Family and friends gathered to lay George Floyd to rest in his hometown of Houston on Tuesday, with poignant tributes capping the long farewell to the 46-year-old African American whose death ignited global protests against police brutality and racism.
Politicians, civil rights activists and celebrities joined in sharing memories of the man they called a “gentle giant” before his golden casket was to be conveyed by horse-drawn carriage to his final resting place by his mother’s grave.
Though it was a solemn occasion, The Fountain of Praise Church in southern Houston was filled with joyous music and words of fond remembrance for a kind and gifted man, whose savage death galvanized a worldwide movement.
“George Floyd changed the world. And we are going to make the world know that he made a difference,” Al Green, the local US congressman, told the congregation.
“We have a responsibility to each one of them to make sure that we do not walk away today after having celebrated his life and not taking the next step… to assure the future generations that this won’t happen again,” he added.
Floyd died on May 25 as a white Minneapolis officer pressed a knee into his neck for almost nine minutes, his pleas of “I can’t breathe” becoming a rallying cry for protesters.
His death has come to embody fractured relations between communities of color and police in the US and beyond as tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets.
The Fountain of Praise was the final stage in a series of ceremonies paying tribute to Floyd before he is buried.
In a day that capped more than two weeks of tension around the country, the theme inside the building was one of peace and hope as family members and friends took to the podium to share their grief, with civil rights leader the Reverend Al Sharpton due to deliver the eulogy.
Flowers were piled high outside the entrance to the church, attended by part of his family, before a portrait of Floyd whose open casket was visited by more than 6,000 well-wishers on Monday.
Some 500 guests — all masked due the coronavirus pandemic — filled the church, including actors Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx, as well as boxing champion Floyd Mayweather who is reportedly paying all expenses.
