safe while paying tribute to the man who really has changed the confidential in this country about race, about policing. i'm joined now by "washington post" opinion writer jonathan capehart, maya wily, university professor at the new school, also with me nicolle hannah jones, staff writer for "the new york times magazine" who focuses on racial injustice. a big thanks to all of you for joining me this morning. i'll start with you, nicole, the significance of this moment we find ourselves in right now. another family mourning their loved one. but unlike a lot of other men and women who died under similar circumstances in this country, this particular death at this particular moment has triggered something we have not seen in this country before. >> yeah, i think we're all

trying to figure out what this moment is ultimately going to mean, to see this sustained level of protest over the course of weeks. i think it has a lot of to do with the nature of this particular killing. anybody with a beating heart should have been absolutely devastated by what we saw on video. and i think we are seeing people saying enough is enough. and there is a collective mourning and a collective grief and a collective outrage, that we can no longer have a society where people can take someone's life and not be held accountable. >> maya wiley, after everything we've seen over the past week and a half, the marches, the protests, do you think we're at a point now where we're going to see some real change, specifically regarding policing in our country?

are we at that moment? >> we're certainly at the moment where we have seen some meaningful reforms, meaningful in the sense that before this senseless and brutal killing of george floyd and ahmaud arberyb garner and so many others, the politics of fear and fearmongering in many instances that we heard from police unions, that fear has been partially broken down by the hundreds of thousands of people who have poured into the streets for two weeks. and those reforms we were struggling for a year ago. that has meaning. things like, the police in new york city can't hide disciplinary records. that means decisions like in los angeles and in minneapolis to

take funding from the police departments to put them in the communities that have been overpoliced. i think what we still do not know is whether the transformation will be much deeper and much more meaningful, a kind of transformation that recognizes what policing has been, has worked has intended, and that is as a mechanism of patrol and not as a mechanism of public safety for people who are black and brown. and that has to change significantly, as well as the country's recognition of, you know, what others have talked so much about, including, you know, the deep introspection about the history of racism in this country, that there is a deep debt owed to african-american communities that has not been paid. part of it is to recognize that we're people, not problems.

that's the transformation we have yet to see. and that's the transformation we have some hope for because people are protesting. >> as we're having this conversation, left side of your screen, this is the prelude here and inside the church. for those of us who grew up in a black baptist church in the south, you might recognize this song, "nobody like our god," this is the houston ensemble. we're going to hear a lot of gospel music this afternoon during this farewell service, i can tell you that, looking at this program right now. right side of your screen, you continue to see extended family and friends making their way inside this massive sanctuary. some 24,000 members, by the way, here at this particular church in houston, texas, the fountain

of praise church. mr. capehart, a few minutes ago, mayor of houston sylvester turner made some news, announcing he plans to sign a series of executive orders today that will go into effect immediately. among those orders, banning chokeholds. we've seen this happen in a number of municipalities over the past week, jonathan. i was struck that mayor turner indicated that he had in fact spoken to the police union about these changes. it is difficult to understate how powerful police unions are in the united states of america. do you get the sense that unions are going to be on board with some of the changes that are being discussed? not so much on the federal level, but on the local level as well. >> craig, that is a very good question, because the answer is, i don't know. and i say "i don't know" because

i was at "the new york daily news" on the editorial board and the pba, police benevolent association, that police union, is powerful. these police unions are powerful in their communities. and if they don't want something to happen, if they don't want a rule or regulation or a law passed, they will put the might of the union and their members behind it. the fact that the mayor talked to the police union and seemingly has gotten some buy-in to some things he wants to do, i'll take that as a glimmer of hope. but these police unions are incredibly powerful. they're powerful in the way, just so that viewers can understand this if they don't know in their own communities, police unions are as powerful at the local level as, say, the nra is at the national level. they have that much sway over politicians, over mayors, over

