Volunteers and community officials decided to take the Mayor’s promise to rename streets in each borough “Black Lives Matter” into their own hands this weekend.
A group of community volunteers and artists, including elected officials like City Councilman Robert Cornegy Jr., painted a giant “Black Lives Matter” sign along Fulton St. in Restoration Plaza in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn.
The letters are 28 feet tall and the phrase stretches across 375 feet, according to Gothamist. In an interview with the news outlet, the city councilman said they were inspired by the sign painted in Washington D.C., and saw how it helped invigorate protestors and bring the community together. He said it was especially fitting since Bed-Stuy is a historically Black neighborhood and is the “last bastion of Black homeownership and Black small business.”
The creation of the mural was organized by Mr. Cornegy and the Billie Holiday Theatre.
They kicked off the painting on Saturday, June 13 with Spike Lee, Reverend Al Sharpton, and the state Attorney General Letitia James all joining in with paint rollers.
The project was completed on Sunday, June 14.
Immensely grateful for chance to witness my neighbors and my CM @RCornegyJr + @NewYorkStateAG @TheRevAl @SpikeLeeJoint paint #BlackLivesMatter in front of Restoration Plaza.
Plans underway now to rename this block Black Lives Matter Way ✊ pic.twitter.com/1JYVt8112x
— Panthea Lee 李佩珊 (@PantheaLee) June 15, 2020
Names of Black lives lost to police brutality have also been written within the letters themselves.
A photographer who took an aerial shot said the sign “is immediately visible from (almost) outer space. All LGA arrival flights shall be able to spot it, coming from the south, be seated on the right side of the plane.”
The murals are appearing all over. Just last week, the words were painted right near Governor Cuomo’s office in Albany.
featured image source: Instagram / @filipwolak