You might have noticed that the large letters painted on D.C.’s Black Lives Matter Plaza are now gone. But rest assured: It won’t be that way for long. The section of 16th Street, between H and K streets, had been dug up a few weeks back so Pepco could do some electrical work. That meant defacing the street mural. Fast-forward to Tuesday, when Pepco’s work was finished, and the street was returned to its pre-spring 2020 blank canvas. Black Lives Matter D.C. noticed, pointed it out on social media and accused Mayor Muriel Bowser of doing little to support the movement.
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On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the mayor’s office told WTOP that the letters will be repainted this week. And last week, the mayor herself said the area will be transformed into something befitting its historic status. “We’re undergoing a process to make the installation more permanent … with lighting, and landscaping, and all the things that you expect in an iconic art installation,” Bowser told the Post’s Jonathan Capehart during a Washington Post Live event. No timeline has been given yet as to when that will happen, and there are still no details on how exactly it will all look when the work is done. Black Lives Matter D.C. has yet to respond to the mayor’s office statement that the mural will be repainted this week. WTOP has also contacted the group for comment.
