Good afternoon. You may be seated. My name is robin wilkerson, and i amrs the cochancellor of norh central university. To all the friends and the family of george floyd, and all of augustine guests here today, i want to welcome you on behalf of the university, on behalf of dr. Scott hagan, president , on behalf of the board of regents, on behalf of the faculty. We are so grateful that you were here with us today. And we are honored that youve come to mourn the loss and celebrate the life of mr. George floyd. On behalf of everyone here, i want to personally express our deepest condolences for this tragic loss. Now, to open this service, the celebration of his life, will have aeb scripture reading from reverend jerry mcafee, pastor of new salem missionary baptist church, followed by an opening prayer from dr. Scott hagen, president of North Central university, and a solo by mrs. Porter. On behalf of the pastors and preachers from minneapolis and st. Paul, the bloods on the south side, the disciples and vice lords on the north side, psalm 27. The lord is my life and my salvation, whom shall i fear . The lord is the strength of my life, whom shall i be afraid . When the wicked even mine enemies and my foe came upon me to eat at my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Who should my heart shall not fear. This will i be confident, one thing if i desire of the lord, that i will seek after and i may dwell in the house of the lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the lord and to inquire in his temple for in the time of trouble, he shall hibernate in his pavilion and the secret of his tabernacle as he hides me, he shall set me up upon a rock. [applause] once again on behalf of North Central university, i want to welcome the floyd family to our campus. This is truly an undeserved honor for our university. I have been praying all week that his sacred space would become a table appealing for the floyd family and for the city of minneapolis and for the world that is grieving beyond these walls. In just a moment i want to offer a brief prayer, but before i offer that brief prayer i just want to announce as president of the school, the institution of the george floyd memorialeo scholarship. [applause] even before announcing this scholarship yesterday, unsolicited, over 52,000 was handed o to me to contribute toward the educational promise of aspiring young black american leaders. [applause] but heres what you really want to say. Far beyond North Central university i amre now challengig every University President in the United States e of america o establish your own george floyd Memorial Scholarship fund. [applause] so people across this nation can give to the college of their choice. It is time to invest like never before in in a new generation f young black americans who are poised and ready to take leadership on oure nation, so University President s, lets step up together. I want to invite you now to pray with me, if you will. Lord, your word inn proverbs 31 is dynamically clear. It says to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. Ensure justice for those in crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice. Lord, we are asking today for you to take this table appealing here in minneapolis today and multiplyle this healing all over this nation. As part of that now never fading voice crying out on behalf of those who have been and you are now being crushed in body and spirit. At this table appealing today, lord, we ask that you touch the floyd family with supernatural comfort and grace, that they may be granted a few moments of respite as their beloved father and brother and son is remembered in a way that honors his life and his personal faith in jesus christ. At this table appealing were asking you, lord, to show us the way. Our city and nation are becoming rightfully despond it with neighbors set against neighbor. Help us to repent, not just seek to restore. As a nation, cities, as universities, and a as religious communities, heal, make new and help us lord, we build our national family. And finally, lord, at this table appealing today, we are asking you to search our hearts pastors, rabbis, priests, imams, business leaders, politicians and educators, help us reconcile our failed witness and lead us forward c as caring neighbors ad diligent gatekeepers of mutuality and mercy. Guide this generation to change the National Narrative on race and power, and change all of our hearts into the match your heart. We ask all of these things in the name above all names, jesus christ. Ar amen. [applause] amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me i once was lost but now am found, was blind, but now i see twas grace that taught my heart to fear and grace, my fears relieved how precious did that grace appear the hour i first believed praise god, praise god, praise god, praise god oh, praise god, praise god, praise god a note. Praise god praise god come on and praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god hallelujah hallelujah thank you. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, yes, yes. