Mural mural on the wall: Asad Thomas paints tribute in Perry

It was around the age of 10 that Asad Thomas discovered that he had a special gift for drawing, but he admits that he never foresaw himself creating a public memorial. Thomas, now 21, said that he feels very blessed to have been asked to complete a mural in Perry that honors three faces that, through tragedy, became prominent this year. Because each of the victims was black and their killers were white members of law enforcement, it all resulted in epic racial unrest across the globe. Despite that, Thomas hopes something good comes out of it after all.

“I found out about the project through my father,” Thomas revealed. “He knows this lady named Fenika, and her family owns the building the mural is on. Another lady named Monica, up in Atlanta, is a part of an organization called Living Walls. They hire artists to paint portraits on buildings. They all worked together to ask me to help make this happen.”

Thomas said most of the murals backed by Living Walls are meant to memorialize people who have lost their lives due to social and racial injustices. The wall art is intended as a method of speaking out against killings brought on by inequality, prejudice and discrimination.

“When I heard about it, I thought that it was a pretty good idea, and I was glad that they wanted me to be a part of it,” Thomas stated.

Thomas, who lives in Macon, said that he made the 30-minute trip to Perry as many days as necessary to get the job finished. The first image that he concentrated on getting complete was that of George Floyd who was killed on May 25 during an arrest in Minneapolis. A police officer, Derek Chauvin, knelt on Floyd’s neck for nearly eight minutes, causing the 46-year-old’s death. Following the killing of Floyd, protests developed in over 400 cities throughout all 50 U.S. states, and even internationally. The death was ruled as a homicide, and Chauvin was eventually charged with second-degree murder.

The second face added to the mural was that of Ahmad Aubrey, a 25-year-old jogger who was fatally shot on February 23 as he ran through the Satilla Shores neighborhood in Glynn County, Georgia near Brunswick after being pursued and confronted by three residents—one of which was Gregory McMichael, a former law enforcement officer. McMichael, his son, Travis, and a third man, William Bryan, were charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.

The third and final image on Thomas’ mural is Breonna Taylor. The 26-year-old emergency medical technician was fatally wounded on March 18 when Louisville Metro Police Department officers executed a no-knock search warrant and entered her apartment searching for someone who did not live there. It was reported that the officers fired over 20 shots with eight of them striking Taylor. Despite the fact that she was killed, the police filed an incident report stating Taylor had no injuries and that there was no forced entry to the resident. No-knock search warrants have since been banned in Louisville through a regulation called Breonna’s Law. Jonathan Mattingly, Brent Hankinson and Myles Cosgrove were the officers that were put on administrative leave following Taylor’s killing. Hankinson was ultimately fired from the police force. None of the officers have faced criminal charges.

Throughout the mural’s creation, Thomas said the encouragement he received far outweighed the barriers, but he did admit to experiencing some harassment. “There were two days in a row where somebody kept driving by and saying ugly things to me as I was working,” disclosed Thomas. He could not say, with all certainty, that it was the same man, but both times, the person was in a white truck. Although the man was yelling profanities at him, Thomas insisted that he never felt threatened. “I don’t think he was ever intending to do any bodily harm; he just wanted to get under my skin. I ignored him and kept working.”

Though he did not feel that he was in any real danger, Thomas said, “When Fenika heard about it, she put a post on Facebook. The next day, random people started stopping by and hanging around just to check on me and make sure nobody was bothering me. It must have worked,” Thomas said with a laugh. “If the guy ever drove by again, he didn’t say anything to me.”

What he hopes for most of all, Thomas said, is that his art project will bring the people of the community together. “When I really think about, I guess it already has,” he commented. “People—both black and white—were stopping by and telling me how nice it looked. They brought me snacks and cold drinks because sometimes it was so hot while I was working. A lot of them thanked me for beautifying the community. That’s what it’s all about. I love bringing people together with my art.”

Thomas began his project just before Independence Day weekend and put the finishing touches on it on July 21. The title of the mural is “Black Futures Matter,” and can be viewed at 1534 Houston Lake Road in Perry.

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