(Photos by Carlos Jillson [left] and YS News)
‘Fight hate with love’
- Published: March 12, 2021
Last weekend, local artist Pierre Nagley pasted a drawing of Emmitt Till on top of a Kieth’s Alley mural he painted last year of George Floyd that had been vandalized with white paint earlier in the week. Nagley’s drawing is based on the iconic photograph of the 14-year-old Till, who was brutally murdered by two white men in Mississippi in 1955 for allegedly flirting with a white woman. The men were found not guilty of murder and the woman later recanted her testimony. Meanwhile, the trial of Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer who killed Floyd by kneeling on his neck for nearly nine minutes as he lost consciousness, got underway this week.
“I was thinking last night, why not use this drawing I have of Emmett Till, to cover up that hateful white paint. Fight hate with Love,” Nagley wrote in a Facebook post. “No hateful bigot throwing paint can stop our loving spirit,” he added.
The Floyd mural, along with two others in Kieth’s Alley, were sponsored by the local nonprofit, Help Us Make a Nation, or H.U.M.A.N., which is working to address racial inequity and racism in the village. To donate to their mural project, visit human2020.org.
Yellow Springs police are still investigating the vandalism. Those with information should call the department at 937-767-7206.
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