Protest signs and artwork on the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence, Date: 15 November 2020

Title

Protest signs and artwork on the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence, Date: 15 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 cardboard poster that reads “Justice for Karon Hylton” and “Fuck 12 (And Muriel Bowser) (Too)” Inside of the words “Fuck 12” reads “MPD” which is repeated throughout.

A poster reads “Hey Tiny Hands Your’e [sic] fucking FIRED [illegible] America”. And there is a small orange hand in a suit that is holding a rolled-up eviction notice and the words “fucking” is layered over the colors which are the genderfluid flag and are white, blue, black and pink. The word “FIRED” is layered over the colors of the LGBTQ+ flag.

There is a yellow sheet of paper taped to the fence with black tape. There is a line of orange duct tape that has names of victims from police brutality written on it that reads “Mya Hall” “Meagan Hockaday” “Janisha F[illegible]” “Natasha McKenna” “Jerame Reed” “Rymain [illegible]” “Tanisha [illegible] “Dane Parker”

Multiple posters read “White Silence is Violence”, “The System Is Functioning As Intended [illegible] Was Never [illegible]”, “Get Out Of Our House”, “Warning Police Rioting”, “LIBERTY and JUSTICE for ALL not some” “Become Ingovernable !” “Black Trans Lives Matter”

A poster that reads “Take a Knee” is in the colors of the American flag, which are red, white, and blue.

A poster that reads “Resistance is Beautiful” and has an image of flowers that are in a vase that has drawn decorations on it in red, yellow, and tan colors.

There is a cardboard moving box used as a poster that reads ‘EXPRESS DELIVERY TO MOSCOW”
There is an American flag that is attached to the fence

A poster reads “Vote For Love.” It has a drawing of two people on it and has other statements that reads “you never giv [sic] up.” “You can fite [sic] the world!” “you can do it!” “you can do enything [sic] you buleve [sic] in”

A poster reads “Nov 2020 Take Out Trash [which has a checkmark over it] Jan 2021 Build Back Better Together Thank You American Voters”

There is a black fence blocking off a walking area due to what looks like construction, and next to it is plywood that has painted images on it. The plywood has an image of two interlocked hands which is next to a cut off image of Lady Justice. The two hands are painted a yellow-gold and has a black outline. Underneath the interlocked hands is an image of “+ > ÷” There is handwriting that reads “Rest in Power Daquan Jefferson” and a heart next to “Rest in Power”.

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

2020-11-15

Contributor

MM

Identifier

UAM-GF_3752