Black Trans Lives Matter, 2020
In August of 2020, Grae Rosa and I collaborated on a design for the letter “C” in a #BlackTransLivesMatter mural in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago. Our letter design commemorated the Stonewall Riots, reminding viewers that the first Pride was actually a trans-led riot against police and the violence they were inflicting on the queer and trans community.
This mural felt important because Andersonville is a predominantly Gay & white neighborhood with recent incidents of anti-Black and anti-trans hate graffiti in the area. For every one video we found on YouTube of #BlackLivesMatter murals being painted across the country, we found a video of a mural being defaced. Cultural and political/material change are both critical as we move towards liberation. City-sanctioned murals that say “Black Trans Lives Matter” don’t mean anything if there is not material support or political change to support the everyday lived experiences of Black trans people, and it’s on us non-Black artists to put in the labor of continuing to demand more from the officials who sanction these murals.
Thank you to Molly Costello and the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce for the invitation to participate.
This mural felt important because Andersonville is a predominantly Gay & white neighborhood with recent incidents of anti-Black and anti-trans hate graffiti in the area. For every one video we found on YouTube of #BlackLivesMatter murals being painted across the country, we found a video of a mural being defaced. Cultural and political/material change are both critical as we move towards liberation. City-sanctioned murals that say “Black Trans Lives Matter” don’t mean anything if there is not material support or political change to support the everyday lived experiences of Black trans people, and it’s on us non-Black artists to put in the labor of continuing to demand more from the officials who sanction these murals.
Thank you to Molly Costello and the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce for the invitation to participate.