Bernal Rock ‘Black Lives Matter’ mural painted over multiple times

SAN FRANCISCO - A mural in San Francisco's Bernal Heights paying tribute to the events of the last few weeks has been painted over five times in less than a week.

Artists were out again Monday, and say they will keep painting to make their message clear: black lives matter.  

Bernal Rock is a neighborhood landmark, a kind of community bulletin board, expressing the sentiments of many in the Bernal Heights area.

Last week artist Kseniya Makarova wanted to mark this moment in time. "So, I first painted this rock on Wednesday to say Black Lives Matter on the front," said Makarova. "By Thursday morning it had been painted over, and that has continued to happen. This is the fifth time I've gotten two other artists helping me paint the message back."

She acknowledges that the messages on the rock change several times a year. But, the messages are usually left in place and respected for anywhere from several days to a few weeks. She says her neighbors confronted one woman who was caught painting over the message. "We don't know if she's painting over every time," said Makarova. "But, we talked to a woman who was painting over the rock, some neighbors did. And it was an upsetting experience basically."

The artist said whoever is painting over isn't creative, and is simply painting over her mural, but she says the message they're sending is clear to her. "That racism, hatred, et cetera is everywhere. It's woven into the fabric of our society. It's here in this very nice neighborhood."

The artists says she doesn't want this back and forth over this mural to be about her, and she says it's about more than this one rock in this one neighborhood.

"It's about what's happening in every community in America." said Makarova. "That black people don't have access to things that other people do."

The artists tells us that fellow artists from the area and even from the East Bay say they want to paint tributes of their own to honor the black lives matter movement. She is also encouraging those who are concerned to donate to charities aimed at ending police violence and lifting communities of color.