Christ the King Episcopal Church in Valdosta dedicated its Civil Rights mural last August and has since added interactive panels to give visitors more information about the people depicted on the mural.

Last August, Christ the King Episcopal Church dedicated its Civil Rights mural in downtown Valdosta. This year, in time for Black History Month, it installed two info panels in front of its mural which inform visitors of who is depicted on the wall. These info panels also provide a QR code that can be scanned with a smartphone to lead to the church’s website for more information. It is the hope of Christ the King Episcopal Church that in months and years to come the mural will become a place of learning and remembering, while providing paths to Martin Luther King’s “beloved community.”

The mural, which is adjacent to Mack’s Park on McKey Street, displays portraits of Saint Anna Alexander (a Saint of the Diocese of Georgia since 1998), Martin Luther King (an internationally known civil rights leader and Georgia native), Howard Thurman (an important theologian and mentor for Martin Luther King), Marsha P. Johnson (a nationally known LGBTQ rights activist), and John Lewis (a well-known civil rights leader beyond our state).

Also depicted on the mural are Mary Turner (a victim of the 1918 Georgia lynching rampage) in the form of a tree of life, and Ahmaud Arbery (a victim of racial violence in February 2020). Other portraits show Malcolm X, Harriet Tubman, and Maya Angelou.

Weaving across the mural is a rainbow-colored ribbon which in one area displays notes and lyrics from the Billy Holiday song “Strange Fruit.”

The mural also shows smaller portraits of community members who are no longer with us, but who left an indelible mark on our city: Jane Louise Elza, Karen R. Noll, Linda Bennett Elder, Charles E. Todd, II., William “Mack” Freeman, Grant Brown, Rev. Stan White, and Gale Thomas Eger.

The mural artists are Taylor Shaw (former VSU professor) and A’Shadrian “Shay” Clayton (former VSU student).