day in the city of houston. to god be the glory for the good he has done. ♪ ♪ >> come on. to god be the glory. to god be the glory. what the devil mean force evil,

god means for good. come on. this is a homegoing celebration today. we'll be able to celebrate the life of a man who lived here on this earth and god has used him in his death to expand his name throughout the world, to make change. and then amen, amen, amen. god bless you to all of our dignitaries, mayor turner, i think you're a preacher. you have a job when you've finished your term in the city of houston. we thank god for his leadership. amen. amen. the program calls for -- i believe there's another video montage that is about to occur. we thank god for the young lady who has put them together. these videos. amen. somebody's still celebrating. for the things he has done. oh, yes, jesus.

angie hill is the video artist who put together these montages. the family members, if you will please make your way to the stage, katherine mcgee, brady bob, travis canes and cyril wright. there's a tribute being sung, that will be sung by r & b artist neo. that will be followed by one of the jack yates alumni offering a poem, and then another musical selection "my soul has been anchored in the lord," mr. michael todd. god bless you. family, come up as we are ready to receive you. ♪ show me a face fill up this space my world needs you right now

my world needs you right now ♪ ♪ i can't escape being afraid fill me with you right now my world needs you right now ♪ ♪ show me a face fill up this space my world needs you right now my world needs you right now ♪ ♪ i can't escape being afraid fill me with you right now my world needs you right now ♪

♪ i will look down bring with it a sound that points us to you right now fits what i see and god please fits me my world needs you right now let us see you right now ♪ ♪ show me your face fill up this space the world needs you ♪ ♪ my world needs you right now my world needs you right now ♪ >> that's why i'm not ashamed to say it.

♪ ♪ nobody like you jesus ♪ jesus ♪ yes i need you ♪ that's where the power is ♪ you have all of the authority only you are the great i am you're the king of kings you're the lord of lords ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ show me your face come fill this space my world needs you right now my world needs you right now ♪

♪ welcome, everyone. i am george floyd's aunt. i'm also -- just give me a minute. i just want to thank everybody, and i would like to thank the whole world, what they have done for my family today. i just want to make this statement. the world knows george floyd. i know kerry jr. he was a pesky little rascal, but we all loved him.

and i just want to thank all the mothers that are here today. if you've got a nephew and uncle, just hug them and just let them know, we are for all these young black men that are coming up in this world today, and just hug them and love them, because we don't ever know when the time will come. i just want to thank each and every one of you. i have gained such a huge family, all over the world. i have so many sisters and brothers now. i have aunts and uncles, and i just want to thank you all. there's too many names to remember, but god knows, in his

heart, that i love this floyd family, i love my sister and i can't talk about george perry jr. without bringing up his mother's name. everybody, everyone knows her as miss sissy in 3rd ward junior home texas. and i just want to say i love you. i love all the support. and my family know i do. and we all are one. thank you. [ applause ] >> i just want to say that i'm going to miss my brother a whole lot. i love him.

i just want to say i love you. and i thank god for giving me my own personal superman. god bless you all. [ applause ] >> first off, i want to say hello, my name is brook williams, george floyd's niece, and i can breathe. as long as i'm breathing, justice will be served for perry. first off i want you all to come out to support perry george floyd. he was a brother, uncle, spiritually grounded in activism. he always moved people with his words. the officer showed no remorse while watching my uncle's soul leave his body. he begged and pleaded many times just for you to get up, but you

just pushed harder. why must this system be corrupt and broken? laws were already put in place for the african-american system to fail. these laws can be changed. no more hate crimes, please! someone said make america great again but when has america ever been great? those four officers were literally on him for nine minutes and none of them showed they had a heart or soul. this is not just murder but a hate crime. i share happy memories of my uncle. that's all i have, are memories. i still can't pull myself together to how he was calling my grandma name. i believe my grandmother was right there with open arms saying come home, baby.

