Nicky shares Reflections of the past Year

"When I look at the black and white photos of this Black Lives Matter memorial I remember the energy and air of summer last year. Around the time Karina decided to start the memorial on her garage doors, I was joining thousands of people from our community in protest calling for justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and Steven Taylor. 

The uprisings throughout June were candlelit vigils, music, dancing, parents with children and elders, prayers, and silences for 9 minutes and 28 seconds. There were youth-organized gatherings and youth-led marches tear-gassed by militarized police. Some nights sparked into understandable rage, frustration, and valid anger. The media turned their cameras to the broken windows, the tear gas, and the agitations but often left out the morning afters when people came out to sweep the streets, share food & water, and self organize to help the small businesses that were caught in the crossfire. Hundreds of beautiful murals came after the destruction and grief. All of these actions were done out of love, just expressed in different ways.

I was grateful for Karina's idea to paint a memorial on her garage as the mural would bring the energy rising in the streets up to the Berkeley hills, where it was quieter. When we started measuring and mapping the 641 garage doors, I had just helped in a mural honoring Breonna Taylor on 15th street & Broadway.

Breonna Taylor’s 27th birthday was Friday, June 5th and Rozz - founder and director of The People's Conservatory - shared her idea of a 27 hour mural for Breonna with our community of artists and educators. We listened and were able to show up within hours of her call to action because of the small and big actions of friends and family, acquaintances and passersby. People offered their time, skills, and mutual aid through food, water, paint supplies, funds, and connections...and similarly this is how the 641 garage memorial came together: collective collaboration.

Rozz with her daughters

While the murals of Downtown Oakland sprung up quickly, the 641 garage memorial is still in progress. Downtown Oakland was made possible by quick response and the accumulation of many hands and ideas. People took initiation, some provided support, and others followed. All of these roles inspired an unstoppable energy toward the movement, invited people to take action, speak up and be courageous. Budding activists joined seasoned allies and organizers. The process of the 641 garage memorial has required hours of careful research, slow sketching, and layers of paint. It was paused for weeks by the the toxic wildfire smoke and orange skies of the end of last summer. At first we felt urgency to complete it, and eventually we sink into the reality of moving slower. Accepting the longer timeline is something our culture - of capitalism, production, moving fast - doesn't always honor. These different approaches are necessary in the movement. As we continue to imagine, vision, build, and move toward a future that is more just, empathetic, and balanced, we need both approaches: urgent, inspired, and responsive when the time is right as well as slow, careful, and steady. This is long haul work."