on 125st there are many things for tourist to admire and visit, the Apollo being the greatest tourist attraction but not many people know that tourist also look at the murals. the murals aren't ones you would see walking down 125th st and that is because these murals are painted on the closing gates of the stores. All through up and down the 125st strip there are different murals painted by a man named Franco Gaskin now 82 Gaskin has been painting these murals for years.
I live right down the block from 125st so I get the the opportunity to walk past these murals all the time and I always wanted to know was it really just young kids and graffiti or did someone actually take the time out to really paint these themselves or was it a group of people that did it. I found out one day in the news that the murals were actually painted by the man i previously mentioned and he just did it. He didn't get paid for it but did become famous for it. I picked out one the frequently see, it's painted mural of a black guy holding three different pictures, one of Martin Luther King, one of Malcolm X and the last picture is of Barack Obama and it then says "Share the Dream". I think Daskin is trying to be in a way political with this painting by telling people to share the dream of the two men before Obama through Obama. This painting is in the best place right in the middle of Harlem where it is extremely diverse but also full of a lot soul from different African American cultures. People a lot of people walk down the block and can relate to this painting. I personally don't think this painting is detrimental to its surroundings many people from the ones that live in Harlem to tourist like to see this kind of freedom of expression for free without having to always pay money. If this was in a museum or a private place I wouldn't call it freedom of speech. I don't think this would be in a museum because it may be considered as offensive to certain people.
Painting By Franco Gaskin.
