Summary

  • Events were held to mark the anniversary of the murder of George Floyd

  • His dying moments were filmed and watched by millions, sparking global protests about policing and racial justice

  • George's brother Philonise said a White House meeting with Biden went well

  • 'The Floyd family has shown extraordinary courage' US President Joe Biden said

  • The impact of Floyd's death was felt in the worlds of politics, business, sport and entertainment in dozens of countries

  • 'More people in more places are seeing the world more clearly than they did a year ago,' says Barack Obama

  • The anniversary was marked in UK cities including Birmingham, Edinburgh, London, Manchester and Swansea

  • Gunfire briefly interrupted the commemorations near the spot where Floyd died but no one was hurt

  • Ex-policeman Derek Chauvin, whose knee was on Floyd's neck area, has been jailed for murder

  1. George Nkencho: The 'Irish George Floyd'published at 16:15 British Summer Time 25 May 2021

    Last year another black man called George was killed by a police officer - but his death occurred in Dublin, Ireland.

    George Nkencho was shot outside his family’s home. His family says he was in the midst of a mental health crisis.

    He had assaulted someone and police say he was carrying a knife.

    It was only the sixth fatal shooting by the Irish police in 22 years.

    The BBC's Population reporter, Stephanie Hegarty, went to Dublin to see how the killing has exposed tensions in Ireland as a new, diverse community comes of age.

    Watch her report below.

    Media caption,

    George Nkencho killing: 'The door closed and then I heard the shots'

  2. How Floyd's death energised French protestspublished at 16:06 British Summer Time 25 May 2021

    Protests in ParisImage source, Getty Images

    Protests in Paris following Floyd’s death saw streets filled with Black Lives Matter banners aligned with France's own domestic movement under the slogan "Justice for Adama".

    Adama Traoré was a young black man who died in French police custody in 2016.

    Traoré, Amine Bentounsi, Remi Fraisse, Théo Luhaka, Cédric Chouviat. These are just some of the names of working-class victims of alleged police violence in France, many of them black or Arab.

    There was no footage taken of Adama Traoré’s death. The BBC has been shown videos of other instances of violence committed at the hands of Paris police.

    But filming the police is set to get harder with a new so-called global security law recently introduced. The bill initially sought to prohibit the filming of police officers, leading to fierce protests last year against the proposal.

    Read more about Justice for Adama.

  3. How do I talk to my 12-year-old about race?published at 15:53 British Summer Time 25 May 2021

    A year on from the death of George Floyd, BBC presenter Eddie Nestor examines his role as a father and how he should approach conversations with his own children about racism.

    Together with a group of fathers, his wife Lisa and the UK’s largest anti-racism charity, Nestor takes a deep look into how both children and parents can be better equipped in these discussions.

    Media caption,

    George Floyd death: How do I talk to my son about race?

  4. What you should know about the UK race reportpublished at 15:40 British Summer Time 25 May 2021

    The protests following George Floyd's death reignited discussions around the world about the state of racial equality.

    In the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson set up the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities to examine inequality across the country.

    Its 258-page report covering health, education, criminal justice and employment was published in late March. Here’s what it said:

    • Old class divisions have lost traction and identity politics is on the rise, fuelling "pessimistic narratives" about race
    • "Put simply we no longer see a Britain where the system is deliberately rigged against ethnic minorities," the commissioners argue
    • They call racism an often-used "catch-all explanation" for disparities and impediments for people from minority groups
    • Many of the poor outcomes were due to family breakdown, the report suggests. It also says huge geographical inequalities can be the underlying causes of racial disparities
    • Recently arrived immigrants have shown "remarkable social mobility" through education. A bigger proportion of ethnic minority students attend university than white British ones
    • British history is not only one of "imperial imposition", the paper says, with a more "complex picture" of ideas travelling back and forth, cultures mixing and "positive relations"

    The report’s findings were dismissed by some racial justice campaigners as inaccurate and lacking nuance.

    Read more of the findings from the report here.

  5. 'People are often scared to talk about race in the UK'published at 15:26 British Summer Time 25 May 2021

    George Floyd's death led to the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement around the world. In the UK, there were more than 250 demonstrations.

    One year on from Floyd's death, "people are scared" to talk about race, says one woman we spoke to in Coventry.

    "People are either uneducated or wrongly educated," says another.

    Media caption,

    George Floyd one year on: Reflections from the UK

  6. Activists see links between Palestinians and US minoritiespublished at 15:10 British Summer Time 25 May 2021

    Barbara Plett Usher
    BBC News, Minneapolis

    Speaker at a rally

    Among the activists speaking at a recent anniversary rally for George Floyd was Tasneem Abdullah of American Muslims for Palestine. She drew a direct line between the experiences of Palestinians under Israeli occupation and minorities in the US facing discrimination and police violence.

    "Our struggles are interconnected," she said, telling the crowd that security forces in both countries used similar tactics. And she compared Palestinians killed by Israel’s American-made warplanes in the recent air war against Hamas rocket fire with black people killed by police this year.