governo governors. and so if any of these things, any of these changes are going to happen, there's going to have to be buy-in not just from, you know, rank and file police als unions. and then the next big battle, if you will, to come is going to be when police contracts expire and those mayors have to go and bargain with those unions for the next contract. this is going to be a marathon. this is not going to be a sprint. this is not going to be -- or cannot be, i should say, the result of an executive order here or one change in law there. if we are to see the changes, a lot of them common sense changes that needed to be made in policing, that will then have incredible benefits at the community level, there's going

to have to be a sustained effort to get them done. >> nicole, "the new york times" this morning wrote about a conversation that george floyd had with friends when he was a teenager. he was talking about his plans for the future. i think in the past 15 days it's been perhaps lost on a number of folks that this is a 46-year-old man, he's a father of two. a number of friends indicated that he was at a turning point in his life. but this is what jonathan diehl, one of his friends, told "the times." he said, george turned to me and said, i want to touch the world, a tall, gregarious athlete named george floyd who he had met in the school cafeteria on the first day of sixth grade. to their 17-year-old minds touching the world back then, it maybe meant the nba or nfl.

he said he could not have imagined that this is the tragic way that people would come to know his name. nicole hannah jones, it really is striking to think that, you know, laquan mcdonald, we could sit here all afternoon and name the number of people who have died at the hands of police, many of whom under suspect circumstances, shall we say. eric garner. the fact that it looks like it may be george floyd, this 46-year-old man who was born in houston, texas, that really does change the trajectory of so much in our country. >> that's hard, because our nation's history is littered with the bodies of black americans who had to be martyred

to try to make this country more democratic, to try to make this country look up to its founding ideals. we are not a country where our ideals would allow law enforcement, agents of the state, to take someone's life in the street in that way. there's no good feeling about george floyd's aspirations being met because he was killed on the street with a law enforcement agent's leg on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds. this is unfortunately the role that black americans have been forced into since our arrival in this country. and again and again, we've had to die, to have our bodies brutalized, in order to force white americans to recognize our humanity and to recognize that we do not live in a fully democratic country that respects the rights of all of its citizens and offers equal protection under the law. so yes, we always are looking

for a silver lining out of tragic circumstances and to believe that he was able to fulfill his dream in this way. but my god, what kind of country is that? and it's not the kind of country we should be accepting. >> we continue to watch the procession here. and i tell you, it's -- you know, we are, as evidenced by these pictures, oh, by the way, we're still very much in the midst of a global pandemic. houston, texas has been hit especially hard by the coronavirus. so it is good to see so many of the mourne ersmourners, so far all the mourns, wearing face masks. we'll point out here that we are not wearing one because we have been able to keep six feet of distance between myself and everyone behind the camera.

professor wiley, let me come back to you for just a moment. i want to talk about chokeholds specifically, because mayor turner indicated in the last hour that's something that's going to be banned effective immediately here in houston. we've seen it happen in a number of other departments in the past week or two. i was unaware, admittedly, maya wiley, that chokeholds, stran e strangleholds in some cases, these were not just permissible and legal, but acceptable in so many police departments up until last week. i had no idea that was the case. >> it absolutely was the case. it goes back to one of the things that jonathan capehart said, which is the power of police unions to tap fear and

fear, as nicole hannah jones says, rooted in stereotypes and conceptions of black people that have been constructed, that have been constructed. it's important to acknowledge that as we witness this funeral and the mourning happening not just in this country but across the globe. tapping that fear and those stereotypes has enabled the type of demand for very broad discretion for police officers to behave the way they see fit to do what they think is public safety and safety to themselves. and that has meant, not just in the context of chokeholds alone, even in enforcement policies, huge swaths of discretion. one thing we should note, camden, while the camden police department, we cannot say, has achieved perfect transformation, that would be wrong, but one of

