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Rev. Sharpton Delivers Eulogy at Final Celebration of George Floyd’s Life
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(Houston, TX) — Hundreds of members and friends of the Floyd family gathered in The Fountain of Praise church in southwest Houston to pay their respects to George Floyd.
His death, captured on video footage, has sent shockwaves around the world, and galvanized a new civil-rights protest movement. Today however, the attendees of his services are eager to celebrate his life and honor him in death.
Amongst the ministerial and dignitary remarks, the Floyd family spoke to George’s memory. They described George — or “Perry” as they affectionately called him — as a “gentle giant”, who was a devoted family member and community member of Cuney Homes located in Houston’s Third Ward District.
Among the dignitary speakers at Floyd’s service were Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Congressman Al Green, and Mayor of Houston Sylvester Turner. Though former Vice President Joe Biden was not present at the service, he recorded a video that was played at the funeral.
During his eulogy, Reverend Sharpton spoke about committing to the fight for justice for Floyd’s family. Speaking from experience, he talked about the endurance needed to “stay after the last TV truck has gone”. Sharpton also spoke to the living history of the “I can’t breathe” movement, acknowledging family members of other fatal victims of hate crimes, by police officers and others, who were in attendance.
“The mother of Trayvon Martin, will you stand?” he said. “The mother of Eric Garner, will you stand? The sister of Botham Jean, will you stand? The family of Pamela Turner, here in Houston, will you stand? The father of Michael Brown from Ferguson, Mo., will you stand? The father of Ahmaud Arbery, will you stand?”
On the subject of police reform, a subject that has abruptly returned to the forefront of every mind in America, Sharpton talked about the need to better screen, train and review police officers. Reverend Sharpton emphasized the need to punish cops when they break the law, and to promote better accountability by passing legislation that will add checks to police powers.
“The signals that we are sending, is that if you are in law enforcement, the law doesn’t apply to you.” Sharpton says, “But the law should especially apply to you, because you are given special powers that others don’t have.” Echoing a central message of the protests from the past two weeks, Sharpton says of police officers, “We should expect more from you.”
Watch the full celebration of George Floyd’s life below.