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Going to have the opportunity to hear in just a moment from loved ones, friends, and family of george floyd, but before that i would like to welcome to the podium benjamin for his remarks. [applause] reporter i am attorney brennan ben crawford along with that attorney tony romanyou cc i, as we are seeking justice, seeking justice for the family of george floyd along with a lot of other great attorneys working in the background who i will mention before we bring up the ones who knew george floyd all of his life. I want to thank lawyers like deb and jacob, chris oneill, darrell parks, jasmine rand and carol laxton because you made the whole team of lawyers working because it will take a united effort fighting in the courtroom and outside the courtroom to get justice for george floyd. I will tell you all that because of the coronavirus pandemic, we have to stay on a strict schedule and we have to do this social distancing but i want to put it on the record that it was not the coronavirus pandemic that killed george floyd. I want to make it clear on the record, pack it in with that other pandemic we are far too familiar with in america, the pandemic of racism and discrimination that killed george floyd. Before we make a plea to justice we think it appropriate that you hear from the people who really knew george the adolescent, new george the man. And from whence george came. So i would ask that his brother polonius floyd, his brother rodney floyd, his cousin sherita tate, his nephew brandon williams, please come to the stage and i will ask attorney Tony Romanucci to come and stand as united, they tell the world why we should celebrate the life of george floyd. Please come up, family. [applause] how are you doing . My name is polonius floyd, brother of george floyd. We come up together. We didnt have much. Our mom did what she could. We would sleep in the same beds, play video games together, go outside and play catch with a football and i used to say to myself you cant throw, you cant throw at all. The ball never came to me. I was catching with one hand, two hands and he said i can throw but i wanted you to get the ball. The balls dont need to come to you, you need to get the ball. But you know, my brother, we did a lot of things together from talking with my mom, dancing with my mom, cooking with our mom, brothers and sisters, so much, we made banana mayonnaise sandwiches together. It was a family thing. Every day we know when we come in the house our mom was going to have a huge plate of food separate from each other and whose plate it was, i am and 10, 11, the plate with 60, the chicken is mine, you know what i mean . It is huge. From the head and in the house with my brother, it was like expiring to other people because my mom used to take in other kids and most were georges friend. They wanted to stay with her. They loved her. My brother was okay with it so to me they were grown men because they kicked me out of the room. They have three men like 16, 17, sleeping in the same bed waking up going to the they wouldnt leave each other. I remember the day before school, we would all go in. And in bathroom sink, watching them, right after that, we would take, would take the underwear over there and me and his friends and all that you like. The next day if you put it on the hot water heater, so from that, we learn a lot of stuff but it is crazy because we would we didnt have a dryer so the fastest way to dry your clothes was to put in the oven and let it dry faster like that. I love my brother, we had so many memories to gather. I remember him waking me up saying can you iron my clothes. I look at him and his size and say you are right. You see people how they cling to him, he was like a general, every day he walks outside, just like we came in, wanted to greet him and have fun with him. The guy that was doing drugs, smokers and Homeless People you couldnt tell because when you spoke to george they felt they were the president because that is how you felt. He had a way with words and would always make you ready to jump and go all the time. Everybody loved george. We didnt call him george. We called him parry. If you called him harry you knew him direct. George was the name, everybody called him big george, big floyd, he had so many different names but i am going to go ahead just crazy. All these people came to see my brother and that is amazing to me that he touched so many peoples hearts. You come where we are from, people are crying right now, thats how much he loved them. I am standing strong. We want justice for george. He is going to get it. Good afternoon, everyone. I want to echo the things that he talked about it we come from a long line, and if i can fast forward a little bit my aunt lived in houston and would always talk about being there. My mother decided to move to the houston area, 8081 so we came to houston and we were excited to have somebody close to us but the only time we would see each other was during the holidays or when people would visit my grandmother. We didnt have a lot but we always had each other and we were taught that we always bring other people into the fold. No one should ever go home without having a meal. My aunt was someone in the community she ended up having 30 or 40 kids that would come over because they always knew they could get something to eat and not only food but they could be loved and feel like part of the fold was we were raised to embrace other people. You could see all these people no matter who they talk to, always felt they were special. And would enter into a room, everybody would feel they would embrace them. As i think about the thing is he was a great big giant and he would wrap his arms around you and everything would just go away, any problems or concerns would go away. I would highlight his children. Tyson and his 3yearold daughter, we all need prayer but if i am honest about it we are more concerned about his children and grandchildren. As we go along this marathon to make sure justice is served on georges behalf, pray