Frederick Douglass

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Abolitionist mural with quotes from Douglass (“It is easier build strong children than to repair broken adults.”), Abraham Lincoln (“As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.”, Angela Davis (“We have to talk about liberating minds as well as liberating society.”), Muhammad Ali (“Why should I drop bombs on brown people in Vietnam while so-called negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs …”), Steven Biko (“The most potent weapon of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.”), MLK (“I have a dream … black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last, free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.””), Bob Marley (“Until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race.”), Nelson Mandela (“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”), Paul Robeson “The artist must elect to fight for freedom or for slavery. I made made [sic] my choice. I had no alternative”, and (without attribution) James Connolly (“The worker is the slave capitalist society, the woman [female worker] is the slave of that slave.”) Also portrayed are Harriett Tubman, Barack Obama, Betty Sinclair, Mary Ann McCracken, Aung San Suu Kyi, the Haitian Revolution, Chief Joseph, El Salvador, CoMadres.

Northumberland Street, Belfast

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Copyright © 2012 Peter Moloney
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Forget The Past

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“HET” is the “Historical Enquiries Team”, and has been investigating unsolved killings from the Troubles since 2005 (WP). The graffiti in these images from Mount Vernon (Shore Road), are perhaps specifically in connection with the investigation into the UVF unit in the area (BelTel) and the murder of Jim Harbinson (BelTel). “HET go home”.

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Copyright © 2012 Peter Moloney
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The Boy Soldiers

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Here are images from the four panels that comprise the WWI memorial in Mount Vernon, showing men attacking (Thiepval?) wood, the battlefields around Messines, a soldier approaching a church with a spire, and back-to-back memorials to John Condon, the Waterford [city] “boy soldier”, who died aged 14 in a gas attack – “his memory is kept alive as a symbol of the futility of war” – and William McFadzean, who won a VC for throwing himself on a dislodged box of hand grenades.

At this time (2012) the boards on the outside wall had been taken down. They would later be restored – see X06017, which also has the reverse of one the panels.

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Copyright © 2012 Peter Moloney
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Murdered In The Service Of Ulster

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The mural in the Mount Vernon/Tigers Bay memorial garden remains the same as before (seen previously in 2006) but there is a brick surrounding wall with a plaque on the gatepost to five members – Shaw, Frame, Irvine, Caldwell, Rice, Quail – of the 3rd Belfast Battalion, Ulster Volunteer Force. “We salute also, all volunteers at home and on the mainland who served with dignity and pride.”

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Copyright © 2012 Peter Moloney
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From Conflict To Peace

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“It is our firm conviction that the vast majority of both religious communities long for peace, reconciliation and the chance to create a better future for their children.” UFF volunteers in the previous mural on this wall turn their back on violence and look towards Stormont for a political solution. The side wall is dedicated to the UDA’s Stephen “Benson” Kingsberry, who died from consuming tainted ecstasy (perhaps distributed by the UVF) – an early use of the poppy to commemorate a UDA (rather than a UVF) member.

Kilburn Street, south Belfast

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Copyright © 2012 Peter Moloney
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Help For Heroes

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“Remember the fallen, care for the living”. Five boards arranged into a single piece in Ebor Street, south Belfast. The large bottom panel features a silhouette of a (staged) photograph taken in Basra (DailyMail) of a soldier on a stretcher giving the ‘thumbs up’ sign.

Ebor Street, Village, south Belfast

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Copyright © 2012 Peter Moloney
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UVF

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The UVF flag contains the flag of England (St. George’s Cross) in one corner and in the other an orange star; “1912” – the year the Ulster Volunteers were founded – in this example is in the top right. The colour-scheme is the reverse of the Orange Order’s: its flag has the purple star of the Williamites on an orange field.

Donegall Avenue/Broadway, Belfast

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Copyright © 2012 Peter Moloney
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Carson’s Volunteers

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“We will not have Home Rule.” This mural is dedicated to the men and women of Willowfield. In 1912 the 3rd bill was introduced and passed by parliament and although defeated 3 times by the House of Lords it was sent for Royal assent. On 9th April 1912 over 200,000 unionists attended a rally at Balmoral including the Orange Order and Unionist Clubs which had marched from the city center. Here they were addressed by among others, Sir Edward Carson, leader of the Irish Unionist Party. On 28th September 1912 nearly 500,000 men and women signed the Ulster Covenant. Factories and the Shipyard in Belfast were idle and silent, allowing their workers the opportunity to attend church and then to congregate at the City Hall. 3,242 men and women from Willowfield signed the Covenant, some in their own blood. They then formed into the 2nd Willowfield Battalion of the East Belfast Regiment U.V.F. commanded by Dr. William Gibson. They drilled and trained in the Willowfield Unionist Club that was situated about half a mile from this spot. With the onset of WW1 in 1914, these same volunteers stood to the fore to defend the Empire as the 8th Battalion [East Belfast] in the 36th Ulster Division. Many did not return, but their bravery and honour will forever be remembered.

“They went with songs to the battle, they were young/Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow./ They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted/They fell with their faces to the foe./They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old;/Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn./At the going down of the sun and in the morning,/We will remember them.”

Carlingford Street, Belfast

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Copyright © 2012 Peter Moloney
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