you shouldn't feel this pain. no one should feel this pain. my most favorite memory of my uncle was when he paid me to scratch his head after the long days of work. we even created a song about it. ♪ scratch my head scratch my head yeah ♪ after that, i knew he was a comedian. he always told me, baby girl, you're going to go so far with that beautiful smile and brains of yours. another favorite memory is when me and my grandmother was so worried -- i mean, she was crying. all i remember is saying granny, it's okay. we'll find a way. i wasn't entirely sure how we were going to get to my uncle pj's wedding. my uncle busted through the door like superman. i was young, by the way, probably 10. my grandmother was also handicapped. he had this big truck we had to ride in. i was wondering, how was my grandmother going to get in that

truck, but he just placed her in the truck like it was light work. i never questioned anyone's strength but it was unbelievable how my uncle and grandmother broke their backs to see their children smile. quote tupac, sorry y'all, you seen the old way wasn't working so it's on us to do what we have to do to survive. america is time for a change. no justice, no peace. my brother and my other mom tells me, they saw the time but god lives high but he looks low. thank you, houston. there's always love in the hometown. [ applause ]

>> i really don't know what to say after my niece, but she told the whole story, but i wake up in the middle of the night thinking about my brother. i couldn't believe it at first, but i see it now. all i think about is when he was yelling for mama. and i know how mama is. she's right there. she got her hand wide open. come here, baby. every mama felt that. but when he yelled, please, please, i can't breathe, i started wearing tires. i didn't want to wear a tire no more because i wanted to be able

to breathe. i could have had one on but right now i want justice for my brother, my big brother. that's big floyd. everybody knows who big floyd is now. 3rd ward, that's where we was born at. but we're going to be remembered. everybody going to remember him around the world. he's going to change the world. my mom, if she was here today, i honestly can say this, that she would be on that casket right now, trying to get in there with him. she's a real mom. a real mom. she's not going to separae from anybody. she's just like animals. they cling to their mom. i love y'all.

y'all showed a lot of support. i love y'all. i'm speechless right now. [ applause ] >> good afternoon. my name is cyril wright and i am the director of to god be the glory sports. before i came to director of to god be to glory sports, i met big floyd. i spent so many of my college summers playing basketball with him. he had a good friend named mike riggs, and i would go pick up mike riggs and we would go get big floyd and we would be at mcgregor park, sunnyside park, wherever we could go to find a good game. fast forward to 1998, i started a college exhibition tour team, touring around the country, going to play different colleges in exhibition games and big floyd, that was my first power

forward. i would be calling around, trying to get contracts with the different schools and the coaches would ask me, who is your big man? i would say george floyd. oh, you got big floyd? your team must be pretty good. and so then we would go off and play. and not only did george play on the team, but he recruited a lot of other guys from 3rd ward and cumi homes to come join us. how much george floyd was an avid sports fan and always about sports and i was sharing with lil woo i've already secured a commitment for three acres of land here in houston to do a george floyd memorial sports center. [ applause ] i just kept thinking about what could i do, what could i do? i had a lot of support from around the world, from my

different sponsors. i had one guy step up to say hey, cyril, i can provide the real estate. we just work on the vertical improvement. that's where we are with that. one thing we did, and i'm going to get out of here fast, and to god be the glory sports, we read the proverbs. that was our spiritual exercise. we would read a chapter of provls verbs. everybody would read two verses out loud and then they would pass the bible to the next guy. right? our honorable mayor said today is george floyd day. i'm going to read proverbs chapter six, verse nine through 11. this is big floyd speaking. it says how long will you lie there, you slugger? when will you get up from your sleep? a little slum mer, a little folding of the hands to rest and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man. i can definitely see how big floyd has woken us up out of our

sleep, correct? we're all up from our sleep. we are not slumberring anymore. this poverty and this scarcity talked about in scripture, that is how we treat each other. humanity, we are poor in humanity. we are poor in empathy. but i can feel that everyone is going to rise, rise against injustice and be sure that all human beings are treated the same so that george floyd's memory will not be in vain. to the family, thank you for allowing me to speak and share this memory about big floyd and to god be the glory to you all. thank you very much. [ applause ] ♪ >> you know, hearing everybody speak so far about big floyd,

