RICHARD MURAL PROJECT

In November of 2019, Richard Bangura invited Pathways 2 Power leader Lauryn Renford to come and talk to his class at Dunbar High School about turning grief into power through the Limestone of Lost Legacies Mural project.  In that partnership, we saw Richard shine with leadership skills, give a vision of a safer city and as a friend who was also grieving for the loss of his own friends to gun violence.  When P2P alumni created the P2P x NYC Youth Coalition, Richard was the exact person we were looking for to join this coalition of our city’s leaders.  We wanted his voice at the table to come up with solutions to the gun violence epidemic taking our friends and fear we felt daily as we traveled around the city. Richard was one of the first to apply- he was a P2P leader in every sense.  We had no idea that as we gathered in March 2020 for the last time, we wouldn’t see Richard again.  He was killed in August of 2020 just as he was getting ready to leave for Temple University.  

With the loss of Richard, P2P leaders wanted to create a space for his peers to turn their grief into power.  So when Martin Swift (artist of the Limestone of Lost Legacy) reached out to us saying he had another wall and opportunity to create another mural, we knew we wanted to honor Richard and his leadership to make DC a safer and more just city.  

Dunbar students are working through their grief by creating a spoken word piece to honor Richard.  When ready we will support them with every tool we have gained to help spread the word of who Richard was and how deeply this city will feel this loss. 

We are connected. The loss of one young person impacts us all.

VISIT THE MURAL

25 K Street NE
Washington, DC 20002

We created a magazine that tells a portion of each of the stories of the individuals on the Limestone of Lost Legacies mural.

Pathways 2 Power leaders are available to facilitate a conversation using the mural as a learning tool. Please reach out through our email if you are interested in hosting a facilitated conversation in your classroom, office or community organization.