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Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence Artifact Collection

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: Black autism matters / Black autism matters; A rectangular brown poster reads 'ONE LOVE, BLACK AUTISM MATTERS', 'AUTISM MATTERS', and 'BLACK LIVES MATTER' in black.

: Black communism + anarchy is good; Yellow rectangle horizontally oriented with green handwritten letters that read, 'Black Communism + anarchy is GOOD', Several holes.

: Black fathers matter; A black poster with 'BLACK FATHERS MATTER' printed in large light grey block letters., The black ink of the background of the poster is rubbed off around the edges showing white areas underneath. Wrinkled packing tape along the right edge, with a small piece of red tape as well.

: Black fathers matter / Free'dom food; A white sign that reads ' 'FREE'DOM FOOD, Grilled Cheese, Lentils and Rice, Oatmeal, and Don't forget your glow sticks, $CASHAPP: @DCALAS2020 @the_palm_collective' in blue lettering.

: Black immigrants matter; A white poster, oriented lengthwise, with black, pink, and green hand painted text that reads, 'BLACK IMMIGRANTS MATTER.' Blue and silver stars surround the text.

: Black joy matters; A sheet of cardboard, with a background of small and large swaths of acrylic paints with black handwritten texts that reads, 'BLACK JOY MATTERS', flanked with two centered - Black power fists, on each side.

: Black Live Matter; A blue sign that reads 'BLACK Live MATTER' with two black hearts.

: Black lives are loved, cherished, celebrated; A horizontal poster on brown cardboard with writing in red marker that reads 'BLACK LIVES ARE LOVED, BLACK LIVES ARE CHERISHED, BLACK LIVES ARE CELEBRATED.' The words are surrounded by red-outline drawings of hearts., Holes are punched in the four corners of the original poster.

: Black lives defeated fascism; BLACk LIVES DEFEATED fascism. WE THE PRESIDENT NOW!' in thin black letters on white, horizontal orientation.

: Black Lives Matter; A rectangle of black cardboard with a hole punched in each of the four corners. Large black text reads 'BLACK LIVES MATTER'. The top and bottom lines are white, and the middle line is black inside of a white box.

: Black Lives Matter; Black rectangle horizontally oriented with white block handwritten text that reads, 'BLACK LIVES MATTER'. Blue outline of a fist on the right., Edges are worn and much appears to be peeling.

: Black Lives Matter; A cardboard poster oriented horizontally reading 'BLack Lives Matter' in black marker. Above the word 'BLack' is written 'No Justice No Peace No Racist Police.' Between that line and the word black is a rectangle with three panels: red, black, and green. Above the word 'Lives' is written 'Say their names' with a list of names., The three-paneled rectangle may represent the Pan-African flag. The list of names is of Black people who were killed by police officers. The sign is covered with cellophane tape.

: Black Lives Matter; A white lengthwise sign reads 'BLACK LIVES MATTER' in black marker., The sign is torn at the edges and has smudges.

: Black Lives Matter; A white sign with red tape on its edges reads 'BLACK LIVES MATTER' in black curvy letters.

: Black Lives Matter; A cardboard sign oriented horizontally read 'BLACK LIVES MATTER' in white paint with black marker outlined letters. Notable rips and tears, with holes from zip tie fasteners, and both clear and black duct tape on service., Water damage on the edges, especially top left corner and bottom edge.

: Black Lives Matter; Rectangle cut brown cardboard with 'BLACK LIVES MATTER in the center. On the left side it appears someone wrother in brown crayon from top to bottom, 'Jesus' and on the right in brown crayon from top to bottom 'God'. A black vertical line is drawn through both Jesus and God with 'No' written in sharpie above them on each side.

: Black Lives Matter; A cardboard poster oriented vertically reading 'BLACK LIVES MATTER' in black marker and white paint.

: Black Lives Matter; A white poster oriented lengthwise that reads 'BLACK LIVES MATTER SiMBAMAXiN Fuk 12 Bihhh' which is written in red marker., There is green painter's tape and punctures throughout the original artifact.

: Black Lives Matter; White poster board with multi colored markers reading from top left to bottom right 'Vietile Negrilor conteaza', 'Les Views Noires Comptent', 'Schwarze Levon Zahlen', 'Las Vidas Negras Importan', 'Svarte Liv Teller', 'Le Vite Negre Contano e Valgono,' '#BLM'

: Black Lives Matter; A piece of cardboard with black, hand painted text that reads, 'Black LIVES Matter.'

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Title: Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence Artifact Collection
Date Created: 2021-01-01
Note: This collection contains strong language, references to police brutality, and violent imagery.
Abstract: The Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence Artifact Collection consists of posters, banners, clothing, photographs, and ephemeral objects attached to the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence (BLM Fence) surrounding Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C, from June 2020 to January 2021. The artifacts were attached to the fence to protest the treatment of Black and Brown communities by police and address various social issues, including racism, LGBTQIA+ rights, women's rights, immigration, international human rights violations, nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court, the 2020 presidential campaign, politicians, and elections. Activists turned the fence into a memorial, an art project, and an outpouring of grief. The BLM Fence suffered vandalism, including near destruction on October 30, 2020. The surviving artifacts were collected by activists and reattached to the new BLM Fence, which remained standing until January 30, 2021. People came from all over D.C. and the United States to add artifacts to the BLM Fence and pay their respects to victims of police brutality. The artifacts were curated and cared for by activists Nadine Seiler and Karen Irwin. Librarian and archivist Aliza Leventhal assisted Ms. Seiler and Ms. Irwin in collecting and inventorying the artifacts from the BLM Fence.

The Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence Artifact Collection is a partnership between DC Public Library, Enoch Pratt Free Library, The Library of Congress, and Howard University. The artifacts were collected and donated by Nadine Seiler and Karen Irwin with assistance from Aliza Leventhal. Enoch Pratt Free Library completed the digitization of the artifacts. Metadata of the artifacts was completed by staff at the DC Public Library and members of the public. A portion of the artifacts are housed at Howard University and may be viewed through Digital Howard.

The artifacts in this collection are arranged in alphabetical order. Original spellings and capitalizations have been retained in the descriptions of the artifacts. Some artifacts contain content on both the front and the back. Those artifacts are grouped, and both items are reflected in the title (example: Black lives matter / Enough ). Click on an artifact to see both sides of the item. To keep as many of the original artifacts in one digital location as possible, included in this collection are 38 artifacts from the BLM Fence collected by the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. The source of these Library of Congress artifacts is noted in the description.

Help us make the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence Artifact Collection as accurate as possible! If you see information that needs to be updated, please email us at peoples.archive@dc.gov.
Neighborhood: Downtown, Washington, D.C.
City: Washington, D.C.
Subject: Protest posters
Black lives matter movement
Black persons
African Americans
Police brutality
LGBTQIA+ rights
Women's rights
Emigration and immigration
Politics and government
Human rights
Local identifier: blmf
Rights Information: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/
No Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Only
The collection donors have made this collection material available for educational use. The collection materials should not be used for commercial activities and derivative works should not be made.