Sebastopol debuts Black Lives Matter mural

About 250 people showed up Friday afternoon at the Sebastopol town plaza to leave their personal mark on a new mural with a clear message: Black Lives Matter.

A group of young Sebastopol activists energized over recent protests against the killing of Black men and women created the mural, which consisted of the words “Black Lives Matter” painted in bright yellow letters on a walkway in the square, said Dezi Kai, a senior at Analy High School who helped organize the public display.

It was inspired by similar street murals with the same message that have cropped up in places including Washington, D.C., and Oakland in recent weeks, Kai said.

On Friday, community members were invited to help put the finishing touches on the Sebastopol version of the street mural by adding multicolored handprints around the yellow lettering.

The mural was of special significance for Sebastopol, where few Black residents live, Kai said.

Nearly 83% of the town is white, U.S. Census figures showed. Black residents made up 2% of the town’s population and about 10% are Latino.

“A lot of us kind of feel not seen in our community and in our schools,” said Kai, who is Black. “This was a way to say, ’Hey, we’re here.’”

The group brought the project before Sebastopol’s Public Arts Committee during a special meeting July 6 and then to the Sebastopol City Council during its meeting the following day.

The council approved the creation of the mural in the town’s plaza and agreed to allocate $1,000 in city funds to cover the cost of supplies.

Organizers began sketching out the lettering for the mural in chalk on Monday and began painting the words with paint formulated for roads by Thursday.

Soon after the start of the event Friday afternoon, a line stretched across part of the plaza as families and friends waited to dip their hand in paint and leave their mark on the mural. Music boomed from two loudspeakers set up at a gazebo in the plaza, and a break dancer preformed for the group about an hour after the event began.

Among those in the line was Tala Arabi, a Windsor resident who was accompanied by her two younger brothers. She saw Friday’s event as a way to continue participating in the Black Lives Matter movement.

“It’s a very creative and beautiful way to bring awareness to the entire situation,” Arabi said.

Vicky Garcia, 55, of Sebastopol said she heard about the event through word of mouth and commended the activists who put together the mural, as well as the message behind it.

“We need it in Sebastopol and in every city,” Garcia said of the mural. “So that people realize what’s going on.”

Organizers and participants all donned face masks for the event. The group Covered Comrades, which has provided free masks at several Black Lives Matter marches since early June, offered handmade cloth coverings at no cost to attendees.

While the group has seen a lot of support for the project, Kai said there has been some resistance.

That included an encounter on Thursday afternoon, as Kai and other organizers were painting the yellow lettering for the mural in the plaza. A man who was with his family started an argument with the group over the mural, which he faulted as not being inclusive, Kai said.

“We did an amazing job educating instead of just saying ’you’re wrong,’” Kai said. “It’s about uplifting Black lives right now. We’re also about uplifting everybody’s life, but right now we need to focus on people that have been oppressed for so long and haven’t been seen in our country.”

You can reach Staff Writer Nashelly Chavez at 707-521-5203 or nashelly.chavez@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @nashellytweets.