Wall of Respect

Wall of Respect
Year	1967-1971
Medium	paint on masonry
Location	Chicago

The Wall of Respect was a mural first painted in 1967 by the Visual Arts Workshop of the Organization of Black American Culture (OBAC). The mural represented the contributions of fourteen designers, photographers, painters, and others, notably Chicago muralist William Walker. The work comprised a montage of portraits of heroes and heroines of African American history painted on the side of a building at the corner of Chicago's 43rd Street and Langley Avenue, an area called the Black Belt. Notable images included Martin Luther King, Jr., Nat Turner, Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Gwendolyn Brooks, W.E.B. Dubois, Marcus Garvey, Aretha Franklin, and Harriet Tubman.

The Wall of Respect was an example of the Black Arts Movement, an artistic school associated with the Black Power Movement. The scholarly journal Science & Society underscored the significance of the Wall of Respect as "the first collective street mural," in the "important subject [of] the recently emerged street art movement." However, soon after its creation, increasingly polarized interpretations of heroic action within the African American community caused conflict over the paintings, notably with the replacement by artist Eugene Eda of more defiant leaders and symbols, such as the fist of the Black Power Movement.

After fire damaged the building it was painted on in 1971, the Wall of Respect was torn down. Largely forgotten by the mainstream art world, the Wall of Respect continues to be an important cultural reference point for local community members and the subject of scholarly inquiry.

...
Wikipedia