got a agreat family on stage, extended family, fountain of praise church, thank everybody. one thing, you know, i'm being strong for my family. and one thing about big floyd, be strong. just be thankful for day-to-day and just celebrate his life and happiness. he wouldn't want us weeping so hard. i'm trying. i got so many great memories and storyies to tell but, you know, they just got stuck inside and, again, you know -- mm. no, no, no, no, no. i got it. i got it. i got it. oh, man. one of the best things on my mind, honestly, we've got to seek justice out for my brother. and we're going to get it together. everyone in this church, the

great city councilmen, women in this crowd. thank you very much. oh, my god. sheila jackson lee, thank you. mayor sylvester turner, all of you guys for comforting us, calling us, letting us know the past couple of days and weeks, giving us y'all your major support and everyone in the world again for the major support and love that y'all are sharing and giving, sharing beautiful pictures. thank you, guys. and we're going to keep this fight on and we're going to do this together. and we are living together and we are going to finish this together. united we stand. and, again, we stand for george floyd and thank everyone that came, showing love. [ applause ] >> one more time, his life mattered, all our lives matter. black lives matter. his death will not be in vain. what's his name?

>> george floyd. >> first of all i want to give honor and praise to god for giving me a chance at life and meeting my little brother, for giving him his first security job. my little brother -- my little brother was a friend. he was a mentor. he was a father. he was a basketball player. he was a football player. but most of all, he was a human being. and if i tell you, i never could say no to this kid. all the flaws and trials and tribulations that we go through, what we went through, all the times he made me mad, and made

everybody mad, we still love him. i couldn't say no. so when the family came to me and asked me, is you going to speak? i will speak. i will keep on speaking. i will fight. i will fight. i will fight cause i've been fighting for him and i will keep on fighting for him. you know, we ask ourselves who we meet and who we come in contact with in life. i came encounter with and we all came encounter with, if you knew him, a ghetto angel. a ghetto angel. a brother. you know, you hate evil, but you love good. and when my brother was, my little bro was good.

you can't talk bad about him to me because i knew him. and if you knew flo, if you knew floyd, if you new gu, if you new gu, you understand the words coming out of my mouth. and i ask you, fight for my brother. help me fight for my brother. help my family fight for my brother, because he was someone. i thank you. the family thanks you and i will not give up on you, bro. i love you, little brother, and i got ya. [ applause ] ♪

>> you should be on your feet right now giving the glory to god. right now. get on your feet! give him the glory. give him the glory. give god the glory. give floyd the glory. give his kids the glory. give his family the glory. to my pastor, i love you. i love you, too. my frat brother. george floyd. anybody in here play football for jack yates or went to jack yates? walk the halls of jack yates. stand up. stand up. george floyd was an all-american

tight end. george floyd was a power forward. he was my power forward. i'm speaking on behalf of my brother. blood, sweat and tears every single day. it's hot outside. it's hot in the gym. not one time did i ever see george floyd complain. not one time. he without sin cast the first stone. huh? he without sin cast the first stone. i hear everybody talking. y'all want the real or y'all want the fake? you want the real today, right? my brother, he's sitting here. he didn't have to be sitting here today. those men that stood on my brother neck changed the world. they took somebody from us that

was great. when i say great, i never heard him complain, not one time. he was an umbrella to all of us. he was 6'6". any rain came our way, he made sure that he could cover for us. from the cumi home to jack yates high. he was everybody's shelter. everybody's shelter. i don't care what george floyd did. i don't care. let me all tell you something. he was a human being, first of all. i couldn't sleep monday night. i don't know why. i couldn't sleep. i was tossing and turning memorial day, in my bed. i don't know why. as i woke up the next morning and got so many texts, and i said what? i haven' even seen the whole tape. it hurts my heart, y'all.

