NORFOLK, Va. — Former ODU football player Mufu Taiwo is used to the attention.
"I was always the big kid growing up, right? So all eyes were always on me," he said.
Even when it came from unwanted sources.
"I was told at a young age the situation we have in our country, not everyone is going to agree with how you look."
Mufu eventually turned that noticeable size into a football career at Old Dominion University, a platform that he's using in hopes of dismantling the aforementioned "situation in our country." With protests throughout the world sparked by the murder of George Floyd, Mufu decided to take action of his own here at home.
The recent graduate organized a peaceful march down Hampton Boulevard and onto the Old Dominion campus, followed by remarks to the protesters from President James Broderick and other school officials, as well as Taiwo himself.
The goal: make the problem personal for everyone.
"The more we talk about it, the more people start to really understand what's going on. Then it becomes personal, and when it's personal you can relate to it."
For Mufu, it's always been personal, and he hopes it will become personal for you too, so that his kids only get attention where they seek it.
"At the end of this decade... I'm gonna have children by then, hopefully, so now it's shifting to where I have to start to become the leader to start influencing some change, because I want my kids not to go through that."