Protest signs and artwork on the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence, Date: 21 November 2020

Title

Protest signs and artwork on the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence, Date: 21 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 poster that has a black power fist with pink, blue, green, and purple and reads “Trans Gay Nonbinary Immigrant Disabled Neurodivergent Mothers Fathers Elderly Afro-Latinx Children [;] Black Lives will always Matter! Love Trumps Hate”

There is an image of a fence that only has two posters on it and it reads ‘Democracy is Stronger Than Trump” and "Trump Hates Democracy” but there are zip ties on the fence that show there were other posters or items attached to the fence previously. There is a doily-like collar to represent Ruth Bader Ginsberg as this is similar to the lace collar that she wore while she was on the United States Supreme Court.

There is an origami bird on the ground in front of the fence and the posters read “people build peace” “We See Another Black Man Murdered” “Black Trans Lives Matter”
There is a photograph of Tamir Rice and it’s within a plastic cover and it reads “Tamir Rice Nov 22, 2014 [;] Rest In Power”.

There is a photograph of Sheneque Proctor and it’s within a plastic cover and it reads “Sheneque Proctor Nov 1, 2014. There is an image of Greg Hill Jr on a poster that is a memorial poster and it reads “Never Forget [;] Greg Hill Jr [;] Sunrise 10-28-83 [;] Sunset 01-14-14 [;] Celebrating LIFE the day you past away” There are other posters that read “#SayHerName”.

There is an image of Mussolini and Donald Trump’s head has replaced Mussolini’s and it reads “Dimestore Mussolini? [;] Concerned.” And there are words spraypainted on the poster that reads “Toxic Loser”

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

Publisher

Urban Art Mapping

Date

2020-11-21

Contributor

MM

Identifier

UAM-GF_3757