Hi there, I am at the George Floyd memorial at Revolution Hall, where things are about to get underway. Maybe 150 people here George Floyd would have been 47 years old todaypic.twitter.com/mQax5LCToQ
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The next speaker has trouble starting. "It's heavy out here" they say, and the crowd cheers encouragement This space is too big for words. What else can we do but try? The activist speaks: they say that we can be his voice and his legacy
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The crowd chants: "No justice, no peace!" "Get your knee off my neck!"
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Next, a rapper named Jordan steps to the stage to perform He reminds us of the importance of celebrating George Floyd's life--it doesn't just have to be sad But we also have to hold people accountable He does a quick freestyle while people deal with technical difficultiespic.twitter.com/NQRL2mr9uK
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As the audio continues to glitch out, the rapper reminds us that the Red House still needs people for the ongoing anti-eviction afford down there
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The audio finally starts working and holy shit it's worth the wait. Normally I'd post a clip but y'all are getting the whole thing and you should listen to it. I have to split it in two, here's part 1pic.twitter.com/jAomcuBCJE
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Jordan talks about working at Beaverton Carfax when the George Floyd news hit. He was the only black guy working there and he describes listening to his white coworkers talking about how it wasn't a big deal. One of them had the audacity to wonder what the cop was going through
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"Clayton, I don't give a fuck what the cop was going through!" He quit in the next couple days Follow this dude on IG at NorfJordan Cashapp and Venmo is the same. Pay this man
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They sing happy birthday to George Floyd. Activists have distributes tea lights to the crowdpic.twitter.com/Gyl7gjU9Az
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After the song, the crowd shouts "Justice For George" and blows the candles out
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A Black activist takes the megaphone. Talks about how people have moved on. But George Floyd's family hasn't moved on. Breonna Taylor's family haven't been moved on "Why aren't people still angry about this?" she asks. Her voice isn't angry, but deeply sad
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She talks about the need for community. How we have to help each other while we're alive "You've got to remember that he was a PERSON. This is not a picture of a random black man! He was there for his community. His community will not forget about him"
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Breaking news: the cake is really good There are gonna be more speeches after this cake break, including from a member of George Floyd's family. Stay tuned!
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The crowd has reconvened for the second half of George Floyd's birthday celebration The next speaker is a 13-year-old activity named Kendall They talk about the vilification of George Floyd in the immediate aftermath of his dearh
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"His life was beautiful! But we downplayed that. We didn't celebrate enough." "We need to do better for Black men! We WILL do better for Black men!"
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My dumb ass is (probably) gonna misspell Jadai's name and there is no excuse for it: he's speaking now. Someone correct me in the comments He talks about the legacy of America: from colonialization to slavery
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He talks about how low-income white indentured servants formed community with Black slaves at the start How the rich landowners saw this as a threat In 1705, the Virginia slave codes made all Black people slaves and set white indentured servants free
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How the slave patrols that began in this period eventually became the modern police system we suffer under today
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"You have to know your history to know where you're at. This is the origin of why we're here today, on George Floyd's birthday. Where he should be today, 47 years old and alive and breathing "But he's not. Because of where this country's from"
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"do you think we can reform this?" "No!" the crowd yes He talks about how abolition is the only answer
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"it's gonna take us continuously coming out here. Putting pressure on it. Trying to topple it. Like the statues" Cheers "Fuck Bitchtopher Columbus! Fuck Abraham Lincoln! Fuck all those presidents! They all have blood on their hands"
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Jadai talks about the importance of mutual aid and community. He thanks George Floyd for sparking a revolution
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(it's Jahdi and his cashapp is: $JahdiBLM)
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The next activist, Renae, steps forward She talks about how George Floyd gives her hope for justice for her brother Reminds us that this fight won't end when Biden gets into office. We have to keep going
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She talks about how her brother was murdered in Detroit at 17. How police treated it like "just another murder in the hood" and never even looked into it How he made some bad friends to try to provide for their mom, who raised 6 kids on her own
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She talks about the cycles that keep people stuck in poverty. How the help that exists keeps people trapped in these cycles, how that's part of the problem She cries as she relates her brother's death. "He didn't have a chance. And that set the course of my life to this day"
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She talks about the need for unity. "We can't allow anger to win. We can't turn on each other" How George Floyd gave her hope for justice for her brother after 13 years "13 years not knowing why. 13 years not hearing his voice"
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She thanks the young people who put this together. How inspired she is by the next generation Editorial comment: me too
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The crowd says her brother's name: Sherif White
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Renae's instagram: Neva4gotten_sherif She said her Cashapp but I missed it, it's hopefully on her IG sorry
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Demetria Hester takes the stage! She talks about the gaslighting: police claims that we somehow deserve this "And there's nothing we have done to deserve any of the treatment we've gotten. And yet, we're here."
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