A new billboard depicting the death of George Floyd has gone up recently in the city of Atlanta. Motorist, and pedestrians can see the billboard at 1184 Spring St NW that will remain up through MLK Day, according to a press release. Fittingly the billboard also depicts Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous quote “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”.
The billboard image is based on FLOYD, an original painting by artist Donald Perlis. The artwork (with a different quote by the Dalai Lama) was up in October in Times Square in New York City and a replica of the Atlanta billboard went up in Los Angeles earlier this month.
Billboard companies in Minneapolis and Los Angeles (Clear Channel Outdoor and OUTFRONT Media, respectively) rejected the imagery after signing their contracts.
Lamar in Atlanta, and Swing Media in Los Angeles were the companies who stood up, willing to still display the billboard.
“The violent and tortured death of Jesus Christ is depicted in every art museum, every church, every Christian Institution in the world. Are they rejecting the martyrdom of George Floyd because he was a Black man?” said Perlis. “This is censorship at its worst.”
These billboards have all been arranged by The George Floyd Justice Billboard Committee in hopes of raising awareness and creating dialogue about human rights issues.
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