“Iconography in the Age of Black Lives Matter” by Charles Athanasopoulos. Short Essay In Monument Lab (2020).

““Arrest All 4”. “Abolish the Police.” “All Black Lives Matter.”

These are only some of the slogans and chants that have emerged on walls, streets, and signage in cities and towns across America — documented through photography, circulated over social media. But what are the potential perils of converting Black Lives Matter from an “iconoclastic movement into an icon of its own?” Charles Athanasopoulos explores the emergence of public iconography in the age of protest, and the threat of ‘white-washing’ the abolitionist roots of Black Lives Matter in order to sustain a mythology of American progress.”

-Monument Lab Bulletin