A banner expressing support for Black Lives Matter was vandalized outside an Evanston church over the weekend.
A vandal apparently used a razor blade to cut the word BLACK from a banner outside the Northminster Presbyterian Church that read “BLACK LIVES MATTER To God and To Us.”
It happened sometime overnight from Saturday into Sunday, according to Senior Pastor Michael D. Kirby.
As word spread in the neighborhood Sunday morning, support began to pour in.
Supportive messages written in chalk appeared on sidewalks outside the church. People took their Black Lives Matter yard signs and put them outside the church. And someone wrote ‘BLACK’ on a piece of paper and taped it back in the sign.
“The neighborhood responded pretty dramatically,” Kirby said.
An anonymous donor paid for 10 new banners.
“One will replace ours and others will be donated to other faith communities,” Kirby said.
“This is not going to deter us; we’re going to work to dismantle white supremacy and do what we can to dismantle and surrender white privilege,” said Kirby, who reported the vandalism to the Evanston Police Department.
Kirby said church security cameras didn’t cover the area of the banner.
“It’s a sad reflection of the fear within the people who did this, and it inspires us all the more,” Kirby said.
