Black Lives Matter street murals stand as an enduring reminder of protests against racism

By FERNANDA FIGUEROA In after a summer of protests rocked U S cities the words Black Lives Matter went from the rallying cry of racial justice demonstrators to words lining the very roads along which they marched After the deaths of George Floyd Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery towns and cities nationwide commissioned artists to paint BLM street murals in solidarity with the reckoning on police brutality and racism prompted by the unprecedented multiracial mass rallies Five years on a large number of of the murals are still maintained by activists and society groups while wear and tear construction and vandalism spelled the end of others And the mural widely thought to have inspired them all -foot-tall -meter-tall yellow capital letters painted on a street one block from the White House is gone Muriel Bowser the mayor of Washington D C ordered crews to remove the BLM mural in March under pressure from the Republican-led Congress Bowser noted that the mural an act of defiance against President Donald Trump s first administration inspired millions of people and helped our city through a painful period Keyonna Jones one of seven artists who painted Black Lives Matter Plaza announced she understands why Bowser acted and that the mural s removal doesn t take away from its historic importance To see it replicated all over the world within hours Jones revealed during the demolition of the plaza I think is what really speaks to the power of art and so that is my favorite part about the whole experience According to Urban Art Mapping a database of residents street art nearly Black Lives Matter murals remain Lindsey Owen an art historian in Chicago announced each one represents the shared cultural and political purpose of a population Even as BLM Plaza is dismantled the reciprocal mirroring of these murals ensures their persistence Owen revealed now also reflecting the absence of spaces that have been removed A Black Lives Matter mural painted by Thaxton Waters II is seen in an aerial view on Thursday May in Nashville Tenn AP Photo Kevin Wurm A Black Lives Matter Mural painted by Thaxton Waters II is seen in an aerial view on Thursday May in Nashville Tenn AP Photo Kevin Wurm A sign reads All Black Lives Matter as part of an art installation Tuesday May in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles AP Photo Damian Dovarganes A sign reads All Black Lives Matter as part of an art installation Tuesday May in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles AP Photo Damian Dovarganes Show Caption of A Black Lives Matter mural painted by Thaxton Waters II is seen in an aerial view on Thursday May in Nashville Tenn AP Photo Kevin Wurm Expand Here are details of a few notable BLM murals Alabama In Hobson City became Alabama s first self-governed all-Black municipality In residents including Mayor Alberta McCrory painted Black Towns Matter on its main street Martin Luther King Boulevard In Montgomery a temporary installation was established around Court Square Fountain once the site of a slave sphere City agents declared the mural will be washed away once wear and tear begin to show Michelle Browder the artist stated her design reflects the history of the area and that the group signaled a readiness to address racial inequity by uniting to complete the mural It gives us a sense of uniqueness and shows that our report has not only significance but also invites people to look down read and reflect on what happened in this space Browder mentioned California In downtown Oakland residents and region groups painted Black Lives Matter along three blocks of th Steet A month later another mural was erected by The Queer Healing Arts Center honoring Black Trans and Queer Lives The city council in neighboring Berkeley then approved a BLM painting in front of city hall A rainbow-colored mural along the center lane of Los Angeles Hollywood Boulevard states All Black Lives Matter in celebration of the BLM movement and transgender people of color Mural designer Luckie Alexander noted its message resonates stronger than ever in current times Seeing the BLM Plaza in Washington destroyed feels like we are going back in time when Black folks and LGBTQ had to struggle just to exist Alexander revealed With the one here in Hollywood still remaining it gives me hope that California is still a safe place to live Connecticut In Hartford a Black Lives Matter mural each letter painted by a different artist was created on Trinity Street just policies from the Capitol That mural was repainted in after it was defaced with a swastika Related Articles Trump administration says Columbia violated civil rights of Jewish students Harvard sues the Trump administration over ban on enrolling foreign students Trump s latest tariff threats knock Wall Street European stocks and Apple lower This day in History May outlaws Bonnie and Clyde killed in police ambush Microsoft fires employee who interrupted CEO s speech to protest AI tech for Israeli military Andre Rochester who painted one of the Ts in and announced the mural represents the city s Black and brown population It was placed with intention Rochester revealed adding It makes a loud comment that the City of Hartford cares Tyrone Motley who inked the V during the repainting commented it is significant that Hartford continues to protect the mural even as others around the country disappear I feel work like this is ageless Motley noted I m pretty sure in years people can look at a piece like this and still get the message Florida A Black Lives Matter mural in St Petersburg mural was repainted in to read Black History Matters Illinois One of the murals that sprung up across Chicago a -foot -meter Black Lives Matter display in Oak Park was vandalized to read All Lives Matter The original message was later restored Minnesota In Minneapolis where a bystander used her cellphone to record Floyd s killing at the hands of police artists participated in the creation of Black Lives Matter in -foot-high -meter-high letters on the street outside the Minnesota African American Heritage Museum Missouri In Florissant activists attempted to paint a mural in front of the police department on North Lindberg Avenue but the city kept painting over it In Kansas City six murals were painted across one block totaling a span of feet meters The murals were enhanced in response to vandalism but specific are now deteriorating New Jersey A block-long mural on Grand Street in Jersey City took two weeks to complete In East Orange people participated in the creation of a square-foot -square-meter mural New York In New York City a mural in front of Trump Tower in Manhattan and others in Harlem and Brooklyn were defaced with black paint by anti-abortion protesters Texas Six murals were painted across Dallas in Abounding Prosperity Inc which provides medical services to the Black region secured private funding to ensure they will be maintained for years Washington A permanent mural was installed in Seattle s Capitol Hill The city and the Vivid Matter Collective an artists group repaint and maintain the mural every year In a second mural was installed outside Seattle City Hall The organization will repaint that mural in June