we all hurt in america right now. am i right or wrong? but one thing but god, but god because all we need right here in this world today is what? love. turn to your neighbor and tell them you love them, right now. turn to them right now and tell them you love them. that's all we need. you see how that feel? george floyd tell me he loved me. he told everybody out here that he touched that he loved them. george floyd is loved. that's who george floyd is. this is for him. we love him. if you love george floyd and you know how george floyd was with you, you know you're going to always be george floyd. i am george floyd. you are george floyd.

that could have been any one of us in here, but fwod, god said, well done, floyd. so as i sit here and tell you all right now, george floyd is in the bobosom of god. he's all right. pay positive, america. there's a debt you have to repay, but god said uh-uh, not this debt. you're going to have to repay it. this is the last. so as i sit here and i see so many people coming together, so many races, and i say, you know what? because of the love of george floyd, we are all here together today. so make sure you turn to your -- you never know how long we got, y'all. you never know. the key is love. i love y'all. [ applause ]

♪ >> hey, what's going on, everybody? much love and strength to the family of george floyd. much love and strength to the family members that are here, anybody that's been lost. 50 states. 50 states are protesting at the same time. this man changed the world. he changed the world for the better. i personally want to thank george floyd for his sacrifice

so that my kids can be all right later on. i appreciate -- i appreciate the sacrifice, my brother. i genuinely do. sorry. i'm not here to talk. all right. ♪ how do i say good-bye to what we had ♪ sorry y'all ♪ the good times that made us laugh

♪ i thawed weed be together for a hundred years share a lifetime of smiles yesterday you went away forever ♪ ♪ if we get to see tomorrow

i hope ♪ it's so hard to say good-bye to yesterday ♪ ♪ and i'll take with me the memories be my sunshine after the rain ♪ it's so hard to say good-bye to yesterday ♪ god bless.

good afternoon. my name is arnesia dangerfield. i'm honored to stand before you today, honored to share what george floyd meant to our alumni jack yates senior high school, our community. of course, his children, family, his friends and now the world.

3260 trasilo is where it all began. and if you could carry the whole community on your back or work to help your fam, you do it with your bare hands. to make a way out, your gift with the ball helped to create your vision and infiltrate a plan. and now beyond the streets of 3rd ward, your legacy will stand. your children will be honored to witness your contributions firsthand. you didn't make excuses but stood tall and accepted your responsibilities like a real man. such a gentle giant. although his 6'6" stature could intimidate some men your smile was your way of creating an openness

greeting a stranger with the dab and your hand. always repping h town. know what i'm saying? speaking about unity, right here in the community calling all heads to action to take a stand against violence and rebuke it. while you were working and traveling from coast to coast, sometimes met with opposition, but still so inspiring and filled with so much hope. everyone listened when you spoke. familiar faces became family and not just blood made them kinfolk. but there's a message in it all. because all of us are beyond woke. the pin nacle for you is something we will never know. undoubtedly, though, the seeds you planted will manifest and

fully grow. only you could bring the world together, george floyd. a life, a vip to a sold-out show. my prayers, condolences and love to the family. we will forever honor george floyd. thank you. ♪ >> to my nephew, pj, my niece, kia, and the rest of the floyd family, there is peace behind this.

there's love behind this. you had no idea. someone has just changed the whole world and he happened to be in your family. i have sung this song so many times at so many funerals and homecomings. this is one that really touched me right here. ♪ though the storms keep on raging in my life yes sometimes it's hard to tell the nights from day ♪ ♪ still that hope that lies

within us reassured as i keep my eyes upon the distant shore i know he'll lead you safely to that blessed place he has prepared ♪ ♪ but if the storms don't cease and if the wind keeps blowing in my life my soul has been anchored in the lord ♪

