Seven teenagers are going to start creating a Trayvon Martin mural in East New York on July 16th. The mural is going to be painted on a 100-foot wall of the New Lots Laundromat and is going to be overseen by Arts East New York Inc. Click below for more information.
The city’s first known Trayvon Martin mural is going up on a wall of an East New York laundromat – adding to a brewing campaign to make sure history doesn’t snub the slain teen’s image.
Teenage boys will start painting the 100-foot picture July 16 on New Lots Laundromat’s wall underneath the elevated tracks of the IRT No. 3 train.
The East New York mural will join a growing list of similar street art popping up in black neighborhoods across the country.
“We want him to become a martyr, and it’s sad that we even have to say that,†said Catherine Green, executive director of ARTs East New York Inc., who is overseeing the project.
“We want to see change coming out of this. People see a young man with a hoodie and they think he is a criminal.â€
The seven young painters will show off the outline for the giant image in mid-July but are set on drawing Martin dressed in the his famed sweatshirt.
“It goes back to hip-hop and how people dress. When you see that hoodie, it signifies what people think about our young men in our community,†Green said.
Neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman gunned down the hoodie-clad Florida teen in February telling cops he thought the boy appeared suspicious.
Initially, authorities didn’t arrest Zimmerman, citing the state’s controversial “Stand Your Ground†law. A national debate on racial profiling ensued and officials later charged Zimmerman with second degree murder.
Martin snapped a picture of himself in a gray hoodie before his death. The image went viral as buzz surrounding the case intensified and is now on countless t-shirts and posters.
State Sen. Eric Adams (D-Crown Heights) used the picture on a June 7 flyer inviting young Brooklynites to a rally against a floundering Stand Your Ground bill stalled in Albany.
“The story of Trayvon Martin will find its way into the history books,†Adams said. “It symbolizes the frustration and anger of young men of color losing their lives — by their own hands, by the hands of the police, and by vigilante groups.â€
The Martin family copyrighted their son’s hoodie photo earlier this month, along with the phrases “Trayvon Martin,†“I am Trayvon Martin,†and “Justice for Trayvon Martin,†said Michael Hall, co-founder of the Justice for Trayvon Martin Foundation, an advocacy group tied to Martin’s legal team.
“We want to stop people from making a profit from [the image],†said Hall, explaining that while he was unaware of the East New York mural, he doesn’t have a problem with the plan.
Still, Hall was skeptical about whether street art will push history book authors to include the Trayvon Martin case.
“History will dictate what it wants to acknowledge. They will dictate what they want to pay attention to,†Hall said.
