Today honors the birth and life of civil rights leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Martin Luther King.This striking image evokes Dr. King's legacy of nonviolent protest against racism in American society.
A Day Fit for a King
Today honors the birth and life of civil rights leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Martin Luther King.This striking image evokes Dr. King's legacy of nonviolent protest against racism in American society.
Photographer Ron Borowski's compelling image was first used by graphic artist Louis Dorfsman to create a newspaper advertisement for the 1968 CBS television series Of Black America. It was later designed as a poster with the addition of the text "I pledge allegiance," effectively underscoring the ambivalence in this man's face.
The poster, from the collection of Mary Haskell, was featured in our exhibition Posters American Style. You can view this show online, where you can also learn more about Martin Luther King's life and career.
Source: Posters: American Style (Washington, D.C.: National Museum of American Art, 1999) at http://americanart.si.edu/collections/exhibits/posters/index.html.
Pictured: Ron Borowski (photographer), I Pledge Allegiance, 1970, offset lithograph, 28 x 22 in., Collection of Mary Haskell.