Communities who have experienced police violence and others who have been horrified by it have taken their message to the streets. Along with chants and signs, they are using spray paint to grieve and remember those who have died across the United States. Artists identifying with the ideals of Black Lives Matter are spreading their message of solidarity through visual arts.
Marching and occupying public spaces has been the cornerstone of the Black Lives Matter movement. When the crowds break up, the protesters return home, and the chants go silent, a monument often remains in the form of art left on the community’s walls. Documentarian John Wellington Ellis, the author of Where Else but the Streets: A Street Art Dossier, argues that the street art is as important to a movement as the demonstrations.
“[Street art gives] presence to a social revolution happening on the other side of the country.” Ennis wrote in an email to TakePart. “It can play an outsized role in building a movement.”
Here are some examples of the street art representing the Black Lives Matter movement.