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The Story Behind The Mural At The George Floyd Memorial

June 7, 2020
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Today was a powerful day to go down in history. As almost every American TV station live-streamed the George Floyd funeral, after he was allegedly killed by a Minneapolis police officer, and sparked protests across the globe, including all 50 states of America.

At the Minneapolis memorial service, there was a powerful speech by reverend Al Sharpton, moving tributes, the presence of his family, and peaceful gatherings of people in Washington, New York and Los Angeles, and all over the world.

That’s not to mention the star-studded front row at the service, where Tiffany Haddish, Kevin Hart and Ludacris, among others, including Martin Luther King III, were in attendance.

But who could ignore the artwork in the background of this touching memorial service? While there has been a huge outpour of support from protesters, both online and offline, there has also been a number of artworks, as well, from digital paintings to public art and of course, murals. The background imiage from Floyd’s memorial today is based on this very artwork.

This mural, which has been reproduced digitally for the service, was one of the first public artworks (if not the first) by a group of community artists, Cadex Herrera, Greta McLain, and Xena Goldman. The mural, which was painted on the side of a grocery store last week, was just down the street from where Floyd was arrested, the Cup Foods at the corner of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue South.

This artwork not only pays homage to Floyd, it has become a place to pay tribute to him, is an iconic symbol for protesters, a makeshift memorial and an image of solidarity. AS part of Floyd’s memorial service today, it hangs in the background as a digital painting.

The mural shows a portrait of Floyd alongside rallying protesters with raised fists, a sunflower, a halo with the names of other black victims of police brutality, including Eric Garner, Sandra Bland and Philando Castile, among others. If it wasn’t already iconic, it has become even more iconic being in the background of the funeral. Among the other artworks at the service, there were two large wall rugs hanging in the image of Floyd portrayed as an angel.

“We wanted to portray him in a positive light, not as a martyr, but as a hero,” artist Cadex Herrera recently said. “We wanted to make sure that his name was remembered.”

“We just wanted to pay tribute and honor George Floyd,” said Herrera. “It was a terrible thing that happened to him and it’s devastating and I hope that at least some peace can come from this to reflect on a life of a human being that was unnecessarily taken away.”

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