“I do not care a damn for any art that is not used for propaganda.”
—W.E.B. Du Bois, 1926
Sometimes, time is all it takes to prove a lie.
How much time? How about five years?
Because five years ago the city of Montgomery told a lie.
Not the biggest lie, but a lie nonetheless – meant to play a small part in the larger mosaic of that presidential year’s big propaganda push.
If you recall, five years ago the nation was shut down in March 2020 after the outbreak of Covid-19, only to be temporarily re-opened in May 2020 for a very special exception to the public health lockdowns – the nationwide protests and riots sparked by the public death of George Floyd.
An Axios report from September 2020 is illustrative of the absurd pretzel logic twisted together in that dirty rotten year:
The protests that took place in 140 U.S. cities this spring were mostly peaceful, but the arson, vandalism and looting that did occur will result in at least $1 billion to $2 billion of paid insurance claims – eclipsing the record set in Los Angeles in 1992 after the acquittal of the police officers who brutalized Rodney King.
Mostly peaceful protests that set records for arson, vandalism and looting?
So 2020!
A Politico report from June 2020 highlights the absurdity even more:
For months, public health experts have urged Americans to take every precaution to stop the spread of Covid-19—stay at home, steer clear of friends and extended family, and absolutely avoid large gatherings.
Now some of those experts are broadcasting a new message: It’s time to get out of the house and join the mass protests against racism.
That brings us to the City of Montgomery’s 2020 lie.
In June 2020, then-newly-elected Mayor Steven Reed granted local artist Michelle Browder permission to paint a mural around Montgomery’s historic Court Square Fountain – once the spot of a slave market in Montgomery’s antebellum period – to commemorate that year’s Juneteenth.
Browder — a well-known racial justice activist who had already received accolades (including an award for tourism from Gov. Kay Ivey, Shuga!) — chose to commemorate Juneteenth 2020 in the most original of ways.
In bold yellow lettering, Browder and her team painted “BLACK LIVES MATTER” around the fountain adorned with Pan-African flourishes of green, red and black that would have made the likes of W.E.B. Du Bois and Marcus Garvey proud.
So, where’s the lie?
Well, if memory serves me correctly, the city of Montgomery made clear at the time that the mural was temporary.
As AL.com reported five years ago:
Today, Browder’s vision was on display at Montgomery’s Court Square. It’s a temporary ‘Black Lives Matter’ mural painted on the walkway that encircles the fountain. …
Jamie Gonzalez of the events team with the city of Montgomery said the artists used a temporary paint that will wash away with water. Gonzalez said the city will pressure clean the walkway once the mural begins to fade or chip.
I forgot all of this until recently. I had been happy to memory-hole much of the lies that made up 2020, big and small.
Then, last week, someone called into my radio show and asked, “Why is BLM still painted around the fountain downtown?”
I blinked.
Is it really still there?
I had just been in downtown Montgomery the week before my caller’s question. I had even parked right next to the Court Square Fountain. But I couldn’t remember seeing the mural.
I hadn’t taken the time to look down!
Maybe the mural was still there, maybe not, but its significance had clearly faded in my mind’s eye. It was just another predictable propaganda play masquerading as art, come and gone, faded into the ho-hum background of a native city that still seems so foreign to me.
Yet, I still wanted a definitive answer. A quick Google search came up with nothing. Not even a Grok “deep search” could find any recent news on the mural. In fact, Grok logically assumed the mural was gone five years hence, given all the 2020 reports that it was temporary.
So, this past Sunday, I wanted to confirm the continued existence of the supposedly temporary mural with my own eyes. I drove downtown and parked right next to the Court Square Fountain again.
This time I made sure to look down.
There it was, right under my feet: “BLACK LIVES MATTER” in bold yellow letters adorned by Pan-African flourishes of red, green and black.
I also caught glimpses of handprints and footprints as well as swarthy silhouettes depicting man’s depravity to man. All had slightly faded from five years of weathering, the borders of each letter had somewhat lost their edge, but it certainly didn’t look like temporary paint that would wash away with water – or that anyone from the city had ever tried to pressure wash it.
The only real difference I noticed at the site from 2020 is that a disgusting portable toilet now sits right on top of the mural, its entrance staring across the street at the Rosa Parks statue and its hind part nestled up against the historic fountain’s threshold. I still can’t decide if it’s just a porta-potty or some kind of art exhibit paying homage to Duchamp – but if that pop-up honey bucket does turn out to be a readymade, then at least it’s an improvement. Maybe the city added it on purpose out of respect for the space.
It’s not that I disagree with the basic sentiment “black lives matter.”
Of course, they do. Like duh.
It’s just that I do not care a damn for any “art” that is used for propaganda. Sorry, but Du Bois was wrong on this one (and so many others!) The worst art is often propaganda. Propaganda can be great art, but then great art’s worst aspect is always its use as propaganda. Any art that self-seriously tries to change the world while spouting the latest party line is always an awful mess in the fullness of time.
The art of propaganda is never found in its earnest slogans, but always in its lies – though sometimes the proof of a lie can take some time. Indeed, the most artistic aspect of that mess of a mural around Montgomery’s Court Square Fountain lies with time – sold as temporary only to still stain the street with the dirty rotten propaganda of years gone by.
Joey Clark is a native Alabamian and is currently the host of the radio program News and Views on News Talk 93.1 FM WACV out of Montgomery, AL M-F 12 p.m. - 3 p.m. His column appears every Tuesday in 1819 News. To contact Joey for media or speaking appearances as well as any feedback, please email [email protected]. Follow him on X @TheJoeyClark or watch the radio show livestream.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
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