Someone started a campaign to replace confederate statues with one of Missy Elliott

A campaign has been started to replace Confederate statues with one of Missy Elliott – and lots of people support it.

The effort hopes to replace the Confederate monument in Portsmouth, Virginia, with a statue of the ‘Work It’ rapper.

With more than 30,000 signatures so far, the petition on Change.org was started by Nathan Coflin.

Following violence at an anti-fascist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, the continued existence of Confederate statues has become a divisive issue.

The Charlottesville Unite the Right protest which led to violence was against the planned removal of a statue of Confederate general Robert E Lee.

Protesters shouted “f*ck you faggots” at the Unite the Right demonstration.

Missy Elliott was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, and Colfin says she is “everything the Confederacy was not”.

The campaign is addressed to Mayor John Rowe.

“Getting this statue put up will be a lot of work and you may ask yourself is it worth it?” he wrote in the petition, which is addressed to Mayor John Rowe.

“I say yes and ask you to join me in letting us work it. Together we can put white supremacy down, flip it and reverse it.”

It reads: “We believe it is time to finally replace the Confederate Monument in Olde Towne Portsmouth Virginia near the intersection of Court and High streets with a new statue of 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?

“Before she was “Missy Misdemeanor” she was Melissa Arnette Elliott, born on July 1, 1971 in Portsmouth, Virginia. 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.”

Parents at a school in Alabama are demanding the removal of a rainbow flag put up in a classroom to celebrate LGBT tolerance.

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Amal and George Clooney today made a huge donation to “stand up to hate” in the wake of the Charlottesville riots.

• Nov 29 2023

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