Sometime last week, a mysterious billboard showed up in Pearl, Mississippi, and residents couldn’t figure out whether to be upset or not. The message could be interpreted as either racist or anti-racist. Along Highway 80, Donald Trump’s message “Make America Great Again” is printed on a famous photo of civil rights protesters the moment before they clashed with police in Selma in 1965.

“I don’t really know what to think,” Pearl resident Madeline Nixon said. “It’s definitely offensive, but it’s their right at the same time. And that’s what we as people need to understand: That everyone is entitled to their First Amendment.” On social media, some seemed to think it was posted by Trump himself and is symbolic of how he wants to crack down on minorities.

In case the billboard’s message isn’t clear – Trump picked Jeff Sessions for Attorney General. h/t @Prof_WCByrd https://t.co/1nMsLDHNY6

— Dorothy Roberts (@DorothyERoberts) November 19, 2016

‘Make America Great Again’? Or ‘Empower Racism Again’?

https://t.co/zqPMGSy5IQ

— monroe (@tdotmonroe) November 20, 2016

But it was actually an arts group called For Freedoms, co-founded by Eric Gottesman, that put the billboard up. The group wants to inspire political discussion and dialogue through controversial projects. Gottesman said there is no specific intent behind the picture, and it is neither pro-Trump nor pro-Clinton. It was rather an effort to get people talking; when was America great? He said to CNN:

What we hear today in some political rhetoric is that making America great means enforcing a single vision on America. What we’re trying to do is use art to provoke people to talk about these things and bring them to a different kind of conversation, one that goes beyond symbolic gestures of what America is supposed to stand for.

Mayor Brad Rogers told local media, “I don’t like the ad, but there’s a lot of things in life I don’t like and sometimes there’s nothing I can do about it. This is one of these cases.” Originally he said it didn’t violate any laws and therefore could stay. But on Friday he asked For Freedoms to take it down, which they agreed to do sometime this week. Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant called the artwork reprehensible and divisive, but residents seemed to view it positively, once they found out about the origins of it.

SEE: This is what I’m talking about. Artists forcing the question. Big love to @forfreedomspac.https://t.co/KwcelQsrEp

— Jeff Chang (@zentronix) November 19, 2016

“I don’t see anything wrong with it. That’s true that there have been too many killings that’s senseless to me,” said resident Lizzy Brackett. “So yeah, we need to get back to where we can trust the police again, where we feel safe.”

According to Gottesman, they wanted to put the artwork up in Selma, but there were no billboard spaces available. So they looked at other places with a historic connection to race relations, and picked Pearl. And they feel that if people are talking about the billboard, then they completed their mission.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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With only a few days until the official start of the Republican National Convention, it seems all anyone can talk about is what is going to happen in Cleveland. While we all spent the past week practically bursting with anticipation as we waited for Donald Trump to announce his vice presidential running mate, now that the news is out the build up to the convention has seemed to plateau. But, good news for all you thrill-seeking political followers out there, because drama is back! Not five minutes from the site of the convention in Cleveland, a new billboard has popped up, and it’s a good one.

A giant billboard of Trump and Ted Cruz kissing just went up 5 minutes from the RNC https://t.co/OD96csFsCNpic.twitter.com/YcLjGt1EXP

— JamesMichael Nichols (@jamesmichael) July 14, 2016

That’s right folks, this gigantic billboard right outside the RNC features an artistic representation of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz kissing.

The billboard–which was funded and put up by Planting Peace, a non-profit focused on spreading peace through humanitarian aid–reads, “Love Trumps Hate. End Homophobia.” Aaron Jackson, the President of Planting Peace, claims that this billboard is a direct response to the recently released GOP platform on LGBT issues.

Many have noted this week that the platform up for ratification at the convention is perhaps the most homophobic platform that the Republican party has ever seen. While the platform has some expected positions, like defining marriage as between a man and a woman, it also includes much harsher and intolerant provisions, such as subtle support for conversion therapy. Republican leaders, like president of the Log Cabin Republicans Gregory Angelo, are disappointed with these archaic stances on homosexuality:

Opposition to marriage equality, nonsense about bathrooms, an endorsement of the debunked psychological practice of ‘pray the gay away’–it’s all in there. This isn’t my GOP, and I know it’s not yours either. Heck, it’s not even Donald Trump’s!

Planting Peace’s response to these hateful stances is an attempt to remind members of the LGBT community that they matter and are loved. The group insightfully points out in a statement:

What Donald, Ted and the Republican platform either fail to realize, or realize and just don’t seem to care about, is that their words and actions toward our LGBT family–especially LGBT children–have meaning and impact. LGBT children hear these messages telling them they are nothing but second class citizens and are left feeling somehow broken or “less than.”

The group hopes this billboard will challenge conservatives at the convention and, really, people everywhere to think about the effects that their hate can have on people in the LGBT community. Thus far, the response has been overwhelmingly positive, with people posting online about how art like this makes America a great country.

Hateful speech and homophobic party platforms are not something that our country should support ever, especially not in 2016. It’s time for love to trump hate. Here’s to hoping Ted Cruz and Donald Trump making out will forever burn that reality into the minds of closed-minded people everywhere.

Alexandra Simone

Alex Simone is an Editorial Senior Fellow at Law Street and a student at The George Washington University, studying Political Science. She is passionate about law and government, but also enjoys the finer things in life like watching crime dramas and enjoying a nice DC brunch. Contact Alex at ASimone@LawStreetmedia.com

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