Protest signs and artwork on the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence, Date: 27 September 2020
- Title
- Protest signs and artwork on the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence, Date: 27 September 2020
- 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 photos of the Tuskegee Airmen accompanied by text reading "Black Lives Mattered...in World War II"; 54th Mass. Regiment reading "Black Lives Mattered...in the Civil War", and of Combat Medics reading "Black Lives Mattered...in the Vietnam War." These photos and text bring in a historical aspect so the fence is not solely just focusing on current times. There are posters that have photographs of victims of police shootings, with text that says "Say Their Names - The Love Train was Here".
There are mock gravestones with names of victims of police shootings on a lawn. To the left the the moch gravestones is a sign that reads "'Luther Place recognizes the grave injustices of police violence and racism in our community. In these sacred commons, join us in honoring the memories of God's children murdered by police in D.C.' Black Lives Matter" - 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”- Rights
- Photographer: Aliza Leventhal
Images are collected in this archive for educational purposes and are not intended for commercial use. Reproduction rights for all images remain with the creators/photographers when we are able to identify them.
We seek to identify artistic creators when they want to be identified, and we respect their rights to protect their identity should they choose to remain anonymous. Please contact us if you are the creator of work in this archive and you wish to be identified or if you wish for your work to be removed from the archive. - Publisher
- Urban Art Mapping
- Date
- 2020-09-27
- Contributor
- MM
- Identifier
- UAM-GF_3707
