By Dr. Carla Brailey
Vice Chair
Texas Democratic Party
This week marks one year since George Floyd was senselessly murdered. One year since his family, like far too many others, was plunged into grief at the killing of yet another Black American. And one year since his death sparked a movement that would not — will not — be silenced.
George Floyd should still be alive today. So should Breonna Taylor, Javier Ambler, Daunte Wright, Jamarri Daiwon Tarver, and far, far too many others. I know this is an incredibly painful, infuriating, and devastating day for so many Black families, in Texas and beyond.
My heart goes out to every family who is grieving a loved one lost to police brutality. Nothing can take away this pain. But I want every Texan fighting for justice to know that as we struggle, we do not struggle alone.
In the year since May 25, 2020, we took our pain, our rage, our terror, and our grief, and turned it into power. We took to the streets last summer by the millions, in what became the largest movement in United States history. We took to the polls, and sent the first Black woman in history to the Vice President’s office. We refuse silence. We are claiming our right to be safe from violence and free to live our lives in justice and equality.
Because we demanded to be heard, earlier this year, George Floyd’s killer was finally held accountable. Nothing can bring back George Floyd, or erase the pain and loss his loved ones continue to suffer. But that accountability is a solace — small as it may be — and
a sign of real change in our country. While we still have work to do, the tide is shifting, right now, because of this movement.
Today, and every single day, Black Lives Matter! For the sake of the future of our country, we continue to fight for an end to police brutality in this country. We continue to push for a world where racial justice is finally a reality — where democracy works for everyone. Just as those before us did, we will not stop fighting until it does.
I believe we will get there, because I believe in our movement — driven by our love of our communities, our hunger for justice, and our imperative to do right by those whose lives were so unjustly taken. George Floyd’s young daughter said it best: ‘Daddy changed the world.’
