Malice Green Monument Mural

In response to the recent slayings of George Floyd and Breyonna Taylor at the hands of law enforcement, Sydney James is initiating The Malice Green Mural Monument. The project will benefit the residents of Highland Park and Detroit, MI as well as others who are afflicted by the constant assault on black life by law enforcement. This mural will give Malice Green and other ancestors who have died at the hands of police brutality, as well as their surviving families and communities their deserved visibility in recorded and cultural history. With the names included in the mural spanning from 1979-2020 the benefits are for all descendants of Africa in America across the generations contained within that time period. 


Being executed at the Hamilton-Tucker Gallery in the 48203 zip-code shared by both Detroit and Highland Park, MI, the space is co-owned by James, and fellow artisans Breann White and Rayshard Tucker. Hamilton-Tucker Gallery will house the large scale piece on its wall facing south, viewable by oncoming northbound traffic, on Hamilton St., recalling the beauty of the once secondary shopping strip to Highland Park residents. 


Sydney James had this to say in a post that is approaching viral status from her personal Facebook profile:


“I’m tired. WE’RE TIRED! I was 13 years old when Malice Green was murdered by the Police. I was 13 years old when he got a glimpse of justice. I remember when the artist, Bennie White's mural of Malice Green panned across my tv screen on the news. I knew then, even at the young age of 13, he was a symbol. He was the symbol of the injustices and mistreatment of Black and Brown people in this country dating back centuries. The Black tears that flowed from his eyes was a cry out of all the black tears around the world. It was much to my dismay that I found out the mural had been demolished. Police brutality has been at an all time high in my lifetime in the matter of just weeks. WE ARE TIRED! And we need our symbol present.”


She went further to detail the purpose of the event as being to honour the fallen victims of uthless lynchings dating back to 1979, the year of her birth. 


“I want to offer protest in my way and in my voice. My voice is art. I choose to use my voice to tell the world that WE have had enough! #saytheirnames”


This project is scheduled to be completed by Juneteenth 2020 (Friday June 19, 2020) and unveiled at an intimate gathering that will also be live streamed for digital audiences from a platform to be announced. Sydney James' BLKOUT Walls has mobilized a team of community professionals including project manager Alexis Draper of Down The Rabbit Hole Productions to execute this large scale work in just under three weeks. The budget and donor levels are outlined further below with an urgency for fundraising goals to be reached within the next 48 hours (June 2, 2020) at 11:59PM:


Boom Lift 34ft 4 wheel drive - 1 week $900.00 x 2= $1800


Scissor lift - 1 week $500


Wall prep - $1000


Paint - $2500
(944 spray paint, exterior house paint and Chroma Mural paint)

Assistant stipends - 500x3=$1500
(Bakpak Duren, Ijania Cortez, Cyrah)

Documentation crew (photographer/videographer) stipends- 750x2=$1500
(Breann White, Lamar Landers)

Misc. expenses (brushes, cleaning supplies, first aid, food and water for crew)- $1200

The first 50 $100 donors will receive a signed and numbered archival giclee print of the final mural and a postcard featuring the concept sketch for the mural.

$25- $99 donors will receive printed postcards featuring the concept sketch for the mural.

In the event of surpassing our financial goal, the overflow funds will be donated to the volunteers that will help make this project successful and toward relief efforts and legal fees of affected protestors.

For inquiries on ways to support this work, please contact Alexis Draper at [email redacted].