A sign erected last summer in Sacramento’s Curtis Park last summer in support of the Black Lives Matter movement has found a new home in the Oak Park neighborhood.
The sign will be placed in McClatchy Park following a unanimous vote by the Sacramento City Council, provided it’s installed in a manner that meets the Community Development Department’s permit and engineering requirements.
The sign can stay in a mutually agreed upon location in McClatchy Park for two years and must be maintained in a safe condition. The sign would not be interactive or a place where messages or memorials can be added, as originally requested. City maintenance will have the right to remove the sign if it is vandalized and the letters are not replaced, or it becomes a safety hazard.
Last summer, Sacramento resident and skilled woodworker Zach Trowbridge donated a Black Lives Matter sign to a local group, which erected it in Curtis Park as a show of support for the movement. But the group did so without the City of Sacramento’s permission.
Trowbridge cut out and painted the sign’s letters, which he adorned with the names of unarmed Black persons killed by police. The local group that put up the sign also placed a blank wood board on which the public was encouraged to write personal messages.
Community members added more signs and placed candles and other items below the message board. After the sign was vandalized and became unsafe, Trowbridge took down, repossessed and repaired it.
The Black Lives Matter organization was founded in 2013 and seeks to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted upon Black communities. Its namesake movement has been nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize.