Congressional Democrats in the United States of America on Monday, June 8, 2020, adorned in kente sashes, held a memorial, and observed moments of silence for George Floyd and other African-Americans who have been killed or suffered police brutalities in the past.
Adorned in the interwoven cloth strips (kente), the House Democrats led by Nancy Pelosi gathered at the U.S. Capitol’s Emancipation Hall took a knee for 8 minutes 46 seconds in memory of Floyd who died after a police officer knelt on his neck while he murmured “I can’t breathe.”
Addressing the delegation ahead of the memorial, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “We’re gathered here at the emancipation hall, aptly named for those who built the capital, sadly. Last summer, a number of us went to Ghana to observe the 400th anniversary of the first slaves coming across the Atlantic. That tragedy, that horror of history and then slavery in our own country and all of the consequences of that…”
“We are here to observe that pain, we are here to respect the actions of the American people to speak out against that, specifically manifested in police brutality. We are here to honor George Floyd,” she said ahead of the moment of silence.”
