Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States — In the low humidity and sunny spring days that Minnesota people depend on, George Floyd Square swarms, local residents and tourists from all over the country are swarming.They are not only here to mourn Freud’s murder A year ago by a police officer in Minneapolis today, it was also to celebrate his life.

John Williams, director of the Race Reconciliation Center of the Monrovia Fellowship Church in California, told Al Jazeera: “An organizer invited us to come here to celebrate George’s life.”

Williams said: “For me, celebration is a kind of remembrance, so his life will not be erased, so what happened will not be erased.” Williams came with church members in Minnesota. Minneapolis has been at the center of events in the past year. “This is the first time a police officer has been brought to accountability at the national level, but even so, there is still no real justice. George is not here.”

People knelt in front of them in a moment of silence. Floyd’s mural was standing outside Cup Foods, where he tried to spend $20 in counterfeit banknotes, resulting in his death within minutes , Still buoyant centered on dullness.

From the R&B and jazz on one side of the memorial to the aboriginal dance ceremony on the other side, all kinds of music can be seen everywhere. The delicious smoke of lunch cooking on the barbecue spreads across the sky, like droplets of liquid shrapnel scattered in a shadow of onlookers, these places have become the territory of the water gun battle zone for children equipped with Super Soakers.

The stalls are all available, from the community sewing to the lemonade, all lined up on the edge of the square, the bubble machine filled the soap ball with air, and the four-year-old Amira wore a colorful pink swimsuit to cope with the day. The high temperature.

She and her father, Shaun, lived a few blocks away and stopped at the intersection of 38th Street and Chicago Street. Liquidation A year ago, racial injustice and police violence intensified.

Four-year-old Amira and her father Shaun (right) live a few blocks from George Floyd Square [Cinnamon Janzer/Al Jazeera]

He told Al Jazeera: “It’s been a year, it’s amazing.” “Very good and peaceful. People celebrate the life of George Floyd here.”

A long way to go

Although a peaceful and joyous commemoration was held, the violent incident earlier that day destroyed the scene. According to the Associated Press, the shooting took place about a block from George Floyd Square on Tuesday morning. The police said they believed a man involved in the shooting was later injured by a gunshot wound. Sent to a critically ill hospital.

Activists and community members say that there is still a long way to go-not only to obtain justice, but also to resolve the ongoing suffering of the community.

“This is a sacred space. It is sacred because people have sacred it.” Williams said. He expects that the night’s vigil will be more moderate. When asked about Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s statement about his intention to reopen the plaza, Williams said: “They should wait until people finish their mourning and mourning, because this is a process”. “I think there should be a lot of resistance to make these people really feel sad and mourned.”

Sitting down the two-step George Floyd Square is Sam. He decided to come to the square from nearby Hopkins today to see what’s happening. Things, not watching on TV.

Sam sat on a foldable chair under the shade of a tree next to his wife. He said that last year was indeed very messy and induced delusions.

Sam came to George Floyd Square from nearby Hopkins, Minnesota, and paid tribute in person. [Cinnamon Janzer/Al Jazeera]

“When you pull me over… I know what will happen. I hope and pray that I can go to jail, but I may be killed. This is a pattern,” he said. “If officials have not received training in dealing with people of color, diseases or illnesses, or anyone else, then you are doing the wrong job.”

Gloria is a 70-year-old woman who is also sitting in a chair on the lawn, but outside the house in the square where her family has lived for the past 27 years. The panels on the sidewalk are painted in the colors of the Jamaican flag. “Everything I saw,” she said. She said that after buying the scratch-off lottery ticket, she witnessed the murder of Floyd at the bus stop across the street.

Like today, she often cooks for the community-stirs curry chicken, jerk chicken, fried fish, and rice and beans to passers-by. She hopes to be in the same location for the rest of the day and most of the summer, just steps away from a memorial decorated with flowers. She said her son was murdered a few years ago. She still doesn’t know who is responsible.

At Gloria’s residence, Signe Harriday and Maria Asp walked with the Million Artist Movement (a collective of black and brown artist activists) for a while, sitting in a quilt near the southern crossroads of the square On the lawn chair under the wrapped canvas umbrella. Since last year, Harriday and Asp have been bringing their community exit projects to the square. The organizers asked them to attend today.

“It gives people the opportunity to sit down in moments of pain and trauma, and sometimes even joy, place their hands on something, and then transform their feelings into a bedding square, and then join another by another member of the community Moved by the bedding square, in this way, yes,” Harriday told Al Jazeera. She added: “The quilt is ultimately an intuitive manifestation of the way we want to love and support each other.”

George Floyd was killed last year by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chaweng at that location in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25, 2021. [Cinnamon Janzer/Al Jazeera]

“It also connects us,” Asp said. “In everything that happened, people felt such an absolute disconnect, and what we wanted and worked hard for was connection and relationship. She added that most of the quilts here are waving on the fabric wall around her.” It was created here! These are the communities that sit down and spend some time expressing their thoughts on the fabric. “

From making the quilt to placing it in the square today, it helps to “know that you are part of something bigger than yourself,” Asp said.