    Not all advocates of Palestinian rights would go that far. But Black Lives Matter has accelerated a changing conversation in the US about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, putting a new focus on human rights.

    This shift was already underway in the left-wing of the Democratic Party that is consciously organising around social justice issues.

    "When we say free Palestine, in the same breath we say black lives matter," said Abdullah. "None of us are free until all of us are free."

  7. 'I found my voice at Black Lives Matter protests'published at 14:55 British Summer Time 25 May 2021

    Imarn Ayton was shocked by the death of George Floyd, like many people around the world.

    The 29-year-old, from Peckham, south London, joined a Black Lives Matter march and soon began organising her own protests that included the likes of actor John Boyega and singer Madonna.

    But when she realised her views differed from those of the Black Lives Matter UK campaign group, she set up her own organisation - the Black Reformist Movement.

    Watch the full story below.

    Media caption,

    ‘I organised some of London’s biggest BLM protests’

  8. Floyd's death 'reverberated around the world'published at 14:42 British Summer Time 25 May 2021

    A member of the UK's opposition Labour party, Shadow Justice Secretary David Lammy, says that George Floyd "could have been me" in a video posted to Twitter in which he describes why Floyd's death "reverberated around the world".

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    A personal friend of former US President Barack Obama, Lammy became the first black Briton to study a Masters at Harvard Law School in Massachusetts, graduating in 1997.

    Floyd's death sparked anti-racism demonstrations across the UK, with thousands of people gathering at protests in cities including London, Manchester, Cardiff, Leicester and Sheffield.

  9. Floyd's sister: 'It has been a long year'published at 14:26 British Summer Time 25 May 2021

    Bridgett Floyd, George Floyd's sister, addressed the media on the first day of the Derek Chauvin trial, Monday, March 8, 2021, at the Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis.Image source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    Bridgett Floyd spoke to media on the first day of Derek Chauvin's murder trial

    George Floyd's sister, Bridgett Floyd, spoke to a group of demonstrators on Sunday who had gathered to commemorate the anniversary of her brother's death.

    "It has been a long year. It has been a painful year," she said to the crowd in Minneapolis. "It has been very frustrating for me and my family for our lives to change in the blink of an eye - I still don't know why."

    George Floyd's siblings are often in attendance at gatherings for their brother - speaking out against racial injustice.

    Also on Sunday, one of his brothers, Terrence, attended a gathering in Brooklyn, New York, and urged supporters not to forget his brother or the other black Americans who have died at the hands of police.

    "If you keep my brother's name ringing, you're going to keep everybody else's name ringing," he said.

    "Breonna Taylor, Sean Bell, Ahmaud Arbery, you could go through a whole list. There's a lot of them."

  10. What is the Floyd family doing?published at 14:15 British Summer Time 25 May 2021

    George Floyd's sister Bridgett Floyd (L) speaks, flanked by Rev. Al Sharpton, the founder and President of National Action Network, during a remembrance for George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 23, 2021Image source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    George Floyd's sister Bridgett Floyd speaks at a memorial event this weekend

    George Floyd's family will join President Joe Biden for a private meeting at the White House today.

    The meeting will be closed to the media, in order to facilitate a "real conversation", said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.

    She added that Floyd’s daughter Gianna, her mother Roxie Washington, Floyd’s sister, three brothers and his nephew will all be in attendance.

    The meeting comes as the Democratic-sponsored George Floyd Justice in Policing Act has little hope of being passed by the Senate.

    Biden had set the first anniversary of Floyd’s death as an informal deadline for passing the bill, which includes a number of police reforms.

  11. How did George Floyd die?published at 14:00 British Summer Time 25 May 2021

    It was 25 May 2020 and Americans were celebrating the Memorial Day holiday that traditionally marks the start of summer. In Minneapolis, Minnesota, George Floyd was arrested outside a shop on suspicion of having passed a counterfeit $20 (£14) note.

    After a brief struggle with officers sparked by his refusal to get into a police car, Floyd was held down under the weight of three policemen for over nine minutes as another officer prevented anguished witnesses from intervening.

    Floyd was taken to hospital and pronounced dead an hour later.

    Derek Chauvin, the officer seen in the widely-viewed video kneeling on Floyd’s neck, was convicted of murder on 20 April 2021 after a trial that was broadcast live.

    The three other officers involved in the arrest are due to go on trial in March 2022.

    Read the full story about what happened in George Floyd's final moments here.

  12. Welcome to our live coveragepublished at 13:54 British Summer Time 25 May 2021

    Join us today for the anniversary of George Floyd's death, as his family, activists and lawmakers take part in marches and memorial events across the US and the world.

    Floyd's death in the custody of Minneapolis police last May sparked global protests against racism and has led to widespread police reforms.

    Last month, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin - who was filmed kneeling on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes - was found guilty of murder.

    We’ll be bringing you coverage from the US and around the globe, with analysis from our correspondents on the ground.