Happy Juneteenth, Staten Island! Black Lives Matter Mural Painted On Richmond Terrace

Today, the phrase “BLACK LIVES MATTER,” in gargantuan yellow all-caps sans-serif type, was paint-rollered onto Richmond Terrace.

Black Lives Matter Mural On Richmond Terrace From Chopper2 News Copter. Image Credit- WCBS-TV NYC

Mayor de Blasio helped out with the street art mural, as well as dozens of members of the community.

NYC Councilwoman Debi Rose, an African American woman, was present and had this to say to Channel 2 News:

“Every day, the officials in Borough Hall will be reminded that Black lives matter. Every day, in that court, in Supreme and Surrogates Court, they will be reminded that Black Lived matter.  And, most importantly, here at the 120 [Police] Precinct.”

Black Lives Matter Street Mural On Richmond Terrace From Chopper2 News Copter. View Two. Image Credit- WCBS-TV NYC

Black Lives Matter Plaza Signage Installed At Wall Street And Richmond Terrace. Image Credit- WCBS-TV NYCThe street mural is painted just outside the Staten Island Ferry terminal, across from the Empire Outlets Mall, right in front of the Richmond County Surrogate’s Court, stretching nearly to the front of the 120.

Richmond Terrace and Wall Street has also been renamed to Black Lives Matter Plaza.

Black Lives MatterMural Being Paint-Rollered Onto Richmond Terrace. Image Credit WCBS-TV NYC

According to Mayor de Blasio, each borough will have its won Black Lives Plaza named in coming weeks.

Juneteenth is also known as Liberation Day, Jubilee Day, Freedom Day, and Emancipation Day.

The holiday began in Texas, and celebrates the emancipation of former salves in the U.S.

On June 19, 1865, Union Army general; Gordon Granger formally announced that all slaves in the state of Texas were now free. The announcement was made in Galveston, Texas.

Mayor de Blasio Helps Out With The Staten Island North Shore Black Lives Matter Mural. Image Credit- WCBS-TV NYC

President Abraham Lincoln had already issued the Emancipation proclamation on September 22, 1862.

By 1865, there were nearly a quarter of a million slaves in Texas, most brought there by other Southern slave-owners fleeing their own states, war-torn and now slave-free.

Members Of The Staten Island Community Create The Black Lives Matter Memorial On Juneteenth, 2020. Image Credit- WCBS-TV NYC

People across Staten island gathered in backyards and in the streets. Some had family BBQs, others observed the holiday by reflecting quietly and reading about Black history.

BLACK LIVES MATTER Street Art Mural, Staten Island. Image Credit- WCBS-TV NYC