Black Lives Matter Plaza destroyed, students speak out

Construction workers, broken yellow bricks and dust filled the Washington D.C. street just a block away from the White House as the demolition of Black Lives Matter Plaza began on Monday.

The landmark, which represented a public display against the protest of the police brutality most recently precipitated by George Floyd’s 2020 death, is now deconstructed, leaving these students, and others, worried about erasing the historical movement. 

According to the Associated Press, after threats of federal budget cuts from President Donald Trump and Congress about taking over D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser decided to remove and rename the bright yellow Black Lives Matter mural last week. 

“The mural inspired millions of people and helped our city through a painful period, but now we can’t afford to be distracted by meaningless congressional interference,” Bowser said in an X statement on March 4. 

The Senate debated Wednesday whether or not to pass a bill that would cut around $1 billion in the next six months for D.C. If taken into effect, the bill would mostly freeze federal funding and force D.C. into a lower budget, according to the New York Times.

Junior psychology major, Isabella Gonzalez, believes the mural shouldn’t be taken down. 

“It’s a form of freedom, like speech, in a sense,” she said. “Taking it down is not fair because it doesn’t align with the people.” 

Jessica Annoh, a junior kinesiology major, believes that taking the mural down defeats the purpose of putting it up, questioning the motives of the Trump administration.

“I feel like [by] taking it down, [the Trump Administration] is trying to prove a point,” Annoh said. “They almost discredit what the movement was for.” 

The mural’s removal made junior supply chain management major Kocob Habte emotional. 

“That’s messed up… It sounds like Trump though, unfortunately. That’s why I’m not shocked at all,” Habte said. 

Gabrielle Felix, a junior economics major, agreed, adding, “It’s kind of sad to see steps being taken backwards versus forward.”