George Floyd's casket will be open for 6-hour public viewing at final memorial in Houston, Biden to meet family
George Floyd's casket will be open for mourners to view Monday in his hometown of Houston, where the final leg of a series of memorials in his honor is slated to be held. According to a report by Fox News, the six-hour viewing will be held at The Fountain of Praise church in southwest Houston and will be open to the public. However, those in attendance would be required to wear a mask and gloves to comply with COVID-19 related guidelines. Floyd will be laid to rest on Tuesday, next to his mother Larcenia Floyd, at the Houston Memorial Gardens cemetery in suburban Pearland.
The unarmed black man died on May 25 at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer who pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes, thereby sparking nationwide outrage and a series of protests meant to draw new attention to the treatment of black Americans by law enforcement and the criminal justice system. According to the report, 2020 presidential hopeful Joe Biden plans to travel to Houston to meet with Floyd's family and provide a video message for his funeral service. A Biden aide revealed his plans on Sunday, but they did not include attending the service.
According to the aide, who discussed Biden's plans on condition of anonymity, the former vice president expects to give the family his condolences. Previous memorials for Floyd have taken place in Minneapolis, where he died, and North Carolina, where he was born. Visitors at the Minneapolis tribute on Thursday stood in silence for 8 minutes, 46 seconds, exactly the length of time former officer Derek Chauvin pinned Floyd to the ground under his knee before he died.
Raised in Houston's Third Ward, Floyd was a well known former high school football player who often rapped with local legend DJ Screw. He moved to Minneapolis several years ago hoping to start afresh. His face now appears on a mural in his old neighborhood as his name is chanted by tens of thousands of protesters across the country.
Back when he was just eight years old, Floyd dreamed of having a real impact on society by ensuring justice for American citizens. His aspirations were recently revealed by Waynel Sexton, who taught Floyd in 2nd grade at Frederick Douglass Elementary School in Texas.
Sexton shared an essay written by Floyd nearly 40 years ago in the wake of his tragic death in police custody. According to the teacher, the assignment was submitted at the end of Black History Month. "How will you impact the future? What will you do to make a difference?" Sexton asked her students at the time.
In response, Floyd expressed his dream of becoming a judge of the highest court in the country one day. "When I grow up, I want to be a Supreme Court judge," he wrote in the essay, alongside a drawing visualizing his aspirations. "When people say, 'Your honor, he did rob the bank', I will say, 'Be seated.' And if he doesn't, I will tell the guard to take him out. Then I will beat my hammer on the desk. Then everybody will be quiet..."
The death of George Floyd has set off a string of emotions that have taken the form of a massive movement across the United States, as well as other parts of the world. As much as people have raised a hue and cry over another senseless killing of an unarmed black man, they were equally outraged by the manner in which he was killed.