What began as a flyer and a few collected murals has transformed into a living archive preserving the artistic legacy of the George Floyd uprising. Founded by Leesa Kelly in the summer of 2020, Memorialize the Movement (MTM) enters its fifth year with its annual “Justice for George” event — this time titled “Commemorate. Cultivate. Celebrate.” The 2025 theme: “Radical Joy.”
“I actually didn’t intend to found Memorialize the Movement,” Kelly said. “It started off as sort of like a project or an initiative. I had reached out to the Minnesota African American Heritage Museum and Gallery about the idea of preserving the murals and said, ‘Hey, if I can collect so many, would you guys want to do something with them?’”
After raising $5,000 for the museum and creating a flyer with the phrase “Memorialize the Movement,” Kelly began going door to door, asking business owners if she could preserve the murals painted on their storefronts during the uprising. Many said yes, unsure of what to do with them otherwise.
“They were really interested in the prospect that there was some group — a Black group — that was out there that would collect and preserve the murals.”
Kelly started collecting in late June 2020. “It was very much sort of like divine intervention. I was in the right place at the right time,” she said. “I wasn’t supposed to be in Minnesota. I was supposed to be in Florida…but I had just moved back because I didn’t have a choice. I had to. And so when all of this was happening, I just happened to be here.”
Moved by the emotions, messages, and raw power captured in the murals, Kelly felt an urgency to preserve them. “I was really inspired by the murals and the stories that they told — the vulnerability, the strength that people displayed,” she said. “Collecting them just felt right.”
Once it became clear the museum lacked capacity to store the pieces, Kelly was left to figure it out alone. She raised more funds, secured storage, and built a team of volunteers.
“I had to think about how to activate these murals so I wasn’t just the girl who started collecting and hoarding murals from the uprising,” she said. “I wanted to make sure that they were still accessible to the public, so the community can still interact with them and feed off the energy.”
That desire to share the work with the community gave rise to “Justice for George,” an annual event that brings people together to remember the uprising, reflect, and heal.
Now in its fifth year, MTM is continuing to define its purpose. “We’ve been thinking over the last five years, like, what are we? Are we a museum? Are we an art gallery?” said Kelly. “We finally kind of landed on — we’re an archive. We serve sort of as a library, if you will. A living art archive of the murals from the uprising in 2020.”
MTM now hosts free community workshops, exhibitions, and “Paint to Express” events that invite Black and brown community members to create art, enjoy music, and share food in safe spaces. “We want very much so for our community to still have open access — not just to the murals, but to art tools,” said Kelly. “All of the art supplies that we provide for them are free.”
As MTM marks five years, the “Justice for George” programming has expanded into a weeklong commemoration. “This is the first year that we’re doing a week’s worth of activities leading up to the main event on May 25,” Kelly said.
The events begin Tuesday, May 21, with a walking tour of original mural sites, complete with images and storytelling about their significance. On Wednesday and Friday, May 22 and 24, MTM will present “Kill Move Paradise,” a play by Pulitzer Prize winner James Ijames.
“It’s about four Black men who wind up in purgatory, and they realize that they’ve died,” Kelly explained. “They’re trying to remember the circumstances of their death, and as they’re remembering, they’re processing that.”
On Friday, May 23, MTM will host a community kickback at their headquarters in South Minneapolis. The outdoor gathering will include a “Paint to Express” workshop, a live DJ, food from the grill, and spirit tastings in partnership with Du Nord Social Spirits. “It should just be a vibe,” Kelly said.
The culminating event takes place on Sunday, May 25. “We’ll have 19 Black and brown artists who will be painting live at the event,” said Kelly. “We’ll have a large-scale exhibition of some of the murals from 2020. We’ll have nine performances — musical and dance — art vendors, food trucks, wellness practitioners, community organizations… There’s going to be a lot going on that day.”
While the programming is open to the public, the space is intentionally centered around the Black community. “This event is for Black people. And you can quote me on that,” Kelly said. “Everybody is welcome, but at our event, we have a vibe check… so that Black people know this is the safe space for them to show up authentically, genuinely, as themselves.”
This year’s title, “Commemorate. Cultivate. Celebrate.,” and theme, “Radical Joy,” reflect the resilience of the community and the movement it birthed. “As we were reflecting on hosting this event for the fifth year, we really wanted to think about how we remember and what we will be remembering,” said Kelly.
“Yes, it’s true that we’ll be remembering George Floyd and the tragic events that led to his murder, but also so many powerful, impactful organizations like Memorialize the Movement were born in 2020.”
Kelly emphasized that joy itself is resistance. “Radical joy in and of itself is an act of protest. Right now, we are under attack. DEI is under attack. Our legacy and our heritage at the federal level are under attack. But despite all of those things, we are still coming together and providing safe spaces.”
Five years later, Kelly and her team are not just preserving murals. They are preserving memory, movement and hope.
“We are still archiving these murals and keeping them alive and well so that they can be remembered 50 to 100 years from now. And we’re still fighting as a community for justice and liberation in Minneapolis and all over the country.”
Kiara Williams welcomes reader responses at kwilliams@spokesman-recorder.com