Black Lives Matter mural honors George Floyd at Jack Yates H.S.
HOUSTON - It’s a special moment for Houston’s Third Ward community as they near completion of the Black Lives Matter mural in front of Jack Yates High School.
"There are no words that can express the emotions behind this whole movement."
Margo Hickman, a teacher at Jack Yates High School was among the volunteers pitching in to paint the letters spelling Black Lives Matter with George Floyd's football jersey and school mascot on each end.
"It's not for anyone else it's personal to be able to pick up the brush and say I painted the yellow it's on my hands and I feel good today because I'm giving back to my community, says Hickman.
Her student Deschamues Mason also grabbing a paintbrush to help bring the giant mural to life.
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"It's not just coloring on the ground it means something to us Black lives do matter," says Mason.
"It lets us know that we have a long way to go in this country, that what we saw was horrific and that we must make a change," says Hickman.
The powerful mural will honor the life of George Floyd as the community continues to fight against police brutality.
The artist behind the project, Houston native, Jonah Elijah says the process behind the mural, was just as significant as the paint job.
"It's a lot being put into it, a lot of math, trying to get each letter right, it took a lot of unifying to get these letters out here."
The street mural that stretches for two blocks in front of Jack Yates High School on the 3600 to 3700 block of Alabama Street was to be painted Friday morning but rain caused a delay.
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Once it is complete, the hope is that their voices and message will be heard for generations to come.
" A lot of kids are going to remember seeing that video, seeing everything, seeing the uproar and I think that's going to make them come out of this together when they graduate they're going to want to connect and unify," says Elijah.
"It's just small steps and you can only change one student at a time, one person at a time, so I choose to believe we're making those changes," says Hickman.