SANTA CRUZ — Community members and local leaders, young and old, united in front of Santa Cruz City Hall on a foggy Saturday afternoon, paint rollers and brushes in hand, to give the Black Lives Matter mural on Center Street a fresh coat of paint.

The block-long art piece was first created with the city’s blessing in 2020 by local artists and community organizers Taylor Reinhold, Sean McGowen, Shandara Gill and Abi Mustapha, following George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police.

“The first time we did this in 2020, it was in solidarity with the mayor of D.C., who put it on the ground so that it ran up to the White House and the president was forced to see it every time he flew in,” said Mustapha. “The reason it’s on the ground is in solidarity with that and the fact that that one was removed, means that this one is even more imperative.”

Mustapha said that the repainting ritual serves as an entry point for community members to get involved and meet others they may not have otherwise, and to also have fun in the process.

“You get to have joy and meet new people and see where you fit in and learn where you can help,” said Mustapha. “I love it. It’s actually really fun too.”

Reinhold, who has painted numerous murals around the city, mentioned that the reasons for creating the BLM mural in front of city hall in 2020 are just as relevant now.

“This is some of the most important social justice work you can do right now,” said Reinhold. “What we’ve been pushing globally and locally for as long as we’ve been making art is a target now and I think it’s wrong. We’re going backwards in history and it’s sad to see that. I think it’s the most important time to work together locally and bring projects like this forward.”

Mustapha mentioned that the absence of local activist Thairie Ritchie at the event was felt by many, as Ritchie is still recovering from his act of self-immolation on top of the mural in late January after President Donald Trump had taken his oath of office.

“There’s a lot and it’s really nuanced,” said Mustapha. “Thairie is our friend and he has been here every year. He’s always come and spoken and painted.”

Local lyricist Isaac Collins, also known as “Lyrical I,” and educator and activist Hector Marin told the Sentinel that the mural repainting is important to the community but that it can be just a performative act for some. They hoped that it would serve as a reminder to the community of Ritchie’s extreme act of protest in January.

“I think this is important, and I think it’s important not to erase what Thairie stood up for and what he did,” said Collins. “For me to be here this year, it’s emotionally deep because I’m thinking about Thairie. I’ve been here for 19 years and I’ve seen a lot of fakeness and seen a lot of people that say things and don’t do things. You can’t pretend to do the work and go home and paint a different picture.”

Marin said that he supports the Black Lives Matter mural in general but was opposed to the repainting Saturday because he felt that it was “painting over Thairie’s self-immolation.”

“There is no peace when there is no justice,” said Marin. “I feel like that’s what we should focus on, amplifying Thairie’s message and standing up to the powers that be and not painting over his self-immolation, which was an act of protest against the current local oligarchy and the against the current status quo that is suppressing and inhibiting Black and brown lives.”

Local author and community builder Thomas Sage Pedersen was leading a speaking circle at the repainting to allow community members to discuss the issues that were important or generally difficult to talk about.

“I agree whole-heartedly with Hector but on the other end of the spectrum, it’s a place where we can actually come together as a community and reaffirm the commitment that we have toward Black lives in our community,” said Pedersen. “I think of this as a sacred space and it’s a space that should be taken care of and seen and respected. It’s not just paint on the ground.”

Also at the repainting event was Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley, who helped restore a portion of the mural.

“For me as mayor, it’s a physical statement of our values as a community, which I think is all the more important given the national politics and the nature of it and the harshness of it,” said Keeley. “And I think when either residents or visitors drive by city hall, it reminds them of one of our core values, which is that we are a community that believes in equality as well as equity, and a community that believes in being actively anti-racist.”

Chair of the local Democratic Party Andrew Goldenkranz mentioned that while much of the political energy locally and nationally is directed at stopping negative change, the repainting event was an example of “people rallying together to keep a positive thing going.”

“And I like the cooperative element to it,” he added. “It would be naive to think that a mural will change a lot of behavior, but it’s nice to brand what’s important to us and especially now when there’s so many rollbacks.”

Santa Cruz County Third District Supervisor Justin Cummings said that the repainting of the mural also serves as a restoration of the community’s commitment to racial and social justice.

“Just because we’ve had a change in the administration, does not mean we’re going away and we’re not going back,” said Cummings. “This renews our commitment to supporting equality and people of all backgrounds in our community.”