Over the past three years, Austin - who lives in the community where Floyd was murdered - has fought to maintain the square, both the physical space and its symbolism, along with other community members. Jeanelle Austin is a social justice advocate, organizer, educator, poet, speaker and groundbreaker. The forces that might attempt to erase the George Floyd Square or minimize Floyd's memory or urge everyone to just move on will not win because of their determination. They are the reasons, three years later, we will never forget Floyd as the interrogation of injustice and its benefactors continues. There are visitors from around the world who will see the Guthrie Theater and Mall of America but only after they witness this city's wound. There are unnamed folks who've quietly worked in the background. There are organizers and community members.

It's important to commend the beautiful people who will not rest because of a promise they made three years ago to ensure it will never happen again. It's a peaceful joy to know this is happening and going on.' … Everybody wants to be a part of 'Rise and Remember,' and it's just overwhelming. They were like, 'Yes!' Just to see how it has grown and how the community is involved in it and the things that are happening. We were trying to come up with a name for it, and I said, 'Rise and Remember' is the name that I want. 'We started 'Rise and Remember' pretty much in the basement,' Harrelson said about the event's origins. It's all a testament to a community's strength and its promise to continue the work, which included coming together to collectively create the name of the event. On Thursday, the third annual 'Rise and Remember' event - sponsored by the George Floyd Global Memorial and featuring a gala, vigil, festival and conference that will include notable speakers, such as Nbada Mandela, grandson of Nelson Mandela - will begin.

At the square, at 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, there is artwork, compassion and a family vibe in the community that reminds Harrelson of a time when you could walk across the street to get eggs or milk or an embrace from a neighbor.Īnd she squealed when I mentioned this weekend's tribute to her nephew. They told her they'd vowed to visit the memorial the moment they arrived. It's so gorgeous.'Įarlier in the day, she'd met a group of visitors who'd come to Minneapolis from Europe. 'Look at those beautiful flowers she is bringing out there. 'This woman has brought some beautiful flowers,' said Harrelson, Floyd's closest family member in the Twin Cities. On Friday, Angela Harrelson peered through her car's windshield and grinned at the scene around George Floyd Square in Minneapolis nearly three years after the police murder of her nephew George Floyd.

Vow thieves