The family of George Floyd gathered with many significant members of the Black community on Thursday afternoon in Minneapolis, for the first of three memorial services across the country planned to mark the death of George Floyd on 25 May. Tara reports.
The service began with a scripture reading and a prayer urging healing from the Rev Al Sharpton, who delivered a powerful eulogy calling for white America to “get off our necks”.
In a eulogy packed with passion, Sharpton said the knee pressing down on Floyd’s neck was the story of black Americans for generations. He said: “The reason we could never be who we wanted and dreamed of being is you kept your knee on our neck”.
He added: “It’s time for us to stand up in George’s name and say: get your knee off our necks.”
North Central University also announced a George Floyd scholarship for young black Americans during the memorial, and called for other universities to do likewise.
Also in attendance was Martin Luther King III and Jesse Jackson, the actor Kevin Hart, and Minnesota’s leading politicians including US senators, Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith.
