With little public announcement, the words "Black Lives Matter" were painted on a block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, between Lindsay and Houston streets, on Friday and Saturday.
The quick installation of the controversial words caught many Chattanoogans by surprise.
For many Blacks, the slogan reflects unity, inspiration and solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement around the world.
For others, the Black Lives Matter slogan symbolizes divisiveness in an era when they say people of all colors should be coming together to do what's best for their city, their country and their world.
We wondered how a controversial public art installation, which is what a spokeswoman for the city said the street mural was, became a reality, how easy (or difficult) it is to get such a project approved, and who within the city must be involved.
After all, most of us wouldn't be able to pick a city block and paint words on it that many might say alienate others.
Chattanooga, of course, is not the first city to have similar street murals. Just in the South, Austin, Texas, Birmingham, Alabama, Charlotte, North Carolina, Dallas, Texas, Raleigh, North Carolina, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina, among others, have similar street art.
The city, according to spokeswoman Richel Albright, does not consider the installation controversial at all.
"This mural serves as a connection point to educate our communities on the intersection of art, culture and history," she said in an email. "'Black Lives Matter' is not a political or partisan statement. This is about human rights. It is vital that we recognize the history of systemic oppression that has adversely affected the Black and brown community for hundreds of years.
"Painting a temporary mural on a street won't cure our country of the racism often experienced by African-Americans in their daily lives. But what it can do is start a conversation, cause us to look at our country and community's history and find solutions that help all our citizens to be treated equally and without racial prejudice."
While we understand and accept the slogan that Black Lives Matter is unifying to people in the United States who were enslaved by wealthy whites more than 150 years ago and until 50-plus years ago suffered the bigotry of Jim Crow laws, we differ about the "political" and "partisan" nature of the movement.
Indeed, the very founders of the Black Lives Matters movement describe themselves as "trained Marxists." Marxism is rooted in conflict, does not ascribe to the goodness of the individual and is the underlying theory behind repressive governments in China, Cuba, North Korea and Russia, where millions of innocent people have been killed in the name of a governing philosophy.
From request to completion, the local mural took just 13 days. It was approved by the staffs of Public Art Chattanooga and the Chattanooga Department of Transportation on June 23 and by the Chattanooga Public Art Commission (CPAC) on June 25.
It received no funding from the city and was paid for, according to Albright, by RISE Chattanooga, which describes itself as "an independent minority-led arts organization dedicated to using the arts to transcend cultural barriers."
Organizers hired their own security for the installation, but the city did use barricades from its contractor and Public Works trucks to shut down the street, Albright said.
The installation is temporary in that its exterior latex paint "will fade and wear away with vehicular traffic and may last several weeks at best," she said.
The requirements for a public art installation in Chattanooga are different depending on whether it is a permanent or temporary placement, she noted.
An unsolicited, temporary mural such as the Black Lives Matter work has to be fully funded unless the CPAC assigns funds to it, must be designed by paid professional artists, must be approved by CPAC staff, must have a contract with the Public Art office, must have a general liability insurance policy listing the city as an additional insured, and the Department of Transportation must approve placement, colors, design and issue work zone and street closure permits.
We were curious, if all other requirements were met, what other slogans might be acceptable. We asked about "Biden For President," "Hispanic Lives Matter," "Berke Best Mayor Ever," "See Rock City," "Bruell For Mayor," "Trump For President," "See Ruby Falls," "Asian Lives Matter," "Berke Worst Mayor Ever," "Visit Tennessee Aquarium," "Chattanooga Junior League," "La Paz Chattanooga," "Blue Lives Matter," "Jesus Saves," "Read The TFP," "White Lives Matter," "Support Marxism," "I Can't Breathe," "RIP George Floyd" and "All Lives Matter."
Albright did not respond about each individual slogan but said "the Public Art Commission does not permit advertisements, political endorsements or overtly religious content in public artworks on City property."
One might assume, then, any " ... Lives Matter" slogans are fair game as well as "Support Marxism," "I Can't Breathe" and "RIP George Floyd." It will be interesting to learn if permission for other street murals is requested.
The temporary mural is beautiful, colorful and symbolic to many. We wish the movement behind it wasn't so divisive.