Cincinnati's Black Lives Matter street mural, similar to those seen in cities including Washington, D.C. and Brooklyn, was unveiled at 2 p.m. Friday, June 19. The mural is located outside of City Hall on Plum Street between Eighth and Ninth streets downtown.
The goal was to complete the mural and unveil it in honor of Juneteenth. The city also hosted its first Juneteenth flag-raising ceremony at City Hall at 10 a.m. on Friday.
The Urban League of Greater Cincinnati, Black Art Speaks, ArtsWave and ArtWorks partnered to make the Black Lives Matter mural happen; Alandes Powell, board member of Urban League, initiated the project.
The mural has been entirely privately funded. So far, a GoFundMe page has raised more than $104,910 toward its $150,000 goal, which will cover fees for artists and supplies. (The city, however, did pay for employees to help close the street while the mural was painted.)
Each letter was designed by a different Black artist and team of assistants.
The Urban League has listed which artists are tackling which letters.
The ordinance to install the mural, which passed unanimously through Cincinnati City Council, also declares this speech the official speech and message of the City of Cincinnati.
"It will officially be the speech of this city — that Black lives matter — which I think is important and powerful," said council member Greg Landsman during the council meeting. "When this movement began, years and years ago, a lot of folks were not comfortable with that speech and I think things have changed pretty significantly in terms of people saying and understanding why people say that Black lives matter. And for the city to say that this is our speech is an important step. It's also a reminder for us every day, perhaps more importantly — as it will be permanent — that we have an enormous amount of work to do to eliminate those disparities across the board."
Photos by Hailey Bollinger
