Houston ISD board OKs renaming Jack Yates HS football field in George Floyd's honor

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- George Floyd's name is officially a permanent part of the Houston ISD playing field where he once rose as a football star.

The district's board of education unanimously voted Thursday night to rename Jack Yates Field to George Perry Floyd Jr. Athletic Community Field.

Floyd, whose death in May 2020 sparked worldwide protests and a subsequent frank examination of modern race relations, graduated from Jack Yates High School in 1993.

The renaming was months in the making. According to HISD, a committee of Jack Yates students, parents, alumni and community members voted this past June to suggest the renaming.

Yates and HISD have honored Floyd several times in the aftermath of his death.

Earlier this year, in tribute to Floyd, a Black Lives Matter mural was painted in crimson and gold on Alabama Street in front of Yates. At the end of the mural is a red football jersey with a yellow "88," the number Floyd wore, along with the dates of his birth and death.

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