‘Racism is a sickness.’ Mural in Rochester defaced by racist graffiti – Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Teens contribute to Wall Therapy 2017

A trio of Rochester teen girls are showcasing the beauty in their differences in giant mural.

Shawn Dowd

A Black Lives Matter mural on Clarissa Street was defaced over the weekend with white supremacist graffiti.

Twenty-four hours later, the mural painted by Roc Paint Division alumnus Etana Browen, Nzinga Muhammad and Kaori-Mei Stephens was back to its original form.

More: Three teen girls, one big mural with a message

The painting a self-portrait of its three Black artists and part of WALL/THERAPY'S 2017 seasonvibrantly pops off an outerbrick wall at the Flying Squirrel Community Space.

"Rather than give any recognition to hate, we want to highlight the mural and celebrate its powerful message once again," WALL/THERAPY wrote on their Instagram page Sunday.

In a 2017 report by the Democrat & Chronicle, Muhammad explained the message of the art is Black lives matter and within that, there are several perspectives.

Muhammad is Muslim, Kaori-Mei Stephens and Etana Browne are Afro-Asian and Afro-Caribbean, respectively.

Browne stated in the article; the piece also says, "no matter what you are mixed with, you are black and you are part of Black Lives Matter, and your life does matter."

The three artists all issued statements in the aftermath of the vandalism and prompt restoration.

"Our mural is a tribute to the beauty of Blackness and the diversity within our community and diaspora," according to Muhammad's statement. "It also serves as an artistic protest against the very injustice, oppression and bigotry that the tagger chose to display. However, there is no need to put a mural up with this kind of purpose in a place where injustice is not happening. Regardless of the Black judges, mayors, teachers, and leaders, we have in this city, racism is a sickness that has not yet been healed.

Browne's statement notes: "Our mural in Corn Hill was the biggest message we could put in the city, to reassure and bring power to our people and to show we're always ready to fight back. For white supremacists to try and destroy and defile our art just shows the real issue in the world that we work so hard to overcome."

"The best memory I have while creating this mural is when a little girl walked by, pointed up and said, 'that looks like me,' Kaori-Mei Stephens wrote. "At that moment, I understood the power that art has to uplift and inspire, and I felt so proud to be part of this work. Learning about the hateful vandalism, I was saddened but not surprised. What they did could and has already been undone. But what they can never do is take away our hope, our pride or our joy. In fact, this ignorant act only gives us another opportunity to talk about and celebrate Black diversity.

The disturbing hate symbols sprayed over the mural promoted violence against both Black and Jewish people.

"I am a Jewish person, and I am here to call out this senseless act of violence against our community," Alana Bowen, an organizer with the Rochester chapter of Food Not Bombs, wrote in a statement.

Bowen, who got a chance to see the symbols of hate Saturday afternoon, said shewas deeply saddened by the damage.

"The Flying Squirrel is a gem in this community," Bowen wrote."It has been a support to so many justice-making movements here in the city of Rochester."

The parking lot of The Flying Squirrel was once home to Pythodd Jazz Room, a world-famous music venue for iconic jazz musicians. Urban renewal policies uprooted the club and many other Black-owned establishments on the strip.

The Flying Squirrel community condemned the defacement of the Black Lives Matter mural on its their building, which served as the last stop of a walking tour of Clarissa Street, which once was home to a thrivingAfrican American community. The tour is ledby community elders who experienced that time in historyand by youth leaders from Teen Empowerment.

The Flying Squirrel says itcanceled a news conference slated for that Saturday afternoon so the significance of the walking tour, which ended in the parking lot that same afternoon,would not be overshadowed.

"These actions will not deter the Flying Squirrel Community Space from providing space and resources to people engaging in activism that centers racial, economic and social justice in Rochester," The Flying Squirrel wrote in a statement.

There has been an eruption of anti-racist street art popping up across the country in the wake of George Floyd's murder, according to researchers conducted by the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Researchers believe it could be "the largest global explosion of street art addressing one single event or subject in history."

In Rochester, there were several examples of anti-racist street art, including Shawn Dunwoody's "Enough" mural painted on the side of what used to be the City Blue Imaging building, now gone due to a fire.

More: Artists from WNY, CNY have their work showcased at the Memorial Art Gallery

Urban Art Mapping created a database that documents examples of art from around the world that have emerged in the aftermath of Floyd's murder.

Nzinga Muhammad said shebelieves the mural has done its job despite offensive opposition.

"It took four years for cowardly individuals to come out and deface a symbol of resistance and power," Muhammad said in her statement. "Thank you for showing us how important our message is and how four years later, it still stands as a relevant artistic demonstration of anti-racism and unity."

Contact Robert Bellat: rlbell@gannett.com. Follow him onTwitter: @byrobbell & Instagram:@byrobbell

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'Racism is a sickness.' Mural in Rochester defaced by racist graffiti - Rochester Democrat and Chronicle