Faith Ringgold

In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested in Birmingham, Alabama, with 50 other demonstrators for nonviolent resistance. From his jail cell, he wrote a response to eight white clergymen who had chastised the “confrontational” nature of civil rights movement tactics, calling for protestors’ “peaceful obedience” of the law, which allowed segregation. In his letter, King defends nonviolent direct action and the necessity of civil disobedience in confronting injustice.

Artist-activist Faith Ringgold has illustrated King’s letter in eight serigraphs. Here, two “colored” children are denied access to Funtown, an Atlanta amusement park. The flags flying over what seems to be a wholesome American scene ask viewers to consider how many people have been systematically excluded from activities and institutions in service to whiteness.