Protest signs and artwork on the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence, Date: 26 November 2020

Title

Protest signs and artwork on the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence, Date: 26 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 reads “The Guardians of the BLM Memorial Fence need help! The BLM Memorial Fence, and those protecting it, are at risk daily from Trump supporters and Trump himself, cops, other white supremacists, and weather conditions. A small group works to guard the fence but need supplies, equipment food and transportation, urgently! Donate via GoFundMe #FundTheFEnce #BLM”

A poster reads “WHY DO BLACK Lives MATTER? Deuteronmy [sic] 28 Verses 68 [;] And the Lord Shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen, and bondwomen, and no man shall buy u [sic] [;] April 3rd 1968 Dr King wrote he has been to the mountain top and has seen the Promised Land He might not get here with us But he was not afraid. 52 years ago he gave testimony of The Kingdom of God and the Promised Land is the Land Promised to be [illegible] by the Lord. 2020 was the Prophecy of Dr. King as He [illegible] above corruption in the line of Musa, Elijah, and the Son Yeshua, From Goshen to Galilee to D.C. in 2020 in the Chain of Affliction Black Lives are the Number One Link [;] 2020 Be My Elect [;] Uncle Samuel L. Powell The Right On Write in Candidnte [sic[ for P.O.T.U.S. [;] INDEPENDENT”

Multiple posters read “All Votes Matter” “Black Lives Matter” “Your Silence is Loud #BLM say their names” “Pack Your Shit, Don” “Defund MPD” “Say his Name Quawan Charles”

There is a blue poster with black and white swirls to represent the ocean and it reads “The Seas Are Rising So Must We”
A poster reads “Families Belong Together” and there are stick figure drawings to represent families on the poster.
A black poster that reads “Do You Hear the PEOPLE Sing?” and there are outlines of four fists drawn in white paint at the bottom of the poster.
A poster reads “It’s Right to Rebel ! – Mao ¡ La Rebelión Se Justifica !” which translates into “The Rebellion is Justified”

There is an image of a postage stamp, and it reads “Stamp Out Trump” and next to it is a poster that is slightly falling down which has an image of a mail delivery van and it reads “Save the Post Office”.
There is a poster that reads “Black Trans Lives Matter” and the poster has the colors of the transgender flag which is blue, pink, and white.
There is a poster which has a drawn image of a meme which is a dog with a hat and there is fire in the background and a bacterium floating around it and it reads “Finally”. The dog is also holding a piece of paper that reads “Eviction Notice To: Donald Trump From: Murica” #MPP”
Another poster reads “Fuck Amerikka! ACAB [;] FTP [;] Defund MPD [;] Fuck MPD”

A poster reads “The African Diaspora must unite and deconstruct the institution put in place to divide us.” And another reads “11/14: Nazis stabbed my friends. Where were you? Defend DC?” “Justice for DeonKay We wont [sic] forget you! #RIP”

There is orange duct tape that reads “Deonte Rawlings” and “Alonzo [illegible].
There is a poster that reads “#BLM 2020” and a drawn image of a woman who has glasses and a mask who is holding a poster that reads “Racism Continues To Shame Us – Pope Francis.”
Multiple posters reads “White Supremacy will be Defeated” “Say Their Names “Taking Our flag BACK!” “BLM” “YOU’RE FIRED” “Breonna Taylor” “Black Trans Power” “Who Invented the ‘White Race’? the Ruling Class! Read = Ted Allen’s ‘The Invention of the White Race’” “Put the gun’s Down and pick us kid’s up! Gun’s down in our Home street’s and community! Rip Maurice scott [heart symbol] Gun’s down Friday !!” “Justice for Quawan Charles” “Black and Proud [;] Brown girl, you are lovely in every shade! I’m Not my hair. I’m Not my skin. I am the soul that lives within.” “Bring Back Our Boys” “Say Her Name Sandra Bland”

There is a white tapestry with a drawn image of Donald Trump and a horse that is looking at him and they are in a stable and it reads “Stable genius”. On Donald Trump's tie, there is a hammer and sickle which is commonly a communist symbol.

A poster that reads “My Vice President Looks Like Me!” and a drawn image of Kamala Harris and the “MVP” is highlighted in black to stand out.

There are multiple strips of fabric with names of those who were victims of police brutality and they read “RIP [illegible]” “Anthony Hill” “Renisha McBride” “[illegible] Pharoah M[illegible]” “Darius Robinson” “R.I.P. Philando Castile” “R.I.P Dominique Clayton” “R.I.P. Antwon Rose”

There are multiple black and white photographs of people who have lost their lives to police brutality and all read Defund Disarm Disband The Police”. The photographs read “Aira Rosser 40 Yrs Old November 9, 2014” “Aiyana Jones 7 Yrs Old May 16, 2010” “Betti Jones 55 Yrs Old Dec 26, 2017” “Alteria Woods 21 Yrs Old March 19, 2017” “Meagan Hockaday 26 Yrs Old March 28, 2015” “Kyam Livingston 37 Yrs Old July 24, 2013” “Kyla Moore 41 Yrs Old Febuary [sic] 12, 2013” “Loreal Tsingine 27 Yrs Old March 27, 2016” “Kisha Michael 31 Yrs Old Febuary [sic] 21 2016” “Jeanette Riley 35 Yrs Old July 8, 2014” “Pamela Turner 44 Yrs Old May 13, 2019” “Kiwi Herring 30 Yrs Old Aug 21, 2017” “Karen [illegible]”

There are other color photographs of victims of police brutality and they read “Kyam Livingston July 24, 2013” “Bataline Mbegby Oct 6, 2014 Rest In Power” “Rest In Power” “Rest In Power Tommy”

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

2020-11-26

Contributor

MM

Identifier

UAM-GF_3762