JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville tragedy is now memorialized in a way city leaders said Wednesday, will inspire future generations to come together.
Following last year's racist shooting at the Kings Road Dollar General, community leaders developed an idea to place unity and diversity front and center. That idea now takes shape in the form of brushstrokes: a new mural in Downtown Jacksonville on Independent Drive near Newnan Street.
There are also plans for a plaque to be added at the mural to memorialize the incident.
"The conversation about a mural came up," said City Councilmember Ken Amaro at an event for the mural Wednesday. "It came up in the wake of the horrific racially motivated shooting at the Dollar General store. 'How can it be a healing element within our community?'"
As a way to heal from one of Jacksonville’s darkest days, a street corner is now painted bright.
"It’s just beautiful isn’t it?" said Mayor Donna Deegan. "I love it."
The mural was commissioned by the city as part of United Way of Northeast Florida’s MLK Week of Service. It was painted by artists Chris Clark and Tatiana Kitchen.
"Maybe it inspires them to want to spread positivity elsewhere," Kitchen said about people who view the mural.
Parvez Ahmed spoke at the unveiling, where he was introduced with his new title for one of the first times. Ahmed was previously the city's chief of diversity and inclusion in the mayor's office, a position city councilmembers effectively cut funding for. Then last week, after hot debate and six city councilmembers voting against it, city council created the chief of data analytics role in the mayor's office Ahmed is now in.
"The whole idea is to use data as a basis of our decision making," Ahmed said about his new position. "And the mayor talks about that, that if I know the data, I will know what to advocate for."
Meanwhile back at the mural, Clark hopes the mural can bring people together.
“I call it the public art museum because it’s accessible to everyone,” he said.
Clark said he's also working on a mural on a street off Kings Road that will uplift the neighborhood.