Artists Complete Black Lives Matter Mural In Greenwood District

Local artists completed a Black Lives Matter mural Sunday after previous artwork was removed by the city of Tulsa.

The artist said the new mural is not a replacement of the previous mural. Instead, they found a way to create a permanent icon in Greenwood that celebrates Black lives. 

"It was incredibly challenging, but it was so worth it because it’s really just about the message," artist Aunj Braggs said.

Braggs is part of the art group Black Moon Tulsa. She was one of the nine local Black artists who worked on the mural. 

Braggs said they worked countless hours for a week to complete the piece.

"When the Black Lives Matter street painting got removed by the city, I think that some members of the local community wanted to find a way to continue to have something like that or a message like that in Greenwood," Braggs said. 

Braggs explains the design for the 200-foot mural was to highlight Black lives right here in Tulsa. Some of these faces are ones of other artists and also Greenwood residents.

"So we wanted to highlight real people and create a message on top of that — so just add another layer,” Braggs said. “This is about Black Lives Matter and these is the people we're talking about. They matter.” 

Kajeer Yar and his wife commissioned the mural to be painted on the south wall on one of their Greenwood properties, GreenArch Apartments, after the city removed the mural on Greenwood Avenue and Archer Street earlier this month. 

"We believe particularly on Black Wall Street and Greenwood the message of Black Lives Matter is as important today as it was 100 years ago,” Yar said. “We’re happy that, despite the fact that we couldn’t keep it in the street, we can keep it in the district. And I hope what it says to African-American residences in the city that you’re not out here alone. We hear you and we’re all in this together."

Yar said since it was painted on his private property, the city cannot remove the mural. Yar and the artists hope the message brings unity.

"I don’t know if painting a mural it’s going to change politics but I think it is going to communicate that you can say, ‘Black Lives Matter’ without retaliation and people here understand,” Yar said. “Hopefully, it’s a step in the right direction as far as Tulsa with more inclusiveness.”