Photograph by Ed Pollard, Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II digital slr-2008.

Three Placards (Elijah Muhammad, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X)

Artist Marilyn Nance (American, b. 1953)

CultureAmerican

DateJune 14, 1986

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsOverall, Image: 6 × 7 15/16 in. (15.2 × 20.2 cm)
Overall, Paper: 8 15/16 × 9 7/8 in. (22.7 × 25.1 cm)
Overall, Mat: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)

InscribedVerso: "7/20, #755-26, 6.14.86" and signature.

Credit LineGift of Joyce F. and Robert B. Menschel

Object number2007.12.72

On View

Not on view

DescriptionThis gelatin silver print is of a group of African-Americans standing at a fence waving flags and holding large posters of Elijah Muhammad, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X.

Label TextMarilyn Nance American, b. 1953 Three Placards (Elijah Muhammad, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X), 1986 Gelatin silver print (photograph) On June 14, 1986, nearly 150,000 people marched in New York’s Central Park to denounce apartheid to demand that America impose strict trade sanctions against South Africa. Photographing the event, Marilyn Nance here shows young black protesters under monumental placards emblazoned with portraits of earlier American Civil Rights leaders Elijah Muhammad, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X. The photographs create a genealogy of protest and reform, linking the events and voices of the 1960s to similar struggles later and around the world. Gift of Joyce F. and Robert B. Menschel 2007.12.72 ProvenanceCollection of Robert B. and Joyce F. Menschel, New York; Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia, Gift of Joyce F. and Robert B. Menschel, 2007 Exhibition History'Recent Photography Acquistions," Alice R. and Frank B. Sol Photography Galleries, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, December 12, 2008. "Women of the Chrysler: a 400-Year Celebration of the Arts," Large Changing Gallery, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., March 24 - July 18, 2010. "Women and the Civil Rights Movement," Photography Galleries, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, June 14 - October 30, 2016. "Come Together, Right Now: The Art of Gathering," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, October 11, 2020 - January 3, 2021.