Say their Names with Flowers: The Black Lives Matter Mural in Downtown Palo Alto

#Saytheirnameswithflowers:
The “S” in the #BlackLivesMatter Mural in downtown Palo Alto:

Symbolism:

Forget-me-nots are for children killed by police or the state or through racist violence or with the violence, complicity and silence of the state. One of these children, George Stinney, met his death through all of these conditions. 

The state flowers, #californiapoppy, represent local people who died through police violence.

The asters and daisies are for people killed, allegedly murdered or murdered recently in our nation.

People:

Here is a list of people that I commemorated in my mural, starting from the bottom of the “S”. One of the most emotional difficulties about doing this work is the remarkable ease with which I find names to put with flowers. This painting represents a tiny sample of the people killed by racism in our present and past history as a nation.

Ms. Breonna Taylor

#breonnataylor #sayhername

#26yearsold. #firstresponder. #2020.

Ms. Taylor was shot by police entering her home under a no-knock warrant and killed in a botched and ill-judged drug raid. No arrests, no justice.

Mr. Amadou Diallo

#amadoudiallo #sayhisname

#23yearsold #unarmed. #1999.

Mr. Diallo was shot without verbal warning while getting out his wallet by four plainclothes police officers who fired 41 bullets. 19 struck him. All verdicts returned not guilty of second-degree murder and reckless endangerment.

Ms. Sandra Bland

#sandrabland #sayhername.

#27yearsold. #unarmed.

Sandra was arrested for not signaling a lane change after being pressured to change lanes by a police officer and then an interaction with the officer led to an escalation and arrest. She was held on a $500 bail she could not raise. She was found hanged the third morning of incarceration. The trial determined that the arresting officer had acted improperly, and charges were dropped on condition that he leave the law enforcement profession permanently.

Misses Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, Carole Denise McNair.

#fourlittleangelsinbirmingham
#addiemaecollins #14yearsold
#cynthiawesley #14yearsold
#carolerobertson #14yearsold
#caroldenisemcnair #11yearsold
#sayhername #sayhername
#sayhername #sayhername

Miss Addie Mae, Miss Cynthia, Miss Carole, and Miss Carol Denise were murdered in a church bombing in 1963 that injured many others in the congregation. The FBI, even though they knew who did it, did not conduct any prosecutions until 1977, 14 years later, when the trial of one of the murderers resulted in one murder conviction, for the death of Carol Denise McNair, the eleven-year-old. The cases we reopened 2001 and 2002, 38 years later, and all three of the surviving terrorists—one had died of natural causes while at liberty—were convicted of four counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Mr. Michael Brown

#MichaelBrown #sayhisname
#2014 #18yearsold #ferguson

Michael Brown was shot by a police officer and died of his injuries on the scene.

Mr. Rayshard Brooks

#rayshardbrooks #2020

Mr. Elijah McClain

#23yearsold #2019 #violinplayer #massagetherapist.

Mr. Elijah McClain died after being injected with the tranquilizer ketamine by EMTs while being held down by police officers during an arrest. He died of cardiac arrest during the trip to the hospital. He was arrested for behaving suspiciously in public and wearing a ski mask. The person who called him in said to dispatch that they did not believe that anyone was in danger. Officers are on administrative leave, but no charges have been filed.

Mr. Tamir Rice

#12yearsold #2014

Mr. Ahmaud Arbery

Mr. George Floyd

#georgefloyd #unarmed

Mr. Eric Garner

Mr. Chinedu Okobi

Mr. William Raff

Mr. Stephon Clark

Mr. Tyre King

Mr. Emmett Till

Mr. George Stinney

“All mothers were summoned when he cried out for his momma.
”

— anonymous.

Further Reading:

Black Lives Matter Policy changes in process in D.C.:
NPR Article

The Counted—The Guardian posted an analyses of police killing in the United Stated in 2015 and 2016.

An article about the FBI’s response to the Guardian’s work on this issue.

Comparison article about differences between the two policing reform bills put forward by Democrats in Congress and Republicans in the Senate.

Further thoughts:

The home truth that many of our citizens live with a daily fear of being harassed, harmed and outright killed by terrorists, racists and the police has been brought to the forefront of our national conversation by recent egregious extrajudicial killings and interactions between racists and black citizens. The Black Lives Matter Movement has shown the way to work towards a more equal and just society. We have to work to create the truth that we all get to live free of fear. We need “A government of laws and not of men” as our founding parent, John Adams, said. I have always falsely believed that one of the Bill of Rights articles was “Freedom from Fear”. I was wrong, but maybe we need to add one on and make it an uneven eleven.

I hope we can all learn from one another and listen to one another in this difficult time. Let us remember that this is a difficult time for some of us. For others, it has always been difficult times. And sometimes, times have been impossible to survive—such as for those people in my mural. We need fair times, rule-of-law times, times where free means free to bird, jog, buy cigarettes, smoke pot, commit minor infractions, drive a car, visit a grandmother, backpack, lane change without signaling, sleep in a bed, road-trip, go see Yellowstone, be mentally or physically unwell, be autistic, date the wrong person, make mistakes, own a gun, be a decent person, be sick of being hassled by racist cops, etc. Free is free and freedom should be an equal opportunity.

No person, including a police officer, who should be working to the highest standard, has the right to make an extrajudicial killing. Black lives matter and that is a problem for every person of every ethnicity to grapple with, because based on the data, and on the experience of our fellow citizens, some citizens of our nation don’t think black and person of color lives carry the same privileges, freedoms and rights as their own white and fragile lives.

Something I have noticed in writing and reading about this issue is the difficulty I and other writers and reporters have in saying a police officer has “murdered” or even “allegedly murdered” a black person. Usually, the vocabulary used is “shot” or “killed” or “mistakenly killed” or “fired in self-defense”. It is really hard for us as language users to use this language.