A white sign with twine looped at the top and bold black text that reads "Honor King: End Racism!"

“Honor King: End Racism!” placard
1968
Martin Luther King, Jr., Poster Collection, Art and Artifacts Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

“Honor King: End Racism!” placard

On April 4th, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated while in Memphis, Tennessee, to offer support to striking sanitation workers (see photo at left). The rally originally planned for that day took place four days later, with Dr. King’s wife, Coretta, leading strikers carrying placards like this one on the long march toward racial justice.



Carlyle Leach, the donor of this sign, remembers the day his father, Thomas Leach, participated in the rally. Afterwards Thomas Leach gave his son an extra-long embrace and told him that he and the other marchers walked in complete silence. National Guardsmen held loaded weapons, pointed at the protestors. Mr. Leach told his son he was terrified, but that he knew he was on the right side of justice. He signed and dated the back of the placard, “April 8, 1968, Successful!”

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