Six years ago, the world watched as George Floyd’s life was taken in an act of state violence that happened in public and forced our city, our state, and our country to confront truths that many had long tried to ignore.

Today is not simply a day of remembrance. It is a day of accountability.

At Minnesota Freedom Fund, we remember George Floyd not only by saying his name, but by recommitting ourselves to the work of building systems where dignity is protected, power is accountable, and no person is treated as disposable.

“Six years later, remembrance without action is not enough.”

The lesson of that day cannot be that outrage alone is enough. The question before us remains whether we are willing to transform institutions, practices, and policies so that government power serves people rather than harms them.

To be free means more than the absence of confinement. It means being free to breathe. Free to belong. Free to move through our communities without fear that authority will become violence. Free to imagine systems rooted in humanity instead of punishment.

We reject the idea that harm, force, and control are the highest expressions of public safety. We believe communities become stronger when they are trusted, invested in, and treated with dignity.

Six years later, remembrance without action is not enough.

We honor George Floyd by continuing the work of creating a future where accountability is real, where freedom is expansive, and where every person’s life is treated as worthy of protection, possibility, and care.

Elizer Darris
Executive Director
Minnesota Freedom Fund