♪ though the storms keep on raging in my life and sometimes it's hard to tell the nights from days still that hope that lies within is reassure d as i keep my eyes upon the distant shore i know he'll lead me safely to that blessed place he has prepared ♪ ♪ but if the storms don't cease

yeah yeah yeah yeah and if the wind keeps blowing in my life my soul has been anchored in the lord ♪ ♪ i realize sometimes in my life i'm gonna be tossed by the wind and currents that seem so fierce ♪ ♪ but in the word of god i have an anchor it keeps me steadfast and

unmoveable despite the tide ♪ ♪ but if the storms don't cease just in case the winds keep on blowing in my life yeah yeah my soul has been said my soul has been anchored in the lord ♪ ♪ yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah ♪ ♪ my my my soul my soul's been anchored my soul's been anchored my soul's been anchor ed ♪ ♪ billows may roll

the breakers may rise but that's all right he holds me fast ♪ ♪ my soul has been anchored my soul has been anchored my my my my soul has been anchored ♪ ♪ so dark the day clouds in the sky i know it's all right ♪ ♪ my soul has been anchored my my my my my ♪ ♪ my soul has been anchored my soul has been anchored my soul has been anchored in the lord ♪ my soul has been anchored. come on.

you can do better than that. my soul has been anchored. alleluia. thank you, my friend. let me, just before i introduce all the pastors and preachers that are here, let me thank minister mohammed from the nation of islam that did such a wonderful job in our security. amen. working with the houston police department. we thank god for them. i want to ask all of the pastors and preachers in the congregation to stand. those of you who are pastors and preachers. amen. amen. we're thankful for all of them. listen, i know that sometimes people have their problems with preachers, but in times like these, preachers can be a major support. they're needed. they're needed. we thank god for these brothers and sisters who work in the work of god. we have three preachers that are going to speak to us today. first of all, he is an icon in the city and certainly he has

been a civil rights leader and activist for many, many, many years. i can't wait to hear from him, in the person of reverend bill lawson. he will speak to us. after him, we are a city of diversity. we are a city of diversity. we are striving and endeavored everywhere we can to make sure all people are represented and that we can continue to fight the injustices that are throughout this country, and so we also have pastor steven wells speaking for us. he does such a wonderful job down at midtown houston, and we're glad to have him with us. and finally, we have my good friend and brother, dr. douglas pastor of the church without walls, who will speak in that order. reverend bill lawson, steven wells and dr. ralph douglas west. >> to pastor wright, to this

family, who hopefully has been comforted by the many people who have come today, and who have given to us a portrait of the man we only knew through the news, but who we now know not only as a human being, but as a great human being. we're glad to have known george floyd. and to all those who have come out today, i'm personally proud that you have come. many more came, but couldn't get in, but that many people wanted to come. i see that you have destroyed all laws of social distancing. [ laughter ] >> thanks to pastor remus wright who said let's just forget that. right now, we are christians.

[ applause ] he asked us to stay at two minutes. i don't know that we can do that, but let's work on it. today, i want to say that it is marvelous that this young man -- he's 46, but he's young. that this young man has done what he has done to let us know who george floyd was. i'm glad to know that in his last moment of breath, he called for his mother. and that means something about who he was. he came up in a family that was close and that loved each other. i heard from people who knew him

as a student, fellow student, an athlete, who realized that he also was a team player. and, finally, he was a person who knew the lord and who believed in him, and who trusted him. people have been wondering whether or not this is going to be like other movements. i came to this city in 1955, which was the year that the body of emmett till was found in a body of water in mississippi, same year that rosa parks refused to give up the backseat on the bus. and it was that year that i came to houston. since that time, i have seen any number of struggles against racism, and they have all ended

up with relatively little outcome. so the question is valid. it's a reasonable question. is this going to be just like so many other movements? a moment of anger and rage, and then back to business as usual? you could say that. because the prejudice and the bigoted are not going to change. but we can do some things to change them, and that's what i hope we will do. first of all, we can make sure that we don't stop the fight, that we stay with it, and that we make sure that somebody knows that we are not going to stand

for this to keep on going. obviously, the first thing that we have to do is to clean out the white house.[ applause ] >> that has to come closer to us than washington. our states and counties and cities have to have good leadership. and that means that we have to go and vote. [ applause ] but you know, a young man from humble beginnings can change the world. how do i know that?