for us and for their children. [applause] how are you doing. I am George Floyds youngest brother. Talking about childhood mirrors and i would like to start, we didnt have much growing up but all the great stuff we tried was ingenuity. What we had, i mean, i appreciate the love of everyone in here, so much love, we feel love in the city and thankfully everybody around the world, george floyd is receiving, he would love it and to see it, great unity and bring it to you but my brother big floyd as you know, cookingwise, him and other brothers grew up in our household. If i tell you, 6 or 7yearold kid, you were using me but happened to be a great guy, great gentlemen, great man and as a child without no father figure, he was big brother but this stuff, doing the best he can and the mistakes he made, correcting them as a teenager growing up and learning from him, and he gave us a lot of great letters. And would stand up for his family, we want you to know he will stand up for any injustice. Can ice please say his name. George floyd. Thank you all. I am brandon williams, georges nephew, we share the same middle name for some reason. Coincidentally i ended up with george. Growing up i am a lot younger than him. My grandmother raised me, i grew up in the same house with them and my uncles, i gravitated to him and they kind of connected us and brought us close, it was harder than i thought it would be. I just remember all the memories. More than anything i want to say thank you to him just for being there and being a genuine person, loving and caring and someone i could count on. We didnt have much but coming up my grandmother tried her best, she picked it up for me, a lot of stuff like that and we appreciate that. I end of the funny story, the biggest lebron james fan. Dont know if you are familiar with nba but the cavaliers coming back on the Golden State Warriors and i remember the very first phone call, you sound like you won a championship. You know how i felt about lebron, i did in the championship and every time we would talk and i asked how are you doing . You are good . He said i feel i won a championship. It was an inside thing. Everybody coming together and staying out of the love and support for our family and more than anything with everybody grieving and hurting we won a championship, thank you. [applause] give this family another round of applause. Please show love. Show them love. [applause] thank you for bearing your hearts. If we learned one thing the floyd boys love to eat. And also they have a conversation with tyler perry and it is pretty profound and say we are the big extended black family that you portray on your movie screens because we all need one another and you can tell this family always needed george and so it is awfully difficult for them. The plea for justice is simply this. Martin luther king said he who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who himself is evil, protesting against it is really like cooperating with it. On that video what we saw was torture. Reverend, what we saw in that video was inhumane. Martin iii, what we saw in that video was evil. So, america, we proclaim as we memorialize george floyd, do not cooperate with evil. Protest against evil, join your people in the streets protesting against the evil, the inhumane, the torture that they witnessed on that video. We cannot cooperate with evil, we cannot cooperate with injustice, we cannot cooperate with torture. Because george floyd deserved better than that. We all deserve better than that. His family deserves better than that. His children deserve better than that. George wanted from life what any of us want. As Thomas Jefferson said in the declaration of independence, the inalienable right and out by our creator, life, liberty and the pursuit to be happy on this earth, that is what george is asking for like any and all of us but he was denied those rights and we will seek justice in his name. We will all united as a people who are gods children suggests this in his name but beyond specific justice in his case, the prosecution of the four individuals who deprived george of his life, we seek a broader more transformative justice. Reverend out a more just system of policing, a more just treatment of people of color. Chris, a more just criminal Justice System. In essence what we are endeavoring to do is what Thurgood Marshall says, make the constitutional, make the constitution real for all americans. You see Justice Marshall said the basis of the constitution is simply this, that a black baby born to a black mother, the most uneducated black mother, the most inarticulate black mother, the most impoverished black mother has the same exact rights as a white baby born to a white mother, the most educated white mother, the most articulate white mother, the most affluent white mother by virtue of that baby drying its first breath as an american, Justice Marshall said i know that is not the case in America Today but i challenge anybody to say that is not a goal worth fighting for, he said i challenge anybody to say that is not what makes america a beacon of hope and justice for all the world to marvel so when we fight for the George Floyds of the world but more importantly when we fight for the unknown George Floyds of the world, the tray von martins of the world, the terrences of the world, the Michael Browns of the world, when we fight for the philanderer castillos of the world, erica garners of the world, when we fight for the amount ivories of the world, the Rihanna Taylors of the world, the natosha buchanans of the world, when we fight