October 14th: George Floyd Birthday Celebration

Originally tweeted by Laura Jedeed (Misanthrophile) (@1misanthrophile) on October 14, 2020.

6:53 PM: Hi there, I am at the George Floyd memorial at Revolution Hall, where things are about to get underway. Maybe 150 people here

George Floyd would have been 47 years old today

This is, hopefully, gonna be a real mellow tweet thread about speeches and performances

I’m wearing regular clothes instead of a flak vest and kakhis. My dog is here. It feels nice

Hanging out with @JFlorencePDX as the night gets underway

The event opens with a prayer from a Black opera singer whose name I mjssed. An acknowledgement that the road is hard but a hope that we will see victory and triumph. For a people united

He then sings a beautiful rendition of the Black National Anthem (sound on)

The singer is working on an album and a documentary. You can learn more on IG: MrOnry

Cashapp is $emmanuel-heanrid

7:03 PM: A Black activist speaks on the loss of George Floyd

“He was silenced. So we’re not going to be silent! We’re going to make a bunch of noise for him!”

The crowd screams “Happy Birthday George Floyd” on the count of 3

A projection against Revolution Hall as the sky grows dark

Another activist steps forward and expresses outrage that Derick Chauvin is out on bail

They remind us that we’ve been out here for 138 days, which is a mind-boggling number

A Black activist reminds us that George Floyd was a father. The speaker begins to cry as they remind us that his children will never see their father again

“It is so disturbing that one day when they get older they’ll get online and look up their fathers death and see that”

It’s surely hard to find words for this moment. The tragedy of it, the thing that galvanized a nation. But George Floyd wasn’t a catalyst or an event or a name in a history book, but a man. He had children and family and a future

The next speaker has trouble starting. “It’s heavy out here” they say, and the crowd cheers encouragement

This space is too big for words. What else can we do but try?

The activist speaks: they say that we can be his voice and his legacy

The crowd chants:

“No justice, no peace!”

“Get your knee off my neck!”

7:19 PM: Next, a rapper named Jordan steps to the stage to perform

He reminds us of the importance of celebrating George Floyd’s life–it doesn’t just have to be sad

But we also have to hold people accountable

He does a quick freestyle while people deal with technical difficulties

As the audio continues to glitch out, the rapper reminds us that the Red House still needs people for the ongoing anti-eviction afford down there

The audio finally starts working and holy shit it’s worth the wait. Normally I’d post a clip but y’all are getting the whole thing and you should listen to it. I have to split it in two, here’s part 1

Part 2:

Jordan talks about working at Beaverton Carfax when the George Floyd news hit. He was the only black guy working there and he describes listening to his white coworkers talking about how it wasn’t a big deal. One of them had the audacity to wonder what the cop was going through

“Clayton, I don’t give a fuck what the cop was going through!”

He quit in the next couple days

Follow this dude on IG at NorfJordan. Cashapp and Venmo: also $NorfJordan. Pay this man

7:40 PM: The crowd gathers around the memorial at Rev Hall

They sing happy birthday to George Floyd. Activists have distributes tea lights to the crowd

After the song, the crowd shouts “Justice For George” and blows the candles out

7:44 PM: A Black activist takes the megaphone. Talks about how people have moved on. But George Floyd’s family hasn’t moved on. Breonna Taylor’s family haven’t been moved on

“Why aren’t people still angry about this?” she asks. Her voice isn’t angry, but deeply sad

She talks about the need for community. How we have to help each other while we’re alive

“You’ve got to remember that he was a PERSON. This is not a picture of a random black man! He was there for his community. His community will not forget about him”

8:02 PM: Breaking news: the cake is really good. There are gonna be more speeches after this cake break, including from a member of George Floyd’s family. Stay tuned!

8:16 PM: The crowd has reconvened for the second half of George Floyd’s birthday celebration

The next speaker is a 13-year-old activity named Kendall

They talk about the vilification of George Floyd in the immediate aftermath of his dearh

“His life was beautiful! But we downplayed that. We didn’t celebrate enough.”

“We need to do better for Black men! We WILL do better for Black men!”

8:21 PM: A Black activist names Jahdi begins to speak about the legacy of America: from colonialization to slavery

He talks about how low-income white indentured servants formed community with Black slaves at the start

How the rich landowners saw this as a threat

In 1705, the Virginia slave codes made all Black people slaves and set white indentured servants free

How the slave patrols that began in this period eventually became the modern police system we suffer under today

“You have to know your history to know where you’re at. This is the origin of why we’re here today, on George Floyd’s birthday. Where he should be today, 47 years old and alive and breathing

“But he’s not. Because of where this country’s from”

“Do you think we can reform this?”

“No!” the crowd yes

He talks about how abolition is the only answer

“it’s gonna take us continuously coming out here. Putting pressure on it. Trying to topple it. Like the statues”

Cheers

“Fuck Bitchtopher Columbus! Fuck Abraham Lincoln! Fuck all those presidents! They all have blood on their hands”

Jadai talks about the importance of mutual aid and community.

