A portion of First Avenue South in Birmingham will soon read, “Black Lives Matter,” ideally just in time for Juneteenth on Friday.
Juneteenth, the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States, is celebrated annually on June 19.
Per the City of Birmingham, Cara McClure of Black Lives Matter Birmingham and artist Shawn Fitzwater have teamed up to create a large street mural similar to one that was originally unveiled in Washington, D.C. in recent weeks.
The Birmingham “Black Lives Matter” painting will run alongside Railroad Park on First Avenue South in-between 16th and 17th Streets.
As of Wednesday evening, the first two words had been completed. The painting started that day. Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin’s support made the project possible.
“Organizers hope to have it ready in time for Friday’s Juneteenth events,” the City said on Twitter.
The City’s transportation department and the Alabama Department of Transportation have closed the portion of the street until Saturday to enable the project’s safe completion.
You can view an aerial video of the project below:
A bird’s-eye view of First Avenue South. #blacklivesmatter pic.twitter.com/oWabEWETYO
— City of Birmingham (@cityofbhamal) June 18, 2020
In a Facebook post, McClure said, “I wanted to have this done by Juneteenth as a gift to the Activist community, community and community leaders for all the trauma we’ve been going through lately. I’m sure it will be done by then. This is not going to fix anything but its a friendly reminder that we matter too. Also, The Real Story for history sake………I respect the artist but A black woman spearheaded and negotiated this project.”
Observers may remember McClure as the Democratic nominee for Alabama Public Service Commissioner Place 1 in 2018. She was also a leader of protesting in Hoover following the death of Emantic “E.J.” Bradford, Jr.
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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