the things that was fundamentally different, that earned camden praise, was, one, not only disbanding the police union which enabled some real reform, they wrote a massively detailed excessive force policy in their patrol guide that governed the behavior of police officers, that was so much more detailed than a police union would normally allow, and whose political power would enable them to control. and that means that part of the demand and part of why we've seen some little steps of progress, is to say, we cannot keep allowing a discretion, a broad-based discretion that essentially enables police to kill, to maim, and to otherwise traumatize and harm without any real public safety issue. and that i think is one of the things that's both a positive

and also inadequate so far in terms of what we've seen in policy. >> the family making their way to their seats inside the church. just to give folks at home an idea of what we can expect, we're told that this funeral service should last roughly two hours. a number of scripture readings, a video montage. we'll also hear from a number of local lawmakers. mayor turner, the aforementioned mayor of houston, congresswoman sheila jackson lee, congressman al greene, this is his district, and former vice president joe biden also, we're told, will be delivering a video message. and a number of gospel songs as

well. and of course, again, al sharpton, reverend al sharpton, delivering the eulogy here just as he did at minneapolis last week. yolanda adams, a gospel legend, will also be rendering a selection later in the service. after all is said and done here in houston, george floyd's body will be taken roughly 15 miles from where we sit. he will be laid to rest next to his mother sissy. floyd, a father of two. we've been quite familiar with his 6-year-old daughter, gianna, over the past few weeks. while floyd has become a symbol to so many of so many different

things over the past few weeks, he was a brother. he was a father. and what you're seeing right now is a family that has become overcome with grief. brok "broken but healed," by the way, is the song being sung right now, another gospel classic. mr. capehart, i feel like you and i have -- i've lost jonathan capehart. we'll try to get jonathan back. ♪ >> nicole hannah jones also with me. let me come back to you here for a moment, nicole, as we wait for

the actual funeral service to begin. this legislation that was introduced yesterday by democrats in the house that would do a number of things, but among those things it would do is create a national standard, if you will, when it comes to police force. based on what you've read about the legislation that's being introduced, nicole, how far would it go to right some of the wrongs in this country as they pertain to the use of force and police brutality? >> i think it's a step. and what we know is many activists don't think it goes far enough. also law enforcement is administered at the local level. the reforms really have to come at the local level. we saw what happened during the obama administration when there

were consent decrees, law enforcement agencies that had been deemed abusive and to be doing unconstitutional practices, and then with the new administration, the trump administration decided not to enforce those. so what's important is what are the enforcement mechanisms, how do we ensure that local law enforcement is actually complying. and are we going far enough. i think the time for kind of tepid response is long past. had we not allowed for the lack of accountability to have festered to this point, we wouldn't even need national legislation. so i think it's yet to be seen. i think there's going to be the a lot of activists pushing democrats, pushing congress, and at the local level, to see more sweeping reforms. >> do stand by for me, if you can, just a moment. i want to get to priscilla thompson.

priscilla is at this mural in the third ward where george floyd grew up. priscilla, as i understand it, there have been folks stopping by all morning, folks who could not get into the memorial service there, stopping by your location to pay their respects. what are they saying to you? >> reporter: craig, that's one thing they've been really struck by. while this memorial was created here in the third ward, feet from where george floyd grew up, it was meant to serve as a community gathering place, so many of the people i've met this morning have come from all over houston to pay tribute. folks are still here now as that funeral service are getting under way. i actually have mallika here with me, someone who told me that you felt it was in your heart to be here. tell me why. >> george floyd, his name woke

up the world. he has to be recognized. change has to be recognized. and you just felt it in my heart to be here. >> reporter: when you think about george floyd, a man you didn't know, but as you mentioned, has been on your heart, what do you think his legacy will be here in this community? >> his legacy will be based on love and support in the community. you know, that's what i'll remember, that's going to be remembered globally. >> reporter: and as he's laid to rest today, sort of the next phase of this begins in terms of what happens to the officers involved in this case. i'm curious, do you feel like this is a turning point or a change? >> it's a start to a turning point, yes. yes. >> reporter: thank you. >> thank you. >> reporter: craig, there you have it, i think that echoes what i've heard from folks, they're hopeful this will be the beginning of a change here, craig. >> priscilla thompson reporting in her hometown of houston,

