were purchased earlier this month by right-wing extremist American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) and an anonymous graffiti artist has stepped in to address the hatred with some heroics. The ads make parallels between Islam with Nazism, utilizing a photo of Adolf Hitler and Haj Amin al-Husseini, an anti-Zionism Muslim leader, and demand end to aiding Islamic countries.
This is especially poetic as Kamala is a Pakistani-American teenager and Muslim superhero, I might add. Her deeds were posted by Street Cred and have spread far and wide, befitting any hero’s work. While many may cry foul that the unknown artist’s actions are oppressing free speech, in actuality, this is a fantastic representation of public discourse in action and a poignant means of engaging such an issue in light of how many of the reactions to the attack on Charlie Hebdo’s office in Paris ended up: scattered, veering, and hasty.
What’s just as impressive is the level-headed response Ms. Marvel writer G. Willow Wilson had to offer on the subject:
Since I've been asked–I think Gell4r (yes, I'm subtweeting; these ppl are arch trolls) has every right to buy ad space on Muni buses.
— G. Willow Wilson (@GWillowWilson) January 26, 2015
I would not wish that right taken from her just because she's a hate monger.
— G. Willow Wilson (@GWillowWilson) January 26, 2015
To me, the graffiti is part of the back-and-forth of the free speech conversation. Call and response. Argument, counterargument.
— G. Willow Wilson (@GWillowWilson) January 26, 2015
To me that says free speech is working–it is enabling and fostering public exchange.
— G. Willow Wilson (@GWillowWilson) January 26, 2015
You can find Kamala’s Adventures monthly in Ms. Marvel. I thoroughly suggest reading the first collected trade, No Normal, available in digital and in print.
Art by Jaime McKelvie
Hatred should be attacked and not allowed to get a fair airing. It is a disease and people should not be exposing others to it. This garbage has no redeemable social value.
America is bizarre. You can say the most hateful thing and people do nothing. But God help you if you show a nipple on TV.
Freedom of speech is not absolute. Otherwise I’d be able to watch hard core porn on CBS at 3pm.
Not sure I am getting the picture here. I am confused. A hate group purchased exterior bus advertising in San Francisco? Then another group pasted comic character stickers onto those ads, and chopped off the logo of the hate group? Not sure…
This is utterly clueless at the very best. First, the depressing slogan “free speech isn’t a license to spread hate.” But much worse is this: “The ads make parallels between Islam with Nazism, utilizing a photo of Adolf Hitler and Haj Amin al-Husseini, an anti-Zionism Muslim leader…” Haj Amin al-Husseini AKA the Mufti of Jerusalem, who collaborated with Hitler, lauded as an “anti-Zionist,” and treated as if the Hitler equation were arbitrary and spurious. Learn some history, dudes.