Last June large facets of the Lynn community, led by Lynn youth, joined together to advocate for and organize the installation of a “Black Lives Matter” (BLM) mural in Lynn.
Thus, One Lynn-One Love was born. The desired mural would start on Essex Street outside the Lynn District Court steps and continue just past the entrance to Lynn City Hall.
The motivation and intention for the mural is to serve as a reminder that the people of Lynn stand behind family, friends, neighbors and colleagues in the Black community and to reinforce our elected officials’ commitment to represent and support all of our city’s citizens. One Lynn-One Love’s work organizing this mural project represents the great strength and diversity of our community.
The murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Atatiana Jefferson, Aura Rosser, Stephon Clark, Botham Jean, Philando Castille, Alton Sterling, Michelle Cusseaux, Freddie Gray, Janisha Fonville, Eric Garner, Akai Gurley Jr., Gabriella Nevarez, Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Tanisha Anderson are just a few of the stories that cemented the need to have a public display of Black Lives Matter. Polarization and stagnation have often plagued our national leadership and have left our communities without any respite as one catastrophe after another saturates our news feed and leaves us emotionally destitute.
On June 25, 2020, one month after the horrific incident that led to the murder of George Floyd, our mayor, Thomas M. McGee, declared racism to be a public health emergency.
It is with this declaration in mind, along with an in-depth understanding of how detrimental racism and the fear of racist acts can be, that we have continuously advocated for our mayor and our other elected officials to publicly support a Black Lives Matter mural in Lynn and to aid the efforts of One Lynn-One Love in successfully installing this mural.
It is no longer enough to say you support change. Actions are what make a difference and publicly stated support and doing the actual work with the community that ensures better outcomes for all is what is needed and expected from our leadership.
Back in September, youth leadership of One Lynn-One Love were shared a brief by City Hall parties that a BLM mural would open a public forum based on The Night Riders of the Ku Klux Klan versus the City of Cincinnati, a decades-old case wherein the Ku Klux Klan had attempted to install crosses in Cincinnati’s Fountain Square neighborhood.
The case stressed that political statements were barred from public property and that therefore, Black Lives Matter was barred from public property in Lynn. When youth later informed the same parties that more than a hundred BLM murals had already been installed across the nation, most on public roadways, they were told by City Hall officials that approval of this community-led mural installation lies with the Public Park and Property Commission.
To assess and document public support, Lynn youth then reached out to the community through word of mouth, a change.org petition, and gathering of signatures from leaders of for profits, nonprofits and advocacy groups.
Overwhelmingly, there was a clear support for a Black Lives Matter mural. Ward 6 City Councilor Fred Hogan who continues to be our champion at City Hall and the only city elected official to publicly support a BLM mural’s installation last year and up to this last week, immediately stepped up to sign our petition as did U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton.
They and the 1,236 other signatures we garnered in a matter of days on our Change.org petition (now totaling 2,061) showcased the support the public has for this project.
Members of the Lynn Police Department, including Deputy Chief Vail contacted us to share their support as did members of the North Shore Juneteenth Association, Lynn Public Schools, Prevent The Cycle and Beyond Walls.
A Sept. 2, 2020 article in The Item further detailed the community’s desire for this mural. Lynn youth began organizing and holding Zoom calls together with the “Youth BLM Mural” call on September 11, making it very clear that the young, future leaders of this city have been greatly troubled by the atrocious acts of racism that have continued to plague both our nation and, at times, this community. They resoundingly supported the installation of this mural. By September 24, all Lynn high school class presidents signed the letter of support. Throughout all, the support was well documented, communicated and shared with the public and key parties at City Hall, including members of the Public Property Commission and the Mayor and his support staff.
On September 14, several of the One Lynn-One Love leadership were invited to meet with city attorneys George S. Markopoulos and James Lamanna. Both attorneys explained that a BLM mural could not be installed in Lynn as the installation of a Black Lives Matter mural would open a “public forum,” a classification which would now see the installation site become a designated spot where groups can share a new message they want installed. It was shared with Lynn youth that the public Park and Property Commission would then not be able to refuse further proposals as a precedent would have been established because of the open forum.
One Lynn-One Love left that meeting confused, as we were aware that more than 100 cities had now installed BLM murals on their public streets, including Brockton, Worcester, Springfield, and Roxbury. Many were supported by public property commissions, mayors and city council members.
In many cases city lawyers had often aided efforts to move these projects forward in lockstep with their cities’ mayor and council members’ wishes. Further, we had been made aware by parties in
Worcester that their BLM advocates and their city’s mayor had spoken positively with Mayor McGee and his staff on their communities’ BLM installations, all of which were on public streets. The youth leading One Lynn-One Love reconvened and the shared view was that we were ill equipped to speak with lawyers without representation of our own.
Unbeknownst to Lynn youth, The Item article that had chronicled some of the efforts of our youth leadership here in Lynn was read by 13-year-old Leah Sokol of Somerville. Hearing of our youth efforts for a BLM mural, she quickly discussed the merits of a similar effort for Somerville with her family and friends. Leah’s efforts and that of her friends and community, quickly led to the mayor of Somerville issuing public support for Leah and her friends. Mayor Joseph Curtatone and members of the City Council of Somerville, alongside community members and invited youth from Lynn, then worked together on September 27 to install a painted BLM mural on a public city street.
Excited to have participated in installing a successful Black Lives Matter mural installation in Somerville with their mayor and youth, but disappointed our efforts here had been so unsuccessful, Lynn youth began to approach local lawyers in Lynn for advice and help. We quickly secured pro bono counsel from Lynn residents who manage a local law firm. With a burning fire to see a BLM mural installed here in our city, the high school students leading One Lynn-One Love reconvened with other youth and met with our own lawyers to discuss all the city had shared with us and the lack of support we were experiencing at our own City Hall that flew in contrast to the countless other cities across the U.S., who had already successfully installed such murals on public streets, in the hopes of documenting how these cities had been successful and finding a solution for us here at home.
