Art speaks a thousand words and often has the power to move and inspire people which words fail to do. The Liberation Wall 2017-2020 by artist Kyle Holbrook with his arts organisation, Moving Lives of Kids Community Mural Project (MLK Mural) illustrates this idea perfectly.
The striking mural can be found in Pittsburgh, on the exterior of a large wall of a Catholic school building which now houses Community Empowerment Association, a social services agency in a predominantly African-American community in Homewood, Pittsburgh.
The vibrantly coloured mural is a complex two-part artwork which reflects the African-American community who have been neglected for long. The vertical wall depicts several prominent figures, like black athletes, musicians, activists and even soldiers and World War veterans.
One can easily spot prominent figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, Billie Holiday, Jackie Robinson, victims of lynchings and police violence including Emmett Till, and of course George Floyd and Antwon Rose II.
The Liberation Wall also voices some of the brutal acts of violence faced by the African-American community, like the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the self-sustaining black community was completely wiped out by an agitated white mob.
A typical characteristic of the community&rsquos painting style, the use of myriad bold colours and motifs, can be seen where the two parts of the vertical mural is divided by a &lsquoriver of colours&rsquo which colourful ribbons and arrows.
The other section runs across a lower horizontal wall and is based around three dominating towering pyramids with a wavy blue strip of schematic figures and swarms of multicolored arrows undulating beneath.
With the words &ldquoYou Already Possess Everything Necessary to Become Great&rdquo inscribed on the left side of the taller section, the Liberation Wall is a memorial and a tribute to the community in every way. Depicting certain events and people who have made history, the art installation is a homage to their relentless strive and struggle.
Located just about four miles from the from the museum where the famed Carnegie Internationals are held, this piece of art is totally universal, and speak to the ongoing BlackLivesMatter movement.