VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Virginia Beach native and award-winning musician Pharrell Williams shared a photoshopped picture of the Oceanfront with the "Black Lives Matter" letters on the Oceanfront boardwalk.
Pharrell wrote "VB, let’s make it happen" in the post, which showed a Photoshopped mural with big letters spelling out "Black Lives Matter" on the boardwalk.
Other cities around the country have painted large Black Lives Matter murals on streets in Washington, D.C., and Charlotte, North Carolina.
Rhys Powers said, “I love the statement 'Black Lives Matter'; I love that statement. If it’s going to unite people, then I’m all for it.”
While several people are all for the mural on the boardwalk, it’s creating some waves with other people in the community.
Online, one person said, “Beaches are not political billboards.”
Another commented with “This is called stupidity.”
“There’s going to be people who say 'Black Lives Matter', there’s going to be people who argue with it for whatever reason. It doesn’t matter. It’s important that we are talking about it and we are growing as people,” explained Sam Welty.
Sam Welty is a mural artist. He’s painted several buildings at the Oceanfront. If the city approves the mural, he said he wants to help, but he doesn’t want to do it alone. His vision, to have one artist paint each letter in Black Lives Matter.
“If we are going to make this project happen, it needs to be all of us coming together,” he explained. “It takes the whole community to say this statement, not just me it is all of us and we can do it together.”
13News Now reached out to Virginia Beach officials.
A spokesperson said, “We have already been in preliminary discussions on what Virginia Beach is going to do. We are looking at what other cities across the country have done and want to create something unique for our city. Nothing to report as of yet, but as soon as there is a plan in place, we will announce it.”