for the Stephen Clarks of the world, when we fight for the least of these what we are really doing is have america live up, what we are doing is having america be the great beacon of hope and justice for all the world to marvel but most importantly, brothers and sisters, what we are doing is having in america be america for all americans. What we want is not two Justice Systems in america, one for black america and one for white america. What we endeavor to achieve is equal justice for the United States of america and george floyd is the moment that gives us the best opportunity i have seen in a long time, the idea this country was founded on. Thank you so much. This is the plea for justice. On behalf of the family, the children, we will get justice, we i will introduce you to a man who needs no introduction who will eulogize george floyd. Hes a man who has fought for so many families that too many hashtags to remember and he always answers the call even when the cameras arent around, even after the cameras are gone, erica garners family, Stephen Clarks family, any of these families the cameras of long gone, he continues to answer the bill when our people call. He is a leader that you see on tv commenting on our experiences but more importantly he is a leader who has lived our experiences and because he has lived those experiences, that makes them so effective on msnbc commenting about our experiences and he is going to talk about the experience of the terrible loss of somebody who should be with us today and that is george floyd. Please give a great round of applause for the reverend out sharpton al sharpton. [applause] thank you. I want us to not sit here and act like we have a funeral on the schedule. George floyd should not be among the deceased. He did not die of Common Health conditions. He died of a common american criminal justice malfunction. He died because there has not been the corrective behavior that has taught this country that if you commit a crime it does not matter whether you wear blue jeans or a blue uniform you must pay for the crime you commit. [applause] it is not a normal funeral or a normal circumstance but it is too common and we need to deal with it. In the tradition of eulogies, you need a scriptural reference, go to ecclesiastes, third chapter. To everything there is a time and the purpose. Im going to leave it there. I saw some life standing in front of a church the other day that has been boarded up as a result of violence, held the bible in his hand. I have been preaching since i was a little boy and never saw anybody hold a bible like that before. I believe that alone. Since he held the bible, if he is watching us today i would like him to open that bible. [applause] i would like him to read ecclesiastics 3, 2 every season, there is a time and purpose, it is our job to let the world know when we see what is going on in the streets of this country and in europe, around the world, that you need to know what time it is. First of all, we cannot use bibles as a prop and for those that have agendas that are not about justice, this family will not let you use george as a prop. [applause] if you want to get your stuff off, do not use him. Let us stand for what is right. When i got the call from the attorney, usually when he calls me, it is not to find out how i am doing. It is usually because something happens to get us involved and he explained to me what is happening with this case and i already heard about it in the media. Immediately i said let me know what you want me to do and he said whatever you need me to do. One of the things i always had to deal with his critics, all i want is publicity. Nobody calls me to keep a secret. People call me to blow up issues that nobody else would deal with. I am the blowup man and i dont apologize for that. [applause] because you get away too much with hiding things. To close the oven to have your home your clothes dried. I didnt grow up in the third world, but i grew up in brownsville and we had roaches. I know some of the rich hollywood folks dont know what riches roaches are but we had roaches, ludicrous, and one thing i found out about roaches is if you keep the light off, if you are in the dark, a roach will pull up to your dinner table and have a 5 course meal. One of the ways to deal with roaches is if you cut the light off, i could run the roaches and track them down and i have spent all my life chasing roaches all over this country. [applause] as soon as i talk to the family and get the details and heard that among georges last words was i cant breathe, with a neon his neck i immediately thought about erica garner. I said the lady at his funeral, i called his mother and i said i know we are not going out because of the coronavirus, but this is so much like eric, if we could arrange some private way to go to minneapolis, would you go . She said im already packing, let me know. Tyler perry said i will get the family, a plane, whatever you need because this is wrong. Robert smith said dont worry, people across economic and racial lines started calling and we flew out here and when i stood at the spot, the reason it got to me is George Floyds story has been the story of black folks. Ever since 401 years ago, the reason we could never be who we wanted and dreamed of being is you kept your knee on our neck. We were smarter than the underfunded schools you put us in but you had your knee on our next. We could run corporations and not hustle in the street but you had your knee on our neck. We had creative skills. We could do whatever anybody else could do but we couldnt