texas, as we continue to watch the family of george floyd take their seats here at the fountain of praise church in houston, texas. the music continues. we have jonathan capehart back with us now. jonathan, i am tempted again, my older brother is a baptist minister so i'm always tempted to just sit and listen to the gospel music. but before the service starts, i do want to ask you about these protests that we've seen. where you are, in washington, d.c., where i spent some time last week, in minneapolis, and literally every state in this country over the past 15 days, protests that we should note once again have been largely peaceful, jonathan, one of the

things, and i thought when i was in d.c., just d.c., because of the demographics of our nation's capital, and then i get to minneapolis and the same was true, you and i have had a number of conversations after someone who looks like us dies in the hands of police custody and there are marches and rallies after, but here are the marches and rallies, and by and large, the folks at the marches and rallies also look like us. not so this time. i've been struck by the number of white people in america who are fed up, who are angry, who have taken to the streets not once, not twice, but every day in masks for more than two weeks. >> yeah. craig, it is truly incredible. and i think it is the result of a confluence of events. one is, the one thing we've been talking about the most is, we know george floyd's name and what happened to george floyd, because we were able to watch it

with our own eyes. and it is a video that, again, i have not watched in its entirety, because i just simply can't. but the fact that millions of people in the united states and around the world did watch it and were horrified, and were moved, because they have a moral core, to not just sit on the sidelines and tweet nice things about black lives matter but to take to the streets and demand it, not just for one day, but now for 14, 15 days, making that message known. the other thing that i think is feeding into the anger that there is in the country, is the fact that we have in the white house a president of the united states who is pouring gasoline on a situation that requires

healing, that requires moral authority. and the american people are not getting it. and in fact, at the very moment when the american people were looking to the president for that comfort, for that healing, if anyone still believes he's able to do that, he unleashed the park police, the military police on peaceful demonstrators at lafayette square, the park just in front of the white house, and had them pushed back using all sorts of riot oppression matters, live on national television. people saw the split screen of the president talking about law and order from the rose garden while military troops -- not troops, military police, were pushing back peaceful demonstrators.

and i think that offended people's sense of democracy, equity, and justice. but it also compounded the anger, rage, and sorrow felt for the killing of george floyd and breonna taylor and ahmaud arbery and walter scott and tamir rice and all the other mostly african-american men and women who have been killed by law enforcement or killed through what we call extra judicial killings. >> nicole, one of the things that also struck me during the protests, i mean, the video, as jonathan mentioned, so difficult to watch, in fact what we're not going to do is at any point

during this funeral service is run that video. i think that's an image that we've all seen enough of over the past two weeks. but these marches, nicole, were also happening against the backdrop of, again, a global pandemic that does not appear to be getting better. you've got more than 40 million americans looking for work. there is an anxiety that's gripping our country and has gripped our country for some months now. nicole, how much do you think that what we've seen play out over the past few weeks is also a manifestation of some of those things as well? or is this just about police brutality? is this just about the chasm that has existed in our country? >> i don't think it's just about

police brutality. police brutality is of course kind of the most violent, visceral manifestation of the inequalities that we have in this country, that black americans experience at every level of american society. i think the pandemic did play a role. folks are struggling to pay their bills. people are really seeing who has been infected, who has been dying. this idea that the virus is going to be a great equalizer when in fact it just put a magnifying glass on all the inequalities that we already experience. people are frustrated with the national response in the sense that -- i mean, when you look at the polling, a large majority of americans think this country is going in the wrong direction. they think the country is out of control. people i think are marching for a lot of reasons, just in general. the protests, severe inequality in this country, the leadership of this country.

