Bigger cities across America have painted BLACK LIVES MATTER on major streets as a way to show solidarity with Black communities, denounce the continued brutalization of Black people by police, and as a public statement in support of Black lives, experiences, and voices.

Cities like Washington DC and Charlotte have already done this, and closer to home, Sacramento and Oakland. Palo Alto cannot and should not wait to show its commitment to standing up for Black lives, when larger and far more bureaucratic cities have already shown theirs. This is not the time for the city to waste time with process. This is a time for decisive action.

BLACK LIVES MATTER painted on Hamilton Ave. in downtown Palo Alto, adjacent to Dr. Martin Luther King Plaza, will also serve as a reminder to our entire city—our City Council, the Mayor and City Manager, and, especially the police department—that our commitment to social justice and civil rights must not be performative. This is call to action.

We ask that the project be led, created, and approved by Black members of our community, and be completed by June 19, 2020 in honor of Juneteenth, the oldest known holiday honoring the end of slavery.