A prominent Black Lives Matter sign along Highway 101 north of Laytonville has for a fifth time been defaced by unknown vandals. This time someone splattered red paint across it. Susy Barsotti, an owner of the Black Oak Ranch where the sign is located, said the vandalism occurred last night. One side of the sign reads, “Black Lives Matter,” the other reads, “A Change is Gonna Come.” Both sides are now spattered with paint the color of blood.
Barsotti said she will keep the red paint splatter on the sign because it “actually amplifies the message.” She said, “The original message with the addition of red splatters, possibly remind[s] the viewer of the systemic and bloody violence that people of color face daily.” Mischievously, Barsotti said, “Congrats, splatter-by. Now, you’re a part of the movement!”
On December 31, 2020, vandals actually cut down the sign and stole it outright from its place along Highway 101. Before the sign had been cut down, Barsotti said the vandals had conducted what she called “splatter-bys” in the latter months of 2020, similar to what happened to the sign last night. After the sign was cut down and stolen, Barsotti, along with members of the Laytonville community, replaced it.
Barsotti said that she, with her compatriots within Laytonville’s Hog Farm commune, chose to display the sign prominently along Highway 101 as a symbol of the commune’s support for Black Lives Matter. Barsotti described members of the Hog Farm as well-established political activists in the Laytonville community.
A friend of Barsotti’s told her, “We should thank the “artist” and congratulate them as a new member of the BLM movement.”
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