omari booker’s mural

Omari Booker’s “The Writing’s on the Walls” was part of the Frist Art Museum exhibit “Murals of North Nashville Now,” on display until January 5, 2020. It depicts layers of social and economic harm inflicted on longtime Nashville residents like Elois Freeman through practices like discriminatory transportation infrastructure, redlining, and gentrification, which have been implemented for decades and continue to be implemented to this day.

The mural’s caption describes the rapidity and unrelentingness of the changes imposed and the severity of the resulting harm:

A 2014 graduate of Tennessee State University and longtime employee at Woodcuts Gallery & Framing, Omari Booker has witnessed the physical transformation of North Nashville during the city’s current period of growth and development. His mural features the home of Elois Freeman on the 2500 block of Jefferson Street, which has been in the family for nearly 100 years. HomeGuard housewrap represents the many “tall and skinny” houses currently being constructed throughout the city, including North Nashville. A small white dog wearing a pink sweater suggests the new residents moving into the neighborhood.

This isn’t the first time the Freeman home has been impacted by construction. In the late 1960s, the front yard was lost during the construction of interstate 40. Despite appeals that went all the way to the Supreme Court, hundreds of other houses and businesses along Jefferson were completely destroyed. Through his use of red razor wire to outline Mrs. Freeman’s home, Booker also draws attention to the discriminatory lending and investment policies known collectively as “redlining,” adopted by banks and the Federal Housing Administration for decades. The legacy of this unfair practice is still felt in the community, where homeownership by residents is far lower than the nation’s average.

“The Writing’s on the Walls” depicts an injustice experienced by communities across the US. It was addressed by Tampa, FL community activist Lena Young-Green in her June 19, 2019 comments to the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE).

A warm thanks to Omari Booker and the Frist Art Museum for allowing us to feature this work.