Petition Calls for Missy Elliott Statue to Replace Confederate Monument in Virginia
The controversial events that have been occurring in Virginia have triggered a lot of anger and violence to break out, but many are hoping for a silver lining. After white supremacists protested to protect Confederate monuments throughout the state, a new petition is requesting for one in Portsmouth, Va. to be replaced with a statue of Missy Elliott.
The petition, which has over 24,000 signatures, is asking for the Confederate monument in Olde Town Portsmouth to be replaced with one of Missy, being that she is "a true Portsmouth native hero."
"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," the petition states.
The Change.com petition also explains the upbringing of the hip-hop superstar while growing up in the city, arguing that she never owned a slave, unlike the monument that is currently up in the same location.
"Before she was 'Missy Misdemeanor' she was Melissa Arnette Elliott, born on July 1, 1971 in Portsmouth, Virginia," the document continues. "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. All this without even once owning a slave."
Violence originally erupted in Charlottesville, Va. after a white supremacist rally called to preserve a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. 32-year-old Heather Heyer was killed after a car plowed into a crowd of counter-protestors in the city. Future recently cancelled his shows in Virginia in wake of the news.
You can sign the petition for Missy to replace the statue over at Change.org.
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