George Floyd and his aunt Angela Harrelson.Photo: Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty
More than anything, Harrelson wants people to know that her nephew, whom the family called Perry, was a “good man” — one who believed in God and deserved to be treated like a human being, instead of being killed on May 25, 2020.
Floyd, 46, a Black man who was in police custody in Minneapolis for allegedly spending a counterfeit $20 bill, died facedown on the ground with his hands cuffed behind him as a white officer, Derek Chauvin, pinned his knee to Floyd’s neck for about nine minutes.
In June, Chauvin wassentenced to 22.5 years in prisonfor the murder of Floyd.
Beyond his impact on the fight for racial justice, Floyd’s family wants him to be remembered as a son, a friend and a father.
Post Hill Press
“Perry would give his last dime to anyone that needed help. He cared for his friends. He would walk coworkers out to their cars,” says Harrelson of Floyd, who worked as a security guard and was a loving father to his children. She says that Floyd “regretted” the time he’d served in prison and relied on his faith when he struggled to remain sober.
“He wanted to make his mother and his children proud of him,” Harrelson says, adding that her relationship with Floyd began to “blossom” after his move from Texas to Minnesota. “His whole goal for Minnesota was a new life.”
“I feel like Brown and Black people are born to be activists because each day you’re fighting to be twice as good,” she explains, “you’re fighting, especially Brown and Black men, to stay alive.”
Despite the challenges Harrelson faced, she was the first in her family to go to college. She enlisted in the military and now works as a registered nurse.
Philonise Floyd speaks at a memorial service for his brother, George Floyd.Julio Cortez/AP/Shutterstock
“I wasn’t supposed to graduate from college. All my mother ever wanted for me was a high school diploma because my parents never had one,” says Harrelson. “I was so thankful I was able to achieve that dream for her. But, inside of me, I had a bigger dream that I had to fight for.”
In her book, Harrelson wants to show how her nephew was also a fighter, especially in his last moments.
“When I watch that video, I know he was hanging on to that faith. It probably was a mustard seed of faith, but I know he was hanging on to it — knowing that the worst has happened to him — because he fought,” Harrelson says. Floyd’s cry for help, “I can’t breathe,” became the rallying cry of the Black Lives Matter movement.
“He fought for those nine minutes and 29 seconds and he wanted the world to hear his voice,” she continues. “God allowed him to say those words to say to the world, ‘I did cry out for help. All I wanted was someone to recognize that I was a human being.'”
Demonstrators gather to protest the killing of George Floyd on May 30, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.Scott Olson/Getty Images
“He was gone, but he was everywhere,” says Harrelson, referring to the protests that followed his death. “This movement, it was a sleeping giant for so long, but it was a huge reckoning for America. It was well needed and it was overdue. Sometimes I wake up and I’m like, ‘My God, this is so big.’ And I just want to let people know if anybody wants to do something, this is the time to do it.”
After Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death, Harrelson says her family responded with “a roar of tears, a roar of joy.”
“I want to explain this to people, it wasn’t us mocking anyone,” she says, acknowledging that most police officers aren’t convicted after wrongfully killing Black men. “Lord knows, that’s not what getting justice is about. It’s not about spreading hate, it’s not about making fun of people. The joy was that somebody was held accountable.”
For Floyd’s family, the Black Lives Matter movement and the guilty verdict helped ease their pain.
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“We all want the best for everyone that is going through this hard and difficult time because we know we are not the only family,” she says. “Perry’s family, we understand that his death has opened the door to help others… So we all know that he didn’t die in vain.”
Her advice for fellow activists is simple.
“Don’t try to follow a leader. Don’t pretend to be nobody else. There’s already been a Martin Luther King Jr., there’s already been a Nelson Mandela, there’s already been a Malcolm X,” she says. “All you need to do is be yourself… As long as you’ve got the right people that will march with you, that will stand with you, that’s all you need.”
Lift Your Voice: How My Nephew George Floyd’s Murder Changed The Worldwill hit bookstores in February 2022.
source: people.com
