Once one of the fiercest advocates, the mayor said on Tuesday she no longer considers the plaza’s name a priority.
WASHINGTON — Black Lives Matter Plaza will change its name, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser confirmed in a statement Tuesday, marking a shift from the plaza’s biggest advocates amid pressure from a Republican in Congress.
The change comes as a Georgia Republican Andrew Clyde introduced a bill to the U.S. House that threatened to withhold federal funding to D.C. unless the District renamed Black Lives Matter Plaza to “Liberty Plaza.”
The mayor called the name change an “evolution” on Tuesday, acknowledging the artists who contributed to Black Lives Matter Plaza, but adding that she no longer considers the plaza’s name a priority.
“We can’t afford to be distracted by meaningless congressional interference. The devastating impacts of the federal job cuts must be our number one concern,” Mayor Bowser said on Tuesday. “Our focus should be on economic, public safety and supporting our residents affected by these cuts.”
Sources have not indicated when this change might happen, and the name, Black Lives Matter Plaza, was still official as of Tuesday.
Rep. Clyde’s bill had no cosponsors and had only been referred to committee, as of Tuesday.
But the bill’s introduction appeared to be enough to inspire a major shift from Mayor Bowser, who throughout 2020 and 2021 had been among the fiercest advocates for renaming the two-block pedestrian section of 16th Street Northwest.
“When we created Black Lives Matter Plaza in June 2020, we sent a strong message — that Black lives and Black humanity matter,” Mayor Bowser once said in November 2021.
Rep. Clyde’s bill would not only apply to Black Lives Matter Plaza, but also require that the phrase “Black Lives Matter” is removed completely from D.C. government materials. Although, it’s unclear whether the House will hold a vote on the bill during the 2025-2026 session of Congress.
“The BLM movement was nothing but corruption and division,” Rep. Clyde said on Monday. “It’s time for our nation to leave this failed agenda behind – starting with the removal of the BLM Plaza from America’s capital.”
Just a few blocks from the White House, 16th Street Northwest between H Street Northwest and K Street Northwest was designated Black Lives Matter Plaza during the protests in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. A mural on the street with the phrase was unveiled on June 5, 2020, by Bowser. It has often been the site of many protests and First Amendment activities in the District.
The full text of the bill is as follows:
H.R.1774 – To amend title 23, United States Code, to withhold certain apportionment funds from the District of Columbia unless the Mayor of the District of Columbia removes the phrase Black Lives Matter from the street symbolically designated as Black Lives Matter Plaza, redesignates such street as Liberty Plaza, and removes such phrase from each website, document, and other material under the jurisdiction of the District of Columbia.
This is not the first time the Georgia rep has put the District in his crosshairs. Rep. Clyde has floated the idea of scrapping the D.C. Home Rule Act of 1973, the law that gives local autonomy to the District and established its branches of government, including the D.C. Council and the mayor’s office.
Rep. Clyde has previously said that D.C. is a federal district and not a state, meaning that the federal government should have authority over the city’s day-to-day affairs. His comments sparked rebuttal from Democratic Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, saying his proposal would turn D.C. into a “colony.”
The legislation was reintroduced last month as the BOWSER Act by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.).
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s full statement on “the evolution” of Black Lives Matter Plaza Tuesday afternoon:
“We have long considered Black Lives Matter Plaza’s evolution and the plaza will be part of DC’s America 250 mural project, where we will invite students and artists to create new murals across all eight wards. The mural inspired millions of people and helped our city through a very painful period, but now we can’t afford to be distracted by meaningless congressional interference. The devastating impacts of the federal job cuts must be our number one concern. Our focus is on economic growth, public safety, and supporting our residents affected by these cuts.”