get your knee off our neck. What happened to floyd happens every day in this country, in education, in Health Services and in every area of american life. It is time for us to stand up in georges name and say get your knee off our next. Necks. [applause] that is the problem no matter who you are. We thought we had a complex, even blacks that you kept your knee on my neck. Michael jordan won all of these championships and you kept digging for less because you got to put a knee on our neck, white house wise would run home to see a black woman on tv named oprah winfrey, you mess with her, you cant take your knee off our neck. A man comes out of a single parent home, educates himself and rises up and becomes the president of the United States and you ask him for his birth certificate because you cant take your knee off our neck. The reason we are marching all over the world is we were like george. We couldnt breathe, not because there was something wrong with our lungs but you wouldnt take your knee off our neck. We dont want no favors, just get up off of us, and we can be and do whatever we can be. [applause] there have been protests all over the world. Some of looted and done other things and none of us in this family condones looting or violence. But the thing i want us to be cognizant of is there is a difference between those calling for peace and those calling for quiet. [applause] some of you dont want peace, you just want quiet. You just want us to shut up and suffer in silence. The overwhelming majority of the people marching wasnt breaking windows. They were trying to break barriers. They werent trying to steal nothing, they were trying to get back to justice you stole from us. Those that broke the law should pay for whatever law they broke but so should the policeman that caused this funeral today. We dont have a problem denouncing violence, mister governor. We dont have a problem denouncing looting but it seems like some in the criminal Justice System have a problem looking at a tape and knowing there is probable cause and it takes a long time for you to do what you see that you need to do. The action was involved a lot. Speeches and eulogy that most of the funerals in this space in the last couple decades and led the march and did what we had to do. We went to jail to gather fighting these fights like his daddy went to jail before, i am more hopeful today than ever. Jackson always taught me go to ecclesiastes, there is a time and a season and when i look at this time and saw marches where in some cases your white outnumbered the black marches i know it is a different time and a different season. When i looked and saw people in germany marching for george floyd, it is a different time and a different season. When they went in front of the parliament in london, england and said it is a different time and a different season. I come to tell you, america, this is the time of building accountability in the Justice System. Stephen years ago i went to march and i remember a Young White Lady looked me right in the face and said nigger go home. When i was here last thursday, i stopped near the police station. No older, 11 years old, i looked around and braced myself and she looked at me and said no justice, no peace. [applause] a different time, a different season. If my bible is in front of that boardedup church, if ive got to open up the bible i want you to remember something, because the time changed. My watch was on the wrong time, time goes forward and if you dont move your watch you will find yourself an hour late not because your watch was wrong but you had your watch on the wrong time. I come to tell you, sitting in washington talking about militarizing the country thinking you could sell tickets to people who had enough abuse i come to tell you you can get on the tv but you are on the wrong time. Time is out for not holding you accountable, time is out for you making excuses. Time is out for you trying to stall. Time is out for empty words and empty promises. Time is out for you filibustering and trying to solve our arm of justice, this is the time, we wont stop, we are going to keep going until we change the whole system of justice. Our organizations call this a day of mourning, the National Urban league, defense fund, night womans roundtable, we all got to gather. It is a day of mourning. Some of our experts, others that know the legal field have outlined the legal process, we must enforce everything from residence to dealing with police backgrounds. Andrew cuomo in new york says weve got to change 58 where the backgrounds stopped, they find out everything you did. Why do we know when policeman have a pattern. Weve got to go back to consent decrees under the obama administration, certain cities with paddings and practice under consent degrees. In baltimore, they put it under consent decree, one of the first thing that happened in the next administration was a consent decree. We have specific policies that need to happen. Im glad martin iii is here today because on august 2, 08, the 57th anniversary of the march on washington we are going back to washington, that is where your father stood in the shadows of the Lincoln Memorial and said i have a dream. We are going back this august 20 eighth to restore and recommit that dream, to stand up because we had to fight slavery. Another era we had to fight jim crow. Another era we dealt with voting rights, this is the era to deal with policing and criminal justice. We need to go back to washington and stand up, black, white, latino, arab, the shadows of lincoln, and tell them this is the