The Swampscott Police Department enlisted the help of a talented young artist to help it honor Black History Month.
Former Swampscott High School student AJ Donald designed the patch that a number of officers are donning throughout February.
In the center of the patch is a portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Above the portrait is the date June 19, 1865, when Union Gen. George Granger issued an order enforcing the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas. That date has come to symbolize the end of slavery in the United States and is commemorated with the holiday Juneteenth.
The Pan-African colors of red, yellow, green, and black are all featured on the patch.
Police Chief Ruben Quesada originally approached his department with the idea of celebrating Black History Month in a way that “commemorates equality, civil rights, understanding, healing, and unity.” With the help of School Resource Officer Brian Wilson, the department soon identified Donald as the perfect person to use his artistic abilities to create the patch.
“I went to the METCO room upstairs with an idea of seeing if any kids would be interested,” Wilson said. “But one of the kids in the room was actually an extremely talented artist. All his drawings were on the wall.”
Wilson described how Donald quickly designed sketches in minutes that he said would have taken weeks if he had attempted them himself.
Donald, now a student in Brockton’s school district, has been drawing since he was 3 years old, and aspires to one day make a career out of his abilities. His personal passion for the topic of Black history and admiration for King made him even more eager to volunteer his services.
“He has such significance in Black History Month,” Donald said. “It’s important to me because I’m a Black African-American and he fought for us. So it made sense for me to put his face on the patch and design it in the way that I did.”
