Poster for the National Black Political Convention by artist Rod Ward: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A framed black and white paper poster advertisement for the first National Black Political Convention of 1972. The poster features a large, mural-like illustration with multiple motifs and narratives. Foremost on the left is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He is positioned in a profile view wearing a suit jacket with button sleeve detail. His mouth is open as if speaking passionately. His head is framed by the stars on a billowing American flag, the stripes of which extend across the top middle of the entire drawing. The word [PEACE], shaded in black and white, is written vertically from the middle of Dr. King’s suit sleeve, the ‘E’ replaced by the middle of a large group of individuals, marching alongside the last two black and white stripes of the flag. At the end of the top of the flag is a square frame showing the symbolic peace dove flying from outstretched hands; the hand on the left is white and the hand on the right is black. The doves’ wings extend beyond the frame. Below the last black stripe of the flag, to the right of the marchers, there is a flaming crucifix with robed and hooded figures surrounding it. They hold rifles and pitchforks.

Following the stretch of Dr. King’s proper right arm, beginning under his shoulder: the outline of the state of Tennessee covers the bottom of his arm to his elbow. The city of Memphis is marked at the lower left corner on Dr. King’s back. Following along the bottom of his sleeve is the lightly shaded outline of the southern United States, covering roughly from North Caroline, to Florida, and west or left to the south central-most of Texas. Written along the curve of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, is Rod Ward’s signature. [FREEDOM] is written in large block letters, below the outline of the states: the ‘REE’ without dark inner shading; the ‘D’ covered by the length of Florida, and the ‘M’ cut off by the border of the entire drawing. Five chained links connect to a fixed round hook atop the one cent Lincoln dangling from the dark lanyard in Dr. King’s fist, and which replaces the ‘O’.

[BLACK POLITICAL NATIONAL] reads horizontally above the drawing in large black bold text, and [CONVENTION], in even larger black bold text reads vertically besides the drawing, with the outline of the state of Indiana at the bottom right. Inside of the state outline is: [GARY, / IND. / MAR. / 1972]. The poster is framed in black wood and plastic with a glass facing.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1972
• Illustrated by: Rod Ward, American
• Subject of: National Black Political Convention, 1971 - 1972
• Subject of: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., American, 1929 - 1968
• Subject of: Ku Klux Klan, 3rd, American, founded 1946
• Type: posters
• Medium: ink on paper (fiber product) with cardboard , glass and wood
• Dimensions: H x W x D (Framed): 17 5/8 × 22 3/4 × 13/16 in. (44.7 × 57.8 × 2.1 cm)
• Place depicted: Gary, Lake County, Indiana, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Civil Rights
• Topic: Freedom
• Topic: Politics
• Topic: Race relations
• Topic: U.S. History, 1969-2001
• Topic: White supremacy movements
• Object number: 2019.28.35
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Unknown – Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.