HOUSTON — An emotional goodbye to George Floyd, fittingly, ended in his hometown of Houston.
What You Need To Know
- Family, loved ones, celebrities pack Houston church for funeral
- Former Vice President Joe Biden delivered statement via video
- Rev. Al Sharpton said officers need to face jail time for breaking law
After Monday's public memorial, Tuesday's funeral service was personal, filled with love, hope, and calls for change.
It was a day to celebrate the life of Floyd, celebrated as a father, son, brother, and friend, by the people who knew Floyd and the place he called home: Houston's Third Ward.
"There will be no more 8 minutes and 46 seconds of injustice and the mistreatment of African American men at the hands of the laws of this nation," Sheila Jackson Lee said.
That's how long Floyd was held under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer two weeks ago while three other officers watched. Since Floyd's death, the nation has been roiled in protests and demonstrations over the unequal treatment of African Americans by law enforcement and society as a whole.
Former Vice President Joe Biden met with Floyd's family privately Monday and sent a video message that played during Tuesday's service.
"Now is the time, the purpose, the season, to listen and heal. Now is the time for racial justice. That's the answer we must give to our children when they ask why," Biden said. "Because when there's justice for George Floyd, we will truly be on our way to justice in America, and then, as you said Gianna, your Daddy will have changed the world."
Talk of changing the world filled the church, just as it's filling streets nationwide.
The Rev. Al Sharpton delivered Floyd's eulogy. He called for a change in policing, saying officers need to put in jail when they break the law.
"If four black cops had done to one white what was done to George, they wouldn't have to teach no new lessons, they wouldn't have to get corporations and get money. They would send them to jail. And until we know the price for black life is the same as the price of white life, we're going to keep coming back to these situations over and over again," Sharpton said.
Many in Houston said they think that in the wake of Floyd's death, the nation is on the cusp of change. But they also know for real change to happen, this movement and the tough conversations happening around them, can't be laid to rest with Floyd.