LYNN — The youth-led proposal for a Black Lives Matter street mural near City Hall and the courthouse will finally be heard by the City Council’s Public Property and Parks Committee this month.
While the City Council subcommittee was initially slated Tuesday to consider a proposal for an alternative location for the BLM mural, as part of a new “Diversity Square” that would be created in Central Square, Councilor-at-Large Brian LaPierre instead made a motion to invite the youth group to present their plans before the committee at its next meeting on April 27.
The motion was unanimously approved by the subcommittee.
“I’m hoping to get a consensus on this,” said LaPierre. “Now is the time to bring out a good project that honors the movement.”
The creation of a Diversity Square, proposed last Friday by Ward 2 Councilor Rick Starbard to One Lynn-One Love, the group working with Lynn English seniors Carlos Prudencio and Damianny Garrido to bring a BLM mural to Lynn, was tabled by the subcommittee following opposition by Mayor Thomas M. McGee and the group itself.
For Garrido, the opportunity to present the group’s initial plans for a BLM mural in the center of local government in the city was an enormous relief after working for months to have their proposal heard.
“I felt overwhelmed in a good way,” said Garrido. “It’s been almost nine months since we had our first meeting about it. For the last nine months, I felt like I haven’t been heard.”
“I’m happy that we’re moving forward,” said Ward 6 Councilor Fred Hogan, who has worked closely with Garrido and Prudencio on the project. “I’ve been behind the Black Lives Matter mural 100 percent since the beginning. I’m just really happy that this is moving forward now and that we can finally get paint on the street.”
The BLM mural, as proposed by Prudencio and Garrido, would begin in front of the Lynn courthouse and run until Johnson Street, with a reverse mural beginning in front of City Hall and continuing to the front of Lynn District Court.
A proposal for a Diversity Square, an alternative to the City Hall mural that would feature a BLM mural on Exchange Street and allow for the potential for messages from other groups, had been placed on the subcommittee agenda by Starbard, but was tabled due to the absence of Ward 5 Councilor Dianna Chakoutis, who represents the area.
In addition to Starbard, the Diversity Square proposal has the support of City Council President Darren Cyr, who is running for mayor. But the idea has been negatively received by One Lynn-One Love, who argue that the placement of a Black Lives Matter mural in front of City Hall, the Lynn Police Department and the courthouse is important because it sends a message to the centers of political power in the city.
Garrido also said that the alternative location for the BLM mural, as proposed, would be less visible.
“I think it would be prudent to look at the original proposal right now,” said LaPierre. “We’re trying to honor the original Black Lives Matter Committee by allowing them to present the proposal to this subcommittee.”
The new location is also opposed by the city’s current mayor. In a letter addressed to Starbard Tuesday, McGee expressed his support for the One Lynn-One Love proposal and his opposition to the “Diversity Square” alternative proposal.
“The city of Lynn is a community made up of people of all races, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, disabilities, and religions, and we celebrate our diversity as one of our greatest strengths,” McGee wrote.
“The installation of a Black Lives Matter mural will build upon the city’s renewed commitment towards improving racial and social justice for all Lynn residents by acknowledging the fact that Black lives matter.”
