The Black community continues to come together to fight for our well-being.
In addition to hitting the streets to protest, Black artists are updating murals with face masks — we are in the middle of a pandemic many are pretending doesn’t exist, after all.
“Colorful street murals have adorned an intersection in Atlanta’s West End neighborhood for years. One depicts an ethereal vision of Martin Luther King Jr. floating on his side, the other of former NFL quarterback and civil rights activist Colin Kaepernick plucking arrows from his football jersey. In June, the two men’s faces took on a whole new look to respond to the coronavirus epidemic. Face masks made of huge white vinyl sheets now seamlessly cover the mouths and noses on the murals,” CNN states.
On MLK’s mask, we see Kendrick Lamar’s lyrics, “We Gon’ Be Alright.” A Bob Marley mural in ATL’s Sweet Auburn District reportedly says, “Survive,” the site goes on to state.
The artist who created the murals, Fabian Williams, covered them up as a visual reminder that we all need to wear masks to stay safe during the coronavirus pandemic. “I don’t feel like we’re in a time of ambiguity,” he told CNN. “We’re not seeing visual cues of a pandemic. In the movies, when pandemics come, there’s like chaos, soldiers with guns, breathing apparatuses and hazmat suits, bodies lying on the ground. This is not that. Without seeing a lot of people suffering, you tend to forget that this is actually something that’s going on and killing people left and right.”
The murals are part of a grassroots public service campaign, “the brainchild of Atlanta journalist, writer and filmmaker Sherri Daye Scott who felt it was her duty to do something about the spreading virus,” CNN adds. Scott used the stimulus check she received from the government to see it through, also giving away hundreds of face masks. Check out a couple photos up top.
