By Aria Pons
FLORENCE, Ala. (WAFF) - If you are driving down Florence Boulevard, you might notice a massive billboard that doesn’t quite fit in with the others.
A nonprofit organization bought a billboard to prove a point to the city council and it’s not backing down.
It all began in May when the council denied a proposal from the organization to place a marker outside the Lauderdale County Courthouse.
Project Say Something leaders said the marker is needed to give context to the Confederate monument.
The Council voted 3-2 against the marker.
Blake Edwards and Jimmy Oliver who are on the billboard voted against it. The former President Dick Jordan also voted against it but has since stepped down from the council.
Oliver said that he could not approve the marker because the writing and language on it were not where they needed to be. He said the first sentence did not reflect what every resident in Florence thinks, and he has to look out for each resident.
“When we started talking about doing something there it was plainly going to say, the City of Florence denounces racism,” Oliver said. “If you don’t feel that way, you’re probably no friend of mine. I certainly feel that way. I think everybody would agree with that. That was going to be part of it. But there was so much more. Eighty percent of what they wanted to put there was opinion.”
The President of Project Say Something Camille Bennett said they decided to put the billboard up because they wanted to show that they are done with being pulled around.
Camille Bennett said her group discussed with the council for months about the marker and she finally thought they had something together.
When she attended the meeting in May, she thought the marker was a done deal and it would be approved.
Since then, she said she still has not heard about why it was turned down.
Bennet said they won’t stop until the marker is approved, but she is hoping they don’t have to put up any more billboards.
“A lot of the community wants to see justice, finally,” Bennett said. “So, we put a billboard up and we will continue. It is not a one-shot deal. We will continue to put billboards up all over the city until we receive what we need and that’s what we need right now.”
Legally the statue cannot be moved due to the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act of 2017.
Oliver said he is disappointed in the billboard company because they did not fact-check what was being put on the billboard.
He added that he has even supported the relocation of the statue to the Florence cemetery, but he said there would be several obstacles in moving it due to the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act of 2017.
Oliver said he still would like to talk it out.
“We tried and I’d be willing to try again at some point but this latest thing, this billboard here, has left a bad taste in my life,” Oliver said. “But I mean, I’ll get past it. I’m a professional, I like to think I am. And I can put that behind me and talk further about this.”
Bennett also said she is willing to sit down with the council, but she wants the marker put up soon. She said they still have funding for a years worth of billboards. She does not want to have to put up any more billboards, but she will if she has to.
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