Four years after the killing of George Floyd, there are markedly fewer people protesting on the street. But many have not forgotten. 

“I live with George Floyd with me every day,” said Charles McMillian, who had stopped to witness the incident on May 25, 2020. He addressed a crowd on Saturday gathered to commemorate the day when a Minneapolis police officer knelt on Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes. 

“I carry him with me,” McMillian said. “I will carry him the rest of my life with me. I will carry him to my grave with me because he are me. He’s right here. He ain’t separated from me since the day.”

Several events were held this weekend to remember Floyd, a now annual tradition in Minneapolis. A coalition of activist organizations held a solidarity rally on the corner of Lake Street and Chicago Avenue. They were joined by Floyd’s relatives as well as the family of Calvin Horton Jr., who was shot and killed by a pawn shop owner during the unrest that followed the death of George Floyd. Prosecutors declined to bring charges against the man.

The rally included Palestinian organizers, with many waving “Free Palestine” banners, and adding to calls for solidarity. “While we’re doing this work, we have to think about our Palestinian brothers, sisters and siblings, who are being massacred and killed, who are not free to live,” said Monique Cullars-Doty, who started organizing after St. Paul police killed her nephew Marcus Golden in 2015. 

The organizers got into their vehicles and rode to 38th Street and Chicago Avenue — the intersection known as George Floyd Square — to join a “Rise and Remember” event hosted by George Floyd Global Memorial, a nonprofit co-led by Floyd’s family.

The organization is being renamed after the event, in part to reflect their goal of advocating for all stolen lives, said Floyd’s aunt Angela Harrelson.

“I just want you all to know, we as a community, as people, impacted families, we have to be there for each other,” said Harrelson. “And we have to do battle. Everybody has to do battle because we cannot do this alone.”

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Another relative of Floyd also spoke.

“We’ve all hurt, cried, suffered because of the loss of a loved one, so we’re not special. We just happen to be blood relatives of George Floyd,” said Thomas McClaurin, Floyd’s first cousin. “But think about if your family member lie on the ground in that corner. What would you do? Would you just wallow in your own stuff? Would you get up and do something? And that’s all ‘Rise and Remember’ is asking you all to do.” 

Several of Floyd’s relatives flew in from out of state to attend events this weekend. They shared smiles and hugs with local organizers, expressing the support they feel in Minneapolis. 

“Every time I come down here, it just — my heart is broken and also it’s just happiness,” said Floyd’s aunt Mahalia Jones, visiting from North Carolina. “Because when I visit the George Floyd Square, there’s so much love and so much power in what y’all stand for. And it’s such a beautiful thing.” 

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The event centered many of the organizers, residents, volunteers, and artists at the heart of George Floyd Square. 

Jamaican native Gloria Burnett has lived in the area for 30 years, earning the nickname “Mama G” for her role cooking, feeding, and caring for folks in the neighborhood. She took the stage on Saturday as her daughter, Christine Chambers, translated. 

“One thing I can say, honestly, is that I’ve seen that come out of this tragedy is I now know most, if not all, my neighbors,” said Burnett. “I’ve noticed that our community here and around the surrounding areas are building better bonds with each other, And everyone’s getting to know one another. Looking out for each other.”

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Photos and review by NOTES FROM VIVACE

LOS ANGELES – Vial, the three piece bratpunk band from Minneapolis, Minn., rushed onto the El Cid stage to start their set. That’s right, they didn’t walk casually from the stage entrance like most bands do. They ran onto the stage as their adoring fans, who had lined up early on Sunset Boulevard, and were now pressed up close, screamed their approval.

Teenagers with Xs marked on both their right and left hands were up front. Tweens were off to the side with their parents. The older crowd (maybe parents of some of those teenagers) were politely in the back. Someone yelled out to bassist Taylor Kraemer, “I love your hair.” Kraemer responded, “I love you, whoever said that.”

The band released their second album at the end of March called burnout and has been on a 22-city tour to support the album, starting out with a record release party in their home town, and ending at Punk Rock Bowling. The album is 10 songs and comes in at a uniquely short 20 minutes. A song such as “two-faced” clocks in at 3 minutes 12 seconds while a song called “chronic illness flareups” is just 37 seconds.

At El Cid, the band put on an 18-song clinic that had the crowd in the palm of their hands. The pop-punk song “bottle blonde” got the crowd singing to the quick hit lyrics. There were screams of approval to the fun loving ode to soup, “broth song.” The band most definitely loves good food as Kraemer’s bass had the words “Fish Fear Me” written on it. You knew the audience followed the band closely when it did the Nirvana cover “Territorial Pissings.” The band told the crowd that everyone knew what chant was needed to start the song and the crowd immediately started yelling “Piss! Piss! Piss!”

