Billboard with MAGA slogan removed from AL city in ‘act of censorship,’ art group says
A controversial art billboard featuring the MAGA slogan overlaid across a photo of a historic assault on civil rights protesters was taken down by city leaders in Alabama, in a move that the artists called a “clear act of censorship,” media reports said.
The billboard, erected in Montgomery, was designed by artist-led organization For Freedoms in collaboration with late photographer James “Spider” Martin, ARTnews reported. Martin is known for his photos of the civil rights movement, including Bloody Sunday in 1965.
“Part of what makes America great is the freedom to express ourselves; we see this censorship as antithetical to this core freedom and to our mission as an organization,” Eric Gottesman, co-founder of For Freedoms, told ARTnews.
Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed had the billboard removed after several community members spoke out against it, in some cases interpreting it as racist.
“We must be extremely mindful of how we use such images of our shared history, especially when they risk being perceived as politically charged,” Reed said in a Jan. 30 statement on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Our history deserves to be treated with the utmost respect and care, ensuring it unites rather than divides us as a community.”
According to Reed, the billboard was purchased by the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts.
McClatchy News reached out to the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts on Feb. 3 but did not receive an immediate response. Austin Barranco, a museum board member, told a local radio show Jan. 29 that museum leadership did not approve of the billboard.
“The billboard out of context is a huge problem,” Barranco said on the show. “I’ve actually seen this exhibition at the Chicago Institute of Art — it’s an exhibition from artist Spider Martin who documented the events in Selma — and in the context of a museum it’s very powerful and moving.”
Tracy Martin, Spider Martin’s daughter, told McClatchy News she was glad that so many people were outraged in thinking it was a MAGA billboard but “disappointed” the mayor had it removed so quickly.
“I understand that the missing context and pressure on him was a lot to deal with. More facts would’ve come out and people might’ve calmed down and taken more time to talk and think about the possible meanings,” Martin said in a Feb. 3 email to McClatchy News.
She said she’s since received texts with different interpretations of the billboard, including one person who interpreted it to mean that “we need to make America great again by resisting the fascists.”
Martin said another person texted her saying, “I can’t imagine your dad would ever want his powerful work to be sanitized and locked behind the walls of a museum. It’s relevant and belongs in the streets, where history is repeating itself.”
Martin said she personally believes that when the slogan started becoming popular, it referenced a time before the civil rights movement, “when racism and white supremacy was still the power structure over discrimination of all kinds.”
“These boards ask the question: When was America great?” Martin told Hyperallergic.
The billboard artwork’s complicated history
This is not the first time the billboard has been taken down by city leaders.
When the artwork was put up in Pearl, Mississippi, in 2016, the mayor also requested it be taken down, AL.com reported.
At the time, Hank Willis Thomas, a For Freedoms co-founder, told the outlet that another way to look at the billboard is in remembering the civil rights struggle in which Alabama and Mississippi were the “epicenter of change.”
“That was a time of greatness because people stood up and fought for change,” he told the outlet. “We wanted to pay homage to this. Through a non-violent response to brutality, they helped overcome the status quo.”
This story was originally published February 4, 2025 at 11:47 AM with the headline "Billboard with MAGA slogan removed from AL city in ‘act of censorship,’ art group says."
