FTP Illustrated

Since 2010 our team has been working with Nicholas Heyward, Sr., uplifting his voice and his son, 13-year old Nicholas Heyward, Jr., who was gunned down on September 27, 1994 in the Gowanus Houses by rookie NYPD police officer, Brian George.

 

Around 2013 the concept of illustrating Nicholas' story was birthed, and collectively we were very excited on embarking on this new creative project. But putting together a graphic retelling is extremely involved and takes resources - while we applied for multiple grants, we were unsuccessful in securing the funds we needed to complete the project. In 2017, Nicholas fell very ill. We talked about doing some more filming together, and in November of 2018, we interviewed Nicholas at length about his son, and what he envisioned for the future of the movement. A few weeks later, Nicholas suffered a heart attack and fell into a coma. He passed on December 31, 2018.

 

The following are a few finished illustrations from our time with Nicholas Heyward, Sr. We are not giving up on our vision of illustrating his story, and his son's story, but we still have not acquired what we need to complete it. We are planning on continuing our work documenting the Nicholas Heyward story through his second born son, Quentin Heyward, who lives in Atlanta.

 

Nicholas Heyward, Jr., Presenté.

Nicholas Heyward, Sr., Presenté.