Editorial: Honoring Missy Elliott can inspire future generations to dream big

In 2017, shortly after preservation of a Robert E. Lee statue was ostensibly the reason for a violent right-wing riot in Charlottesville, a Change.org petition encouraged Portsmouth to replace the Confederate monument near the intersection of Court and High streets in Old Towne with a statue of hip hop icon and Portsmouth native Missy Elliott.

Nothing much came out of that effort aside from a few headlines — Elliott tweeted that she was humbled by the suggestion — but it highlighted an issue that has gained significant traction in the intervening years: representation in the public square.

Flash forward to Monday when a carnival-like atmosphere greeted Elliott’s arrival at Manor High School, her alma mater, for the formal designation of “Missy Elliott Boulevard” — a 1-mile stretch of McLean Street the Portsmouth City Council voted in August to rename in her honor.

A packed football stadium roared and shrieked when the musician arrived in a Bentley SUV. The Hampton University marching band performed. Fellow Hampton Roads artists Timbaland, Trey Songz and Pusha T were on hand. And Gov. Glenn Youngkin, one of many local, state and federal officials there, proclaimed Monday as “Missy Elliott Day” in the commonwealth.

There’s no question that Elliott is deserving of such honors; the list of her awards has its own Wikipedia page. To name a few, she is a four-time Grammy winner and earned 22 nominations. Her innovative and iconic videos have won 15 MTV Video Music Awards and 45 nominations. And she is the first female rapper to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Perhaps most importantly to the cheering crowd on Monday, she never lost sight of her roots.

“757, 804, seven cities, I am so proud to be from Portsmouth, Virginia,” she told the crowd. “Everything, I’ve learned here — from Portsmouth to the whole VA, I have learned love, loyalty, friends, humility. … Just so much strength and that’s how I ended up here today.”

In the summer of 2020, when cities across the nation were roiled by marchers following the death of George Floyd, Confederate monuments were often a target of protesters’ ire. That was certainly true in Hampton Roads; many were toppled or removed as a result, and numerous other public buildings named for Confederate leaders, white supremacists or other unsavory figures were renamed.

While some considered the movement rash or excessive, claiming that the statues weren’t causing harm and the cost of removal exceeded the value, the fact is that symbolism is important. Representation in the public square does have value and meaning.

When residents and visitors alike walk our streets and spend time in our public spaces, what impression do we want them to have? Should we hold up the ugliest moments of our history — reminders of slavery and violence and oppression? Or should we celebrate those sons and daughters of our communities who made a lasting difference to improve the world around them — the musicians and artists, scientists and mathematicians, scholars and athletes?

The removal of Confederate monuments from places of prominence allows us a new freedom to honor those throughout our history who have made Hampton Roads and the commonwealth a better place to call home.

Better still, it makes our communities more inclusive and welcoming to people of every background, color and creed. The Katherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility at NASA Langley in Hampton or the recently installed historical marker in Virginia Beach paying tribute to Filipino members of the U.S. Navy may inspire the imagination of children who see themselves in those honorees.

So too it may be with Missy Elliott Boulevard. Certainly Monday was a moment of joy for those in attendance and for the city of Portsmouth. But we can hope that seeing that sign inspires future generations to dream big, to persevere through adversity and to carry the pride of this region to the heights of their profession, as Elliott did.