After our meeting, our legal counsel spent dozens of hours researching and documenting how other cities moved forward on their installs of BLM murals on their public city streets. In many cases they directly connected with city mayors and other representatives from city halls. Their research revealed that in hundreds of cities across the U.S., mayors and councils of these cities made a decision to support the installation of a BLM mural. That was all it took.
The solution these cities leaders used was the Government Speech Doctrine. In short, the Government Speech Doctrine states that the government has its own rights and isn’t barred by the First Amendment, and it is immune from free speech challenges. The Government Speech Doctrine has been implemented in more than 70 communities nationwide to install their Black Lives Matter mural. In almost all of these cases these installations occurred with mayors and elected officials working alongside the community they have sworn to serve. Additionally, installations here in Massachusetts were often done with the support of public works departments and their police. All told, these installations have been a resounding success and document the elected officials of these city’s belief that Black Lives do indeed, matter.
So, why not here in Lynn? Without a doubt, the City of Lynn can use the doctrine so many other cities across the U.S. have used to install Black Lives Matter Murals. Why would our community, which is so diverse, and our youth, which have so clearly continued to work to deliver a community desired message, be denied such a mural when so many other cities’ elected officials stepped up to publicly and privately support their communities’ wishes?
Although the Government Speech Doctrine allows mayors to move forward with allowing a BLM Mural to be installed in Lynn, One Lynn-One Love Youth additionally requested to present their desires to Lynn’s Public Arts Commission (LPAC) to get a vote of their support.
The commission had been formed under Mayor McGee which includes a bylaw of “have ultimate authority related to selecting and approving public art projects, and taking under advisement feedback from city agencies and departments, and the community.” They have been aware of the youth and community support and drive for this public art project since June.
On March 2, 2021, the LPAC held a meeting to hear from One Lynn-One Love Youth, several of whom had taken time off from after school work to present. The youth were asked to present at a special meeting where a vote could be taken last Monday, a call occurred with the LPAC ultimately voting unanimously to support the youth, but with the caveat that their vote came with a subcommittee of the LPAC being formed to help the kids “polish their proposal.”
On March 11, Damianny Garrido, Carlos Prudencio and our counsel (Bob Goldman and Jill Weiner) met with Joel Abramson, founder of Lynn Education District.
Abramson said that he and the Lynn Education District fully support the mural. The members who make up the Lynn Education District are Girls Inc, RAW Arts, Lynn YMCA, The Item, Lynn Chamber of Commerce, NSCC, LEO Inc, La Voz, KIPP Academy, Lynn Museum, St. Mary’s School, Lynn Public Schools, Boys & Girls Club, YMCA of Metro North, North Shore Christian School.
All the information above has been documented and has been given to the administration of Lynn. It is now time for additional members of this community, our city on the water, our city which is so diverse, our great city of Lynn, to be heard and for our administration to show true leadership and make public their support and to help take action for our community.
The backroom dealings and maneuvers that have the Lynn youth suspicious of City Hall legal staff and the Public Property committee can be put to rest with the City Council and, more importantly, Mayor McGee stepping up to say, “Black Lives do Matter” and that they support the youth of Lynn in their drive for the mural and that they will help ensure its success.
We also believe that success lies in the collaboration with our administration. It is not enough to say you support Black Lives Matter or that you support a BLM mural as an elected official, or as the mayor of the city: Real leadership backs up words with action. As was the case for so many communities across the United States, those municipal decision makers needed to enact the Government Speech Doctrine to empower their cities and towns to manifest widespread desires for a Black Lives Matter mural on a public street. Given the incredible diversity of this city, it’s rich history as a industrial and labor rights leader, and the desires of the Lynn community — as clearly demonstrated through votes, a litany of approvals, the effort of the youth and the dignity of the act — it’s time to finally stop the bureaucracy for the sake of bureaucracy, a tactic often used to avoid taking action. No more councils, lawyers, special subcommittees or other nonsense. None of the other cities employed these efforts to stop their youth.
It’s time to finally and righteously make a decision to lead. Mayor McGee, the youth of Lynn, residents, city businesses and the education community and many others are looking to you to finally make a decision. Will you please step up?
This mural is a representation of Lynn’s love, support and solidarity for our Black brothers and sisters. Lynn’s officials need to be part of this effort, not the obstacle.
One Lynn-One Love (Lynn’s youth). The model for installing a BLM Mural: Predicated on proven model for successful BLM installs:
○ One lead professional artist who has done works of this size/scale w proven track record designs for overall
dimensions and several 9core design elements.
○ Paint, tape and additional required materials: List is created by lead artist with input from local parties.
○ As many as six local artists are additionally involved (Double BLM=one artist per word).
○ Local artists are the ‘field generals’ for each word they are aligned to and oversee local community members
aiding install.
○ Other cities have shared their mayor, City Council, local art groups and commissions, artists and community
members have at times all been involved.
○ Other cities Departments of Public Works, police and others have given in kind support (staff and at times,
prep work (cleaning the road thoroughly) and providing materials, jersey barriers, rerouting traffic etc etc.
100-plus examples of BLM installs on city streets across the U.S).
○ Can safely be done during COVID-19 with social
distancing easily achieved.
Carlos Prudenicio and Damianny Garrido are Lynn English High School seniors and Prudencio is Essex Media Group’s 2020 Lynn Person of the Year.