He thanks George Floyd for sparking a revolution

(@jahdi_ on Twitter, cashapp is: $JahdiBLM)

8:33 PM: The next activist, Renee, steps forward

She talks about how George Floyd gives her hope for justice for her brother

Reminds us that this fight won’t end when Biden gets into office. We have to keep going

She talks about how her brother was murdered in Detroit at 17. How police treated it like “just another murder in the hood” and never even looked into it

How he made some bad friends to try to provide for their mom, who raised 6 kids on her own

She talks about the cycles that keep people stuck in poverty. How the help that exists keeps people trapped in these cycles, how that’s part of the problem

She cries as she relates her brother’s death. “He didn’t have a chance. And that set the course of my life to this day”

She talks about the need for unity. “We can’t allow anger to win. We can’t turn on each other”

How George Floyd gave her hope for justice for her brother after 13 years

“13 years not knowing why. 13 years not hearing his voice”

She thanks the young people who put this together. How inspired she is by the next generation

Editorial comment: me too

The crowd says her brother’s name: Sherif White

Renae’s instagram: Neva4gotten_sherif

She said her Cashapp but I missed it, it’s hopefully on her IG sorry

Demetria Hester takes the stage!

She talks about the gaslighting: police claims that we somehow deserve this

“And there’s nothing we have done to deserve any of the treatment we’ve gotten. And yet, we’re here.”

Demetria leads the crowd in a chant of “Fuck the Police”

She reminds us that the police not only kill our community members, but tell us it’s our fault. Talks about the wounds these things inflict on the community

She leads a chant of George Floyd’s name. Fists in the air

“This is why we fight. THIS is why we fight!”

She talks about how to heal. Justice. Reparations. Remaking the system into something that serves the people

The last speaker of the night is George Floyd’s cousin

He tells us that George Floyd was about two things: family and community

“There was never a time when he was called on and didn’t step up. Never!”

He tells us George Floyd turnt it up at all times. Loved to have a good time. That we’re gonna honor his memory by doing the same tonight

He expresses disappointment that more people aren’t out here, but how good it feels to know how much his cousin matters to the people here

“Black Lives Matter is about community! We take care of our own!”

He encourages people to come out to the Red House: a safe place for Black and Indigenous people

“Big Floyd was about the struggle! He didn’t have no options, like all the Black men in America!”

He talks about the daily struggle. bout not having the option for fear

He talks about alliance: about how aligning oneself with a movement involves listening

He calls a young child named Nova to the stage. Asks everyone to stand up

The audience claps a beat while she sings “the Elmo song.” It is about the cutest thing I’ve ever seen

Sound on for Elmo song

Fists in the air

“Total abolition means TOTAL abolition,” Floyd’s cousin says

“Every system Must. Come. Down”

He talks about how 14 million kids–three times as many as in the Great Depression–don’t get enough to eat

How it’s gotta change

“We just destroy all systems of government. It can be done! It must be done”

He encourages anyone who wants to give money to him to give it to the Red House project: @RHonMississippi

He also encourages people to donate to the Black leadership in Portland, so that they can concentrate on helping the community

One final speaker steps forward: pastor Deshawn Williams

He reminds us of America’s legacy of slavery. That Black people today are “free-ish”

“My brothers and my sisters, we must live in this hour…in our best life, despite those systematic challenges that confront us daily”

“we must cry out to let the systems of our oppressors know that we will live, and we will not die!”

He talks about Jesus’ promise of abundant living. “A social justice warrior. Black Jesus! Can I say that?”

The crowd affirms that he can

He talks about the importance of this struggle in time. Part of something that came before, in the name of that which comes after

About the importance of maintaining hope

About our roles in upholding the hope in each other

“Go forth and live, because we cannot die in this hour…even if we grow tired, we must continue to move forward”

He reminds white people how badly the movement needs them to use their privilege to advance the cause of justice

He closes with a prayer asking God to watch over the movement, to sustain it and show the right path. For those involved to stand strong. For unity

The crowd applauds

The organizers present George Floyd’s cousin with the balloons from the memorial

He releases them. As they float into the heavens, the crowd chants George Floyd’s name

The party will continue at the Red House, but this extremely cold reporter is going home to have hot toddies and either video games or reading, depending on how virtuous I feel

Rest in Power, George Floyd ✊

Solidarity with everyone still out here

Epilogue: some editorializing

Events like these correctly focus on the beauty and worth of the life lost. By all accounts George Floyd was a wonderful person: a father, a pillar of his community, beloved by friends and family alike

We should commemorate these things, always

Unfortunately, a side effect of this correct form of grief is that it opens the door for the most irrelevant and disgusting argument possible in a situation like this: whether or not George Floyd was a good person

It
Doesn’t
Fucking
Matter

It doesn’t matter if George Floyd had a drug problem. Addicts don’t deserve to be murdered, some of my best friends struggle with addiction

It doesn’t matter if George Floyd made mistakes in his past. Who the fuck hasn’t

No one deserves to die like that. NO ONE

If you come into my fucking mentions talking shit about George Floyd first of all fuck you you’re blocked and secondly I sure hope you aren’t a Christian because Jesus would not approve

If you’re a believer: God loves ALL His children. ALL souls are made in His image

Nothing will bring back lives lost, there can be nothing like real justice. The scars of the past never truly heal

All we can do is strive for a future where this is an ugly historical memory instead of a grinding, continuous horror

Let’s fight as hard as we can to get there ✊