Change mural

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The Change mural

The Change mural is a painted mural facing a vacant lot on the west side of the one-story commercial building at 323-331 Reverend Abraham Woods Jr Boulevard, across from Parker High School in Smithfield. It was painted in 2017 by Darryl Grant and Melissa King as a continuation of G. Bodile Balams' older Dynamite Hill mural.

The mural includes a broad red banner across the top of the Dynamite Hill mural and depicts then-President Barack Obama shown speaking at the White House briefing room. A painted quotation reads, "Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." The words are from Obama's February 5, 2008 speech in Chicago, Illinois, thanking supporters as "Super Tuesday" results indicated he would win the Democratic nomination for President.

The image of President Obama's face was vandalized with black spray paint in the Summer of 2019. Grant repainted the image, but it was vandalized again in September, with the vandal also painting out Grant's signature. Grant and Balams have pledged to restore the murals.

References

  • Clark, Michael (September 23, 2019) "Mural of Barack Obama defaced in Birmingham’s Smithfield neighborhood." CBS42.com
  • Dionne, Brittany (September 24, 2019) "Two artists send message to person who vandalized mural of former president Barack Obama." WBRC.com