LYNCHBURG, Va. – Soon there will be a Black Lives Matter billboard flashing in Lynchburg again.
Brooke Linville is behind a billboard on Wards Road, near Liberty University and paid to have it up for two weeks in June.
The Sweet Briar College alumnae brought the idea to the Hill City after seeing similar billboards where she currently lives in Idaho.
She calls it the “Black Lives Matter Billboard Project” and has purchased ones in other cities too.
Linville says recent news of the Lynchburg billboard has stirred up some divisive comments online.
She hopes it will start a local conversation.
“I struggle with that. Why can’t we take a pause and see if there’s some truth here as opposed to immediately getting defensive and reacting in a way that only reinforces the importance of the message,” Linville said.
Linville has not said when the message will go back up.
Last time, she and 20 donors raised more than $2,000 for the display.
This article has been update to include a Gofundme link Linville has created to help put up another display.