WASHINGTON — Hundreds of grief-filled mourners came together Tuesday at Houston’s Fountain of Praise Church to remember and celebrate the life of George Perry Floyd, Jr.
He was brought home to the city that raised him and laid to rest next to the mother he called out for in his final moments. It was an all-day affair, with speaker after speaker laying out George's life, while pleading with America to seize this moment -- to build on the unity we’ve seen these last few weeks, and to not let his death have been in vain.
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George was powerfully eulogized by the Rev. Al Sharpton, who took a moment to recognize the mothers of Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner, the fathers of Michael Brown and Ahmaud Arbery, the sister of Botham Jean and the family of Houston's own Pamela Turner -- all of them present in the church body, standing in solidarity with another family that is feeling a pain they know all too well.
The Rev. William A. Lawson, asked, "Can any good thing come out of a tragedy like this?"
It’s questions like these that have been driving so many into the streets day after day looking for answers -- Americans from every walk of life, elected officials and even our institutions; some of those that have punished people in the past for asking.
Of course, we've been hearing the usual answers, "It’s just a few bad apples. These are isolated events," but we know better. Because we’ve been here too many times. We've heard all the names. We've read all the hashtags, and we all know that a change, a radical change, is needed. If it doesn't happen, then we are going to be right back here again, and again.
Sam Cooke once sang, "A change is gonna come." I would like to believe that this tragedy is the beginning of it. Rest In Power George Floyd.