Protest signs and artwork on the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence, Date: 10 October 2020

Title

Protest signs and artwork on the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence, Date: 10 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.

There is a diorama of the White House that is behind a fence and two soldiers on top of it. Underneath the ‘White House’ is a bunker baby, and there is a bush next to this figure of a baby. On the base of the diorama there is text that reads "2020 Fearless Girls."
There is a sticker on a light post that has four black power fists on it. It is separated into fours by a white cross that reads “White silence is violence.” Three of the squares are black with a white fist, and the bottom left corner is a white square with a larger black fist in it.
There is a small gold statuette of three figures depicting Sally Hemmings with one of her children in chains and Thomas Jefferson next to her. The statuette reads “Sally Hemmings, Thomas Jefferson’s slave, bore five of his children. One died, two escaped and two were freed in Jefferson’s will. Sally was never freed.” There is a yellow and pink rose underneath it. Next to this is a purple painted canvas that reads “Black Lives Matter” and it is underlined.

There are four posters that are on plywood, and they have a stylized portrait of Snoop Dogg and the posters read “I’m Voting Because I Want To End Police Brutality” or “I’m Voting This Election For The First Time Because I Can’t Stand To See This Punk In Office Another Year.”

There are multiple posters that read “You’re Lucky Black People want Equality not Revenge,” "Erdogan Stop WAR,” “Jacob Black Is Still Alive [;] His life should NEVER have been in danger,” “#NationinDistress #JacobBlane #NativeLivesMatter #DumpTrump #FuckthePolice #DemilitarizethePolice #Antifa #BLMSolidarity # #NoJusticeNoPeace #KnowJusticeKnowPeace #RulesofEngagement #EscalationofForce Respect our Existence or Expect our Resistance,” “No Justice” [This has caution tape on the poster] “BLM” “Say Their Names,” and “Justice for Breonna.”
There is a cardboard poster that has the black power fist drawn on it and a tapestry that has the image of a church which is the Church of the Redeemer, Presbyterian. This poster reads “Black Lives Matter” “Church of the Redeemer, presbyterian Washington, DC” “A congregation with a civil rights legacy.”

There is a black poster that reads “Say Her Name” and this has many trans women’s names on it who have been a victim to police brutality. Another poster above this reads “Black Lives Matter” “Say Their Names” and has the following names written on it: George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Rekia Boyd, Freddie Gray, Sandra Bland, India Kager, Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Philando Castille, and Tarika Wilson.

There is a poster that has a portrait of Hitler on it with blood splatters behind his head and a red “X” crossing out his face. Under his face reads “Stop the War.

There is a cardboard poster that 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.

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

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Publisher

Urban Art Mapping

Date

2020-10-10

Contributor

MM

Identifier

UAM-GF_3720