George Floyd hologram to ‘replace’ Confederate statues? [Video]
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
- The legacy of George Floyd will continue to live on after Change.org has partnered with the George Floyd Foundation to honor him with a hologram.
- The hologram image was projected Tuesday in front of a Robert E. Lee statue in Richmond, Virginia where several of Floyd’s family members were in attendance.
- His family said that they will be touring the U.S. to unveil the effigy in other cities, aiming to “transform spaces that were formerly occupied by racist symbols of America’s dark Confederate past into a message of hope, solidarity and forward-thinking change.”
A hologram effigy of George Floyd will be touring the U.S., traveling roughly along the route of the 1961 Freedom Rides. The high-tech memorial to the late 46-year-old is a collaboration between Change.org and the George Floyd Foundation.
The hologram effigy will stop at five sites in North Carolina, Georgia and other Southern states.
Floyd’s family launched the George Floyd Hologram Memorial Project Tuesday night in Richmond, Virginia where the statue of Robert E. Lee used to stand. It’s the first public unveiling of the hologram.
Floyd’s family held a preview of the holographic image Monday night at the Jefferson Davis memorial on Monument Ave. In June, angry protesters removed the statue of the former president of the Confederacy, according to the Times-Dispatch.
In a statement from Change.org, Floyd’s brother Rodney Floyd said: “Since the death of my brother George, his face has been seen all over the world. The hologram will allow my brother’s face to be seen as a symbol for change in places where change is needed most.”
During the launch, Rodney Floyd said the hologram brought mixed emotions: “It warms my heart knowing the love that my brother is spreading around the world,” adding that it was also surreal.
George Floyd was killed on May 25 by former-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who knelt on his neck for nearly eight minutes, ignoring Floyd’s “I can’t breathe” plea.
George Floyd’s death sparked protests across the U.S. and around the world for an end to racial injustice, systemic racism, and police brutality.
Change.org senior campaigner Sylvia Rolle said in the statement that the George Floyd Hologram Memorial Project “seeks to replace the monuments of racist confederate memory with symbols of solidarity and justice.”
She noted that 20 million people had signed a petition headlined Justice for George Floyd.
“In collaboration with the family of George Floyd and the George Floyd Foundation, this project aims to reflect the power and beauty of those millions of voices standing up for change.”
Source: AOL
