Business Owners Paint 'Black Lives Matter' On Silver Spring Road

SILVER SPRINGS, MD — Businessman Richard Bird, 35, clearly recalls strangers tried breaking into his home with an axe when he was only 5 because he and his family aren't white. They are Native American. The attack came as American forces fought Iraqi forces in Kuwait, and "there was a period of hatred toward brown people,” Bird told Bethesda Magazine.

After the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd, Bird was reminded of the pain of racism. So he supported the idea of his business partner George Dominguez, a first-generation Ecuadorian American. Dominguez decided they should paint Black Lives Matter on Philadelphia Avenue in front of their sneak and clothing shop, Home Court, in downtown Silver Spring.

“We don’t vilify cops,” Bird said. “We have a ton of customers who are cops. We have friends that are cops. We’re just trying to get on a level playing field."