Artists paint eight murals of Kaepernick throughout Atlanta after one was destroyed on eve of Super Bowl

Artists in Atlanta mobilized to paint murals of former NFL player Colin Kaepernick throughout the city after a building featuring one was destroyed on the eve of the Super Bowl.
Fabian Williams painted the image of Kaepernick standing beside Muhammad Ali on the side of an abandoned building two years ago, but told the Atlanta Constitution-Journal that he noticed the building being destroyed when he drove by last week.
“Symbols matter man. You destroyed the whole building it was on?” Williams said. “If I were an interpreter of performance art, what message would you take from that?”
{mosads}He told the paper he did not think it was a coincidence that the building, much of which had been destroyed by a fire last year, was demolished the day before thousands of fans descended on the city for the Super Bowl.
Williams called for his artist friends and other volunteers to hold a #Kaeperbowl on Sunday by painting murals of Kaepernick near the Mercedes Benz Stadium, the location of the Super Bowl game between the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams. He asked local business owners to donate walls to be painted for the project.
“But on the 3rd day, he rose,” Williams wrote on Instagram announcing the completion of the first mural. “From the ashes to the masses.”
Williams announced early Monday morning that some of the murals are still in progress, and said that there are still more walls that could be painted.
“A more robust thank you is coming as me [and] team process the outpouring of love that we received from our city and honestly the world,” he wrote on Instagram. “What a humbling experience.”
A GoFundMe for the effort raised over $10,000.
Kaepernick, the former 49ers quarterback, emerged as a social justice icon after starting the movement to kneel during the national anthem at games in protest of police brutality and racial inequality. He has not been signed by a team since the end of the 2016-17 season, and has formally accused league owners of colluding to keep him from playing.
A number of activists and celebrities announced they would boycott the Super Bowl over the NFL’s treatment of Kaepernick.
The Patriots won Super Bowl 53 on Sunday, 13-3.
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