On the anniversary of a murder by cop ...

In the year since George Floyd gasped his last breaths, I've walked and photographed 73 out of the 596 precincts in the city. The photos demonstrate that sheltering-in-place San Franciscans, in every corner of the city, have posted an amazing variety of messages in support of the demand for greater racial justice, expressing their foundational recognition that Black Lives Matter.

 

Some present a complex array of worthy demands.

 

Some blend with their surroundings.

 

A few offer practical support. 

 

Some recall other historic popular struggles.

 

Some support the neighbors.

 

Some are art.

 

Some take advantage of natural features.

 

Some manifestations provide small commercial opportunities.

 

Some aim to raise the banal to something more enduring.

 

Some rocks will not be moved.

I have friends who dismiss all this San Franciscan signage as performative virtue signaling.  They are not all wrong. What concrete good does displaying BLM messages do? 

But on the other hand, isn't some level of consciousness that something has to be done a prerequisite to more justice? I think so. Every sign seems to me a momentary, possibly fleeting, blow against apathy and inertia. It's up to all of us to make these manifestations more.