"Calhoun, best known for her mural of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on 14th and S Streets NW, admired the piece while others passed by without a glance. "Murals can be markers of time and significance," Calhoun told Hyperallergic. "People live their lives by it and associate with their surroundings. I think everyday reminders of sacrifice and triumph are important. Painting political figures puts them in the place of people's minds and physical space.""
"Since 1986, the painting has served as a visual portal into Martin Luther King Jr.'s life, painstakingly detailing a timeline from King's childhood until his assassination in 1968. Depictions include King graduating from Morehouse College, King behind bars with Ralph Abernathy, leading a march, and speaking to a crowd with the Washington Monument in the background as a nod to his "I Have a Dream" speech."
Don Miller's 56-by-7-foot mural in the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, DC has served since 1986 as a visual portal into King's life. The painting traces a timeline from King's childhood to his 1968 assassination, depicting his Morehouse graduation, imprisonment with Ralph Abernathy, marches he led, and his "I Have a Dream" address with the Washington Monument visible. The composition splits the center, showing King's portrait on the right and Southern Christian Leadership Conference figures such as Andrew Young on the left, while honoring other often-overlooked civil-rights leaders. The mural was preserved and restored during library renovations from 2017 to 2021 and continues to act as a public reminder of sacrifice, triumph, and political presence in shared space.
Read at Hyperallergic
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