Former Hendersonville High multi-sport standout Grant Rivers is used to making headlines for his accomplishments in sports and is used to seeing his face pop up in newspapers or on sports websites.
He never dreamed he'd see his face on the side of a building.
A mural of Rivers is right in the center of Hamilton, Bermuda, where he now lives as he continues to train for the Olympics.
It doesn't depict Rivers throwing the javelin or even participating in the pole vault, which he holds the national record for Bermuda. Instead, it portrays the 2013 Hendersonville High graduate standing proud with his fist raised, as he participates in a Black Lives Matter march.
The mural is at Number 1 car park on Front Street and is based on a photograph of Rivers taken by Meredith Andrews.
"It is right in the middle of town. Everyone in Bermuda travels on Front Street at some point throughout the week, so it's seen by virtually everyone," Rivers said.
It's one of several murals in the town that were created as part of the Peaceful Art Protest Mural Project, a collaboration between the Bermuda National Gallery and the city of Hamilton, a report in the the Bermuda Royal Gazette said. The works were based on submissions by artists to show solidarity with the BLM movement and painted by muralist Dennis Joaquin.
Rivers said he was both "shocked and humbled" when asked if his photo could be used as a mural for the project.
"This is one of the biggest issues of my generation and many generations before me. It is a deep scar that has had impacts all across western civilization," he said. "I think a lot of people see racial issues as simply an American thing, but it spans across the transatlantic into the Carribean and British territories such as Bermuda. So when I got to see the mural come to life over several weeks, all I could think about was Dr. King and what this means for so many."
Rivers was Hendersonville High's starting quarterback and also played on the basketball team. He excelled at track and field and won multiple state titles in the high jump. He went on to have a stellar career at N.C. State University, where he won multiple conference titles.
While he makes a big statement on the track, he hopes to make a an even bigger statement against racial injustice. He was one of thousands who took part in the Black Lives Matter march in June in Hamilton.
"The mural is an image of me, but it’s not about me. That is what I love about this project," Rivers said. "The mural represents all of those individuals who want to make a way for those that lack the power to change their own reality.
"BLM means different things to different people, but for me it means learning to love people wherever they are and working diligently toward unity and understanding. I believe that’s what God in heaven would want and ultimately what Martin Luther King strove for.
"Bermuda’s march was peaceful. Everything about what took place on June 7, 2020 was exactly how Dr. King would have wanted it to be."
The artist was inspired by the photo taken of Rivers at the march.
"The painting on Front Street, it was inspiring just putting it up there," Joaquin said in the Bermuda Royal Gazette article. “Each day I would come to it and I would see it grow. It just grew out of the pavement and onto the canvas there.”
When Hendersonville High Principal Bobby Wilkins heard the news about the mural, he said it was fitting for a man like Rivers.
"When Grant was here he was the student body president his senior year. He was the kind of guy that would do anything for anybody. He's just a great guy. It's so exciting to hear he's being honored in this way," Wilkins said.
Rivers said he's continuing his training for the Olympic Games, which are still on schedule to be held beginning in late July in Tokyo. He just recently returned to Bermuda from an overseas trip, he said, and still seeks to represent Bermuda at the Games.
"Training is going great. I just finished my 14-day quarantine after returning back to Bermuda and I’m ready to get back to work," he said Tuesday.
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