New Haven is a hub for activism of all kinds. While many attribute this heightened political engagement to Yale’s presence, the extent of political graffiti throughout the city beyond Yale suggests this assumption is flawed.
“Rest in Peace Malik Jones” is sprayed above the Union Station train tracks. In 1997, Malik Jones, an unarmed Black man, was shot by police after a chase from East Haven to New Haven. Three decades later, the community remembers this act of police brutality.
A “Tax Yale” sticker is placed on a publically funded New Haven bridge. If Yale, which is not required to pay taxes on its academic property, were taxed at the same rate as others in New Haven, it would owe the city an additional 95 million dollars annually.
Opposite the “Tax Yale” sticker, “Free Gaza” is written in thin black pen. Below it, another person has added “From Hamas.”
This “We the Resilient” sticker, created by Artist Ernesto Yerena, shows Indigenous activist Helen Red Feather protesting the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. This 2016 protest, which aimed to preserve Standing Rock Sioux land, was violently suppressed by policemen, injuring 300 people.
Here, an “Are you a Communist?…Then get organized!” poster has been scribbled over. The phrases “I <3 USA” and “This is the USA!” have been added.