Since last week, protesters have taken to D.C. streets to protest police violence. And one of their main messages — black lives matter — is now officially on those very streets.

Ahead of what’s expected to be a large demonstration on Saturday, D.C. organized seven muralists to paint “Black Lives Matter” in 35-foot-tall letters on the pavement of a two-block stretch of 16th Street NW just north of the White House. The work started at 4 a.m., and was completed almost seven hours later.

It was then that Mayor Muriel Bowser arrived at the corner of 16th and H Streets NW to symbolically rename the intersection “Black Lives Matter Plaza.”

“We want to call attention today to making sure our nation is more fair and more just and that black lives and black humanity matter in our nation,” she said.

The new sign is right next to St. John’s Episcopal Church, where President Donald Trump appeared for a photo op during Monday’s protest. Police used tear gas to clear protesters from Lafayette Square shortly before Trump crossed the park to stand at the church. St. John’s leaders were not made aware of the appearance beforehand, and local Christian leaders have denounced the photo op.

It’s not the first time D.C. has symbolically renamed a street. In 2018, it renamed a stretch of Wisconsin Avenue NW in front of the Russian Embassy after deceased dissident Boris Nemtsov. Streets have also been renamed for artists Marvin Gaye and Langston Hughes, civil rights fighters like Frank Kameny and Malcolm X, and city politicians like Jerry Moore and Harry Thomas.

The two symbolic installations come in the wake of days of political fights between Bowser and federal officials over a security perimeter centered at the White House that earlier this week grew to encompass a number of city streets blocks away from the people’s home. While that perimeter was scaled back somewhat on Thursday, D.C. officials have still expressed concern with the presence of thousands of federal police and National Guardsmen ordered into the city by President Donald Trump.

“We are all very concerned about how the federal assets pushed out from the federal complex and we worked with them to push back,” Bowser said Thursday. “We are subject to the whims of the federal government. Sometimes they are benevolent and sometimes they are not. And so we have to fix it.”

Earlier this week, Bowser visited with protesters gathered near Lafayette Park, and has expressed sympathy with their cause since protests started last week. Still, she has been criticized for imposing a 7 p.m. curfew for a number of days this week — including on Tuesday, when the city’s primary took place. Thursday was the first night since Sunday without a curfew in place.

“This is performative and a distraction from her active counter organizing to our demands to decrease the police budget and invest in the community,” wrote the D.C. chapter of Black Lives Matter on Twitter. “Black Lives Matter means defund the police.”

“This is to appease white liberals while ignoring our demands,” added the group later.

Activists say D.C. police are little better than their counterparts in cities across the country, and have faced accusations of shooting and killing people without provocation and with little punishment. While the D.C. officer who shot and killed Terrance Sterling in Sept. 2016 was ultimately fired, that hasn’t been the case in other shootings. Additionally, data has shown that an overwhelming majority of the people who are stopped and frisk by D.C. police are black.

And D.C. police have come under more recent scrutiny for trapping some 200 protesters on Swann Street NW on Monday. Police Chief Peter Newsham has denied allegations that his officers treated protesters roughly, but has said an investigation will take place.

But when asked on Thursday whether she would support defunding the police department, as some activists have demanded, Bowser demurred.

“We support our Metropolitan Police Department,” she said. “We know they do a wonderful job protecting D.C. streets. We work hard every day to make sure we have the type of police and community relationships that will allow us to have safe neighborhoods.”

https://twitter.com/Joyce_Karam/status/1268917324498833412

Those debates aside, the symbolism of the painted message and new street name seemed to carry the day.

Sharlaine Anapu, 58, a legal secretary, went to look at the message-in-the-making on Friday morning. Shifting her view south towards the White House, only blocks away, she said of the painting: “It’s in the perfect place. This is right where it needs to be.”

Anapu, who immigrated from New Zealand, said she was at the protest Thursday night out of concern for her family. “I have lived here for close to 40 years now and my children are African American and I have a grandson, he’s young but I worry about him,” she said.

Keyonna Jones, 31, was one of the seven artists asked to work on the street-painting. She arrived at the scene at 3 a.m., where Department of Public Works trucks had shut down the street and brought painting supplies. Jones, the director of the Congress Heights Arts and Culture Center, immediately got to work.

“Honestly, I can’t wait to see what Trump tweets,” she said. “That’s what I’m waiting for. It’s really bold. The mayor doing this right here outside the White House, taking up the whole stretch. The symbolism is huge. We are saying it loud. We are here. Maybe you didn’t hear us before, maybe you were confused, but the message is clear: black lives matter, period.”

This post has been updated throughout.