PERSIST MURAL CELEBRATES BLACK WOMEN OF HISTORY
NORTHEAST PORTLAND
Portland Street Art Alliance (PSAA) has teamed up with muralist Jamaali Roberts (@jamjamart) to paint a new mural on Martin Luther King Blvd near Alberta Street in Portland, Oregon. The mural is entitled "Persist" and is a memorial and tribute to several black women who have helped shape equality in the workplace, schools, and legal systems across Oregon and the United States.
Image: Muralist Jamaali Roberts working on their largest mural to-date on MLK Blvd in Portland. PSAA Photographer: Sara Sjol
Jamaali Roberts is a designer, painter, teacher, curator, musician and crystal enthusiast. Jamaali studied painting at the Pacific Northwest College of Art and splits his time between Portland and his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. His goal is to start an art-based healing center and teach workshops that use the body, mind, and materials to rise above self-doubt and nurture self-confidence.
Jamaali’s new mural depicts portraits of Lucille Bridges and her daughter, Ruby Bridges, who together broke the race barrier in 1960 in New Orleans, by being the first black student to desegregate an all-white school. Following the Brown vs. the Board of Education case in 1954, the William Frantz Public School ushered in a new wave of desegregated education. This was not an easy process. Ruby and her mother were harassed to the point that local police Marshals were required to escort them to and from school everyday.
These moments were famously documented in the powerful photographs that to this day are iconic of the 1960s movement for equality and social justice. Outside of school, Ruby’s immediate family faced fallout and disdain from their community, losing their jobs and even property because of the desegregation crisis. Ruby and her mother, however, persisted, they attended school even facing this harsh backlash. Now, children all over the United States can go to school with students from all different nationalities and backgrounds. Lucille Bridges, passed away after successfully giving her four children the education she was denied as a youth due to helping her parents work in the fields immediately after 8th grade. Lucille Bridges passed away of cancer in her New Orleans home in November of 2020.
On the right side of the mural is a portrait of Senator Margaret Louise Carter, the first African-American woman elected to the Oregon State Legislature. Senator Carter also worked to change the way of life for Blacks and all Oregonians. Senator Carter, who was also born in Louisiana, traveled to Portland with her family in the 1960's, received her degrees from Portland State University and Oregon State University and later joined the Oregon Senate in 1983 only to endure harsh racism and sexism from her comrades. But, she persisted through the insults and as a Senate member, Carter pushed a pro-education agenda that included the creation of regional skills-training centers as well as summer programs for kids. During her 23 years of service, Senator Carter also passed a bill declaring Martin Luther King Jr. Day to be an official holiday in Oregon. Senator Carter is currently retired from her senate duties, but remains an active community member, behind the scenes supporting colleagues in sports, politics, and education.
“Besides all hailing from Louisiana, these women have shown me what it means to be persistent against the odds. During this painting process, I had to persist through challenges of mind and body, excitement and fatigue, and even the occasional harasser. Ideas had to shift in order to arrive at the image you see today and I am proud of this piece, my largest ever. In my own life I have dealt with racism in school and racists in Portland, too; yet, I could not imagine the emotional weight on these women shoulders during their clashes with highly agitated and violent white people. As an honor to their struggles and accomplishments as humans and mothers, this mural visually places these women on a plane of existence 17 feet higher than that of base-level ignorance. These women look at the reading youth in the mural and out at us from a higher plane of wisdom, grace, and compassion.”
- Jamaali Roberts
Jamaali worked closely with the PSAA team and with the new building owner, Jane Paulson, and her colleague, Caprese in designing the mural and preparing for all the logistics that go into mural making. Jane purchased the building in 2020 and is working to renovate it to be used as a Pickleball Court. She wanted to not just put a fresh coat of paint on the exterior, she wanted to do something to give back to the local community and support working artists at the same time.
“PSAA’s team always had my back and made sure I was safe, hydrated, and prepared for the elements. Thanks to all my “ground control;” my ladder holders and mural visitors. Thank you to Danish for your help painting the text. Thanks to Maquette from Alberta Art Works and Jon Stommel for lending me large sturdy ladders. Thanks Daniel, Mad, and Ken for putting me up. Thanks to all the random people who honked at me in support of the work.”
- Jamaali Roberts