Protest signs and artwork on the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence, Date: 25 November 2020

Title

Protest signs and artwork on the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence, Date: 25 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, the White House and the Washington Monument. Behind it there are a bike, chairs, coolers, and bags that are in front of the fence. There are people 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” ”End Qualified Immunity” and a drawn image of Colin Kaepernick.

There is a poster that reads “Confronta a Tu Tio Racista y a Tu Racismo Oculto Black Lives Matter” which translates to “Confront your Racist Uncle and your Hidden Racism Black Lives Matter”.

There’s a drawn image on a white tapestry of a Black woman holding a black child and the child’s shirt reads “Don’t [sic] Shoot” underneath the image reads “Save Our Children [;] Hold Our Government There are written statements all over the tapestry that reads “We will do better – White people [;] You deserve better.” “Breonna Taylor deserved better” “Protect Black Women” “Hold Our Government Accountable” “Please trace your hand” “matter is the minimum” and there are hands that have been traced on the tapestry.

There is a poster with a black and white drawn image of Natasha McKenna that reads “Say Her Name Natasha McKenna”.

There is a faded poster that reads “YOU’RE FIRED *We stand w/ Anderson Cooper #Obese Turtle”.
There is a poster that reads “We are all in this together Rhinos [;] No Human Being is Illegal I STAND with DREAMERS [;] Climate Change is Real Take Action” and on the last statement there is a drawing of the Earth with melting ice on it.

There is a poster that reads “Raise A Glass to Freedom!” and they used red, white, and blue as the colors of the statement. Underneath it is a drawing of a black power fist and also reads “#Enough” “#BLM”.

Another poster reads “Black + Latino Lives Matter – Emily Chandler Kasi Lopez Jaden Stubbs 2020” “#SaveOurChildren” “We Demand JUSTICE” “FUCK 12”.

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

Images are collected in this archive for educational purposes and are not intended for commercial use. Reproduction rights for all images remain with the creators/photographers when we are able to identify them.

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Publisher

Urban Art Mapping

Date

2020-11-25

Contributor

MM

Identifier

UAM-GF_3761