Title

Protest signs and artwork on the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence, Date: 17 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 an image of the Memorial Fence and the Washington Monument behind it and there is a bike, chairs, coolers, and bags that are in front of the fence. Multiple posters read “Stop Killing Us” “Pay A Black Woman Today” “Black Lives Matter” “Resist “We are the Majority” “Black Trans Lives Matter” “Trump Is A Danger To Us All” “White silence Fuels Domestic [illegible]” “#DefundMPD EndSARS” “Fuck Your Fence” “Join Campaign Zero”.

There are images of black power fists and a drawing of Colin Kapernick kneeling.

A poster reads “’You Have to Act As If It Were Possible To Radically Transform The World. And You Have To Do It All The Time.’ – Angela Davis”

There is a poster that reads My Vice President Looks Like Me!” and the letters “MVP” are emphasized and there is a drawing that is supposed to represent Kamala Harris. Above this poster is a piece of paper that reads “Say Their Names”

There is a poster that has an image of Meagan Hockaday and it reads “Meagan Hockaday 26 Yrs Old March 28, 2015” This is the date where she was shot and killed and the poster further reads “Defund Disarm Disband the Police”

Another poster reads “1, 2, 3, 4 Slavery, Genocide & War 5, 6, 7, 8 America was never Great” and “Care Not Cops”

The name Dominic Hutchinson is written on a small scrap of fabric that is tied to the fence.

There is a poster that has Arabic written on it that has sunflowers on it and in the corner reads “+peace”.

Another poster reads “Dana Martin, 31; Ellie Marie Washtock, 38; Ashanti Carmon, 27; Claire Legato, 21; Muhlaysia Booker, 23; Michelle ‘Tamika’ Washington, 40; Paris Cameron, 20; Titi Gulley, 31; Chynal Lindsey, 26; Chanel Scurlock, 23; Zoe Spears, 23; Brooklyn Lindsey, 32, and thousands more. Protect Black Trans Women 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

2020-11-17

Contributor

MM

Identifier

UAM-GF_3754