Before 25 May 2020, George Floyd was relatively unknown by those outside his friends and family.
Fast forward to today and his name is etched into history, immortalised in the names of buildings, federal legislation, murals, song lyrics and more.
– who repeatedly cried out 'I can’t breathe' as Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds – sparked a national and international reckoning around racial inequality and abuse of power by law enforcement.
Chauvin of Mr Floyd’s murder, with the Floyd family's lawyer saying the verdict went “far beyond” Minneapolis and had “significant implications for the country and even the world”.
And while other black Americans have died in high-profile stories involving police since Mr Floyd’s death - such as , , and others - fewer are going unnoticed.
Ahead of the first anniversary of Mr Floyd's death on Tuesday, his supporters and relatives marched in Minneapolis, with speakers reflecting on the past 12 months.
"What happened to George Floyd, as well as so many others, is driving change not only across America but the world," civil rights campaigner Reverend Al Sharpton told the crowd.
National outrage
The video of Mr Floyd's death generated the largest protests the US has seen since the civil rights movement of the 1960s, despite much of the country being under COVID-19 restrictions at the time.
Angry demonstrations lasted for days on end in some cities, , where National Guard troops were called in to restore order.
Protests were seen in other parts of the US, too – including outside the White House, where on one occasion police cleared a group of peaceful demonstrators from the area with tear gas and rubber bullets .
Protesters in Minneapolis as the Third Police Precinct burns behind them on 28 May 2020. Source: Getty Images North America
Most demonstrations were peaceful but some were marred by arson and looting, and unrest continued in the Oregon city of Portland throughout the US summer.
Mr Trump ramped up a “law and order” rhetoric, blaming “Antifa” and left-wing “mobs” for the violence, and warned protesters in a message later deemed by Twitter as violating its rules about glorifying violence that .
There were also renewed callsand abolish Confederate statues and monuments, some of which were pulled down by protesters themselves. According to legal advocacy group the Southern Poverty Law Center, dedicated to the Confederacy were renamed or removed altogether in 2020.
The national conversation around race also saw various food brands with offensive caricatures or names , while sports teams in Cleveland and long accused of having racist names said they would retire them.
A woman pays respect at a mural in George Floyd Square, Minneapolis. Source: AP
But the biggest shocks were undoubtedly felt by Mr Floyd's family. Mr Floyd’s sister Bridgett said on Sunday her life changed "within a blink of an eye" when her brother died.
“It has been a long year. It has been a painful year. It has been very frustrating for me and my family,” she told the Minneapolis rally. “I will stand and be the voice for him. I will stand and be the change for him.”
International impact
From Lisbon to Berlin, Melbourne and beyond, demonstrators across the world rallied after Mr Floyd’s death in solidarity with black Americans or to denounce excesses by their own police forces.
As they were in the US, "racist" and colonial-era monuments were toppled and defaced, including those of and in Britain, and King Leopold II in Belgium.
Athletes were encouraged – a stark contrast to when NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick was ostracised in the US for doing so just a few years prior.
People march through the streets in Minneapolis to commemorate the anniversary of George Floyd's death on Sunday. Source: EPA
Anti-racism movements across the world were given a shot in the arm by the anger around Mr Floyd's death, many of which capitalised on that momentum to bring greater awareness about racial inequality and police brutality in their own countries.
Australian reaction
In Australia, it brought renewed attention to the number of Aboriginal people who have died in custody.
At the time, the number was thought to have been 432 since the landmark 1991 royal commission into the issue. But according to The Guardian’s , updated last month, the tally is now at least 474.
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (NATSILS) executive officer Hannah McGlade said she had never seen anything like the national dialogue around racism that was seen in the US following Mr Floyd’s death.
“The younger generation in America was coming out and saying … they weren't going to stand for this any longer. It was shocking when it happened, but also inspiring because we want racial inequality to end in America and for Indigenous people [here], because we have a very similar situation in Australia,” she told SBS News.
Protesters participate in a Black Lives Matter rally in Sydney in June last year. Source: AAP
“We hadn't seen this movement in this way before.”
We want racial inequality to end in America and for Indigenous people [here]. - Hannah McGlade, NATSILS
In June, in some of the largest ever demonstrations against racism in the country, despite warnings from the prime minister and health officials not to due to a risk of spreading coronavirus.
The Sydney rally eventually went ahead as an, but only after NSW Police went to the courts to try and to stop it going ahead on health grounds.
Very few, if any, to the Sydney rally and others held across Australia that weekend or at subsequent protests.
Dr McGlade said Mr Floyd’s death has had “a very significant effect” in Australia.
“We have seen an increase of understanding from non-Aboriginal people that [police violence] is happening in Australia,” she said. “The focus has been renewed on Indigenous incarceration and abuse of Aboriginal prisoners.”
“We've also seen for the first time an announcement by the Commonwealth of a commitment to a national justice policy partnership through the .”
What now?
Immediately upon taking the White House on 20 January, US President Joe Biden signed an executive order on “advancing racial equity”.
But attempts to pass the ‘George Floyd Justice in Policing Act’, aimed at reforming police operations and training, have come up short so far, blocked by Republicans in the Senate.
And while local and state police forces in the US have enacted some reforms of their own, the number of people who die in encounters with police remains high. More than 25 per cent are also African-American, despite they only make up 13 per cent of the population.
Chauvin is to be sentenced for Mr Floyd’s murder on 25 June.
The mother of Dunghutti man David Dungay Jr, who died in similar circumstances to Mr Floyd in a New South Wales prison in 2016, when Chauvin was convicted she was “very happy” the Floyd family was able to get “justice”.
“We have seen some kind of justice in the USA, when will we see justice in Australia?” Leetona Dungay said.
Dr McGlade said while “we’re seeing shifts and reforms” in Australia, there is still evidence to suggest “Aboriginal lives really still don't matter”.
since the start of March, and the 30th anniversary of the royal commission into the issue was marked last month with nationwide protests expressing anger the inquiry's recommendations have not been adopted thoroughly.
Dr McGlade said many Aboriginal legal services across the country are also "at breaking point" and in dire need of more funding to meet demand.
“We have some really serious issues going on in terms of Aboriginal people's access to justice. We have a serious lack of justice for too many Aboriginal people,” she said.
With AFP.
