George Floyd memorial held in East Preston

At midday on Tuesday, June 9, around 20 people filled the car park of Our Lady Star of the Sea church in Vermont Drive, East Preston, for a twenty-minute sevice to champion racial equality on the day of Mr Floyd’s funeral in Houston, Texas.

His death at the hands of a white police officer in the US has sparked protests around the globe and reinvigorated the Black Lives Matter movement.

The East Preston service was organised by the Friends of Bethany Association.

Organiser Mairead Murphy, who was helped by Bernadette Ward and Eli Amoo, said: “We wish to say loud and clear that ‘Black Lives Matter’ and that we reject all forms of racism and discrimation, here in our parish, country and in the world.”

The service began with a call for people to kneel – a symbol of Black Lives Matter – followed by 90 seconds of silence.

Among those quoted during the service were boxing legend Muhammad Ali, former South African president Nelson Mandela, former Indian prime minister Indira Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Teresa and Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate.