Next week's cover of The New Yorker is a piece by artist Barry Blitt, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It features Dr. King locking arms with Eric Garner and Officer Wenjian Liu, flanked by Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown.
Blitt said he was inspired by the photographs of the Selma-to-Montgomery march. He wrote of the cover:
In New York and elsewhere, the tension between the police and the policed is at the center of things. Like Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner, Michael Brown and Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, Martin Luther King was taken way too early. It is hard to believe things would have got as bad as they are if he was still around today.
Recent New Yorker covers have tackled Ferguson (twice), and this is far from the first time King has been featured.
Not to take away from the powerful and emotional image, but it's also worth noting that The New Yorker now costs $7.99 on the newsstand. A subscription is the way to go.
