Coverage
H Street NW and 16th Street NW, Washington, D.C., USA
Description
Protest signs and posters on the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence, located on the north side of Lafayette Park in Washington D.C.
There are flowers on the fence which is arranged to spell out the word “VOTE.” It is made up of red roses, white peonies, white daisies, and white mums. The red roses outline the white flowers. Underneath this are arrangements of flowers that are made-up of purple and blue snapdragons and ferns. There are red roses and red eucalyptus that frame the word “VOTE.” Then there is a poster that reads “@SweetRootVillage #SweetRootVillage #VotingMatters” beside the flowers.
There's a QR code and underneath it reads “Free From Slavery Not Free From Racism” and the code leads to a book on Amazon by Vince Cowan that is titled “Free From Slavery Not Free From Racism.”
There is a cardboard poster which reads “Racism Is Small Dick Energy” underneath this is a black skateboard without wheels ,and it reads “Andy Roy” [a professional skateboarder] “Bad Geese” with an image of Woody Woodpecker and it's heavily used and it's standing up next to a Biden Harris 2020 campaign poster.
There is a piece of paper that has been painted and blended with green, orange, brown, purple, and yellow and it reads “NO Justice NO Peace.” The top of it has been ripped off slightly but it's now preserved in a plastic folio that's held with twine.
There is a picture that reads “Black Lives Matter” and it's surrounded by paintings of pink and yellow flowers on a black background. Underneath this is a white canvas with a black glitter heart that reads “It could all be simple”. There is a blue line that goes through the bottom half of the heart and there is a rose that is in front of this canvas. Next to this is a cardboard poster and reads names of those who lost their lives to police brutality. Some of the names read “Steven Eugene, Victor Steen, Sean Bell, Aiyana Stanta, Dante, Kimani John, Jordan.”
Source
The Black Lives Matter Memorial fence was a temporary chainlink fence installed in the area north of Lafayette Park and the White House from June 2, 2020, until January 30, 2021. The fence prevented public access to the area, and it also served as an important site of protest and self-expression.
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”