- About 5 years ago, The Village Lansing's co-founder Michael Lynn was looking to add an extra educational element to their space and he reached out to Ozay Moore.
- After some collaborative brainstorming, Ozay Moore, founder of All of the Above Hip Hop Academy, was able to create a mural that featured black, influential Lansing figures
- The mural includes Malcolm X, Needlz, DJ Infamous, Dr. Olivia Letts and Magic Johnson.
- In the attached story, I spoke with Ozay Moore and Michael Lynn about the meaning of this mural
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
As we conclude Black History Month, I wanted to highlight black history figures across the country and right here in our neighborhoods and luckily I didn't have to go too far to find a visual.
I'm your Lansing neighborhood reporter Asya Lawrence here at The Village, taking a look at their black history mural.
"When we came into this space it was a tax office, so when we came in we knew it needed some love and some south side edge," said Michael Lynn Jr., Co-founder of The Village Lansing.
The Village Lansing has worked to help and mentor young people in the Lansing neighborhood for years.
And when the group moved into this space on South Martin Luther King Boulevard, they knew exactly who to call to create a piece that represents what they stand for.
"My name is Ozay Moore," Ozay Moore said.
When Michael Lynn and Ozay Moore were brainstorming their vision, many themes were brought up.
"A piece of a puzzle to get knowledge into their brains," Lynn said.
And after weeks of work, what came of the mural exceeded their expectations.
"The inspiration was immediate" Moore said.
Magic Johnson,
"Needlez from Lansing, Grammy award winning producer," Moore explained.
Malcolm X,
"DJ Infamous, also a real prominent figure in hip hop music," Moore continued.
and Dr. Olivia Letts, the first black teacher in the Lansing School District are all featured in this piece of art that serves as an educational piece for people like Conner Holguin.
"I was just in awe but I didn't recognize everybody that was on the mural though so I really had to get going on the conversation to say who are these people, what have they done in lansing?" said Conner Holguin, The Village of Lansing's executive director.
Conversations like these are what Ozay and Michael say was the whole idea of the mural and they hope that this permanent display of black Lansing legends will keep these discussions going past Black History Month.
"We wouldn't be here without them so the question is what are you going to do with that?"
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