The 'Black Lives Matter' mural spanning three blocks in Oakland almost didn't happen

A massive street mural with an urgent message has taken over downtown Oakland.

With the help of at least 400 artists and volunteers, a public art piece reading “Black Lives Matter” in bold, yellow letters now spans three blocks along Broadway and took an entire day to paint. Most of the participants arrived early Sunday morning, paintbrushes in hand — though several other volunteers were passerby that noticed what was going on and decided to jump in themselves.

"At the end of the day, it was about what we created," said Pancho Kachingwe, the owner of The Hatch, the bar where the mural started. "Maybe there was someone walking by who thought, 'I don't understand why people are looting.' Now they see all of these people painting, and it opens up a conversation with someone they normally wouldn't talk to. If you can create those moments with art, that's so powerful — it creates a ripple effect that you wouldn’t possibly imagine."

The project was facilitated by Endeavors Oakland, the new community outreach branch of Good Mother Gallery located on 13th St. Inspired by the public art piece in Washington D.C. that could be seen from space as well as other murals popping up around the city, Endeavors Oakland co-founders Assan Jethmal and Pancho Kachingwe decided to spearhead their own project while uplifting community voices.

Kachingwe recounted when Jethmal asked him if they could use the pavement in front of the bar as their canvas.

“No, we’re gonna cover the street, all three blocks,” he responded. “We’re gonna do it Oakland style.”

Not long after, they got in touch with the Bay Area Mural Program, which helped facilitate the project as the Bay Area’s only initiative of its kind led by people of color. On Saturday night, they began to stencil the outline of each letter in the street, starting with the word “Matters” and working their way backwards.

The artists were picking up their paint supplies and moving onto the next block when BAMP executive director and artist Natty Rebel said he noticed an unmarked white van approaching them. Ten police officers filed out of it and wordlessly began to load the artists’ tools into their trunk.

“We were like deer in the headlights,” said Rebel. “We didn’t know what they were doing. They didn’t tell us we were vandalizing. There were no spoken words.”

Once the supplies had been cleared from the street, the police left just as quickly as they had arrived. Rebel said he and Sorell Raino-Tsui, the director of Athen B Gallery, jumped in a car and followed them. Eventually, they met up at the police station where officers told them they were responding to a report of vandalism. Rebel said the artists had received approval from Mayor Libby Schaaf earlier that day, but that red tape had likely prevented the message from being passed along to law enforcement. At that point, he just wanted his paint back.

“They said they would give it to us, but if we went back and started working again that night, we would be arrested,” said Rebel. “We decided we would go back. If a painting on the street really upsets you, we need to do more paintings.”

(SFGATE reached out to the Oakland Police Department for comment, but hadn't received a response as of the time of publication.)

The artists also knew that if they didn’t complete the first phase of the mural that night, it might not be ready for the community to paint the following day. They finally left around one in the morning, according to Kachingwe, who said all he could do was “ask for forgiveness” from the city when everyone woke up the next day and saw what they had done.

But the reality was quite different.

Hundreds of people showed up with their own paintbrushes and rollers, while several volunteers dropped off supplies and handed out masks, water, gloves and hand sanitizer. Robin Easterbrook, a manager at the Hatch, helped transport meals from a Senior Sisig food truck parked nearby. Meanwhile, DJs played old soul and hip-hop as participants talked and danced in the road. Cars driving by honked in support, and Mayor Libby Schaaf showed up to join them in their efforts as well.

View this post on Instagram

Community led #BlackLivesMatter street mural going up downtown! TY to Oakland’s incredible art community for making this happen. @goodmothergallery #TheHatchOakland

A post shared by Libby Schaaf (@libbyschaaf) on Jun 7, 2020 at 1:00pm PDT

“It became a street party,” said Kachingwe. “People were prideful, there was joy, there were people that were mourning. It was cathartic at the same time. It was one of those things you had to be there to experience. You will never be able to encapsulate a feeling, but at least you can document it.”

That’s what Endeavors Oakland is focusing on next as they develop a catalogue of the murals created throughout the city following the death of George Floyd. There are plans for the photos to be published in the first chapter of a book titled “Rebel with a Cause.” Over $5,000 has been raised in a GoFundMe campaign to support their efforts and pay the artists involved. An identical mural is even expected to appear on Milvia Street in front of Berkeley's city hall sometime this week, reports Berkeleyside.

“When we look at civilizations throughout history that we admire, what do we remember? The art,” said Rebel. “Artists provide the voice of a community. If you went down the block and looked at the murals people are making, say, 500 years from now, this is what’s left. These are modern day hieroglyphics, this art depicts what people are thinking and going through. If I have to spend my last bit of money on paint, I’ll do it, because this is what I’m feeling.”

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Amanda Bartlett is a culture reporter for SFGATE. Email: amanda.bartlett@sfgate.com | Twitter: @byabartlett