"Am I Next?" BLM Sign
Date2020
Credit LineGift of Ahmed Hamdun, 2021. [tbc with return of DoG]
Object number2021.012.001
Label TextLondoner Ahmed Hamdum created the sign and participated in the June 6, 2020 Black Lives Matter Rally. In a phone conversation, Ahmed shared these thoughts:
As a young Black man, he felt compelled to create this sign to express how upset he is at the fact that a Black person could be shot or beat up at any time. They never know when it can happen. It happens more frequently than we know. He said that Black people are expected to be responsible and mature but also silent. If they try to stand up for others when they see someone trying to bring them down, they get taken down themselves. The tape across the person’s mouth on his sign signifies that although others have tried to silence Black people, he won’t be silenced.
Ahmed said that he was proud of his sister, Ghaida Hamdun, for helping to organize the June 6 rally and he asked her if he could go. He attended with his mother and brother. Ahmed was 14 at the time. Asked about the experience of attending, Ahmed said he was glad it was so successful. He had feared that others would attend and disrupt the event. He was so glad that so many attended to support the Black community.
Asked what he would most like people to know if they saw this sign in an exhibition, Ahmed said that he wanted people to always stand up for themselves. No matter your colour, don’t try to bring others down. Black people shouldn’t try to bring white people down and white people shouldn’t try to bring black people down. If you try to bring others down, you only end up hurting them.
10,000 Londoners converged on Victoria Park on June 6, 2020, to express their outrage at the May 25 killing of Minnesotan George Floyd at the hands of police. Many crafted signs to carry during the rally.
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