HOUSTON (AP) — A street mural honoring George Floyd was unveiled Saturday in Houston along two blocks of the street that passes in front of Jack Yates High School, where Floyd was a student.
Floyd’s death last year in Minneapolis after being pinned to the ground under a white officer’s knee helped spark summer-long protests against police brutality.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner called the mural “another public statement that the life and death of George Floyd is not in vain.”
Part of the mural by Third Ward native Jonah Elijah in honor of Black History Month and George Floyd is placed in front of Jack Yates High School in Houston on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021. A street mural honoring George Floyd was unveiled Saturday in Houston along two blocks of the street that passes in front of Jack Yates High School, where Floyd was a student. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via AP) Brittany Torres works on a mural in honor of Black History Month and George Floyd in front of HISD’s Jack Yates High School, Floyd’s alma mater, in Houston on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021. A street mural honoring George Floyd was unveiled Saturday in Houston along two blocks of the street that passes in front of Jack Yates High School, where Floyd was a student. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via AP) City of Houston employees help with some last-minute painting of a mural by Third Ward native Jonah Elijah in honor of Black History Month and George Floyd in front of Jack Yates High School in Houston on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021. A street mural honoring George Floyd was unveiled Saturday in Houston along two blocks of the street that passes in front of Jack Yates High School, where Floyd was a student. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via AP) Brittany Torres works on a mural in honor of Black History Month and George Floyd in front of HISD’s Jack Yates High School, Floyd’s alma mater, in Houston on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021. A street mural honoring George Floyd was unveiled Saturday in Houston along two blocks of the street that passes in front of Jack Yates High School, where Floyd was a student. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via AP) Attendees watch as the final touches are added to a mural in honor of Black History Month and George Floyd in front of HISD’s Jack Yates High School, Floyd’s alma mater, in Houston on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021. A street mural honoring George Floyd was unveiled Saturday in Houston along two blocks of the street that passes in front of Jack Yates High School, where Floyd was a student. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via AP) Part of the mural by Third Ward native Jonah Elijah in honor of Black History Month and George Floyd in front of Jack Yates High School in Houston on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021. A street mural honoring George Floyd was unveiled Saturday in Houston along two blocks of the street that passes in front of Jack Yates High School, where Floyd was a student. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via AP)
The mural is to spell out “Black Lives Matter” with Floyd’s high school football jersey and the school mascot at either end.
The mural was commissioned by Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, Houston Society for Change and a non-profit social activism organization formed by Floyd’s former high school football teammates called 88 C.H.U.M.P.