LYNN — A yearlong push for a Black Lives Matter mural in the city finally paid off this weekend with the long-awaited paint hitting the street between City Hall and Lynn District Court.
Recent Lynn English graduates Carlos Prudencio and Damianny Garrido spearheaded the campaign for a Black Lives Matter mural in the city through their grassroots organization, One Lynn, One Love.
The soon-to-be American University freshmen started their push for the mural after the murder of George Floyd at the hands of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin and the nationwide demonstrations that followed after a video of the incident went viral.
For Garrido, who, with Prudencio, spent the past year jumping through hoops trying to get the City Council to approve the mural after the city’s law department initially advised against it, seeing it finally start to get painted late Saturday morning was an emotional experience.
“I literally cried not too long ago,” said Garrido. “It feels so relieving seeing everybody working together finally. It’s been a year…and holding all of that (emotion) in and being able to just release today, it was incredible.”
The sun was shining in downtown Lynn as local artists filled the street with color Saturday from morning to sundown. Music was playing and people had come from near and far to show their support. The festivities were somewhat dampened by rain on Sunday, but a celebration for the mural’s completion was still held that evening.
When all was said and done Sunday evening, a double mural on Essex Street was finally on display, with “Black Lives Matter” written in two directions. One piece of it was painted in front of the courthouse on Essex Street and continued to Johnson Street, with a reverse mural beginning in front of City Hall and continuing to the front of Lynn District Court.
Lynn joins more than 174 communities nationwide that have already created Black Lives Matter murals, including Somerville and Worcester. The City Council voted unanimously on April 27 to approve the project, which had the support of Mayor Thomas M. McGee and U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton.
McGee, who voiced his support for the project early in the process, was planning to stop by midday Sunday to see how things were going, but heavy rain forecast for later in the day meant the artists and volunteers wrapped up the mural painting on Saturday.
McGee said the mural was extremely well done and the number of people who showed up to participate shows how the Lynn community comes together.
“Carlos and Damianny showed true leadership through this whole process,” McGee said.
In addition to initiating the vision for the mural, McGee praised Prudencio and Garrido for seeing the best in the community and wanting to bring people together.
“They really believed in this and the importance of it and what it means to our community,” McGee said. “There’s a lot of people who worked on this, but through the whole process Damianny and Carlos really showed what’s best in our community as young adults and leaders as high school students.”
McGee said he hopes the message of bringing people together resonates throughout the community and beyond.
Other vocal supporters of the project, Ward 6 Councilor Fred Hogan and Ward 3 Council candidate Coco Alinsug, also made appearances over the weekend. Garrido also pointed out local organizations, including Prevent the Cycle and Beyond Walls, thanking them for their support.
Alinsug, who came by Saturday, said it was great to see people from Lynn and neighboring communities come together for the installation.
“It’s nice to see mothers and dads bringing their children,” said Alinsug. “In fact, I spoke to a lot of them, and it’s actually the kids who are telling their parents to come because they want to volunteer. So for me, hearing that, it’s just a rewarding and an amazing experience to see people from all walks of life, from different classes of society, different ethnic backgrounds, coming together for one goal and one purpose: to promote unity among everybody.”
Hogan was out volunteering both Saturday and early Sunday morning. Throughout the process, the city councilor has been one of the staunchest advocates for the mural, lending his support to the two English graduates as they pushed their proposal through municipal channels.
“The Black Lives Matter mural is looking great,” Hogan said. “The Lynn community stepped up. Great work everyone.”
Hogan thanked all of the volunteers and Prudencio and Garrido, posting on Facebook about how everyone did a great job coming together to complete the mural.
Prudencio also credited everyone involved, saying Saturday was “amazing.”
“It is the most amazing feeling seeing the community come together to paint the mural,” Prudencio said. “The community was united by love and support we have for the Black community.”
One individual apparently did not approve of the mural, and he uttered some disparaging remarks while riding his bicycle over the still-wet paint. He was arrested by police.
Now that the mural has been painted, Garrido hopes that it sends a message that the Black and brown community in Lynn and surrounding towns has the city’s support, and as the mural depicts, that their lives do, in fact, matter.
“This is not just Black Lives Matter — everybody matters, of course — but right now, to support them and give them a shoulder to cry on, this is what we do,” said Garrido. “Everyone might not be fascinated by the way we are showing it, but I feel like every time someone walks by or drives by, any African-American, any Black person that walks by is going to be like, ‘Oh, wow, I do matter.'”
