Over 10,000 people have signed a petition calling for a Confederate monument in Virginia to be replaced with a statue of local hero Missy Elliott.
The Change.org campaign, which has been set up by Portsmouth, VA resident Nathan Coflin, is set to be delivered to Mayor John L. Rowe. “Who better to encapsulate the culture and spirit of the city enshrined in a new monument than Grammy Award winning rapper, dancer, and record producer Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott?” writes Coflin. Missy Elliot was born in Portsmouth in 1971.
“Hailing from humble beginnings as the only child of a power company dispatcher and a welder at Portsmouth’s lauded naval shipyard, she rose to become a platinum recording artist with over 30-million albums sold,” the author continues. “All this without even once owning a slave,” the petition reads.
It adds: “Together we can put white supremacy down, flip it and reverse it.”
The petition arrives during a period of renewed debate surrounding Confederate monuments in US cities. On 12 August, the removal of a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Virginia sparked a deadly protest, resulting in the death of anti-racism activist Heather Heyer. On Friday, Run the Jewels’ Killer Mike announced a line of anti-Confederate merchandise.
