A man in Portsmouth, Va., is petitioning to change a Confederate monument in his city to commemorate a modern homegrown icon: Missy Elliott.
“Who better to encapsulate the culture and spirit of the city enshrined in a new monument than Grammy Award winning rapper, dancer, and record producer Missy ‘Misdemeanor’ Elliott?” Nathan Coflin’s petition reads.
The petition — to be delivered to Portsmouth Mayor John Rowe if it reaches its target of 250,000 signatures — had garnered more than 19,000 supporters as of Sunday night.
Coflin goes on to detail how Elliott, the daughter of a local power company dispatcher and naval shipyard welder, has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide — “all this without even once owning a slave.”
“Together we can put white supremacy down, flip it and reverse it,” Coflin wrote, quoting lyrics from Elliott’s 2002 “Work It” smash hit.
