Extra Credit: The Black Experience

The Black Experience is a mural that is located right next to Panda Express in the Ackerman Union. This was done by seven students from UCLA after the recent protest on the Vietnam war. Before taking this class, I had no idea that this mural was located in a place that I frequently visited. This mural addresses the issues of racial disparities occurring in the United States. After researching more about the mural, I found out that they were in fact already there for 20 years. However, there were people who were unhappy about the mural and covered it with another wall while renovating. Only recently, members from the African Student Union (ASU) fought to uncover the mural and I am glad that they were successful.

This mural serves a timeline for black and African American excellence up until 1970. I am really intrigued by the intricate details that are depicted in the eight figures. If you look closely, there are news articles about slavery and their daily lives in a black community. The third man from the left has a picture that caught my attention. It looks like a girl that is looking up and seems to be sad, she seems to be behind bars. I hope that by uncovering this mural, it will raise awareness on the severity of racial discrimination not only against the black community, but other racial groups as well.