The Fifth Anniversary of the Murder of George Floyd Renews Calls for Racial Healing, Justice, and Equity

Transcript

[sound element: NSS intro theme]

HOST: You're listening to North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live, a daily newscast about what it means to live in Minnesota.

ANCHOR: In today's stories, new civilian oversight for the Minneapolis Police Department. The fifth anniversary of the murder of George Floyd renews calls for racial healing, justice, and equity. I'm Chantel SinGs.

For the first time, two civilians will lead oversight divisions at the Minneapolis Police Department. A Former Minnesota Assistant Attorney General will oversee the Internal Affairs Bureau, which handles all internal investigations into officer conduct. And a former Chief of Staff for the Baltimore Police Commissioner will lead the Constitutional Policing Bureau. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara created the two bureaus in 2023 as part of reforms following an investigation by the US Justice Department. O'Hara called the new civilian leadership a significant step towards more transparency and accountability

Next, we continue our series of special reports recognizing the fifth anniversary of the murder of George Floyd. Over Memorial Day Weekend, people gathered to remember all lives lost in violence against the black community and to call for racial healing, justice, and equity during three days of events and vigils. Xan Holston takes us to the Rise and Remember Festival.

Xan Holston
The second day of the Rise and Remember festival started with George Floyd Square's resident brass band, brass solidarity leading New Orleans style second line March.

[Audio: NAT sound]

This is the fifth year of the Rise and Remember Festival and the fifth anniversary of the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis Police. As people spent the weekend strolling up and down Minneapolis’s Chicago Avenue, it's clear that there was a sense of celebration, but also that people were mourning, reflecting and calling for change.

Tracey Washington
And what we have here is a replica or a remembrance for individuals that have lost their lives to police brutality and gun violence.

Xan Holston
Tracey Washington runs the Walk a Mile in Our Shoes Foundation. She stood in a corridor of monuments, headstone like boards, each adorned with a photograph in a single flower, and at the base of each a pair of shoes.

Xan Holston
What they see is not only a picture and a story, but you see the actual shoes of the person that's sitting here on these monuments. Washington's son Breonte died of a cardiac arrest after being tased by police in Palmetto Florida in 2023. Since then, she's grown to be part of a nationwide community of parents who have lost children to police violence.

Tracey Washington
A year ago, I didn't know any of these people, but now I have a whole circle of sisters now and brothers that no one wants to be a part of our club. But at the same time, they're so loving and so kind.

Xan Holston
As much as Rise and Remember is an event to bring Minnesotans together to reflect, it's also a way for families impacted by police violence to connect with one another.

Karen Wells
To further develop a community, one whose members understand each other without having to try looking forward to be around other impacted families. Because we can collectively, we can understand what each person is going through, and so we don't have to, like, explain anything to anybody.

Xan Holston
That's Karen Wells, whose son Amir Locke, was killed by Minneapolis Police during a no knock warrant in 2022. She attended with Aimee Scott, whose 22-year-old son Myles Frazier was shot and killed by Chicago Police while suffering a bipolar episode in 2019.

Karen Wells
But this is how we celebrate. I'm gonna be the voice that my son no longer has. That voice was taken away from him, so that's how I celebrate and honor his life, and also to make sure put a stop to this so it doesn't happen to another family. I don't want anyone to ever go through what I'm going through right now.

Xan Holston
Kamoinge Strings, a group of middle and high school students closed out the weekend, they performed the African American spiritual “Wade in the Water” as hundreds gathered for a candlelight vigil in the Say Their Name Cemetery, a block off George Floyd Square, the sun was setting. And flickering candles punctuated the cool, darkening night air as festival organizer Jeanelle Austin shared some last words with the crowd.

Xan Holston
This is a blessing. But I also ask that as we go, you continue to remember impacted families. Call on them every once in a while. Check in on them. Love them. March with them. Let's fight this fight of justice together.

Xan Holston
For North Star Stories, I'm Xan Holston.

ANCHOR: Be sure to tune in the rest of the week for our special reports looking at how the murder of George Floyd has changed our state.

You are listening to North Star Stories.

[sound element: NSS outro theme]

HOST: North Star Stories is produced by AMPERS, diverse radio for Minnesota's communities, with support from the McKnight Foundation and the State of Minnesota. Online at ampers dot org.