The grassroots effort was conceived by Poncho Kachingwe, the owner of the nearby bar/gallery The Hatch.
#Oakland has another mural. Amazing artists got together to bring this beauty to 15th street. pic.twitter.com/QuhBz5ckav
— Warren Logan ----♂️------ (@WarrenMobility)
June 8, 2020 The street art project started late Saturday, when demonstrators took over the stretch of 15th Street and began making preparations to paint the slogan. At one point, Oakland Police officers demanded that organizers hand over their tape measures so for a while, the letters were marked off freehand. Later, word went out from Oakland City Hall: let the painters paint. The tape measures were returned by police and preparations continued.
“There’s so much pizza that was dropped off, I don’t even know where it came from. No clue where it came from, I was like, ‘why is all this food here all of a sudden?’" Kachingwe said. "Water, people were bringing paintbrushes, people were bringing hand sanitizers, masks, everything. It’s actually been more than could ever have been expected."
“This is very unique," Gwen said, who showed up to protest. "I was expecting to put my fists in the air and march, but this is just a different outlet for the same emotion. It’s so inspirational. It brought me to tears.
