Protest signs and artwork on the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence, Date: 14 November 2020

Title

Protest signs and artwork on the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence, Date: 14 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.

There is a deflated balloon of Trump which is on a poster, and it reads “#BabyGate” then has makeshift bars that read “Bunker Baby” that are on the balloon. Next to this is a red poster that reads “Vote Bunker Baby OUT.” A cardboard poster reads “AKA IN The White House PERIOD.”

A white poster reads “Say His Name: Daniel Prudei Murdered by RPD 3/31/2020 We Will Never Forget ” There is a cardboard poster that reads “JOE 2020 New Era” and this is inside the drawn blue circle. Another cardboard poster reads “Joe Biden |Kamala Harris |AOC |Bernie Sanders! DEMOCRACY WON ! THE PEOPLE WON! THE USA WON!” There is a statement on the fence that was created by small pieces of paper and reads “WE KEEP US SAFE” where “We Keep” is in orange “Us” is in blue and “Safe” is in white.

And a poster that reads “You Didn’t Win The People’s Vote In 2016 Either And It Took 4 Years To Get You Out!” it shows that many posters have been torn down from the fence as well. There is a poster that is lying on the ground that reads “Vote!” and there are words that have been written on the poster in white paint and black marker that read “Harm Reduction for Whom??” “#Oust [Rodrigo] Duterte + [Donald] Trump!” “Laban! Makibaka! [illegible] Go Beyond Electoral Politics”

Next to this is a black poster with yellow spray paint that is still hanging on the fence and reads “Black Men + [illegible] Black Lives” and there seems to be an image of a pig that was drawn. A cardboard poster reads “We The People VOTEd OUT Bunker B*tch (And [which is crossed out] Now, All The Other Racists.) @AudraKim Jun 7, 2020.”

Two glass windows have tape that has the LGBTQIA+ colors across it. Then there are different images of people protesting that have been cut out from newspaper articles. The word “Bye” is spelled out in green and yellow tape and has been repeated fifteen times on the glass.

There is a square box that reads “Trade” on the glass. Two posters read “Black Trans Lives Matter” and “ Hate  Won't Make Us Great Vote Blue” and there is a checked mark in a box drawn on the poster.

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

2020-11-14

Contributor

MM

Identifier

UAM-GF_3751