Before the bold Black Lives Matter mural that paved the street leading to the White House is scheduled to be removed Mar. 10, members of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. want Black people to know that “history can’t be erased.”
Close to 50 members of the Divine Nine fraternity gathered around the mural Mar. 9 that was created at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 following the death of George Floyd. While singing the Black national anthem known as “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” Richard Mattox called the removal a setback before a serious comeback
since “this will always be because Black lives matter.” “We’re not protesting. We recognize the meaning. We recognize why it has to be done,” Mattox said.“We support the local officials, but we want it to be known: You can erase this, but you cannot erase our history.”
Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced plans for the mural to be scrubbed in early March 2025 amid pressure from the Trump-Vance administration. The city was threatened with the loss of federal funding if the mural wasn’t dismantled. It will take close to eight weeks for the mural to be removed, and its price tag is estimated at $610,000. It is set to be replaced with artwork from children throughout the D.C. school system.
After Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) introduced a bill to rename the plaza Liberty Plaza, Bowser called the renaming process a distraction.
“The mural inspired millions of people and helped our city through a very painful period, but now we can’t afford to be distracted by meaningless congressional interference,” she wrote in a statement.
“The devastating impacts of the federal job cuts must be our number one concern,” Bowser wrote.
The vibrant yellow letters were painted 35 feet tall and stretch for two blocks north of the White House, where several protests for victims of police brutality, including Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others, took place during the summer of 2020. Mattox said he and his fraternity brothers support the mayor’s decision, according to WTOP News, but they want people to remember why the mural was put there to begin with.
“We fully support the mayor,” he said. “But we recognize how important it is that we do not forget why that mural was put there.”
The removal process includes bollards being installed along the plaza, followed by the letters being patched over with matching stones. After the street receives repavement treatment, the plaza will have two lanes in each direction, returning to its original design before the mural’s installation.
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