In the Spirit of Martin: The Living Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. . - eye - book review

In the Spirit of Martin: The Living
Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
by Gary Chassman, Gretchen Sullivan Sorin,
Dr. Helen M. Shannon
Publishers' Group West, January 2002, $39.95
ISBN 0-965-37665-6

In the Spirit of Martin brings to book format the traveling museum exhibition of the same name, sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution. The collection, which is edited by Gary Chassman, Gretchen Sullivan Sorin and Helen M. Shannon--the latter two also curated the exhibit--includes visual art and text organized thematically around Martin Luther King's legacy.

John Biggers, Romare Bearden, Norman Rockwell, Gordon Parks and Andy Warhol are among the artists in Spirit whose works are paired with historical texts and essays. For example, Robert Rauschenberg's "28 Famous Murders with Poems," a mixed media sculpture, is juxtaposed with a historical account of King's assassination. Faith Ringgold's "Dream 2 and the Sisterhood," which includes King's image sewn into a panel of her story quilt, represent the more obvious references.

Among the essayists included in Spirit are Julius Lester, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Stanley Crouch, June Jordan and Nikki Giovanni. Each writer explores those issues that are part of King's Civil Rights legacy--racial equality, nonviolence and social justice--in subtle and sometimes not so subtle ways.

In the Spirit of Martin includes an excerpt from Alice Walker's 1983 book, In Search of Our Mother's Gardens, that reflects that subtle presence:

"He was The One, The Hero, The One Fearless Person for whom we had waited. I hadn't even realized before that we had been waiting for Martin Luther King, Jr., but we had. And I knew it for sure when my mother added his name to the list of people she prayed for every night."

--Kathleen Anderson is an educator based in western Massachusetts.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Cox, Matthews & Associates
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group