There is a pastel yellow building that is opposite the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence and is boarded up. There are painted images that are on the plywood that is covering the windows. These images are all spray painted on the plywood and one is the sunrise (or sunset), one has a woman with a mask with her hands in front of her and looks like she is praying. Another image has the side portrait of a man and there is text that reads “Lve” and “Pinder Story.”

There is a black ripped poster and underneath it is a poster that is pink, purple, and blue, that has a woman in the middle with her fist raised and holding a baby. The woman is in a circle and there is text that reads “Today I am Free • Today I am Strong” There are broken chains on the edge of the poster intertwined with flowers and roots. There is a dove at the top and text that reads “You’re wrong about me I’m a sister and a daughter [;] A mother, aunt, grandmother [;] Not a criminal Not a statistic [;] I have a life I have a dream [;] I am a queen a [illegible]…”

There are multiple posters on a wall that reads “Is My Son Next ??????” “Fuck MPD” (which is spray painted in yellow on a black background) #Black Power” “Black Lives Matter “Algeria for BLM” “Who do you protect? Who do you serve?” “Be an ENEMY to the OPPRESSORS and a HELPER to the OPPRESSED - Imam Ali (as)”
There are different paintings that are on pieces of paper that are on the wall and other ripped posters. One poster reads “We need more Peace Life Love” There is a drawn peace sign in blue, a green tree and a pink heart respectively over the words, “peace” “life” and “love”.
There is a poster that reads “The Palm Collective” and is on a black poster but has been spraypainted the colors of the rainbow with a symbol on it.

There are two portraits in a black and grey color scheme, and it has yellow and green in the background and seem to be representative of traditional African people.
A poster reads “Abolish Prisons” and it has two hands that are breaking cell bars with a red circle with a line through it
Another poster reads “It’s not Right or Left its Life or Death.”
There is a poster that looks like a rendition of Mount Rushmore but has the heads of Martin Luther King Jr., Frederick Douglass, Malcom X, Barack Obama, and Nelson Mandela. The poster reads “VOTE” and on the bottom it reads “They Sacrificed.” There is a green handprint on the wall underneath this poster and a paper that has a QR code that leads to a website that lets people register to vote.
There is a poster that reads “No Justice No Peace” and has the black power fist raised that is in the middle of a circle on the poster.]]>

Activist Nadine Seiler played a crucial role in protecting and caring for the fence, along with Karen Irwin and other activists in a loosely-formed group informally known as the "Guardians of the Fence." Nadine Seiler and Aliza Leventhal systematically documented the fence over the course of months, and Seiler became the de facto curator of the fence.

Additional information:

Library of Congress blog post "Protest Preserved: Signs from D.C.'s Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence"

D.C. Public Library Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence Artifact Collection”
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2020-10-14]]>

There is a photo of a church behind a fence and to the left of the photograph is a large poster than is hung on a building that reads ‘AFL – CIO supports Black Lives Matter.” There is a spray painted figure of a Native American with a mask with blue accents. There are blue sentences around the Native American that read “Plague kills [illegible] people?” “[Illegible] white men destroys [illegible] nation? The figure is holding a poster that reads “Tell me about it.”

Another poster is on the fence that reads at the top “Black Lives Matter Dump Trump Acronymania Dump Trump Black Lives Matter” then under this on the poster reads “Threatening; Rank; Underhanded; Misguided; Pyromaniac” next to this reads “Dump Trump the Chump.” At the bottom of the poster reads “Dump Trump, Dump the Chump; Black Lives Matter; Dump Trump, Dump the Chump.”
There is a sticker on this poster that reads “Police Lives Matter” and on the border of the sticker reads “We the Free > BLEXIT” which is repeated on the border.

There are two posters on the fence and one of them seems to be a memorial picture of Greg “G-Moe” Hill as the top of the poster reads “In Loving Memory” and there are three images of Hill, with one of him with angel wings. Another poster is for a rally and march that would be occurring on October 16, 2020, at the Martin Luther King Jr., memorial. There are three black women on the poster with their fists raised and the poster reads “Protect Black Women.” There is an American flag that is also tucked behind the poster in the fence. The poster further reads “Rally & March In Washington, DC Friday, October 16, 2020 3:00 PM Martin Luther [sic] King Jr. Memorial 1964 Independence SW Washington, DC 20003.” Lower on the poster reads “’Say Their Names’ Join US in Washington, DC www.C4RacialJustice.org”
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Activist Nadine Seiler played a crucial role in protecting and caring for the fence, along with Karen Irwin and other activists in a loosely-formed group informally known as the "Guardians of the Fence." Nadine Seiler and Aliza Leventhal systematically documented the fence over the course of months, and Seiler became the de facto curator of the fence.

Additional information:

Library of Congress blog post "Protest Preserved: Signs from D.C.'s Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence"

D.C. Public Library Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence Artifact Collection”]]>
2020-10-11]]>
In Kansas City, Missouri, a mural reading “Black Lives Matter” and “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools” was painted along Briarcliff Parkway. It was designed by Harold Smith. The quote is from Martin Luther King Jr. The mural is painted with many bright and vivid colors. The purpose of the bright color is to represent the diversity of all African Americans, with Smith stating, “Black lives are rich, vibrant and they contribute so much to America.”1 This mural was part of five others painted around Kansas City to celebrate the Black Lives Matter movement. The murals were a community movement. The murals were designed by local artists. Community members showed up to support, and food trucks were set up near the mural. Each mural from the Labor Day Weekend had a similar message towards the Black Lives Matter movement, but each was expressed in different ways.  

A little over a week later, the mural was defaced with white paint and tire marks. This did not set Smith back; his plan was to try to incorporate the vandalism into the mural.2 

Just like Minneapolis, Kansas City was struck with riots after the death of George Floyd. There were several days of protests, looting, and vandalization of local businesses in Kansas City. Many of the community members were impacted by this, as there were over 200 arrests made, one protestor lost an eye from a rubber bullet, and many others were affected by the tear gas.

Researched by the Urban Art Mapping Team

Image URL

News Coverage by USA Today and The Kansas City Star]]>
2020-09-05]]>
Photographer: Crissy Dastrup]]>
Stephen Larrick, Black Lives Matter Street Mural Census]]>
2021-07-08]]> Photographer: Quajay Donnell (@qua.jay)]]>
The first with a red poppy in the corner and "Don't be silent about things that matter. - MLK Jr."

The second with two yellow flowers in the corner and "George Floyd. "We have decided to stick with love. MLK Jr."

The third with two orange and red flowers and "Never use infinite hope. MLK Jr."]]>

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2020-06-06]]>

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2020-06-06]]>
2020-06-07]]> 2.Yellow flower and Geroge Floyd's name. MLK Jr quote, "We have decided to stick with love."
3. Orange flowers. MLK Jr quote, "Never lose infinite hope".
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2020-06-07]]>
Right- quote by MLK jr. "The time is always right to do what is right".
2. Outline of the state of Minnesota filled with images of plants, people, and an abstract face. Text "Minnesota Strong/ We stand together"]]>
2020-06-07]]>

Also documented by Froukje Akkerman in 2020-06-17.]]>
2020-06-19]]>