“Racism is a disease. Mural in Rochester disfigured by racist graffiti

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A Black Lives Matter mural on Clarissa Street was disfigured over the weekend with white supremacist graffiti.

Twenty-four hours later, the mural – painted by Roc Paint Division alumnus Etana Brown, Nzinga Muhammad and Kaori-Mei Stephens – had returned to its original form.

More: Three teenage girls, a large mural with a message

The painting – a self-portrait of its three black artists and part of the 2017 season of WALL / THERAPY – appears vibrantly on an exterior brick wall of the Flying Squirrel community space.

“Rather than acknowledging the hate, we want to showcase the mural and celebrate its powerful message once again,” WALL / THERAPY wrote on his Instagram page on Sunday.

In a 2017 Democrat & Chronicle report, Muhammad explained that the message of art is that black lives matter and that there are multiple perspectives.

The tarp covers the symbols of hatred used to degrade the Black Lives Matter mural.

Muhammad is Muslim, Kaori-Mei Stephens and Etana Browne are Afro-Asian and Afro-Caribbean respectively.

Browne said in the article; the article also says, “No matter what you’re mixed with, you’re black and you’re part of Black Lives Matter, and your life matters.”

The three artists have all issued statements in the wake of the vandalism and fast food.

“Our fresco is a tribute to the beauty of darkness and to the diversity within our community and our diaspora”, according to Muhammad’s statement. “It also serves as an artistic protest against the very injustice, oppression and fanaticism that the tagger chose to display. However, it is not necessary to put a mural with this kind of purpose in a place where injustice does not happen Regardless of the black judges, mayors, teachers and rulers we have in this city, racism is a disease that has not yet been cured.

Browne’s statement notes: “Our Corn Hill mural was the greatest message we could get across the city, to reassure and empower our people and to show that we are always ready to fight back. For white supremacists to try to destroy and defile our art just shows the real problem in the world that we are working so hard to overcome. “

The story continues

“The best memory I have while creating this mural is when a little girl walked by, pointed her finger and said, ‘looks like me,’ Kaori-Mei Stephens wrote. understood the power that art has to uplift and inspire, and I felt so proud to be a part of this work. Upon learning of the hateful vandalism, I was saddened but not surprised. What they did could – and has already been undone. But what they can never do is take away our hope, our pride or our joy. In fact, this act of ignorance only gives us another opportunity to speak out and celebrate black diversity.

Hate symbols

A group of people gather around a tablet displaying what Clarissa Street looked like before the urban renewal.

The ominous hate symbols sprayed on the mural encouraged violence against blacks and Jews.

“I am a Jewish person and I am here to speak out against this senseless act of violence against our community,” Alana Bowen, organizer of the Rochester chapter of Food Not Bombs, wrote in a statement.

Bowen, who was fortunate enough to see the Symbols of Hate on Saturday afternoon, said she was deeply saddened by the damage.

“The flying squirrel is a gem in this community,” Bowen wrote. “It has been a support for so many justice movements here in the city of Rochester.”

The parking lot of The Flying Squirrel was once home to the Pythodd Jazz Room, a world-renowned concert hall for iconic jazz musicians. Urban renewal policies have uprooted the club and many other black-owned establishments on the Strip.

The Flying Squirrel community condemned the degradation of the Black Lives Matter mural on its building, which served as the final stop on a walking tour of Clarissa Street, which was once home to a thriving African American community. The tour is led by community elders who lived through this period in history and by young leaders from Teen Empowerment.

The Flying Squirrel says it canceled a press conference scheduled for this Saturday afternoon so that the importance of the walking tour, which ended in the parking lot the same afternoon, is not overshadowed.

“These actions will not deter the Flying Squirrel Community Space from providing space and resources to those engaged in the activism that centers racial, economic and social justice in Rochester,” The Flying Squirrel wrote in a statement.

Murals targeted in other states

There was an eruption of anti-racist street art across the country following the murder of George Floyd, according to researchers led by St. Thomas University in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Researchers believe it could be “the world’s largest explosion of street art focusing on a single event or topic in history.”

In Rochester there were several examples of anti-racist street art, including Shawn Dunwoody’s ‘Enough’ mural painted on the side of what was once the City Blue Imaging building, now missing due to a fire. .

More: Artists from WNY, CNY Have Their Work Showcased at Memorial Art Gallery

Urban Art Mapping has created a database that documents examples of art from around the world that emerged in the wake of Floyd’s murder.

Nzinga Muhammad said she believed the mural did its job despite offensive opposition.

“It took four years for cowardly individuals to come out and disfigure a symbol of resistance and power,” Muhammad said in his statement. “Thank you for showing us how important our message is and how four years later it is still a relevant artistic demonstration of anti-racism and unity.”

Contact Robert Bell at: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @byrobbell & Instagram: @byrobbell

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This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: BLM mural in Rochester NY disfigured by racist graffiti

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