A message that is too powerful to miss now lines Plum Street in downtown Cincinnati. This typically bustling street is causing locals to stop and absorb what Plum Street has to offer.  

Downtown Cincinnati is home to stadiums, businesses, parks and restaurants. Cincinnati is located in Hamilton County, which is home to over 800,000 people. This can make streets downtown hectic and crowded no matter the occasion. Recently, individuals and groups have made their way downtown specifically to observe a new, meaningful work of art turned activism.

Local Black artists lead by the group Black Art Speaks took to Plum Street in June to create a Black Lives Matter mural. The mural takes up the entirety of the street and sits directly outside of City Hall. 

Vehicles are still permitted on Plum Street and traffic proceeds as normal. There have been discussions of turning the area into a plaza for community members to better view and visit the mural. 

The mural is based off of the poem "We Want What You Want," written by Alandes Powell, the visionary and co-owner of Black Art Speaks. Each artist was assigned one letter in "Black Lives Matter" to design.

Cedric Michael Cox, a long-time Cincinnati artist, contributed to the mural. Cox created the letter "E" in "matter" and designed it based off of the line in the poem, "to provide for our families." 

Cox hopes the mural creates real, positive change.

The voices of Black artists continue to be amplified despite challenges already taking place. An unknown subject vandalized the mural only a few weeks after its creation by pouring red paint over portions of the artwork. 

Four days after the vandalism, Hamilton County declared racism a public health crisis. 

The Black Lives Matter mural was not mentioned as reasoning behind the declaration, but did spark conversations about racism in Cincinnati and Hamilton County.

The resolution focuses on protecting and improving the health of impacted communities though education, services and promoting equitable and accessible healthcare. 

Now more than ever there seems to be a hope for understanding, empathy and change in Cincinnati and Hamilton County thanks to the work of community members and those in positions of political power alike striving for long overdue change.