October 14th would have been George Floyd’s 48th birthday. Floyd, whose life helped galvanize millions of Americans within the Black Lives Matter movement, was killed at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25th, 2020.
On Wednesday night, hip-hop’s reigning diva Queen Erykah Badu had a tour stop at the Minneapolis Armory venue in the city. The gracious Badu invited George Floyd’s family backstage —including his sister, his uncle, and aunt — to celebrate and honor his life at the stroke of midnight,
As she counted down the final minutes to midnight, Badu recorded a video tribute to Floyd on her Instagram story, panned the camera to show his family members, and stated the following message:
“People of planet Earth, we’re about four minutes away from George Floyd’s birthday. He would’ve been 48 years old and I’m here with his family now. It seems like we have a moment of peace right now. And we know that your life is not in vain. Thank you for your spirit and your sacrifice so that we can move on the way we should — be where we supposed to as a people.”
Erykah Badu celebrates George Floyd’s 48th birthday with his family in Minneapolis #Badubotron pic.twitter.com/hIjhSdp17B
— Quan (@BlackK_GMS) October 14, 2021
To learn more about or to donate to the George Floyd Foundation and their legacy mission of “activating our communities to challenge the root causes of racial inequity and end the systemic violence affecting Black Americans,” you can visit www.georgefloydmemorialfoundation.org/.