Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
George Floyd's brother, a New Yorker, says racial progress hasn’t come quickly enough
By
Stephen Nessen
Published May 25, 2025
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Stephen Nessen / Gothamist
By
Stephen Nessen
Published May 25, 2025
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
George Floyd’s brother, Brooklyn resident Terrence Floyd, reflected Sunday on his older brother’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer five years ago — and expressed disappointment about how much has since changed in terms of racial progress.
“ Some change is better than no change. Some movement is better than no movement,” Terrence said at a small gathering of activists in Crown Heights. “But five years later I'm like, come on, we should have been moving faster than this. I don't see the change that we want.”
George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin was caught on camera and went viral after video of the incident was posted online. It showed Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for what prosecutors said was more than 9 minutes. Floyd’s death sparked outrage and protests across the country, including in New York City, where demonstrators clashed with police and the NYPD was sued over its handling of protests, spurring a major settlement and policing reforms. Chauvin was convicted on multiple charges and sentenced to more than 20 years in prison.
After his brother’s death, Terrence started a nonprofit called We Are Floyd to advance equality, racial justice and police reform. Sunday’s event was held at Reimagined BK, a small boutique and art gallery whose co-owner Jeff Redd moderated the conversation.
Floyd said recent rollbacks and attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives didn’t make sense to him.
“ How we going to survive without diversity?” he said. “ You got to have the diversity. Every culture brings something to the table.”
He also called for the Black Lives Matter movement, which received a surge in support following his brother’s murder, to be more “proactive.”
“ We could pass bills, we could march, we could protest, we could chant ‘Black Lives Matter,’ but if your mindset is the same, it doesn't matter if the bill is in black and white and it’s signed,” he said.
Nationwide, the number of people killed by police has risen annually since Floyd’s murder, and Black Americans are still killed at disproportionate levels, according to an analysis by the New York Times. Police killed more than 1,200 people last year, up 18% from 2019. Killings of armed people have increased, while killings of unarmed people have fallen, the analysis found.
Terrence said he and George grew up separately and didn’t meet in person until 2016, at a family gathering, but he’d always known about him. The brothers began speaking frequently by phone and would talk for hours at a time, Terrence said.
“At this point in his life, he wanted to understand himself, he wanted to understand who he was as a man,” Floyd recalled. “And I was able to tell him about our father and I was able to tell him the struggles that our pops went through.”
Alexis Jackson, a 31-year-old Harlem resident and member of We Are Floyd who was one of a dozen people invited to the event, said she would keep pursuing racial justice in George Floyd’s name.
“It's very emotional for the culture and for just anyone that experienced May 25th, 2020,” Jackson said. “ We're just going to stand for what's right and we’re going to keep fighting."
"We have to keep fighting," she added, "and as long as we keep fighting his name will live.”
Tagged
new york city
public safety
George Floyd
brooklyn
Crown Heights
Race And Justice Unit
Stephen Nessen
Stephen Nessen covers transportation. Since 2008 he has reported on everything from Occupy Wall Street, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, Hurricane Sandy, to Trump’s campaign for president. His transportation reporting has taken him everywhere from the MTA’s secret Rail Control Center to the gleaming subways of Seoul. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 4:15 p.m. ET
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
The Garden State now requires that corn masa dough and flour made and sold in the state be fortified with folic acid.
By
Arya Sundaram
News
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
The Garden State now requires that corn masa dough and flour made and sold in the state be fortified with folic acid.
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
NYC nor’easter dries up after weather service reports minor flooding
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .