MINNEAPOLIS — To memorialize is to remember, but the memorial service for George Floyd was as much about what's to come.
“This is the time,” Rev. Al Sharpton said in an energized 27-minute eulogy. “We gonna keep going until we change the whole system of justice.”
Sharpton held up Floyd – who died with the knee of a Minneapolis police officer on his neck - as the catalyst for long-needed change.
“George Floyd's story has been the story of black folks. Because ever since 401 years ago, the reason we could never be who we wanted and dreamed of being, is you kept your knee on our neck,” Sharpton said.
Inside the sanctuary at North Central University, celebrities Ludicrous and Kevin Hart joined civil rights stalwarts Rev. Jesse Jackson and Martin Luther King III.
On the political side, Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith sat behind Governor Tim Walz.
Pre-service, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter planted a fist on Floyd's golden casket, a minute after Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey took a knee, one hand on the casket, his shoulder’s trembling.
Outside, several hundred others listened on speakers.
It was the type of racially diverse crowd of which Sharpton has made note during his visits to the Twin Cities.
“When I looked this time and saw marches, where in some cases, young whites outnumbered the blacks marching, I know that it's a different time and a different season,” Sharpton said. “I'm more hopeful today than ever.”
Hoping to seize the moment, Sharpton called for a new March on Washington to push for a federal act like those passed during the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
“This is the era to deal with policing and criminal justice, we need to go back to Washington,” Sharpton said, “and tell them this is the time to stop this.”
Floyd family members shared stories of growing up in Houston's Third Ward. With no washing machine or dryer, the children washed their socks in the sink and dried them the oven.
Yet, George Floyd’s brothers painted a picture of a home with abundant love.
“We would sleep in the same beds,” Philonise Floyd, George’s brother, said.
Floyd’s cousin, Shareeduh Tate, said she’s miss his big hugs.
While, Floyd’s younger brother Rodney asked the crowd to repeat his big brother’s name.
Floyd family attorney Ben Crump believes it’s a name that will change history.
“George Floyd is the best opportunity I have seen in a long time of reaching that high idea that this country was founded on,” Crump told mourners.
As the service neared its end, attendees stood in silence for eight minutes and 46 seconds, the length of time the officer's knee was on Floyd's neck.
But silence is not likely to be George Floyd's legacy.
“Go on home George, get your rest George,” Sharpton said as he brought his message from the pulpit to a close. “You changed the world George.”