On May 25, 2020, George Floyd—a Black 46-year-old Minneapolis resident—was murdered by white police officer Derek Chauvin and three other officers, Tou Thao, Thomas Lane, and J. Alexander Kueng. Nearly a year later, a jury convicted Chauvin of all charges.

Below, AFSC staff join some of the young people we work with in sharing their perspectives on this case and those that came before, and what it will take to create the beloved community we aspire to.

Everyone deserves dignity and justice. But in the United States, 2.3 million people are locked away in prisons, jails, and detention centers, where they are subject to civil and human rights violations and a lack of access to adequate health care. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has only multiplied the dangers of incarceration exponentially, making every cell and cage a potential death chamber.