Hundreds paint Black Lives Matter street mural on Jamaica Avenue
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Skylar Forrester, 7, fills in the C in the Jamaica Avenue Black Lives Matter street mural. Eagle photos by David Brand
By David Brand
Mylasia, Malachi and Nevaeh Cummings stood at the R, taking turns as they filled in the last letter of the message “Black Lives Matter.” The children, all younger than 10, came to Jamaica Avenue with their mom and dad to leave a permanent mark along the base of Rufus King Park.
Two blocks away, 7-year-old Skylar Forrester gripped a roller slathered in yellow paint and colored in the base of the C.
“We were walking by and noticed they were painting the mural and I thought it was important that we be a part of it, especially my son,” said Skylar’s mother Shantell Butler. “I just wanted him to be a part of something in his community for all of us. This is for all of us.”
The four children were among the hundreds of local community members who worked to paint BLACK LIVES MATTER in large block letters along Jamaica Avenue in South Jamaica Thursday. They were joined by several Queens leaders, including Councilmembers I. Daneek Miller, Adrienne Adams and Rory Lancman, Assemblymembers Clyde Vanel and Alicia Hyndman and State Sen. Leroy Comrie.
“This is a moment in history especially for our youth,” said Adams. “The majority of people out here are young people. They need to know that Black lives really do matter.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio (fifth from left) joins elected officials and local leaders to paint the Black Lives Matter street mural on Jamaica Avenue. Eagle photos by David Brand
“By doing this we’re showing it’s not just a symbol, but it is a true mark of what, going forward, our youth will come to appreciate, understand and really, really send out for generations to come,” she continued. “We really need a change and we are making a change.”
Even Mayor Bill de Blasio stopped by to help complete the final Black Lives Matter street mural planned for the city in the wake of massive protests touched off by the police killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man in Minneapolis.
“We’re sending a message here in Queens,” de Blasio told the crowd near Queens Family Court. “That is a moral message. A human message. A historical message. It transcends any notion of politics.”
“We are trying to address 400 years of America’s original sin.”
Malachi, 5, Nevaeh, 7, and Mylasia Cummings, 9, paint the R in Black Lives Matter.
De Blasio touted the city budget, which redistributed money from the NYPD to youth development and community programs — though likely not the $1 billion he had pledged.
“We know there’s more work to be done,” he said.
Department of Transportation officials kept cars away from the three-block stretch of parkside street to allow for a festival-like atmosphere. Painters posed for photos with friends and colleagues, while families shared supplies. Elected officials stood in the crowd and chatted with constituents, including Valerie Bell, a police reform advocate whose son Sean Bell was killed by police on his wedding day in 2006.
Councilmembers Adrienne Adams, Rory Lancman and I. Daneek Miller joined constituents at the event.
As Matthew Robinson, 33, painted the A in “Black,” he reflected on the atmosphere and his life in South Jamaica.
“This is very important because we want to show people that Black Lives Matter,” Robinson said. “We’re not going anywhere. We love our community, we’re changing our community and we’re showing that black is beautiful.”