and you have to think how devastating this must be, to give people who have been sheltering in their homes for months because of a deadly pandemic, to say, this harm is worth me risking my life for, to come out and protest. and i heard from -- i've heard from lots of white protesters who have said, i had to come out because it is fundamentally wrong for me to sit comfortably in my home and watch black people, who are the ones contracting and dying from covid-19 at the highest rates, protest alone. i have to show that i have a stake in this. i think that's part of what we're seeing all across the country, is people of different races feeling like they have to show that they have a stake in this too and that black people, as has been the case historically, do not have to fight this battle alone. >> you perhaps saw the gentleman there addressing the

congregation. the service not starting just yet. he was, reminding everyone to be mindful of what we were just talking about, coronavirus. the real threat that it poses when you have large gatherings like this. he just reminded folks in the congregation to please keep their masks on and if and where possible, to try to maintain some social distance. i will tell you from this vantage point, it doesn't look very possible. you've got a lot of folks packed into this sanctuary. in fact people are still making their way into the sanctuary. nbc's shaquille brewster, roughly a thousand miles from here, where george floyd's life was taken at a street corner

there, he's at the memorial site. shaq, are folks still stopping by and paying their respects there as well? is that continuing? >> reporter: they are, craig. the commemorations are continuing. people bringing their flowers, people bringing words of encourageme encouragement, and people bringing their families. i've seen so many kids, craig, wondering what is going on and parents having to explain what happened here and what is the beginning of this movement that they're starting to see. around the city, craig, people are starting to feel like they're seeing some of the change they've been asking for. the minneapolis police department, chokeholds have been banned. the officers involved in the death of mr. floyd have now been arrested. there is now that duty to report. if an officer sees another officer using excessive force, they now have a duty to report and intervene in the situation. people feel like the wheels are slowly turning and there will be a result, a change to come from the death of george floyd. that's what people have been

calling for since he died at the scene here over two weeks ago at this point. craig, i'll tell you, at the scene, one of the things that we've been seeing, if you look over my shoulder, you see the cup full of food, that's where a grocery store here reported a counterfeit $20 bill that led to the encounter between george floyd and the police officer. they're saying now is the time. the flowers are still there. people are trying to move forward, trying not to go back to what they saw as normal but to move forward to see what they can build from his death, craig. >> shaq brucestewster there in minneapolis, shaq, stand by. i want to bring in a colleague whose voice and insights over the past two weeks here at msnbc have been invaluable. joy reid, host of "a.m. joy" on

msnbc -- oh, we just lost joy reid. we'll try to get joy back up in just a moment. maya, a source from the family told me earlier today, when i asked what can we expect from this memorial, this individual said it will be similar to what we saw in minneapolis, part remembering george floyd, the father, remembering george floyd, the brother, remembering the friend, but it will also very much be a call to action, maya wiley. >> absolutely. we're watching what's called in the black tradition witnessing. witnessing means -- obviously it includes showing up for jesus in the literal sense, in the

religious sense, but it has deep meaning in the civil rights sense and deep meaning in our history of protest and our demand for equality, for inclusion, and for change. that's witnessing what is happening to our communities. and witnessing is not a passive act either in terms of religion or in terms of what we do in this context. witnessing means we see and then come out and proclaim the word. and the word right now is "transformation." change it, invest in our communities. that's what we saw from the memorial service, and we're going to see more today, and so much of why people who are white are witnessing and people who are asian are witnessing and people who are latino. and this for me is very much reminiscent of, you know, the murder of emmitt till and his mother's extremely and extraordinarily brave act of

demanding that the nation witness by opening up the funeral but also opening up the casket and saying, look what they did to my boy, a 14-year-old boy that was tour tour tortured by white men for flirting with a white woman. this is about mourning but it's also about taking action based on the pain and suffering that this morning represents. and we are going to hear a powerful call to action and we're going to see an answer toe that call by the demonstrations that will continue to demand meaningful change. >> we will get the call. the question, of course, becomes what will the response be. joy reid with us now, "a.m. joy"

