Getting Rid Of This BLM Mural Is About So Much More Than Trump’s Attack On DEI

Black art is, always has been, and always will be a method to help our people find paths to freedom. We won't stop now.

The movement to reinforce the message that Black lives, in fact, do not matter seems to remain Trump’s administration’s primary concern. The message is abundantly apparent in its outlandish attacks on DEI initiatives, its freezing of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, and the hiring freeze at several federal agencies.

And as if those examples were not enough to amplify this administration’s sentiment about our well-being, we’re now learning that Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser will likely succumb to this administration’s pressure and remove the Black Lives Matter mural on the street a block away from the White House.

In fact, it appears that the process has already begun.

This mural, a powerful symbol of the ongoing struggle for racial equality, has been a beacon of hope and unity for the community since Keyonna Jones and six fellow artists painted it in 2020. Although the mural’s removal is par for the course in this political climate, the blatant attack on Black art feels like insult added to injury.

Black artists have always been central to the fight for equality and justice. We experienced this during the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Arts Movement of the ’60s and ’70s, and the 2020 uprisings when artists such as Amy Sherald invited the world to see the vulnerability of Breonna Taylor through the stunning full-body portrait she created. Jones stands among these artists as someone whose “creations have always drawn from and reflected on issues of racism, police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement,” Michelle Brown wrote in Washington Life.