Artists Painted a Massive ‘Black Lives matter’ Mural in Front of the White House

The President has a stunning new view from his D.C. abode today — a block-long mural spelling out Black Lives Matter.  Artists began painting the mural early Friday morning along 16th Street NW which leads right to LaFayette Park and the White House and finished about an hour ago. We’re sure Trump and his team are loving the new artwork.

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A post shared by Mayor Muriel Bowser (@mayor_bowser)

D.C.’s mayor, Muriel Bowser also renamed the section of the street “Black Lives Matter Plaza.”

The mural and renaming of the street are in support of the protests that have been sparked by the death of George Floyd who was killed when former police officed Derek Chauvin pinned Floyd’s neck to the ground with his knee for eight minutes and 46 seconds as Floyd pleaded for air. Chauvin has since been charged with second-degree murder, but the fight to end police brutality against Black people is just beginning.

In the days since Floyd’s death, protests have swept across nearly every city in America but reports of police brutality just continue to grow and Black people continue to be disproportionately targeted. In response to the protests, black fencing was placed around the White House earlier this week to keep protesters from getting too close but there’s no keeping the sight of this giant mural away from the administration.

The mural is painted in bold, yellow letters that span the entire width of the street and is getting a lot of attention online.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBDzretgA7B/
https://twitter.com/NadiaInDC/status/1268915975199621120

Lots of attention has been positive but others have raised questions about the sincerity of the mural and some activists are taking issue with the “performative” element of the display.

This is performative and a distraction from her active counter organizing to our demands to decrease the police budget and invest in the community. Black Lives Matter means Defund the police. @FenitN@wusa9@ABC7News@IGD_News@newshttps://t.co/8VUnHOBtsg

— Black Lives Matter DC (@DMVBlackLives) June 5, 2020

If you want to support the Black Lives Matter movement and help put an end to racism in America, here is a list of things you can do right now to help.