Protest signs and artwork on the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence, Date: 01 November 2020

Title

Protest signs and artwork on the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence, Date: 01 November 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.

Within the fence, there are pieces of tied fabric or paper reading “We Keep Us Safe.” Each word is a different color and it is in pink, orange, green, and white respectively.
Multiple posters read “End Police Brutality” “Black Lives Matter” “If Your Religious Beliefs Oppose Same Sex Marriage, Don’t Get Married To Someone Of The Same Sex” “1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Fuck 12” “RUTHless and Determined” Rest In Power Ruth Bader Ginsburg” “Fund the Communities” “Black Mental Health Matters” “Facts: Hospitalizations Up Deaths Up Global Pandemic” “AmeriKKKa”

There’s a poster that reads “’I can’t breathe. I have my ID [illegible] My name is Elijah McClain. That’s my house. I was just going home. I’m an introvert. I’m just different. That’s all. I’m so sorry. I have [illegible] fun. I don’t do that stuff. I don’t do any fighting. Why are you attacking me? I don’t even kill flies! I don’t eat meat. I don’t judge people, I don’t judge people who do eat meat. Forgive me. All I was trying to do was become better. I will do it. I will [illegible] anything. Sacrifice my identity, I’ll do it. You all are phenomenal. You are beautiful and I love you. Try to forgive me. I’m a mood Gemini. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Ow, that really hurt. You all are very strong. Teamwork makes the dream work. Oh, I’m sorry I wasn’t trying to do that. I just can’t breathe correctly.’ – The last words of Elijah McClain murdered on August 24, 2019 by [illegible] Aurora, Colorado Police Department. [illegible] 3 officers involved are still active [illegible] officers today. No charges were [illegible]”

On the road there is yellow spray paint that reads “Trump Lives Matter” and on a different section of the fence reads “FUCK 12” in orange duct tape. There’s a poster that reads “Justice 4 DeonKay” and another with the names of victims of police brutality which reads “Karon Hylton DeonKay Dquan Young Marqueese Alston Jeffrey Price Eric Carter Isabelle Duval Marquesha McMillan Sherman Evans Devonne Harris Peter John Terrence Sterling Bobby Gross Gerald Hall We Remember” and then a campaign poster of Joe Biden that has an image of his face in front of an American flag that reads “Justice”.

There are images of those who were victims to police brutality and they read “Andre Murphy St. Jan 7, 2015 [;] Rest in Power” “Darren N Hunt Sept 10, 2014 [;] Rest in Power” and “Alexa Christian April 20, 2015”.

Another poster underneath makes “Trump” into an acronym and it reads “Terrifying Racist Unrepentant Malicious PIG” and “Dump Trump”.

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

2020-11-01

Contributor

MM

Identifier

UAM-GF_3741