Two Murals That Set A Reminder
“Son, one thing I want you to promise me is that you never become a cop and never fight for this country.” This is what my father told me when I was 7 years old. The quote has forever been etched into my head and due to recent events, it brought back those words to the forefront of my mind.
“I wanted to give the people a voice,” Camilo Smith said. Camilo Smith is an Afro-Latino freelance journalist residing in Houston who covered the recent deaths of both George Floyd and Vanessa Guillen by reaching out and being with the community to get their words out to the public through the use of social media. His posts are raw, unfiltered and show the emotion from the mouths of the people.
“I live not far from the Cuney Family Homes, I stay in the 3rd ward.” As a journalist this is what hit home to Smith as he interviewed several members of the community including George Floyd’s nephew.
George Floyd was a member of the 3rd ward community in Houston and also a part in the known group “Screwed Up Click” founded by DJ Screw. Floyd was a man trying to turn his life around and got stripped of the opportunity.
(Hensley, 2020) “Dade teared up at the prospect that Floyd’s fate — death at the hands of a police officer — could come for her brothers and nephews.
“We just want to live,” Dade said, passing her daughter to Hutchins. “Just let us live.””
Along with the loss of George Floyd, a second catastrophe struck the Houston area.
Vanessa Guillén, a Latina and graduate of César Chávez High School in southeast Houston made a commitment to serving her country. In hopes to making her family proud, Guillén suddenly went missing and the family demanded for answers. Her story only caught attention through her family and the power of social media demanding for Guillén’s whereabouts. Unfortunately, the life of Vanessa Guillén ended in tragedy, but the eyes of the public was able to see the underlying issues hidden by Fort Hood.
Camilo Smith was also a witness to the other beautiful mural commemorating Vanessa Guillén, and like George Floyd’s mural, many people flooded to the site paying their respects to the young soul taken too soon.
“It was much like an indigenous celebration of life as people got on their knees and prayed by the mural.” Smith took time to visit the mural of Vanessa Guillén which displayed many flowers and candles along the wall. The mural of Vanessa Guillén in uniform with angel wings on the back as well as the Mexico and American flag shows a valiant woman who wanted to fight for this country but was failed by institutionalized masculinity of the armed forces.
George Floyd and Vanessa Guillén fell victim to corruption that is deeply rooted in the United States. Crooked cops and the armed forces trying to sweep a death under the rug like nothing. The power of a camera and social media has no limits as it brought forth action. The endless posts, riots, protests, arrests all lead to something being done. Will justice be served? Will the effort be for nothing or is there actually going to be real change? These two questions remained unanswered at the moment, but the hope is that the fight from the people doesn’t go away. Let the murals set a reminder for the injustice that occurs in this country, but also to remember the two souls that possibly will lead us towards a new beginning.
References
Hensley, N. (2020, June 9). George Floyd mourners flock to Third Ward’s ‘The Wall’ to pay tribute.
The Houston Chronicle. Retrieved from: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Third-Ward-where-George-Floyd-was-raised-and-15325789.php#photo-19523562
