'Do Black Lives Really Matter?': Many Upset After Mural Defaced

OAK PARK, IL — Oak Park officials and community members are saddened Wednesday after a painted Black Lives Matter mural was defaced overnight, according to a statement from the village. Village officials said in a news release that the colorful mural painted on pavement on Scoville Avenue at Lake Street is considered a testament to community acknowledgment of the Black Lives Matter movement.

According to the village, public works crews were sent Wednesday morning to power wash whatever materials were used to deface the mural which was the idea of Oak Park and River Forest High School graduate Cullen Benson, and was designed and painted by volunteers under the guidance of the Oak Park Area Arts Council.

As crews worked to wash away the damage, Oak Park resident and Black community activist Anthony Clark was on site doing a Facebook Live to show and tell those watching why he was out there and why he's upset.

"This mural was beautiful," Clark stated in the video.

According to Clark's Facebook live video, the person or persons responsible for the vandalism painted over the B, L, C, and K, in "BLACK" to replace it with "ALL LIVES MATTER."

"We're out here, the village is out, using a pressure washer," Clark voiced during his video. "It looks like the paint that was utilized to deface the Black Lives Matter mural and create 'All Lives Matter,' for the most part, is coming up. You see the 'B' is back, the 'L' is back, you know, what they put on the A."

According to the news release, the Village is also working with the Oak Park Area Arts Council and the artists to determine what additional work will be needed to restore the mural to its original condition.

"Even when this mural was created, so many of us challenged the community to understand that it has to go beyond the mural," Clark said, adding that while city and village employees came out to help, it's not perfect.

Clark also voiced examples of recent changes done by groups and businesses across the country, including the elimination of Chicago-based Quaker Foods' Aunt Jemima brand. Last month the company announced it would eliminate the Aunt Jemima brand of pancake mix and syrup in response to civil unrest and protests calling for racial equity across America sparked by the killing of George Floyd, a black man who died with his neck under the knee of a white Minnesota police officer.

"All this s--- is performative, all this s--- is pandering, we're not asking for that, we're asking for systemic change," Clark said.

To Clark, being an ally to the Black community means going beyond pandering, beyond virtue signaling. During the nearly one hour and 12-minute Facebook live, Clark asked community members, village trustees and police the question, "How do Black lives really matter?"

"Ally has to be in verb form, you have to earn allyship," Clark stated in the video. "No one is doing the necessary work to change the system."

According to Clark, not enough people are willing to "really risk and sacrifice" to change the systems and policies, adding that police continue to engage "our Black community in disrespectful ways."

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• Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben's Will Remove 'Racial Stereotype' Images
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• River Forest Police Hosting Social Justice Public Forums: Dates

"Hopefully this mural can definitely be refurbished, be restored," Clark said, and called on the community to keep this same energy for actually doing the work to change the system and policy.

"You all are too afraid for us, to be us," Clark voiced in the video.

In a followup Facebook Live, Clark shared details on a gathering planned for Wednesday evening at Scoville and Lake Street in Oak Park. According to Clark, Black and Brown-led youth group Royal, and other stakeholders will be gathering at 5 p.m. at the mural site.

Patch has reached out to Clark and will update this story as more information becomes available.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the village said Oak Park police have gathered evidence they hope will help identify the vandals. The village urges anyone with information about the incident to contact the Oak Park Police Department at 708-386-3800. Information also may be provided anonymously by calling 708-434-1636 or online at oak-park.us/crimetip.