"Riot: A riot is the language of the unheard", Russel Young, 2008
Today’s featured artwork “Riot” by Russell Young is based on Martin Luther King Jr's speech "The Other America" (1967)
"And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard." - Martin Luther King Jr.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. What does this powerful image say to you?

Image Source: ABC News
On August 28, 1963, some 100 years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation freeing the slaves, a young man named Martin Luther King climbed the marble steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. to describe his vision of America. More than 200,000 people-black and white-came to listen. They came by plane, by car, by bus, by train, and by foot. They came to Washington to demand equal rights for black people. And the dream that they heard on the steps of the Monument became the dream of a generation.
“I still have a dream, a dream deeply rooted in the American dream – one day this nation will rise up and live up to its creed, ‘We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal.’” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

Image Source: Stanford Report
On April 14, 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at Stanford's Memorial Auditorium about racism and civil rights in American society.
Extract from "The Other America", Martin Luther King, Jr., Stanford University, 1967
“But it is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to get attention. And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the negro poor has worsened over the last twelve or fifteen years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

See It On Your Wall
Renowned for using powerful images appropriated from history and popular culture, British-American pop artist Russell Young, loves to glamourise “a very aggressive and violent image”.
Russell began to use diamond dust in 2007. He called the paintings Dirty Pretty Things, pressing the crystals into the web pigment of the images of his paintings.
“Riot” is a great example of this technique.