here on msnbc. glad we got you back. professor wiley, joy, she just mentioned emmitt till. there have been a number of other events, if you will, in our country's history that you can really point to that have shaken the consciousness. the birmingham church bombing comes to mind, selma, bloody sunday, selma, alabama, where you really had an event that galvanized a true rainbow coalition. is this one of those moments, joy? >> yeah, and i would mention another one, craig, the murder of medgar evers in his driveway with his family inside, in june of 1963, which shook john f. kennedy, president john f. kennedy, whose priority up until then had been to pass a massive tax cut. that had been the top thing on

his agenda. he was pushed to move on civil rights because, in part, of the slaying of medgar evers who was the field secretary for the naacp in mississippi, the hardest state to move in terms of allowing black people to vote, 6% of african-americans at the time were registered to vote because of terrorism, and he was killed by a member of the white citizens council who wanted to shut down any notion that black men and women would feel they had full citizenship and the right to vote let alone the ability to integrate restaurants, swimming pools, et cetera. medicigar evers' murder is not talked about as much, but the university of mississippi violently rejected integration, which moved john f. kennedy to send the civil rights act of 1963 to the congress. it was that act, that after kennedy himself was slain, that became the civil rights we all

know, the civil rights act of '64. it was lyndon johnson completing the work that kennedy began. that act would have been a 1963 act had it been able to go through. but the resistance of white segregationists, at the time white democrats in the south, who ultimately moved into the republican party in outrage over the betrayal by lyndon johnson, who betrayed his region and his race by pushing through the martyred kennedy's bill after the martyr ddom of so many blac men and women, the beatings, the terrorism by the klan, which is still a terrorist organization according to the united states government. mart martyrdom has unfortunately preceding change in this country, the martyrdom of black bodies, the lynching, the murders, has moved the conscience of this nation over

and over and over again. i'll tell you quickly, i was texting with reverend sharpton this morning because i know he's on his way there to the service, and i had a chance to interview spike lee this morning, which was an honor to do, and he has a film out that really explores this era. i was calling him, so excited to tell rev about it, i said to him, i think finally, because of george floyd, there is a real genuine chance that police reform might happen in this country. rev has been fighting for it since the '80s. and i think that there's a chance now, the justice and policing act that's going through the house gives people something specific to fight for. the banning of chokeholds, making it a crime to use it, which has been used over and over, eric garner, over and over again, it's time to ban that. it's time for police unions to accept that if you're going to allow people to graduate from high school and at 19 years old

be handed a badge and the power to kill, then they're going to accept regulations. sorry, but that kind of power over other human lives requires the regulation of the people who pay the bills. and if police departments don't want to be regulated, don't want to be questioned when they kill someone, too bad. the people in the united states, not just black people, but now you're seeing white people in the streets also taking the batons, taking the tear gas, realizing that if you don't regulate this former slave-catching service that turned into the police departments, they will come for you, they'll come for your kids, they'll tear gas your kids too. this is a national emergency. i think george floyd, as his little daughter said, just might change the world and let's all hope that he does. >> joy, while we were having that conversation, i managed to get my hands on one of the

programs from inside. if we could just show it real fast, guys. let's go to the -- there it is. you'll recognize a significant portion of the program itself devoted to pictures of the protests that we've seen play out all around the world over the past two weeks. a number of pictures of george floyd through the years and pictures of his children as well. and some tributes of love from each of his kids and his siblings as well. someone just came out to show me the program. i'll go back inside for just a moment. again, for folks who have been with us since the top of the hour, wondering what might be behind the delay, you'll see there, this is an open casket funeral. and a stream of family and

friends are being permitted to walk into the church, down that center aisle, and pay their respects for the last time. >> that program, craig, you and i covered the walter scott murder together. i covered the baltimore killing of freddie gray, you can go on and on, i covered the marches for eric garner which were huge, in new york and across the country. how many black men and women have to be buried with the program full of pictures of protests? you know, how many black lives have to be martyred for this country to accept that all human beings feed to receive safety from the police force, not control. that the police force is not meant to be an object of control

