Buffalo’s FREEDOM WALL a short documentary

In 2019, WNED-TV presented a documentary about The Freedom Wall, an Albright-Knox Public Art Initiative mural at the corner of Michigan Avenue and East Ferry Street in Buffalo. I have often driven past the mural and although I recognized many of the faces like Martin Luther King, Angela Davis, Malcolm X, Fredrick Douglas and Rosa, there were many faces I didn’t know. There is a plaque somewhere with the names but you need to stop and get out of your car to find it. The documentary provides all the information you could want about the wall and it turns out many of the faces are those of local heroes from the black community like George K, Arthur, Arthur Eve and Reverend J. Edward Nash, Sr.

The Freedom Wall features portraits of 28 notable local and national civil rights leaders from America’s past and present painted by local artists John Baker, Julia Bottoms, Chuck Tingley, and Edreys John Baker, Julia Bottoms, Chuck Tingley, and Edreys Wajed. It’s worth watching!