Protest signs and artwork on the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence, Date: 06 October 2020

- Title
- Protest signs and artwork on the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence, Date: 06 October 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.
Multiple posters read “Solidarity” “Silence is Compliance #Black Lives Matter” “Good Cops Dont [sic] Exist” “This is Some Bullshit” and a photograph of Trae Darson. A poster reads “BLEACH 10/4/2020 [then Arabic text is written under this] WE the people of color and colors [;] Demand to be treated Fair + Lovely [with ‘+ Love’ crossed out] You suggest US to ingest Bleach [‘] You suggest that we become white inside, Dead inside Kill ourselves, Colonize ourselves [;] WE Demand that you, Decolonize your mind, our systems, our stories [;] Try to Bleach us. But our Fabric, our thread out contributions. ARE forever ARE here to STAY.”
There is a piece of paper that is on a wall and the same image is repeated six times. It reads “Never Great” and has an image of the Statute of Liberty in front of two American flag.
On a section of a wall multiple posters reads “Black Lives are sacred” “Black Lesbians: You are Loved ” “De-Criminalize Addiction Health issues are not Crimes. Fuck the War on Drugs” and there is a post-it note that reads “Black Lives Matters”
On a section of the fence, some posters read “Abolish the Police” “ACAB Only good pig is a DEAD pig!” “Stop Murdering Black People” “America has 400 years to make it RIGHT BLM” “Save our kids”
A poster reads “No Justice No Peace [;] Greg Hall Jr. [;] January 14, 2014 [;] Ft. Pierce, Florida”. Another poster reads “01/07/1977 [;] On February 7, 1995[?] Antonio Lamont [illegible] was shot 7 times in Washington DC by a 6th District Police Officer Kristopher Pay[illegible]. He was shot 6 times in the back and once in the face at close range. We Matter!!! His Life Matter!!! Justice for Tony.” And a poster that reads “Loser” with an arrow pointing to the bottom right.
Then there is a panoramic shot of the fence with the Washington Monument in the background.
- 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
- 2020-10-06
- Contributor
- MM
- Identifier
- UAM-GF_3716