A resolution was approved on Wednesday by the Dallas City Council for multiple “All Black Lives Matter” installations to be painted at various crosswalks in south Dallas.
According to the resolution, Abounding Prosperity, Inc, an organization whose purpose is to “respond to social and health disparities” for Dallas families, has proposed to pay for the nine crosswalks and will maintain them for the next ten years. According to the city council, no taxpayer money will be used for the project.
Council members told WFAA the proposal for the crosswalks had been in the works since June of 2020 when protests swept the nation in response to the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Atatiana Jefferson, and Ahmaud Arbery. Now over a year later, the resolution was approved unanimously by the city council with no objections.
The crosswalks will be similar to the rainbow crosswalks found in Oaklawn on Cedar Springs. The installations will be red with white trim and black lettering
District seven councilman Adam Bazaldua tweeted, “I’m so excited and proud of our City Council for unanimously approving the “All Black Lives Matter” crosswalks in South Dallas. Together, we are taking a united stance that #BlackLivesMatter.”
During the council meeting, Bazaldua stated that the word “All” was added so that sub-communities within the Black community, such as LGBTQ+ individuals, “who sometimes get left out of the conversation,” feel included.
Installations like the one approved have popped up across the nation, “I’ve been researching how the city of Portland has used their streets as public art canvases and I think it’s a creative way to help with expression and to beautify what is otherwise not pretty concrete,” said Mayor Pro-Tem Chad West.
Kirk Meyers, CEO of Abounding Prosperity, said through a statement to the Dallas Express, “Abounding Prosperity is extremely zealous that the [Dallas] City Council was able to approve the resolution so quickly and unanimously. The hope is that the Black residents in this community who have been shown by society through systemic inequities that persist in many intersections of life, that their life has value in and out of the margins. For those not aware or who don’t acknowledge these equities, the hope is they find moments of introspection and reflection for the lives of others that may not look or live like them.”
Although the city council didn’t give a timeline for when the murals would be painted, Mr. Meyers says, “Our desired timeline is to have the first mural completed and unveiled on January 17, 2022 with the overall completion of all the murals within six months.” The target date of January 17 coincides with Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
The following intersections are where the “All Black Lives Matter” crosswalks will be installed.:
- Al Lipscomb Way and South Ervay Street;
- Al Lipscomb Way and South Harwood Street;
- Al Lipscomb Way and South Malcolm X Boulevard;
- Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Colonial Avenue;
- Martin Luther King Jr. and South Malcolm X boulevards;
- Martin Luther King Jr. and JB Jackson Jr. boulevards
