The Black Lives Matter Protests was a defining moment in 2020 as it spread from major U.S. cities to cities across the world, and one year after, New York artist Tanda Francis is etching this moment of racial equality movement and what it represented in art by transforming plywood used during the New York Black Lives Matter protests into a street art sculpture.

Francis’ sculpture is one of five artworks by artists chosen to participate in the Plywood Protection Project organized by worthless studios, a New York not-for-profit.

"New York City was covered in this plywood during COVID shutdowns and, you know, the peak of the Black Lives Matter protests," said Neil Hamamoto, founder of worthless studios, told Reuters as he stood next to the "Be Heard" sculpture by Behin Ha Design Studio in Thomas Paine Park in Manhattan. "To me, it felt important to recycle the material because of its power and rhetoric."

To honor those who participated and create a permanent tribute to the racial justice movement, Francis took plywood used to board up storefronts across the city last year and turned it into a sculpture called "RockIt Black."

"To transform this plywood that was on the streets during the Black Lives Matter actual uprising is... amazing," Francis told Reuters. "In my work, I actually use the color black and actually try to elevate it, kind of contrast to how it's been sort of stigmatized in our culture."

Francis’ sculpture along with the other four has been mounted across the city and will remain on display until Nov. 1.

Skylar Barnes, a Bronx resident who works and lives near the "In Honor of Black Lives Matter" sculpture, told Reuters that the artwork reminds her of the reasons why people went out to the streets.

"I see that the sculptures are speaking out that we need some more justice and that laws need to be fixed. So there could be equality for everyone," said Barnes.

The summer of 2020 saw the biggest protests for racial justice and civil rights in a generation, triggered by the death of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer in Minnesota, thousands of people trooped out into the street in solidarity with Black people and the call for equal racial justice.

Many works of art have since been commissioned and created to commemorate the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement, ranging from public monuments, graffitis, photography to street art just like Francis’ “RockIt Black” sculpture.