time to stop this. [applause] we, martin and i talked about this, i talked to randy white about the labor leaders, we will organize in the next couple months in every region not only for a march but new processes and it will be led by the floyd family. It will be led by those families that suffered the pain and knows what it is and it will be getting us ready, not just to is in the white house, the state house and City Councils that allowed these policings measures, we are going to change the time. Let me say this to the family who has shown such grace, and level the balanced thinking, helping them lead this and one of the greatest thinkers of our time. You dont know what time it is, you dont operate like it was yesterday, didnt earn your clock forward. Talking about make America Great, great win . We are going to make America Great for everybody for the first time. Never was great for blacks, never was great for latinos, never was great for others, no women had to march to get the right to vote but last, the religious side. I was reading and kept thinking about how i was a little embarrassed. When i heard that george at this point of suffering this brutal attack called for his mom, i said i appreciate talking to his brothers, of the past, his mother passed. I thought about it because i was raised by a single mother, the only thing between us and our conditions was our mother, to take danger away was our mother, the only ones that would make sure the food was on the table was our mother. I know why george was calling for mama but then as i got that all placed in my mind and realized why i was always calling, my mother died eight years ago but i still try to talk to her, sometime just to dial the cell phone to hear the voicemail i never cut off and wanting to reach out to mama but talking to quincy lasts nights, quincy said he was calling his mother. His mother was stretching her hands out saying come on, george, i welcome you when the wicked will cease from troubling, when the weary will be at rest. There is a place where police dont put knees on you, george. There is a place that prosecutors dont drag their feet. Maybe mama said come on, george. There is a god that still sits high but he looks download and he will make a way out of no way. This god is still on the throne. I dont care who is in the white house, there is another house that said he will fight our battles. If we stand up he will hold us up. As we leave here today i say to this family i know that years ago reverend jackson told us to keep hold of life and president obama wrote a book about hope but i want you to know in my life there are times that i lost hope. Things can happen like this that will your hope but there is a sister to hope called faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. The evidence of things unseen. Faith is when youve got a pile of bills and no money but you say he will provide all of my needs. Faith is when youve got no medicine in the cabinet and you are sick in your body but say he is a doctor that never lost a patient and he will dry tears from my eye. Faith is when your friends walk out, when your loved ones turn their back, but to say i dont believe he brought me this far to lead me now, we didnt come this far by luck. We did come this far by some fate. We come this far by faith, leaning on the lord, trusting in his holy word. He never, he never, he never failed me yet, from the outhouse to the white house we come a long way, god wills, god sound, god will, god always has made a way for his children. Go on home, george, you changed the world, george. We will keep marching, george, we will keep fighting, george. We are going forward, george. Time out, time out, time out. Reverend walker. We act sing a song for the family. After which Derek Johnson of the naacp asked me we are going to stand for eight minutes and 46 seconds. That was the time that george was on the ground and we want you all over the world to stand with us for 8 minutes and 46 seconds and make that commitment to justice in the name of george. I want to thank the members of the Congressional Black Caucus for being with us. Wont you stand. I want to thank the sun and co convener doctor Martin Luther king iii for being with us. [applause] i want to thank the mayor and the governor for being with the family. Senator Amy Klobuchar of the state of minnesota. Senator Amy Klobuchar of the state of minnesota. I want to thank my mentor and one who fought m this fight for more than half a century, reverend Jesse Lewis Jackson is with us. [applause] and his spokesman for rainbow push, jonathan luthern jackson. I want to thank, i want to thank from the entertainment world kevin hart. He told me dont mention his ear, so dont laugh. Stand up, kevin. We joke each other. [applause] brother, beloved, brother ludicrous. [applause] tyree skids and. [applause] who is an, extraordinary activit in his own right. Master p. [applause] the one and only created genius will packard is with us today. [applause] and a brother that we have marched together and have done a lot of things. He doesnt just put his name on somebodys petition. He puts his body on the line, brother t. I. Is in the house. [applause] i want one of the greatest gospel singers alive, is tiffany here . Wait a minute, wait a minute. I didnt want to announce it but let me tell you something, one of the most popular outstanding artists but is also committed, i read an interview, she thinks im old and dont read stuff, but i do. She has been committed to saying the right things, and she wanted to be here today. And i was busy joking with