A community rallied together on Wednesday after a “Black Lives Matter" mural was defaced overnight, with the word “Black” changed to the word “All.”
On Wednesday, residents gathered together to not only repaint the mural, but also to adorn it with chalked personal messages.
The Revolutionary Oak Park Youth Action League (ROYAL), along with supporters of the group, were behind the large-scale wave of support.
“The message that Black people have to hear every day is that our lives are not valued,” Makayla Pye of ROYAL said. “And when we say ‘Black Lives Matter,’ all lives matter too.”
Hundreds of people joined in a rally and a march to call attention to the incident, and to continue pushing the group’s message forward.
It is unclear who was responsible for the vandalism, but ROYAL members have a message for the person, or people, responsible.
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“If you were brave enough to come cover this up, be brave enough to say what you did,” Ray Longstreet said.
Oak Park police have gathered evidence that they hope will allow them to identify the vandals, and anyone with information is encouraged to call authorities.
