Members of the Evanston Township High School basketball team spent the day today using yellow road marking paint to add a giant Black Lives Matter sign to the Dodge Avenue pavement in front of the school.
The street-painting concept was pioneered in Washington, D.C., and has spread in recent days to other cities around the country.
Artist Esau McGhee offers some coaching on the paint job.
Head Basketball Coach Mike Ellis says, “In these times this is something that needs to be done. It started when players saw pro athletes participating in rallies and protests and thought ‘What could we do?’”
Rising senior Elijah Bull and 2020 ETHS grad Jerome Smith participated in the painting project.
Ellis says the players decided to paint the street in front of the schools because, “We get a lot of visitors and we wanted to let them know what we value and that we take a stand against systemic racism.
The project was coordinated with the city, which posted signs closing off the street for the day.