A Virginia resident has come up with an idea to replace Portsmouth’s Confederate monument: erect a statue of native hero Missy Elliott in its place.
The Change.org petition, addressed to Mayor John L. Rowe and six other officials, has attracted more than 24,000 signatures, and the number was still increasing rapidly on Monday.
In the petition’s text, Nathan Coflin, who started the bid, highlights Missy Elliott’s accomplishments, and points out the Grammy-Award-winning rapper has sold more than 30 million albums ‘without even once owning a slave’.
Support: A Change.org petition (pictured) to replace Portsmouth’s Confederate monument with a statue of native hero Missy Elliott has received thousands of signatures
Colfin started the petition as several cities across the US took down their Confederate monuments and statues in light of the deadly white supremacist demonstration that took place in Charlottesville earlier this month.
To convince potential supporters to sign the petition, Coflin sang the praises of Missy Elliott, who was born in Portsmouth 46 years ago.
‘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,’ he wrote.
‘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?’
Context: The current Confederate monument in Portsmouth is made out of a granite obelisk surrounded by four statues that represent Infantry, Artillery, Navy, and Cavalry
Native hero: To convince potential supporters to sign the petition, Virginia resident Nathan Coflin sang the praises of Missy Elliott (pictured), who was born in Portsmouth 46 years ago
Coflin then recounted how Missy Elliott rose to international fame after ‘humble beginnings’ in her hometown.
‘Before she was “Missy Misdemeanor” she was Melissa Arnette Elliott, born on July 1, 1971 in Portsmouth, Virginia,’ he wrote.
‘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.’
The Virginia resident acknowledged that putting up a Missy Elliott statue in Portsmouth would ‘be a lot of work’ but insisted it is worth it.
‘Together we can put white supremacy down, flip it and reverse it,’ he added.
Asked on Twitter what version of Missy Elliott he would pick for the statue, Coflin suggested her debut Supa Dupa Fly era, which dates back to 1997, might not be a bad idea.
Suggestions: Asked on Twitter what version of Missy Elliott he would pick for the statue, Coflin said her debut Supa Dupa Fly era, which dates back to 1997, might not be a bad idea
The current Confederate monument in Portsmouth is made out of a granite obelisk surrounded by four statues that represent Infantry, Artillery, Navy, and Cavalry.
A conservation project was carried out in 2006 to restore the statues after they became deteriorated and vandalized.
Back then, the figures’ faces had paint traces on them due to vandalism, according to an overview of the project.
Several cities have taken steps to get rid of Confederate monuments after the recent white nationalist rallies in Charlottesville, which came in reaction to efforts to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
This weekend, the University Of Texas in Austin took down four of them, while Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, removed its own Robert E. Lee statue.