‘Black Lives Matter’ Painted In Huge Letters On Newark Streets

NEWARK, NJ — Hundreds of people came together to paint a massive tribute to the Black Lives Matter movement on two of Newark’s busiest streets last weekend.

Acting in partnership with the city of Newark, a coalition of community groups and local artists rolled up their sleeves Saturday and wrote a pair of messages with 25-foot-long letters in yellow traffic paint.

The first message, “All Black Lives Matter,” took up an entire city block on Halsey Street, east of the Rutgers University campus. The second message, “Abolish White Supremacy,” found a home on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard between the Essex County Historic Courthouse and Veterans’ Courthouse.

“Our community street murals made a statement and model a solution,” said Salamishah Tillet, a professor at Rutgers University-Newark and the director of New Arts Justice at Express Newark.

“Through this unique collaboration between the city, community artists, and the university campus, we brought Newark — and our nation — one step closer to making the long-deferred dream of racial justice a reality,” Tillet said.

Other partners in the project include the New Arts Justice program at Express Newark, the Newark Downtown District, Newark Arts, Project for Empty Space, and Sherwin Williams Paint Co.

Some of the participants on Halsey Street waved LGBTQ and Trans Pride flags in celebration of Global Pride Day. It’s a significant “statement of inclusivity,” since the All Black Lives Matter movement includes the transgender and queer community, which has one of the highest murder rates in the nation, organizers said.

“Poetry, music, graphic design and public art are all public avenues to have our voices heard,” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said, hefting a roller and laying down a few coats of paint.

Donning a face mask, U.S. Rep. Donald Payne Jr. also picked up a paint roller in the name of social justice.

“Today, I joined my friends and neighbors in Newark to help paint a Black Lives Matter street mural,” Payne wrote. “I appreciated the opportunity to participate in this event and be part of the community I’ve been with all my life. My city always rises to the occasion and this nonviolent protest against racism represents for the nation. It’s in our DNA. All lives will matter when Black Lives Matter.”

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“Justice efforts in Newark are erupting with blinding speed,” Newark Arts Executive Director Jeremy Johnson told Patch. “In my decades-long experience here, I’ve never witnessed such a quickening pace.”

Johnson pointed to recent events such as the city’s decision to divert $12 million in funding from its local police force, a peaceful George Floyd protest that drew almost 12,000 supporters, and the push for a guaranteed income pilot in the city.

Johnson also praised city officials’ recent decision to remove a statue of Christopher Columbus from a local park.

“Racial justice … economic justice ... these are good things,” Johnson said. “Very good things.”

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