Five Years Later: Remembering the Murder of George Floyd
It is five years later since the nation witnessed the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, MN. I sat at home contemplating on wether to watch the full video of how he lost his life. To this day I still have not viewed the complete video of George Floyd losing his life. I refuse. I refuse to go through the trauma which would only make me more angry about how he lost his life — and how many of us Black men and women have lost our lives due to police violence and police brutality.
I relocated to Minneapolis not long after May 25th, 2020. I can recall friends being especially concerned as I made my way to the Twin Cities area to take on a new job. For the reason that George Floyd lost his life there, I was interested in experiencing Minneapolis and what it felt like a few years later. I was interested in joining the fight and meeting local leaders and activists who stood on the frontlines protesting or marching seeking justice for his death.
My calling has been for the last fifteen years is to travel to the places where unrest fought to seek change and transformation in some of this country’s worst places to be a Black woman or a Black man.
As I write this refection, immediately what comes to mind is that we are moving backwards instead of forward in the fight for racial equity in the United States of America and beyond. As right wing politicians — and those who are MAGA — transform our democracy here in the US into something that is not at all recognizable as democracy — we are taking giant steps backwards as the president works daily on reversing protections and laws that have existed for decades — and were created and written for people like me.
For instance, his attack on DEI as well as trying to rid this country’s celebration of people such as baseball legend Jackie Robinson, is what the president of the United States wants his legacy to represent. We must also recognize his defunding of African American History museums and Harvard College for its stance. This is undemocratic and unpresidential behavior by a man who wants to be a king.
Hoping to wash away all of what the history of this country stands for is a slap in the face to racial justice and the Civil Rights Movement where lives have been lost or sacraficed. As we celebrate the 100th birthday of Malcolm X — a man who worked tirelessly for particularly Black people to live in a more just world — we on the other hand are trapped in policies and politics seeking to write another narrative of what has happened here. The contrast is stark. The future is dark unless we find ways to turn the president’s policies and practices around.
When I landed in Minneapolis and got myself semi-settled I made my way to George Floyd Square. Quiet and reflective, I took up all I could in that location in Minneapolis. I did not want to miss a thing as I walked slowly through the streets with murals and a makeshift donation structure where some of the activists and organizers made sure their presence is felt and the needy are taken care of.
A lot has happened since May 25th, 2020. We saw activists push for police reform and economic equity take place all over the country. We have experienced multiple protests and marches because of continued police violence and police brutality. The opposition to these progressive movements was hard to deal with for all of the people who dreamt of and fought for reforms that are much needed. And although some reform has come, we still have a long way to go. The reforms or laws that have been created fall very short of making sure Black communities are thriving and are protected from police terrorism.
A poem I wrote called Minneapolis Is Burning was featured on WNIJ Radio in northern Illinois while I gave it all I had to bring attention to what was happening as we protested against police brutality and police violence.
As a writer who is also an activist through his writings, I hope the poem is still being heard and is either informing or encouraging everyone who hears it to join the fight for racial equity and justice or continues to push those of us who are. Here is the link to the poem at WNIJ Poetically Yours — Ep. 1 — ‘Minneapolis Is Burning’ | Northern Public Radio: WNIJ and WNIU.
The journey continues. Georgy Floyd most certainly did not die in vain in Minneapolis, MN. As a Black man, writer, poet, social justice and anti-racism leader, it is my duty to continue to inform and introduce my readers as well as my following about the tragedies and travesties that continue to haunt us and take place in our neighborhoods and communities.
My prayer is that somehow, someway this country becomes brave enough to admit to how it has negatively shaped the lives of Black people and that it begins to provide us with reparations as well as create centers and safe spaces to help us heal from all of the wounds and the harms done unto us since we were stolen from Africa and brought to this wretched country.
For further education and information devised by myself, please visit these links:
the art of being black: a black man’s truth in poems — Poetizer.com
Freethinking Forum 10/20/19 “Poems of Black Manhood” by Christopher D. Sims — YouTube
