The huge “All Black Lives Matter” mural on Hollywood Boulevard that thousands of people marched across over the weekend, calling for racial justice, will stay in place for the time being, officials said Monday.
Crews began washing the letters away Sunday night. But Mitch O’Farrell, the Los Angeles City Council member representing Hollywood, said he halted removal and ordered it to be repaired Tuesday.
The installation is still temporary. But O’Farrell said he’s working with the community and organizers of Sunday’s march to create a more permanent memorial for the historic event.
“We don’t want to wash the moment away,” he said. “The moment was so history-making, and the art installation is so beautiful.”
O’Farrell is one of two openly gay representatives currently on L.A. City Council, along with Mike Bonin.
“I come from the LGBT community myself, so I understand the power of protests,” O’Farrell said. “It’s those pioneers at the Black Cat in 1967 and Stonewall in 1969 that fought for the rights that I enjoy. So I have the responsibility in this journey as well, and I’m just happy to play one small part in advancing the cause.”
The march from Hollywood to West Hollywood was organized by Black LGBTQ+ Activists for Change, or BLAC, as an opportunity to support queer and transgender people in the black community, who are disproportionately affected by inequity and racial injustice. It drew a massive and diverse crowd.
The mural spans Highland Avenue and Orange Drive. It was designed by BLAC with marketing firm Trailer Park Group, and painted by hundreds of volunteers.
“All Black Lives Matter” in capital letters spans the width of the famous boulevard. “All” is painted in the pastel pink, blue and white colors of the trans rights movement, and “matter” in rainbow representing the gay rights movement.
“It’s very cool to keep it,” said Greg Zekowski with Trailer Park Group. “With all that hard work and the generosity and heartfeltness of everybody coming out, of course you want to see it stay.”
Community members say they’d like the installation to stay around as well.
“I think this is a start,” Ryan Branscomb of Hollywood told KTLA. “I’m glad. They need to do it everywhere, honestly.”