Community Gathering for Mourning and Mobilizing

In honor of George Floyd

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police after being asphyxiated by the knee of Derek Chauvin for nine and a half minutes. One year later, our country has been forever impacted by this heinous act and the galvanization that followed. The Summer of 2020 will be remembered for many things: the Coronavirus pandemic, the racial Awakening (as many referred to the protests across the country and the world in the wake of Floyd’s death), and, hopefully, the beginning of a movement for a new kind of policing and public safety in American communities. Progress has been made and, yet, there is still so much more to do.

In remembrance of George Floyd’s legacy and the importance of continuing the fight for racial justice in the United States, the Anti-Racism Committee (ARC) of South Pasadena hosted a Community Gathering for Mourning and Mobilizing in honor of the one year anniversary of George Floyd’s death on May 23, 2021 in Garfield Park, South Pasadena. The event consisted of five speakers from the South Pasadena community (video segments of each of their speeches are below), and an ofrenda or altar (pictured above) with activities that allowed attendees to focus on the importance of grounding ourselves in the present and imagining and working toward a brighter future.

This was the first in-person ARC event in partnership with Care First and Black Lives Matter South Pasadena. Most of our community’s organizing had taken place virtually as many of our young grassroots organizations came together as a response to the increasing calls for justice and equity after the murders of so many Black and Brown individuals at the hands of the police departments that are designed to protect us. The vigil was somber, commemorative, and joyous as community members who had gotten to know each other through screens came together to celebrate and mourn the life of George Floyd and the legacy that he imparted.