Title

Protest signs and artwork on the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence, Date: 19 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. People are in front of the fence and one is holding a poster protesting. 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” “#Say Their Names” “Jesus knows Black Lives Need More Than Thoughts & Prayers”.

There is a poster that reads “We All Bleed The Same” and there is red paint on the poster that is splattered over it and red handprints. It also reads “BLM” in red. Underneath this is a circular poster that reads from the outside in going clockwise “Black Disabled Lives Matter – Black Trans Lives Matter – Black Incarcerated Lives Matter – Black Queer Lives Matter – Young Black Lives Matter – Poor Black Lives Matter – Old Black Lives Matter – All Black Lives Matter”

There is an image of a hand that is throwing away a container that has Donald Trump inside it and it reads “Vetepal’ carajo. Sincerely, Puerto Rico [which translates to Fuck Off] and there is a drawing of the Puerto Rican flag by the bottom of the poster.

There is a long tapestry that reads in red “Defend Democracy” and it has a rose before and after the statement as well as two held hands. Underneath this are multiple posters that read “Count Every Vote” “Donald Trump is a White Supremacist” “Fuck Trump” “Reform MPD @murielbowser” “Justice for Quawan Charles” “Divided We Fall” “Black Power Matters” “Genocide Looming Over Tigrayans Act Now! #StopWarOnTigray” “Solidarity Not Sympathy” “The People Have Spoken” “Class Dismissed Betsy!! #OnBehalfOfALLTeachers “If Your Religious Beliefs Oppose Contraception, Don’t Use It” “Color is not a Crime”

There is an image of Ruth Bader Ginsberg from her Times cover magazine.

Multiple posters read “Black Trans Lives Matter” and the poster has the colors of the trans flag which are blue, pink, and white. Some of these posters are of the American flag instead also read “Black Trans Lives Matter”.

There is a cloth sheet that reads “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’ – Elijah McClain as he was being murdered on Aug. 24, 2019. Elijah was put in a chokehold and lost consciences. The paramedics injected him with ketamine. He suffered a heart attack and was declared Brain Dead. His killers – Nathan Woodyard & Jason Rosenblatt & Randy Roedema still work for the Aurora Police Department. DONATE TO [illegible] ELIJAHSFOUNDATION https://gf.me.u.x5g5vw

One poster reads “Burn Down The AmeriKKKan Plantation” and there are drawn flames around the text. A poster next to this reads “If All You Came To Do Is Take Pics Take Your Performative A** Home Take Real Action”. Another reads “All Our Silences In The Face Of Racist Assaults Are Acts of Complicity – bell hooks” [name is not capitalized purposefully]

A poster reads “school house edu and there is a drawing of a blackboard that is in front of didn’t colored circles that are supposed to represent ‘people’. This blackboard reads “’I’m tired of waiting for the day my racial justice lesson can be a history lesson...not a current events lesson. BLACK LIVES MATTER!’”
A poster reads “I went to John Marshall Elem. School 50 yrs. Ago with the Day twins. 20 years before Sandra Day O’Connor was appointed to the Supreme Court."

There is a poster that is painted like an upside-down American flag that has two shadow hands that are painted on it.

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

2020-11-19

Contributor

MM

Identifier

UAM-GF_3755