The first story in our #seemyset story series is a video essay about John Perkins, reflecting on a mural of his likeness painted on the back of downtown Somerset’s historic Virginia Theatre.
As a young man, Perkins often visited the old Virginia Theatre, a venue where black patrons were required to sit in the balcony and there was no indoor restroom for their use. When asked about the significance of the mural painted on the theater’s back wall, he says he stands on the shoulders of others who made his life easier, and simply looks forward. To the post office across the street. The place where he built his future as a postmaster and owner of a successful barbecue enterprise.
Read more about the mural’s creation here, and watch the video above to learn more about Perkins, lovingly known in the community as Johnny B.
