Black Lives Matter Mural

In the summer of 2020, George Floyd was murdered by police on camera, and the world erupted in protest. My art partner Garlen Dodge (IG handle @mrgarlen) drove around Chicago and called places with boarded up windows, asking if we could paint a Black Lives Matter mural free of charge and full of passion. Edgewater Tacos answered yes and the next morning we were ready with paint and ladders. We rounded up some friends and made two giant murals that day (a Pride one is around the corner). We took a few photos and went home, and I thought that was that.

About 9 months later I got a phone call out of the blue. A man named Christopher Slaughter reached out to me via Instagram saying he and his 14 year old son had documented the hundreds of murals that sprang up overnight in Chicago via photography and our mural had made it into the book! I was delighted and immediately bought a copy (buy a copy of his historical book here). We talked about racism and art and life in Chicago. Covid was still running rampant so in-person meetings were limited, but I congratulated him and his son and thought that was that.

3 months later and I got another call. Christopher Slaughter had applied to the Museum of Science of Industry for a special exhibit called Black Creativity 2021 and been accepted. Again, our mural was chosen and printed and now hangs in the museum. I was humbled. There’s something overwhelming about being part of a moment in history, hopefully a movement. Black Lives Matter. Ands that is that.