Taking up nearly 350 feet of Woodland Street in Nashville, Tennessee, yellow letters surpassing 60 feet in height can be seen spelling out the words “Black Lives Matter.” This massive mural, which took inspiration from a similar work in Washington D.C., is a community project that was completed on October 17th, 2020.  

According to organizer John Smith on the day of completion, the mural took about 5 months to come together: “We’ve been working on this since June and a lot of people said it wasn’t going to happen and it happened today so we’re excited.” Funded exclusively by private donors, the project was approved by the Metro Arts Commission to be a temporary mural, with a city permit that expired in January 2021 at which point the coalition responsible for it would have to reapply for an extension. On June 19, 2021, the mural was refreshed.  

Artists and volunteers of all ages and ethnicities united on this day to apply a fresh coat of paint to the three large words, as well as celebrate Juneteenth with live music, food, and dancing. Many were community members who had participated in the original creation of the mural, such as artist Thraxton Waters. Like the rest of those present, Waters hoped to bring more representation to the black community in Nashville, saying “There’s representations of blackness all around, but just not positive ones. So we’re trying to hopefully have a symbolic, positive first step to adding in this city.” The mural was first put in place following protests against racial injustice, and now it serves as both a reminder and a gathering place for like-minded individuals and influential community members. This includes Senate candidate Marquita Bradshaw, who attended in support of the original painting of the mural, as well as Brenda Haywood, deputy mayor of community engagement in Metro Nashville. 

Sources: 

Beimfohr, Chelsea. “Volunteers Paint 350 Foot Long Black Lives Matter Mural in East Nashville.” WKRN News 2, WKRN News 2, 18 Oct. 2020, https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/volunteers-paint-350-foot-long-black-lives-matter-mural-in-east-nashville/.  

Yu, Yue Stella. “Juneteenth Celebration: Community Artists, Activists Refresh Black Lives Matter Mural on Woodland Street.” The Tennessean, Nashville Tennessean, 19 June 2021, https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2021/06/19/nashville-juneteenth-celebration-artists-black-lives-matter-mural-woodland-street/7690567002/.  

McCall, Holly. “In Nashville, Political Weekend Events on Both Ends of the Spectrum.” Tennessee Lookout, 19 Oct. 2020, https://tennesseelookout.com/2020/10/19/in-nashville-political-weekend-events-on-both-ends-of-the-spectrum/. 

Researched by Kyle Larson