A large billboard with an even bigger message has popped up between Kalispell and Somers along U.S. 93 S.

It reads “I Can’t Breathe,” the words that George Floyd, a black man from Minneapolis, repeated before he died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly 9 minutes. And listed under that message is the Black Lives Matter website and two numbers one can text, should they have an interest in learning more about the movement and about Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other black individuals who were killed during officer-involved incidents.

The billboard is sponsored by Flathead Valley teenager Kavi Fix, and according to the sign itself, the “Youth of Kalispell.”

“We settled on ‘I can’t breathe’ because not only were those some of the last words from Floyd and others like Eric Garner, but it humanizes the entire cause of Black Lives Matter movement,” Fix said. “There may be protests and even riots happening, but the reality is that actual people are still dying.”

Fix said he wanted to find a way to publicly advocate for the movement after he missed the recent Black Lives Matter protest in Kalispell because of work. That’s when his mother suggested he look into temporarily leasing a billboard in the valley.

After the idea emerged, Fix said he reached out to his peers to see if others would be interested in financially supporting the billboard and its message. He said the response was impressive.

“More than 30 people ended up donating what they could and most of those people were my younger-aged friends,” said 19-year-old Fix. “I think it shows younger generations really care about this movement.”

Fix said he leased the billboard for two months. He and others hope it will spark discussions about Black Lives Matter so people can better understand the movement and its significance.

“Because we live in a small rural town, I think it can be easy for people to ignore issues happening elsewhere. But there is a conversation taking place throughout our country and we wanted to make sure Montana is having those conversations, too,” Fix said.

Reporter Kianna Gardner can be reached at 758-4407 or kgardner@dailyinterlake.com