WASHINGTON — Saturday marked 10 years since Marion Barry died at 78 years old. And to honor the legendary D.C. leader, Mayor Muriel Bowser unveiled a mural at the Marion S. Barry Jr. Building in the Judiciary Square neighborhood of Northwest.
"Mayor Barry taught us the importance of having a big vision, and I'm grateful for all the people in our city who are working with us every day to keep his vision alive," Mayor Muriel Bowser said on Saturday.
The three paneled monument to the former mayor's legacy celebrates the many accomplishments and life experiences of Barry.
Born in Mississippi to sharecroppers during the Great Depression, panel one of the mural explores Barry's commitment to civil rights and political advocacy. While pursuing a master's degree at Fisk University in Nashville during the early 1960s, Barry joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee which emerged from the student-led sit-ins in Tennessee and North Carolina. By 1971, Barry was elected to the D.C. Board of Education. Panel one was titled "Big Vision"
Barry served in the City Council for an eventful seven years, even surviving a shooting in 1977. Barry would be elected mayor of D.C. in 1978, winning the Democratic primary by 2,000 votes. In his initial tenure, Barry advocated for Black-owned business, youth programs, senior citizen support and opportunities for women. Panel two celebrates Barry's first 12 years in office and is titled "Big Impact."
After Barry's release from prison in 1992, the mayor mounted a political comeback, winning reelection and serving in office for another four years. The Million Man March in 1995 happened during Barry's final act. This period of Barry's life leading up to his death in 2014 is commemorated in the third panel, titled "Big Legacy."
"My husband really loved Washington, D.C. and its residents," Marion Barry's wife, Cora Masters Barry, said on Saturday. " The mural captures some major contributions he made to the city."
The mural was designed by Nabeeh "Nabi" Bilal, a native of D.C.'s Ward 8 region who specializes in graphic art about Black culture and history as well as children's books.