There's An Online Petition to Rename An Atlanta Highway After Shawty Lo

Atlanta residents are petitioning to rename Bankhead Highway to Shawty Lo Parkway.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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In the week’s following Shawty Lo’s tragic death, fans from all over the world have come forth to celebrate the late rapper’s life as well as his influence on the hip-hop community. One such fan is Atlanta resident Mercy Washington, who has embarked on a mission to rename a popular parkway after the “Dey Know” MC.

Uproxx points out that Washington started an online petition last week at Change.org, where she’s seeking one million signatures to change the name of Atlanta’s former Bankhead Highway from Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway to Shawty Lo Parkway. Washington explained why she started the initiative on the petition page:

He was overly active in his Bankhead community. So much so, that neighborhood locals honored him by giving him the nickname "King of Bankhead" abbreviated K.O.B in which he utilized as much as he did his rap name Shawty Lo. What better way to honor this extraordinary man then to rename the street in which he grew up on and a community that he never left behind even after his success! Bankhead Hwy a.k.a. Donald Lee Hollowell is a thing of the past. Sign the petition as we welcome the new Atlanta street name Shawty Lo Pkwy.

The team that manages Lo’s official Twitter account has suggested calling the highway Carlos Walker (the rapper’s legal name) Boulevard instead of Shawty Lo Parkway.

Mercy wrote in an update that she wants to get one million signatures before she submits the petition to Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. As of Saturday evening, the petition has received over 2,300 signatures.

The road is currently named after the late famed civil rights attorney Hollowell, who is known for his role in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 1960 prison release, as well as winning the desegregation of the University of Georgia.

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