BLACK TRANS LIVES MATTER Street Mural- Andersonville

Last weekend I participated in the creation of the new BLACK TRANS LIVES MATTER street mural in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago. This project was organized by Andersonville Chamber of Commerce and Alderman Andre Vasquez and included 25 Black/POC/LGBTQIA artists from around the city. Thank you to the organizers who put a ton of hours into rolling this out with less than 36 hours notice!!

While we were out in the hot sun painting, two of my LatinX friends @itsmonicatrinidad and @grae.rosa were racially profiled while in Walgreens buying water, accused of stealing and had the cops called on them. I have heard that one of the other artists was also racially profiled and followed in the same Walgreens. A white manager came out later and apologized, admitted he was wrong, but honestly the damage was already done. The manager said "We call the police on anyone no matter their race." to white I say 1)Stop calling the police PERIOD and 2) YOUR APPROACH TO HANDLING ALLEGED THEFT WILL ALWAYS DISPROPORTIONATELY NEGATIVELY AFFECT COMMUNITIES OF COLOR. In recent months, Andersonville has been the target of anti-Black and anti-trans hate graffiti. This reflects a larger history of the neighborhood being unwelcoming and unsafe for Black/POC and Trans Community members, specifically Black Trans Women. I know this is not isolated to this neighborhood.

To Andersonville, Chicago and the US at large- I hope that when we say BLACK TRANS LIVES MATTER we are also doing the work to make this statement a reality in our culture. This means educating ourselves about how white supremacy and transphobia show up in ourselves and in our communities. This means defunding the police.This means redistributing resources to communities who have been intentionally underfunded, criminalized and over policed. This means not only hiring Trans People but also ensuring their wellness and safety as A PRIORITY in those work spaces.

@epiphsfromtiff and @jshine1224 T art featured an excerpt from a beautiful quote by @Tourmaliine "The world that I dream of is filled with ease. ⁣⁣I’m not satisfied with Black trans lives mattering; I want Black trans lives to be easy, to be pleasurable, and to be filled with lush opportunities. I want the abundance we’ve gifted the world—the art, the care, the knowledge, and the beauty—to be offered back to us tenfold." @itsmonicatrinidad and @grae.rose's C reminds us that the first Pride was a Trans led riot against police! One of my favorite letters is the S by @peacecosour and @e_roar featuring a quote by @benjifemini !!

B - @baileys.funky
L - @mollyccostello
A - @beautyonthabeatz_
C - @grae.rosa @itsmonicatrinidad
K - @itschinwosu & @yorenishii

L - @laurakaucher
I - @heronhilldesigns
V - @itschinwosu & @yorenishii
E - @owenkarch
S - @peacecosour & @e_roar

M - @always_make_art
A - @uptowndesignstudio
T - @iamsamkirk
T - @tattigram
E - @followshala
R - @reneweddesigns

Photo Credit; @thecarsoncloud