It was a sad day on Tuesday, June 9 as sympathizers gathered at a Houston church to pay tribute to George Floyd.
The Houston funeral service marked the culmination of a long farewell to the 46-year-old African American whose death in custody ignited global protests against police brutality of blacks and racism in America.
Politicians, civil rights activists and celebrities joined the family to share memories of the man they called a “gentle giant” before his gold casket was conveyed by horse-drawn carriage to his final resting place by his mother’s grave.
“We may weep, we may mourn, we’ll be comforted and we will find hope,” the church’s co-pastor Mia Wright said.
Floyd died on May 25, 2020 after a white Minneapolis cop knelt on his neck for 9 minutes while he pleaded “I can’t breathe”.
His death has come to embody fractured relations between communities of colour and police in the US and beyond as tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets.
The Fountain of Praise church was the final stage in a series of ceremonies paying tribute to Floyd before he was buried. Prominent among people in attendance were actors Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx, as well as boxing champion Floyd Mayweather who is reportedly paying all expenses.
While condemning Floyd’s death, Donald Trump has adopted a tough approach to putting down the protests and he once again voiced his support for police at a roundtable on law enforcement on Monday.