partly because george floyd came from humble beginnings and now as many speakers have said, everybody on earth knows who george floyd is. he was a man of no rank or title. he was a man who came from humble beginnings. but god has done some things even through this tragedy that has let the world know about big floyd, big george. you know there was a man who was humble. came from humble beginnings. you could say cunei holmes. but there was a stable in

nazareth. and that man didn't have a home. and his wife was about to have a baby. and since he didn't have a home, there was no bed for her to have that baby in. but in that stable there was a manger and he went to that manger and that manger gave forth a baby. and that baby didn't have any title either. he lived at a time when the roman government was making it very hard for jews. and he was murdered.

legally, but he was murdered. and the interesting thing is that from that death comes our churches, and as we take the lord's supper, however often we do that, we remember his flesh and his blood. and how long are we going to say "i can't breathe." but now as i look at marches all over the world, protests filling up the streets, and back in the days when i used to be part of marches, all the marches were black. but now there are white people who know the story and the hispanics who know the stories

and the asians who know the story. [ applause ] today there are preachers back there and there is at least one minister who is here. i brought with me a jewish fellow. and all culures, all of the races, throughout the world, all of the nations throughout the world, all the continents throughout the world, they know the name of this man who was born in a stable, in a manger. and so you could raise the question, can any good thing

come out of a tragedy like this? we've lost a loved one. and the pain is almost unbearable. what good can come out of that? well, as the murder of the man on the cross has come a movement worldwide. and every emam from the muslim faith and every rabbi from the jewish religion, all of us know the name of george floyd. we know the name because of a death. you think something good can't come out of this. his death did not simply start a bunch of good speeches, a bunch

of tributes. out of his death has come a movement. a worldwide movement. [ applause ] and that movement is not going to stop after two weeks, three weeks, a month. that movement is going to change the world. which means that this boy, born in a manger, born in a stable, like cuni holmes, born in a situation where he lived in a ghetto. lived in the hood. third ward. this boy is going to bring forth a demand for better government,

for better policing. he is going to bring forth a demand, a multi-cultural, multi-national, worldwide demand for change. my hope is that we will stay behind that demand. and while not everybody will be concerned about it continuing, at least the people from the hood will be concerned its continuing. it will not end with this boy's death. he's 46 but i call him a boy. but that this shall continue, so that this movement will transform this corrupt world. praise god for george floyd.

[ applause ] ♪ >> paster wright, thank you for the invitation to be here. i'm humbled to be here. family, what a privilege to be with you today. the apostle john wrote this, there is no fear in love but perfect love casts out fear. for fear has to do with punishment, the one who fears is not made perfect in love. we love. because god first loved us. if anybody says, i love god, and yet hates his brother, he is a

liar. because if you have not loved your brother who you have seen, you cannot love god who you have not seen. and he is given us this command to anyone who loves god must also love his brother. this is the reading of god's word. you know, none of us wanted to be here today. you would have rather and we would have rather that george was home and safe. but racism murdered him. and racism is the reversal of the revelation of god. racism is not perfect love casting out fear, it is perfect fear casting out love. which means overcoming racism will require a love that is greater and stronger than fear and only jesus offers us that love. only living the jesus way offers

us healing and we need healing. because you know and we know there is nothing that any of us could say that will bring george back. so we came to say today that we grieve with you. and that your grief has awakened the conscience of the nation. because we're here in god's house and in his church and because we believe in the risen lord christ, we grieve in resurrection hope. a restoration this day. we grieve in resurrection hope that god is at work in our nation, rending hearts and changing minds and bending the moral arc of the universe toward justice. and i hope you know that everyone would have understood if said we don't need to hear from any white people today. you been silent long enough. you could be silent