By Helen Regan, Steve George, Adam Renton, Melissa Macaya, Meg Wagner, Veronica Rocha and Mike Hayes, CNN
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner proclaimed that June 9 will be "George Perry Floyd Day" in the city of Houston.
“We honor him, not because he was perfect, we honor him today because when he took his last breath, the rest of us will now be able to breathe,” the mayor said while speaking in Floyd's funeral.
As he delivered remarks at George Floyd’s funeral, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said the city’s attorney was drafting an executive order that he would go on to sign that “will ban chokeholds and strangle holds" and enact other police reforms.
“And what that order will say is that in this city, we will ban chokeholds and strangle holds. In this city, we will require de-escalation. In this city, you have to give a warning before you shoot. In this city, you have a duty to intervene. In this city, we will require comprehensive reporting. In this city, you must exhaust, all alternatives before shooting. And there will be other things in this executive order,” Turner said.
Turner called on the need to invest in communities that are underserved and underinvested.
The mayor expressed his gratitude to the Floyd family for “seeking justice” for Floyd and calling for protesters to demonstrate peacefully.
“I want to thank you on behalf of this city for seeking justice for George while at the same time asking people all around the world to do it respectfully and peacefully. On behalf of this city, I think we owe a great deal of gratitude to this family,” Turner said.
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Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democrat from Texas, said George Floyd's "purpose and his assignment" is to bring justice to the US.
She continued: "What I will say is that the assignment of George Floyd and the purpose will mean there will be no more 8:46 of police brutality," a reference to the amount of time — 8 minutes and 46 seconds — that former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on Floyd's neck.
"There will be no more 8:46 of injustice and the mistreatment of African American men at the hands of the laws of this nation or anyone else. There will be no more 8:46 that you will be in pain without getting justice."
Rep. Jackson Lee said that's Floyd's "assignment" has turned into a "purpose." She said people around the world "are rising up that will never sit down until you get justice."
"And so I say to George Floyd, it will be up to us that his purpose and his assignment for the justice of this nation, for the fact that there will never be the brutality faced by a man who says, 'I can't breathe' and calls to a mama who loved him so. That is the call for all of us."
From CNN’s Gregory Lemos
Ivy McGregor, of The Fountain of Praise church in Houston, announced Tuesday that the President of Ghana would be permanently mounting George Floyd’s name on a wall at the Diaspora African Forum in the W.E.B. Du Bois Center in Ghana.
“The family of George Floyd would like to acknowledge the message of resolution and solidarity and visual tribute from his excellency Nana Akufo-Addo, the President of Ghana,” McGregor said Tuesday during the private memorial for Floyd.
A video produced by “the people of Ghana” was played during Monday’s public viewing.
Rep. Al Green, Democrat from Texas, said during the funeral, "George Floyd was not expendable. This is why we're here."
He continued: "His crime was that he was born black. That was his only crime. George Floyd deserved the dignity and the respect that we afford all people because they're children of a common god and it is very unfortunate we have to be here, but we celebrate the life of George Floyd today."
During his address, Green held up a box containing a folded US flag and said, "I want the United States of America to respect George Floyd," adding, "That is why this flag is flown."
Green said that he will present the family with a resolution that will become part of congressional record. "George Floyd changed the world. And we are going to make the world know that he made a difference," he said.
He called for the federal government to create a department of reconciliation. "We survived segregation, but we didn't reconcile," he said. "It's time for a department of reconciliation in the highest land."
Former Vice President Joe Biden, speaking via video at George Floyd's funeral, said that right now, the US cannot "again turn away from racism that stings at our very soul."
Biden said that when there is justice for Floyd, the US will be on its way to racial justice.
"We can't turn away. We must not turn away. We cannot leave this moment thinking we can again turn away from racism that stings at our very soul, from systematic abuse that still plagues American life," Biden said.
Biden specially mentioned Floyd's 6-year-old daughter, Gianna.
"I know you have a lot of questions, honey. No child should have to ask questions that too many black children have had to ask for generations. Why? Why's daddy gone?" he said.
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From CNN's Gregory Lemos
Reverend Dr. Mary White referenced George Floyd’s cry for his mother as he struggled under the knee of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin as she offered a prayer of comfort during Tuesday’s private memorial.
“We thank you for the life of George Floyd, oh God. That at a moment he called out for his mama, we believe that the ears of mamas across this nation reared up. That the ears of mamas across this world heard him cry even though for one mama, all mamas began to wail. We began to wail for our children. We began to wail for our grandchildren. We wail for men across this world because of one mama’s call,” Rev. White of The Fountain of Praise church said Tuesday during the service.
Fountain of Praise Pastor Mia K. Wright opened the funeral service for George Floyd, calling it a “homegoing celebration” and “a moment of connectivity” around the life of Floyd.
“This is a moment of connectivity. This is a moment by which God has gathered people all around the world to connect us around the life of the brother George Perry Floyd,” Wright said.
“In the tradition of the African American church, this will be a homegoing celebration," she said.
Wright called on those gathering to celebrate Floyd's life.
Yesterday’s public visitation was also held at the same church, where thousands of mourners paid their respects to Floyd.
A funeral for George Floyd is underway in Houston at The Fountain of Praise Church.
According to a program for the service, four dignitaries are expected to give remarks:
There will be family expressions from Kathleen McGee, Brady Bob and Travis Cains and ministerial remarks from Rev. William “Bill” Lawson, Steve Wells and Ralph Douglas West, Sr.
Rev. Al Sharpton will deliver the eulogy.