kevin and i didnt even luck, let us welcome our sister Tiffany Hadish is in the house. [applause] [inaudible] dont start introducing folks. Ive got them all. If let us hear a selection from brother kyle walker. [applause] lets have some church for a little while. I came all the way from new york to do this with george and the family. Would stand up to our feet, everybody. Put your hands together. Sing hallelujah brexi to our god every praise is to our god every word of worship every praise is to our god sing hallelujah to our god every praise is to our god youre my savior youre my healer youre my savior youre my healer god will deliver us yes he is a yes he is every praise is to our god every word of worship every praise the every praise the every praise is to our god every praise is to our god as we remain standing i want to recommend the choir of the American Indian movement. [applause] we are honored that you came. Thank you. And let me say theyve recognized some of the naacp and many of black lives matter, many of the Grassroots Organization that have been doing the protests on the ground in minneapolis and around the country, movements are about everybody. We dont exclude anybody. Some organize on their own, some are from the league, some from the action network. We need everybody. This is not a competition, this is a movement. We need to stop our competing and start fighting the real enemy. Thank you all for doing what youre doing. When i got here, they were marching and kept marching. They didnt need somebody to come organize them. We are going to stay organized. And i really thank them for their work. We want to pause for eight minutes and 46 seconds. Because of the pandemic im not going to ask you to hold hands, but i want you to stand next to someone with the right distance. The amazing thing about this movement, in the marches over the country, we have had a bad, buthat,but we have never had itg a pandemic. The reason i know this is a different kind is people came out by the hundreds of thousands at risk of their own health to stand up. People that had been sheltered, the first flight i took was to come out here. And maybe in gods own way, the fact we were sheltered means we couldnt watch anything. We had to keep watching that tape. Maybe because we had no distractions tha that find it we were ready to deal with this. As we stand i would like us to stand together and theres only one woman up here. I tiffany since i was disrespectful, could you come up here and stand with us so that you dont talk about me in your next interview . [applause] and i would like some other of eric garner, the one that originally died of police custody, saying icanns i cant breathe, to come stand with us. [applause] let us stand. Somebody said eight minutes is a long time. It means it was long enough for the police to understand what they were doing it for the cops to stop what was going on. That means it was long enough for whatever was in his mind to rethink. As you go through these long eight minutes, think about what george was going through laying there for those eight minutes. Asking for his life, someone said narrating his own death. We cant let this go. We cant keep living like this. Sam jackson, is he still here . Steve jackson, is he here . I was recognizing everybody, weve got to stop this here and weve got to end this time and bring about a new fear. Let us stand still. Bow your heads or whichever way you worship. [moment of silence] [moment of silence] [moment of silence] [moment of silence] [moment of silence] [moment of silence] [moment of silence] [moment of silence] [moment of silence] [moment of silence] [moment of silence] [moment of silence] [moment of silence] [moment of silence] [moment of silence] [moment of silence] [moment of silence] [moment of silence] [moment of silence] [moment of silence] [moment of silence] that was a long time. That is how long he was laying there. There is no excuse. They had enough time to. What would we do with the time we have. As the usher out the family please let us take them out first. They have to prepare to go to North Carolina and then back to houston where we will do the wee final service. They appreciate you all coming. Everybody else, be seated but the family. Would you please come quickly, reverend, give us a benediction and we are going to take the family out. Everybody else remain in your seats. Please remain where you are for the benediction. Grace of god, merciful master, we run this race, speak to us as we lift up our voice. Use our hands, change our heart so that our rage will shift to rehabilitation. Convict the country so it can finally be the land of the free and at the home o the home of t. We pray this prayer in the name of an innocent black man, in the name of jesus, who was killed by government and with the power we march on until victory is won. Lesbos usher the family. We need everybody to be seated. Please, everyone, please remain in your seat. As we usher out the family, thank you so much. We need everybody to remain seated. Today congressman bobby rush, naacp president Derrick Johnson and a st. Paul, minnesota, joint axios for conversation on policing and racial inequality. Watch live at 12 30 p. M. Eastern on cspan2, online at cspan. Org or listen live on the free cspan radio app. Will start the program this hour anyway with a look at u. S. A did it and the front page which says a day of grief, a call to action and the right memorial featured a moment of silence lasted eight minutes and 46 seconds, the length of time the policeman presses the against floyds neck as he lay