George Floyd Square one year later: Grieving and hope

On the anniversary of Floyd’s murder, amid the celebration, a community is still processing the pain of his death.

Minneapolis, Minnesota, US — On the kind of low humidity, sunny spring day that Minnesotans live for, George Floyd Square is swarming with local residents as well as visitors from across the nation. They are here not only to mourn Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer one year ago today, but also to celebrate his life. “We were invited by one of the organizers to be here and celebrate George’s life,” John Williams, director of the Center for Racial Reconciliation at Fellowship Church in Monrovia, California, told Al Jazeera. “Celebration for me is a remembrance so that his life does not get erased so that what happened does not get erased,” said Williams, who came to Minneapolis with members of his church to be at the epicentre of the past year’s events. “This is one of the first times that, on a national level, there’s been a police officer who has been brought to accountability, but even with that there’s still no real justice in that. George is not here.”