May 25, 2021 marked a solemn anniversary, as it was one year ago that George Floyd died at the hands of the Minneapolis police Department. 

Members of Floyd’s family including his 7-year-old daughter Gianna, Gianna’s mother, Roxie Washington, and his brother Philonise Floyd met U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in a private meeting at the White House. 

Philonise Floyd said the meeting was “great,” and called President Biden a “genuine guy” who always speaks from the heart.

“We’re just thankful for what’s going on,” Philonise Floyd said, referring to the White House’s attempt to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which is stalled in the U.S. Senate. 

When passed, the Act would set up a national registry of police misconduct, a ban on racial and religious profiling by law enforcement and an overhaul of qualified immunity for police officers, among other provisions.

In a statement President Biden said the Floyd family has shown “extraordinary courage.”

“Although it has been one year since their beloved brother and father was murdered, for the family — for any family experiencing a profound loss — the first year can still feel like they got the news a few seconds ago,” Biden wrote. “And they’ve had to relive that pain and grief each and every time those horrific 9 minutes and 29 seconds have been replayed.”

Floyd’s aunt Angela Harrelson said in an interview, “Today I just felt a day of relief. The support that we have received, the love to get to this day. I am just overwhelmed with joy and hope and I feel like change is here.”

Darnella Frazier, the woman who recorded the video of Floyd’s murder, said she didn’t know Floyd, “from a can of paint, but I knew his life mattered.”

“I knew that he was in pain,” Frazier said. “I knew that he was another Black man in danger with no power.”

Floyd was remembered in events across the U.S. and around the world. 

A “Celebration of Life” was held in Minneapolis and a solidarity march and rally was held in Dallas. 

Demonstrators in London, Glasgow and Edinburgh took a knee and raised their fists into the air. A Black Lives Matter banner hung outside the U.S. Embassy in Athens.

SOURCES: CNN.COM, NYTIMES.COM