June 9, 2020

Trump Built a Fence Around the White House. Protesters Turned It Into a Canvas.

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The 8-foot-tall fence around the White House has been creatively repurposed by the public as a wall of memorial to Black lives lost to police violence. Designed to keep protesters at bay, the fence has become a canvas of voices—a gallery of artwork, photos, posters, and letters of remembrance and petition for police reform. Art and activism have a long intersecting history in the United States, explored in Scott Saul’s Freedom Is, Freedom Ain’t, James Edward Smethurst’s The Black Arts Movement, and countless other books and portraits. See the images here, here, and here. Thanks to my colleague Grace Molteni for the tip.

Bonus boost: On the brink of closure, a Florida cafe was saved by a patron who gave $40,000 to the owner to keep it open and feed hospital workers. The donor handed him envelopes of money and ordered 100 sandwiches to be sent each day to a hospital across the street. And did it anonymously.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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