10 Mind-Blowing Facts You Didn't Know About Static Shock
9. Static's Real Name Is Rooted In History
Virgil Ovid Hawkins (he hated his middle name and forbade his sister from using it), is named after three prominent historical figures.
Both Virgil and Ovid were Roman poets, living in the same era (the '30s and '40s BC). They are considered, along with Horace, to be the three finest Latin poets, telling stories of adventure and mythology; very appropriate names for the medium in which McDuffie was working.
More directly, Virgil was named after a well-known lawyer and civil rights activist named Virgil D. Hawkins. This Hawkins attempted to attend law school at the University of Florida, but was denied entry due to his race. For the next 30 years, he fought at various levels of government and court to be made part of the legal community in Florida, only to be denied at every turn. Hawkins died in 1988, and was made a member of the Florida Bar Association posthumously.
Virgil's fight was not all for nought, however, as his court battles led to the public universities of Florida to be desegregated. McDuffie was so affected by this long-running civil rights battle that he named his first creation, Static, after the groundbreaking lawyer just four years after his death.