Martin Luther King Jr.
- Created by
- Cummings, Michael A., American, born 1945
- Subject of
- Dr. King, Martin Luther Jr., American, 1929 - 1968
- Chaney, James, American, 1943 - 1964
- Schwerner, Michael, American, 1939 - 1964
- Goodman, Andrew, American, 1943 - 1964
- McNair, Denise, American, 1951 - 1963
- Robertson, Carole, American, 1949 - 1963
- McNair, Denise, American, 1951 - 1963
- Wesley, Cynthia Dionne, American, 1949 - 1963
- Collins, Addie Mae, American, 1949 - 1963
- Date
- 2013
- Medium
- cloth with plastic and metal
- Dimensions
- H x W: 73 × 53 in. (185.4 × 134.6 cm)
- Description
- An appliqué quilt portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., with fabrics, plastic lettering, and a metal sign. King is depicted in the middle of the quilt’s red center field, wearing a grey plaid blazer over a white shirt and black tie. There is a prominent American flag patch on the left breast of the jacket. On either side of King are his quotes embroidered in black text on cream fabric banners, beginning with "It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can stop him from lynchingme, and I think that's pretty important." Above him is a metal sign reading [COLORED / SERVED IN REAR] with “MLK” in white plastic letters. To the left, directly on the red fabric background, is a list of names of others murdered in the Civil Rights Movement: CORE workers James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman; NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers; and 16th Street Baptist Church bombing victims Denise McNair, Carol Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, and Addie Mae Collins. Along the bottom margin in front of him is a map depicting North America and West Africa with the text “MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. MINISTER” along the top. In the quilt’s bottom right corner is black text “EBENEZERBAPTIST CHURCH.” Belong this text is the artist’s name “Michael A. Cumming 2013.” The quilt is edged in a wide panel of fabric with a pattern of white handprints on a black background.
- Place made
- New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
- Classification
- Visual Arts
- Textiles-Quilts
- Movement
- Civil Rights Movement
- Topic
- Activism
- African diaspora
- Art
- Civil rights
- Lynching
- Segregation
- U.S. History, 1961-1969
- Violence
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Object number
- 2022.27.7
- Restrictions & Rights
- © Michael A. Cummings
- Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.