Update: 11/6/2020. Photos of the removed mural that was “vandalized” with the phrase BLACK LIVES MATTER. Draft statement by Heather Miller regarding the death of George Floyd.
American Indian Center
Subject: All Life Matters Mural* by Robert Wapahi
*Originally, All Lives Matter
Installed: November 2022
Location: The American Indian Center Building, Chicago, IL (Albany Park)
Commissioned by: American Indian Center (AIC)
– Heather Miller, previous Executive Director of AIC
– Dave Spencer, Director of Arts and Culture for AIC
Location: Chicago, IL (Albany Park)
Date: 11/04/2020
Camera: Canon S110
Article
Open Letter: Heather Miller and the Anti-Black Mural
Comments
- Robert Wapahi was asked to create a mural to reflect on the times of racial and social justice actions in 2020,
- Before being installed, Robert Wapahi had painted ALL LIVES MATTER,
- Staff had a mild objection, and Wapahi changed it to ALL LIFE MATTERS, and the mural was posted for days.
- The AIC Director or the AIC Board has posted no official statement.
- The mural was “vandalized” with the phrase BLACK LIVES MATTER, and within hours, the AIC removed the mural (photos below).
Photographs
Update: 11/6/2020
The mural was “vandalized” with the phrase BLACK LIVES MATTER, and within hours, the American Indian Center removed the mural. The ALL LIFE MATTERS mural stayed up for days.
Draft Statement by Heather Miller
This is the draft statement by Heather Miller, the previous Executive Director of the American Indian Center of Chicago, dated May 2020, in response to the murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis Police. In November 2020, Miller commissioned an ALL LIVES MATTER mural.
Related Article: Photos: American Indian Center an All Life Matters Mural
“Temperatures are rising in Chicago. This week the city got a feel for our upcoming summer weather but also saw our collective blood boil in response to the senseless death of George Floyd at the knee of the Minneapolis police department. His death and subsequent events has sparked outrage here in Chicago yet this is the daily experience of the members of the American Indian Center. Understanding that this country and city that brings us pride was founded on the death and dehumanization of Indigenous, Black and Brown folks. The American Indian Center stands in solidarity and in action with our Black and Brown communities in Minneapolis and Chicago.
People are gathering, expressing themselves and demanding change because we, people of color, are tired of fighting the systems that oppress and continue to dehumanize us and destroy our relationships with the land. In the last few weeks alone, Little Village residents were faced with a surprise demolition that caused massive air quality issues; we’ve seen disproportionate arrests in the south and west side neighborhood; and our Native community is asking for more and more help on a daily basis. The tragedy and violence that occurred in Minneapolis could have easily occurred here in Chicago. The system of colonization oppresses all our communities and keeps us divided. We stand together demanding justice, change, demanding action to rebuild an equitable city.
This weekend brought protests to our city while plans are being made to reopen the city and get back to work, yet going back to work requires a return to a colonized state. It requires that we continue to ignore people, communities and the systemic racism that permeates all factions of life. It requires that our city focuses on profits, corporations, colonization and genocide. It also requires that as people of color, we come together as one voice standing up against this system. Our communities have been divided and are torn apart because the system knows that if we come together as one unified voice in solidarity that we cannot be stopped. The system knows that dividing us and tearing apart our histories, stories and communities keeps us fighting one another rather than the root of the problem.
As a cultural organization, the AIC works to maintain our culture and history despite this system trying to destroy us. AIC has also signed on in support of our relatives in Minneapolis and with all our Urban Indian Centers through the National Urban Indian Family Coalition. We demand justice for George Floyd today and demand that our city of Chicago take steps to enact change that allows for all people to be treated as human beings and not profits.
Given the developing situation, AIC will remain closed to the public through June 30, 2020. We will continue to offer programming online, food distribution every Friday and carry on as the oldest urban Indian Center in the country. If you are in need, please call and leave a message and know that we will be in touch soon. To all our friends, community, members and allies, stay safe, keep fighting and demanding the change that we all want to see for a better future.”
By Heather Miller, previous Executive Director of the American Indian Center of Chicago, May 2020
Creative Commons License
This work by David Bernie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may download, share, and post the images under the condition that the works are attributed to the artist.
