Long before the speeches, before the camera clicks, before the sheet was pulled back to reveal “Three Generations” — a mural featuring iconic actor John Amos, along with his father and son — Cameron Hill was already painting through tears.
“This wasn’t just another mural,” said Hill, the Memphis native also known as Cam the Artist. “My father passed away a little over a year ago. He was my best friend, and painting this… brought it all back.”
The mural, emblazoned on the side of a building on Front Street near Union Avenue, depicts Amos, his father John Amos Sr., and his then-teenage son K.C. Amos, painted from a real photo taken in 1987.
“There were moments I’d be out here thinking, ‘I wish I could call my dad right now,’” Hill said. “But I kept going. I finished it, and now it’s here for everybody.”
Titled “Three Generations,” the mural captures a rare and powerful portrait of Black fatherhood. Painted over the course of a week — early mornings, late nights and long days in the Memphis heat — the mural is the latest installment in the Wall of Fame public arts initiative led by the MVP3 Foundation, and it was officially unveiled Monday, Sept. 15.
“I want everybody in Memphis to come out and see it,” Hill said. “Take pictures, tell your kids about it. Support the arts. There are so many dope creatives in this city who don’t get the spotlight, and they deserve it.”
Why Memphis?
So why is the dad from “Good Times” getting all this love in the city of Memphis?
“People may not realize this,” said Marie Pizano, founder of the MVP3 Foundation, “but John Amos had fallen in love with Memphis. We were working on several projects together. He wanted to move here, help build up a real media and arts industry based on integrity, storytelling that uplifts.”
Before his death in August 2023, Amos had been in town for a documentary rollout and was collaborating with MVP3 on both narrative and student-led films. What began as a professional partnership grew into something more rooted.
“We felt the love here,” said his son, K.C. Amos, who attended the unveiling. “Memphis showed up for us. My father was looking at homes here. I may be next.”
For Pizano, “Three Generations” is more than tribute — it’s a promise.
“We’re going to finish what he started,” she said. “Through film, music, public art, and most of all, through the next generation.”
The photo, the Mustang, the memory
The original photo that inspired the mural was taken in 1987. And KC has vivid memories of that day, memories of generational fatherhood that the image embodies.
“On the way to the shoot, I spotted a ’65 Mustang for sale,” he recalled, smiling. “Afterward, my grandfather — a master mechanic — took me back to check it out. He popped the hood, gave me a wink, and I knew it was gonna work out.”
K.C. had saved up gas money and lunch money for months. That day, the 16-year-old bought his first car. But it’s the moment just before — frozen in a single photograph — that now will greet southbound motorists on Front Street.
“Isn’t it something?” KC said, gazing up at the mural. “In the photo, my father’s standing in front of his father. And now I’m standing in front of him. It’s generational. It’s love.”
He paused.
“This picture embodies how much my father meant to people. So many have told me, ‘Your dad was my dad,’ you know? That’s what this is. A strong Black father, standing tall.”
Legacy in action
The mural unveiling wasn’t just a ceremony. It was a celebration. A crowd gathered to hear prayers, proclamations and personal reflections. County Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. presented a proclamation and key on behalf of the Shelby County Commission. Appropriately, his father, City Councilman Edmund Ford Sr., was in the audience, a living example of the generational throughline embodied in the mural itself.
“This is about legacy: about fathers who show up, about stories that need to be told,” said Ford Jr., in his remarks. “It is an honor, privilege and pleasure to give this key in honor of the life and legacy of Mr. John Amos and his wonderful family. He’s earned it and so has his son, carrying that legacy forward.”
The next generation
The day’s celebration also included a nod to legacy in motion: the presentation of the inaugural MVP3 John Amos Integrity Award to Rico Parker, a nursing and theater student at Southwest Tennessee Community College.
“Integrity isn’t just what we do when people are watching,” Parker said. “It’s who we choose to be when no one is. I accept this award for every young person who wonders if they belong in spaces like this. You do.”
Parker was nominated by his former instructor Thomas King, who praised his student’s growth from a quiet, comic presence in class into a leader on stage and off.
“He’s got a caregiver’s heart and a performer’s spirit,” King said. “The kind of student who makes you believe in the future.”
The work behind the wall
The “Three Generations” mural is the latest and most visible expression of the MVP3 Foundation’s commitment to using the arts as a tool for education, healing and transformation.
Founded by Pizano, MVP3 has become a quiet force in Memphis’ creative landscape, providing real-world training to students in filmmaking, TV production, music and visual arts. That includes a 36-week film and TV program at Westwood High School, where 50 students are currently learning hands-on skills to help them break into the entertainment industry — not in Los Angeles or Atlanta, but right here in Memphis.
“We’re not just painting murals,” Pizano said. “We’re building a movement. We’re helping young people find their voice and giving them the tools and platforms to share it with the world.”
That movement is growing. MVP3’s partnerships with Southwest Tennessee Community College, the University of Memphis and others have laid the foundation for a citywide pipeline of student creators that flows into the MVP3 Network, an expanding media platform where student-produced content is seen by millions worldwide.
“Film and TV affect our mental health,” Pizano said. “What we see, what we hear — it shapes us. That’s why we’re focused on producing stories that heal, that uplift, that speak to who we really are. And this mural? It’s a piece of that.”
The father we all knew
To many in the crowd, John Amos wasn’t just an actor. They saw him as their father.
His portrayal of James Evans Sr. on “Good Times” in the 1970s was more than just a role. For a generation of Black families, it was the first time they saw a father on TV who looked like theirs — hardworking, principled, emotionally present and rooted in love. That role made history and has had a lasting impact.
“I remember when I was very young, every day at four o’clock, “Good Times” would come on,” said Shelby County Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr., recalling the show’s place in his childhood. “That show was the closest thing to real life for a lot of African-American families.”
Amos, however, wanted more from the role. He famously pushed back on producers over the show’s increasing reliance on slapstick and caricature, particularly around J.J. Evans’ “Dy-no-mite!” catchphrases. Eventually, those creative disagreements led to Amos’ character being killed off in the third season and the legendary scene where family matriarch Florida Evans (Esther Rolle) smashes a plate on the floor and cries out: “Damn, DAMN, DAMN!!!!”
“When John Amos did ‘Good Times,’ you saw struggle but you saw a family unit,” Pizano said. “We don’t have shows like that anymore. We need more stories that reflect real love, real fathers and real families.”
Amos continued to make his mark on screen and stage. His role as Kunta Kinte in Roots earned him an Emmy nomination and deepened his legacy as a storyteller of dignity and truth. Later, he brought wisdom and warmth to roles in “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “The West Wing,” and of course, as Cleo McDowell in “Coming to America,” cementing his status as both comedic and cultural icon.
And as KC Amos stood beneath the mural, his father’s image towering above him, the weight of that legacy was clear.
“I see him looking down at me,” he said. “And I know he’s proud.”