over certain human lives, which is what unfortunately for black people they've been. this is just happening over and over and over again. i think we've reached a point where people have finally said enough. you know, enough, let a 46-year-old man become a 96-year-old man. let him live his life and raise his kids. enough. for what was he murdered? if his death, if his murder brings about real genuine police reform, then, wow, what a good and faithful servant he will have been in this life. that's what i feel is happening. and that's what i certainly hope is happening. >> joy, we just saw the actual -- we just saw the casket of george floyd closed for presumably the last time. it would seem as if this service is about to get under way. let's listen in. >> within the sanctuary walls as well as those who are watching

via stream or on some platform today, i'm reminded that the song is "family." this poor man called out and the lord heard him and he saved him out of all of his troubles. the angel of the lord encamped around those who feared him and he dlifelivers him. and this word is what helps me and blesses me in such a manner that i can never move out of my pain without remembering this, that the lord is close to the broken hearted. and he saves those who are crushed in spirit. psalms 34-6, 7, and 18. hope to the floyd family and to all that are here, to all of the people, to the clergy and the leaders of faith in our community who are here, our dignitaries, our elected officials, to everyone who has

taken the time to join us by stream, we're all connected. this is a moment of connectivity. this is a moment by which god has gathered people all around the world to connect us around the life of brother george perry floyd. now, listen, today there's a few things we want to encourage you to expect. first, we do ask you to keep your mask on within the sanctuary. we thank god for that. if anyone is in distress, raise your hand, our ushers will be watching to make sure we can assist you. but in the tradition of the african-american church, this will be a home-going celebration. come on, i want to say it again, this will be a home-going celebration of brother george floyd's life. >> now, you know what that means, that means foot stomping, toe tapping, shouting hallelujah, praise god, amen, because we are celebrating his life. before we begin this home-going

celebration, let me just thank publicly all of those people that helped to make this come to pass. i want to begin with esquire benjamin crump. thank you for watching over this family. in times of devastation, someone has to stand up and take the lead. and thank god that you've done just that, brother. and then also the reverend al sharpton, thank you, through north carolina, minneapolis, continuing to sound the trumpet and let people know this is about injustices and we want to see justice served. i want to thank our local mayor and mayor pro tem who have done such a wonderful job in making the resources of this city available, to have the reviewing yesterday. as a matter of fact, we had a viewing yesterday with tens of thousands of people that came through these doors. and it came off without a hitch, because we made sure. hpd was here and the fire department was here and people were here, emt specialists were

here. we had people here from everywhere. they were giving out water. for those of you who donated your services, your resources, we want to thank you. on behalf of this family, we thank you, thank you, thank you. to brother george anderson, chief operating officer of this church, brother dallas jones working together in tandem to make sure everything was pulled together, thank you. this is an enormous task. this is a gigantic responsibility. and for people that look at it and think, well, you know, i wouldn't have done it this way, you don't know how you would have done it if you had this many people funneling through your doors. thank god we didn't have any problems, everybody was respectful, everybody was sensitive to what the family is facing. and we're just glad to know we have such a great team here in houston. and so i think it's ready for us to have some church. >> it's time for us to have church, it's time for us to celebrate his life.

we may weep, we may mourn, we'll be comforted and we'll find hope, that's for sure. we want to follow the program that's already printed. the musical selection, the human aggregate singers, we're so delighted to have them here. reverend arthur rucker of fountain of praise will do part of the scriptural reading. reverend booker from greater st. matthew baptist church with the new testament reading. reverend dr. mary white who leads the prison ministry at fountain of praise, she will offer prayer of comfort to the family. >> after which there will be a video montage that i think all of you will enjoy. in that order, we're asking them to come. someone say amen. ♪