During the set, an amusing tour tale was told. At their Toronto tour stop, Kraemer had an unfortunate encounter, “We stepped out of our disgusting van, sweating and stinky. And we look up at the venue, which is three flights of stairs. No f*cking elevator. And I immediately feel something on my shoulders and my brand new skirt. I look down, brown and white bird shit . . . f*ck the birds of Toronto.” Laughter and then cheers arose from that story as the band launched into “friendship bracelet” with drummer Katie Fischer starting the music off with pounding drum beats.

Having fun in the mosh pit was expected of the fans. Early in the set, the band had the crowd repeat the following pledge to each other, “Dearest friend, you look good tonight. I hope after tonight, we can still be dearest friends, after I break your nose and steal all your teeth.” Then later in the set, the band had the crowd separate to the sides of the venue, leaving a wide gap down the middle. Why? The two sides rushed each other like the clash of opposing medieval fantasy armies. Did anyone break their nose or have their teeth stolen? Probably not, there was too much fun being had for hospital / dental visits to ruin the night.

The song “Piss Punk” closed out the set. The intense beats had fans rushing the stage for one last mosh pit, “I can do the things that you do, and I can do them better than you. Do the things that you never thought that any fucking woman could do.” But back to the band having the crowd in the palm of their hands . . . guitarist KT Branscom stopped the song and told the crowd, “I need it to be completely and utterly silent.” The mosh pit ended and the venue went completely silent. “You guys are good at that.” A couple nervous laughs occurred, “Shh!!! No laughing. At the count of three, are you guys ready, one two three.” The crowd yelled back the chorus “You’re so boring” as they restarted jumping and dancing with abandon.

An encore was demanded and provided. The band played a song that they said hadn’t been played in three years. Some in the crowd knew exactly what it would be and screamed out “DIY / Or Die.” Afterward, as the crowd was hustled by security to the El Cid patio (this was an early show and a later show was on the schedule), a conversation between two fans was overheard, “I had so much fun” with the reply, “Me, too.” Follow Vial on social media.

Opening up for Vial were San Diego-based band (and west coast tour mates) Rain on Fridays and Los Angeles-based band Suzie True. Vial joined Rain on Fridays for the song “Slumber Party,” which is about not being the cool kids. It can be considered a bookend to the Vial song “friendship bracelet.” Their sound is fuzzy with garage rock influences and perhaps some painful teen memories, “Raise your hands if you’ve cried this week.”

Suzie True wowed the early crowd with their vocal screams and dynamic, as well as aerobic, stage show. Lead singer Lexi McCoy proclaimed her unabashed love for . . . “I love chocolate milk.” And exemplified the DIY attitude of many a Los Angeles band, “I feel like I was looking at a deep fryer and then I looked up and I was here.”

Vial setlist. two-faced, falling short, bottle blonde, broth song, Black Sheep (Metric cover), Ego Death, apathy, friendship bracelet, Roadkill, Territorial Pissings (Nirvana cover), ur dad, chronic illness flareups, Mr Fuck You, Planet Drool, Embryo, Rough, Piss Punk. Encore: DIY/Or Die

Rain on Fridays: evolutionary peak of boredom, Idiotic Defense, Cry It Out, Hey Man, Phono, Keep Yr Chin, Wasa, Slumber Party

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HOUSTON – Saturday marks four years since George Floyd was killed, kicking off protests as tensions over racism and police violence boiled over across the country.

His family and the community remembered him in Houston on Saturday near the basketball courts at his childhood home in the Third Ward.

“Racism’s still here and we’re all fighting for equality,” his brother Rodney Floyd said. “One thing he stood for is unity.”

In May 2020, former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, which was captured on video that’s been seen by millions.

A jury later convicted him of murder.

“It’s more painful every year because it’s another year that I’m without him,” Floyd’s sister Latoyna said.

Attempts to make meaningful change in his name haven’t made it far.

Earlier this year, President Joe Biden called on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which is a bill his family would like to see enacted because “it’s about the generations behind us.”

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee reintroduced the bill earlier this week. It would hold law enforcement accountable for misconduct in court, improve transparency, and reform police training and policies.

Floyd’s family won’t give up.

“We’re keeping his name alive and we’re going to do this forever, until we’re gone,” Latonya Floyd said.