May 25, 2023, is the 3rd anniversary of the murder of George Floyd
“We cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life.” Pope Francis
DISMANTLING RACISM
As the Catholic Church is clear on the sinfulness of racism, it is gradually awakening to the many ways it has promoted slavery, segregation, and racism throughout its history. Women religious are also beginning to address their own personal and institutional complicity in racism. Acknowledging the history of racism and our participation in it as individuals and as members of groups; discovering ways that we can act to rectify it and inviting others to this dialogue is the work of dismantling racism.
2023
Learn here about the ways that Minneapolis, George Floyd’s home, has made efforts to honor and remember George Floyd.

3RD ANNUAL RISE & REMEMBER
May 25-27, 2023 | Various Locations
George Floyd Global Memorial (GFGM) and the community at George Floyd Square will host a portion of their 3rd Annual Rise & Remember celebration at 38th and Chicago in Minneapolis, MN.
Rise and Remember exists to hold in remembrance those we have lost to the pervasive impacts of systemic racism, and to gather people to pursue racial justice and equity. Throughout Rise and Remember, we will host a two-day conference, a candlelight vigil, a gala, and a festival. Our vision is that through this annual event, we can inspire people to rise to the occasion, come together in community, and build racial equity.
The theme for Rise & Remember 2023 is Ubuntu: Make the Impossible, Possible. Ubuntu is a South African word and philosophy translated as, “I am, because we are.” It derives from the Xhosa (Kōs-uh) language and acknowledges the relationship between oneself and humanity. Ubuntu directly challenges western ideals of individualism with ideals of collectivism. Essentially, it values people over profit, community over individualism, and collective power over individual power. When we see how our humanity is inextricably bound up in the humanity of others, we will be moved to guarantee liberation, equity, and justice for all.
George Floyd and A Community of Care
At E. 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis, a self-organizing network explores what it means to construct and to maintain a space for public memory and collective action.
This article by G.E. Patterson details the grassroots organization of a memorial to George Floyd.

A REFLECTION 
Tracy Abler, Justice, Peace, Integrity of Creation Coordinator for the Congregation of St. Agnes shared her personal reflection on the 3rd anniversary of the death of George Floyd in her newsletter “Bending the Arc.”
I vividly remember where I was the morning following the murder of George Floyd. I was working from home, physically and emotionally unable to focus on anything but the video (over and over again), the outcries of injustice, and the relentless feeling of pain, disbelief, and frustration that followed me for days…
I think it is important to not only say his name, but to remember who George Floyd was. He was a man raised in a racially segregated and economically impoverished Houston neighborhood. He was a descendent of a formerly enslaved Black farmer, whose wealth was stripped away by the politics of white backlash. His mother grew up as one of 13 children, searching in vain for an escape from intergenerational poverty. His father was an inspiring musician with a weakness for alcohol and extramarital carousing. George himself struggled with drug addiction, frequent arrests, and a man whose muscular physical interior hid a gentle soul that battled with pain, anxiety, claustrophobia, and depression. Why did society and our criminal justice system fail to see the humanity of Mr. Floyd so badly? What have we been taught? Or maybe worse, what have we not been taught?