Public Art and Social Justice: The Impact of Street Murals in the Black Lives Matter Movement Protests

Abstract

Street murals became widely visible after the killing of George Floyd in 2020, when the BLM movement expanded across major U.S. cities. This study aimed to investigate the impact street murals had on the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests. Activists painted street murals of victims, the Black Lives Matter slogan, armed police officers, and messages to support the movement. The qualitative study recruited eight participants for interviews. Participants were college students selected through convenience sampling. Interviews were recorded via Zoom, transcribed, and coded using Nvivo to identify patterns in the data. Thematic analysis revealed that murals united the public in support of BLM, enlightened the public about racial injustices, and increased calls for police reforms. However, the destruction and removal of some murals reveals political divisions in the country, which will delay racial justice in the country. The study concludes that murals are powerful forms of public art that activists can use to highlight social problems and increase support. The study is significant because understanding how the public responds to visual activism reveals the crucial role of art in social change.