{"id":3892,"date":"2020-09-13T12:35:39","date_gmt":"2020-09-13T12:35:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=3892"},"modified":"2023-03-27T15:52:19","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T15:52:19","slug":"wade-williams-durhams-activist-with-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2020\/09\/13\/wade-williams-durhams-activist-with-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Wade Williams, Durham\u2019s activist with art"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u201cVA 2-211-685\u201d is scrawled in black marker across a sheet of paper. Wade H. Williams, artist at his own company Artist at Large, holds up his handiwork to his computer cam. He is sitting in his studio, with a charcoal portrait he’s just finished in the background. He wears large round glasses and a silver earring dangles from his left ear. Above his lip a handlebar mustache is expertly curled at each corner.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The string of letters and numbers he\u2019s holding up over our Zoom call is the copyright registration number of his painting in downtown Durham, created when Black artists showed their opposition to police violence with an extraordinary collection of murals. The painting, called \u201cLady Justice\/ Black Lives Matter,\u201d depicts a Black Lady Justice wearing a white blindfold and holding the scales of justice. It can be seen on West Chapel Hill Street at Five Points downtown.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It was opportunistic protest art. “Lady Justice” is one of many works along Main Street and West Chapel Hill Street after local businesses boarded their windows with plywood in response to Durham\u2019s Black Lives Matter protests in June. The wood provided a canvas for Black artists to make statements about racism and the BLM movement.<\/span><\/p>\n