PHOTOS: George Floyd Funeral in Houston, Texas

George Floyd’s life was celebrated at his funeral on Tuesday, with eulogies that honored him as a father, brother, athlete and mentor whose death sparked a global reckoning over police brutality and racial prejudice.

Radio stations observed moments of silence. City officials paid tribute on social media. In New York, traders at the stock exchange paused for eight minutes and 46 seconds to mark the length of time the Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was filmed kneeling on Floyd, impervious to the man’s pleas for breath and mercy.

Rev Al Sharpton was one of a number of family, friends and prominent figures who gathered at The Fountain of Praise Church in Houston on Tuesday to celebrate Floyd's life and issue a clarion call for justice.

The service featured remarks by former Vice President Joe Biden, Rep. Al Green of Texas, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner. Family members of other black people killed by police, including Breonna Taylor, Michael Brown and Eric Garner, attended as well.

Actor Jamie Foxx was in the audience and R&B artist Ne-Yo performed a rendition of "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" by Boyz II Men. Boxing champion Floyd Mayweather is handling all the expenses for Floyd's funeral.

Family members spoke about Floyd as a "gentle giant," and friends from high school and beyond fondly recalled his athletic prowess in football and basketball.

Floyd’s golden casket was taken by horse-drawn carriage to the cemetery, where he was interred next to his mother.

Officials shut down the roads from the church to the cemetery, including a section of major toll road, to make way for the procession. Along the route, groups of supporters waved “Black Lives Matter” signs and cheered for Floyd.

About a mile from the cemetery entrance, hundreds lined the streets, holding up umbrellas and makeshift tents to protect themselves from the unrelenting sun. They doodled chalk messages of “rest in power” and “be the change” along the sidewalk, and periodically broke out in chants: “Say his name! George Floyd!”

Since he was killed on 25 May, millions around the world have watched video footage of Floyd’s death taken by a witness on the sidewalk and listened to the 46-year-old struggling to say “I can’t breathe”.

 

Additional story: CNN &The Guardian