Glenn Ligon Give Us a Poem Pin

Initially created as a site-specific installation for Studio Museum in Harlem’s lobby, Give Us a Poem demonstrates artist Glenn Ligon’s ability to infuse language with alternate meaning by translating it in bright neon. Ligon sourced the text from a speech Muhammad Ali made at Harvard University in 1975. When asked by a student to give the audience a poem, Ali replied “me, we,” in a simple but profound pairing that connects individual and collective experience.

In celebration of Studio Museum's reopening season, this work, Untitled (Sketch for Give Us a Poem) is a nod to Give Us a Poem, a depiction that calls attention to the role of text as material, messenger, and artifact.

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1 in.

Glenn Ligon 
Untitled (Sketch for Give Us a Poem), 2025
Crayon and ink on paper
12 x 8 1/2 in. 
© Glenn Ligon