Murals honoring Black history vandalized across southeastern San Diego

Community members are speaking out after vandalism that damaged multiple murals honoring Black history and civil rights leaders in southeastern San Diego.

SAN DIEGO — Along the Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway just past the Home Avenue on-ramp, a large portrait of Dr. King has been marked by graffiti. Local artist and San Diego native Kim Phillips noticed the damage immediately.

“It’s perfectly, directly in the center of the mural,” she said. “And if you didn’t know, you wouldn’t really know, but I know.”

Phillips has seen similar vandalism spread across murals throughout the City Heights area. She said the damage goes beyond paint on a wall.

“I feel sad, you know? I feel like it’s disrespectful to the artist, there’s a lot of creativity, time, paint, energy, effort- a lot that goes into the murals,” she said.

Murals depicting former President Barack Obama and civil rights leader Malcolm X have also been vandalized.

“It’s a tribute and just [shows] some respect to the leaders that made a change, not only for the black community, you know, but for the world,” Phillips said.

Phillips said the vandalism has taken a personal toll. Her own mural honoring Breonna Taylor on Imperial Avenue has been defaced multiple times and is now left abandoned.

“How come we’re not like other communities? How come nobody’s coming to clean us up, and what’s wrong with the people that are writing on our walls?” she said.

For Phillips, the concern traces back several years to another act of vandalism, when a civil rights mural at Imperial Avenue and 32nd Street was painted over.

“They covered up the faces entirely of Coretta Scott King, Dr. Martin Luther King, they used white spray paint to black them all out,” she said.

In response, Phillips now leads a small mural restoration team. She regularly checks murals throughout the community and works with artists to touch up and restore damaged pieces.

“Going out is just a way to demonstrate kindness, and that even though those aren’t my murals, they still are part of my community where I grew up. They’re a reflection of me,” Phillips said.

As San Diego prepares to honor Dr. King, Phillips hopes the message behind the murals is not lost.

“The message is, please stop tagging our murals. Black history is very important,” she said. “It’s a huge sign of disrespect.”