"We were all shocked and infuriated while watching the video of a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd for more than nine minutes. In fact, we ought to be still infuriated by it," said Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner. "This was personal for me. Coming from a similar neighborhood in Houston, not unlike Third Ward, having experienced the same kind of inequities that he did."
[Ads /]
Floyd grew up in the Cuney Homes of Houston's Third Ward, attended Jack Yates High School as a rising football star, and was known to those closest to him as "Perry Jr."
Community members and leaders gathered Wednesday afternoon at the Houston Public Library for their inaugural commemorative lecture by Mayor Turner, followed by a proclamation to designate May 25 as George Floyd Remembrance Day in Houston. Library staff displayed photos in the hallway, to highlight the national demonstrations and calls for justice that took place following his death.
Floyd's sister, LaTonya Floyd was in attendance at the event and was visibly emotional. As she stood next to Councilmember Carolyn Evans-Shabazz outside, she told ABC13 that the past two years without George have been extremely difficult.
"I'm overwhelmed and it's things like this, friends like this, events like this ... the mayor that keeps us going. It would be a whole lot more painful if I was alone, if we were alone," said LaTonya Floyd.
WATCH: May 25 declared George Floyd Remembrance Day in Houston
May 25 declared George Floyd Remembrance Day in Houston
[Ads /]
During his lecture, Mayor Turner outlined some of the measures the city has taken since Floyd's death to prevent police brutality through Executive Order 1-67 on Policing and Reform: Use of Force. Out of 104 recommendations made by the Mayor's Task Force on Policing Reform, he said the city has implemented 80 of them so far.
Some of them include prohibiting officers from putting their knee or bodyweight on the neck of a suspect to control or contain them, banning no-knock warrants, and requiring officers to report if one of their colleagues uses excessive force to their supervisor
"I'm proud of everything that Houston, the State of Texas has done for my brother. This is just magnificent and I am overwhelmed," said LaTonya.
On a national scale, President Joe Biden signed a similar executive order with the goal of addressing systemic racism in our country's criminal justice system. The order will create a new national database of police misconduct, mandate the adoption of body-worn camera policies, ban the use of chokeholds, restrict no-knock entries, and more. Other family members, such as George Floyd's sister-in-law, Keeta told ABC13 she was at the White House for the signing.
WATCH: George Floyd statue unveiling
[Ads /]
George Floyd statue unveiling
LaTonya Floyd also joined community leaders and elected officials at the unveiling of the "Conversation with George" statue at Tom Bass Regional Park Section III. The $110,000 sculpture, which was donated by Dannette Davis of Kay Davis Associates depicts Floyd seated at an outdoor table welcoming people of all ethnic backgrounds to have a seat and join him for a conversation.
The Floyd family says there's still a long way to go for racial equity and social justice, but they will always fight to make sure George didn't die in vain.
"That man changed the world. We wouldn't be here. We wouldn't have this. We wouldn't be able to do this, that's George Floyd. Never let this thing die. Never let him be forgotten," said LaTonya Floyd.
For stories on Houston's diverse communities, follow Rosie Nguyen on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.