Art and Culture
Artist takes George Floyd’s last words to the sky
The video of him being pinned to the ground has circulated online. His death has sparked rage and protests. As George Floyd’s last words keep ringing inside people’s heads, an artist, takes this to the next level, by letting people see his last words, in the skies of the United States of America.
“In response to the recent murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police, I initiated a public demonstration that extended across 5 cities on Saturday, May 30 between the hours of 11:30 AM and 9 PM EST,” Jammie Holmes, an artist from Dallas, wrote in an Instagram post.
Airplanes soared the blue skies of the USA carrying Floyd’s final words. Holmes said that this is “to support Minneapolis in a national protest against police brutality within the African American community.”
The following are the words that flew for the people below to see.
Please I can’t breathe
My stomach hurts
My neck hurts
Everything hurt
They’re going to kill me
Holmes further wrote on Instagram that the presentation “is an act of social conscience and protest meant to bring people together in their shared incense at the inhumane treatment of American citizens.”
The artist shared that he has also been a victim of police misconduct on a number of occasions in his life.
“At some point, they will realize they can’t kill us all,” he wrote.
Holmes emphasized that what happened to Floyd “is happening all over America.”
In a release on his website, Holmes also said that the use of sky media in exercising free speech is rarely used for political or social purposes.
He said that it “presents a contrast to the noise of digital media and employs a form of communication that is most often used by the privileged to announce sporting events, marriage proposals, or promote consumption.”
Alongside the protests for Black Lives Matter across the country, different social media also have different campaigns.
Floyd, a black man, 46, was arrested on May 25, outside a shop in Minneapolis, Minnesota after being reported for allegedly paying with a fake $20 bill for cigarettes. Police came for him and footages showed a white officer, Derek Chauvin, with his knee on Floyd’s neck while pinned on the floor. Despite Floyd’s repeated begs and protests that he could not breathe, Chauvin kept him pinned for more than eight minutes.
Chauvin has been charged with murder.