>> as historical as this is, we recognize this is a real family with real feelings. there are a lot of us here who have been in that position and it hurt. i want you to know the moment that the world announced that george floyd had left the earth physically, we became family. everyone in this room, if we can, center our love around this family, because we know what it means, how it feels to have a loved one leave. we celebrate his life but i want to leave you with these words. ♪ be not dismayed, whatever, whatever betide, oh, lord ♪

♪ i know he will take hold of you ♪ beneath his wings of love ♪ ♪ of love abide ♪ remember god will he will take care of you ♪ ♪ but all of this is silent remember god will take care take care of you ♪ ♪ through every day

along life's narrow way ♪ ♪ when you get sad he will he will take care of you ♪ ♪ god will i know he will ♪ ♪ he will take care of you one last thing. ♪ oh, you may need just remember he will -- he will provide ♪ ♪ because he will i wish i had somebody that knows

he will take care of you ♪ ♪ here's what you got to do trust him and you will be satisfied ♪ ♪ i believe a witness calling he will he will take care of you ♪ ♪ god will i know he will he will take care of you ♪ ♪ along life's narrow way ♪ when you feel discouraged

remember he will god will take care of you ♪ ♪ god will i know what you're going through right now, but god will -- i know you're going through pain right now but god will, he will, he will take care of you ♪ put your head up and remember this, children. ♪ whatever betide god will i know he will ♪ he'll take care of you

of you of you ♪ ♪ here's what you can find strength beneath his wings ♪ ♪ that's right under his wings children of god ♪ ♪ god will take good care of you ♪ encourage somebody next to you even though we're in a pandemic. i know that we'll -- yes, he will do everything ♪ ♪ come what may i know he will see you through ♪ ♪ i know he will ♪ god will take care of you

♪ god will take care of you ♪ come on encourage your neighbor and tell them don't give up on god because he won't give up on you ♪ ♪ god will take care of you ♪ ♪ god will going to see you through ♪ ♪ i know he will ♪ god will take care of you ♪ ♪ hold on children take good care ♪ ♪ better take care god will take care of you ♪ ♪ god will going to see you through ♪ ♪ god will take care of you

♪ god will i said i know he will ♪ ♪ take care of you ♪ all you got to do is trust him ♪ ♪ god will take care of you ♪ ♪ i said god will take good care ♪ ♪ take good care of you ♪ he will take good care of you ♪ god bless you, floyd family. ♪ ♪

♪ god will ♪ giving honor to the family of george floyd, to the dignitaries in the house and to all of the clergy and to the great pastor of this house. we offer you the reading of the word in the old testament according to the book of amos, chapter 5 beginning at verse 16. therefore, the lord, the god of host, the lord, sayeth thus. wailing shall be in all the

streets, and they shall all say in all the highways, alas, alas, and they shall all call the farmer to morning and such as are skillful inamentation to wailing and in all the vineyards shall be wailing for i will pass through thee sayeth the lord. woe unto you who desire the day of the lord. to what end is it for you? the day of the lord is darkness and not light. it is as if a man flee from a loin and a bear met him or went into the house and leaned his house on the wall and a serpent bit him. shall not the day of the lord be darkness and not light? even very dark and no brightness in it. i hid and despise your feast and will not take delight in your solemn assemblies. so you offer me burnt offerings and meal offerings, i will not

accept them. neither will i regard the feast offerings. take away from me the noise of your song for i will not hear the melody of your harps. but let justice run down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. and this is the word of the lord, thanks be unto god. >> to the floyd family, past or booker. i want you to know we're still praying for you.

we want you to know that god has made himself available to the person of jesus christ to help you in times like these. god bless you. 1 thessalonians 4 beginning at verse 13. but i would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep. that ye sorrow not, even at others which have no hope. for if we believe that jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in jesus will god bring with him. for this we say unto you, by the word of the lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the lord shall not prevent them which