HOUSTON — The sweltering heat isn’t keeping people from visiting the George Floyd mural that has been painted in his old neighborhood in the Third Ward.
It’s painted along a wall of Scott Food Store, located in the 3500 block of Tierwester.
The man who grew up here is being honored by so many who never even knew him.
"Everything he went through, a lot of young guys my age went through the same thing," says Lawrence Byrd.
Byrd made the seven-hour drive to Houston from Midland just to honor Floyd.
Byrd, like Floyd, was born in North Carolina and raised in Texas. He feels connected to him in many ways.
“I just felt the urgency to be here, it’s a moment,” says Byrd. “Everything, like I said, he represents, it’s a lot of us. So, the drive, seven hours, was nothing.”
The mural, painted by Houston artist Donkeeboy, is meant to keep Floyd’s memory alive.
Floyd was killed May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
Those visiting the mural say it’s a powerful experience and a powerful symbol.
"It’s very important, a constant reminder, I think, and for this to be here, and people come pay their respects, it’s awesome,” says Kermesha Richard.
Visitors say they want to honor Floyd and this moment.
"George Floyd is like our Nelson Mandela,” says Shawn Mansfield. “All this stuff has been going on, and just like apartheid, once it got put in the forefront, it went global.”
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