One Love Street Mural, Greensboro, NC

This Black Lives Matter Mural was installed on Elm Street between February One Place and Washington Street in Greensboro, North Carolina. The mural was painted during the weekend of June 27th, 2020, in the wake of nationwide protests following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis one month prior, and three weeks after the first Black Lives Matter street mural was painted in Washington, D.C. It was the second mural approved by the Greensboro Office of Arts and Culture’s Street Mural Program. A ‘One Love’ mural with yellow lettering following the theme of other street murals was painted on the nearby Davie Street the week before.

The painting was led by artist Rasheeda Shankle, who has helped create Black Lives Matter murals in other cities—such as Winston-Salem—and project leaders Kelley Creacy-Durham and Jason Keith. Many local Black artists participated in the painting, each decorating one of the seventeen letters with designs, images, and slogans advocating for racial justice. During the painting of the mural, the surrounding roads were closed, and the public was welcomed to observe the artist’s work. Itinease McMiller, a local news reporter at WFMY, described it on Twitter as: “The community has come out to see artists express their feelings about racial injustice through art.” 

The city of Greensboro, and the site of the mural in particular, is linked with historical struggles for civil rights. The mural is located across the street from the International Civil Rights Center and Museum, formerly a Woolworth’s that was the site of sit-in protests against racial segregation beginning on February 1st, 1960, and becoming a landmark of the civil rights movement of the 1960s. While Elm Street is now open to traffic, the mural still exists and can be seen on the street as of January 2023, according to Google Maps. 

Researched by Michael Francomb

Sources: 

“Artists Finish Black Lives Matter Mural in Downtown Greensboro.” Artists Finish Black Lives Matter Mural in Greensboro, https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/charlotte/news/2020/06/28/artists-finish-black-lives-matter-mural-in-downtown-greensboro.  

Author: Terrence Jefferies (WFMY News 2). “New Black Lives Matter Mural to Be Painted in Downtown Greensboro.” wfmynews2.Com, 28 June 2020, https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/local/parts-of-elm-street-temporarily-close-for-black-lives-matter-mural-in-downtown-greensboro/83-2d89c751-9473-46ae-851f-f933e8460ae7.  

“Greensboro, NC.” City News, https://www.greensboro-nc.gov/Home/Components/News/News/14885/.  

Staff. “Gallery: Greensboro's #BLM Street Mural.” Triad City Beat, 31 Dec. 2021, https://triad-city-beat.com/gallery-greensboros-blm-street-mural/.  

Street Mural Program Update - Greensboro-Nc.gov. https://www.greensboro-nc.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/45973/637347253887300000.  

Twitter @IMcMillerNews: https://twitter.com/IMcMillerNews/status/1276997573652381698?s=20 

Twitter @WXII: https://twitter.com/wxii/status/1272276730405957633