The Young Dolph memorial erected at Makeda’s Homemade Butter Cookies, the local Memphis bakery where the 36-year-old rapper was tragically killed last November, is expected to be taken down in the coming days.
ABC Memphis reports Makeda’s owner Pamela Hill has decided not to reopen the store out of safety concerns. The owner of the building that housed the bakery is calling for the memorial to be removed.
A member of Dolph’s Paper Route Empire label told the station they plan on setting up a new memorial in Memphis’ Castalia Heights neighborhood.
“I UNDERSTAND YOU HAVE TO LEASE IT OUT AND RUN A BUSINESS,” COMMUNITY ACTIVIST FRANK GOTTI TOLD ABC24. “I UNDERSTAND IT. IT’S HIS BUILDING AND NOBODY CAN ARGUE WITH HIM ON THAT. I APPRECIATE HIM FOR KEEPING IT UP THIS LONG.”
The news comes just over a week after Jeremiah Taylor, one of the men who helped maintain the memorial, was shot and killed in Memphis.
“I WANT PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD TO KNOW WE CARE ABOUT DOLPH. … THE LOVE HE HAD WITH PEOPLE,” TAYLOR PREVIOUSLY TOLD ABC 24. “A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE REALIZING AND NOW SEEING THE PERSON THAT HE ALWAYS WAS. TAKING CARE OF HIS COMMUNITY, BEING A PHILANTHROPIST, AND REALLY PROMOTING FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE. [IT’S] A MORAL THAT HE TAUGHT.”
