In Houston’s Third Ward, the demolition of an abandoned laundromat and the mural of George Floyd, painted in the wake of his murder nearly five years ago, has left local residents heartbroken and searching for answers.
Bobby, a man who has called the laundromat his home for years, expressed his dismay at the loss of both the building and the mural that adorned its wall.
“They did such a fantastic job painting the mural,” Bobby recounted while sitting on the remnants of the now-demolished structure.
“I’m homeless and there was a laundromat there, so I was living inside. And now I’m more homeless. But I have relatives and things that I will go see and I have friends. I’m an old Boy Scout, so I like the outside.”
Having once worked in the building before its closure over a decade ago, Bobby reflected on how he was taken by surprise when he received only a week’s notice to vacate.
“I had all my things in there,” he stated.
“They gave me like a week’s warning, and I didn’t [leave] because I didn’t think they were actually coming back. So when they came, it was surprising. I just bundled up and packed away.”
The mural, a striking tribute to Floyd, took up an entire side of the building and also included the names of two other Black women, Breonna Taylor and Sandra Bland, who also lost their lives to police violence.
Floyd, a figure synonymous with the movement against police brutality in the United States, grew up just blocks away from the laundromat in Houston’s Cuney Homes, the city’s oldest public housing complex, attended Yates High School, and became a pivotal symbol of the fight for racial justice following his tragic death on May 25, 2020.
The demolition came just days before the fifth anniversary of Floyd’s death, prompting reflections from both residents and historians about the significance of the mural.
“The mural was about an organic expression of grief and an expression of community in particular,” said Raúl Ramos, an associate professor of history at the University of Houston.
“With its demolition, we’ve lost a representation of our community and our neighbors at a time when it feels particularly unstable.
image source from：https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/houston/2025/05/23/522238/george-floyd-houston-mural-demolished-days-before-fifth-anniversary-of-his-death/
