Five years ago, the world vowed to combat the hatred and violence which led to the murder of George Floyd. Now, it seems not much has changed as Floyd’s young daughter— now 11 — is still reminded of what she lost by bullies in school.
Myron Medcalf of The Minnesota Star Tribune spoke to Gianna Floyd about what life’s like without her father. “It’s hard,” she said. To make matters worst, kids in school have turned Floyd’s killing into ammunition to bully his only child with. “Adolescence should come with freedom, joy and wonder,” Medcalf wrote. “But Gianna Floyd’s youth was hijacked by incomparable loss.”
The 6th grader is still navigating the loss of her dad and dealing with the tragedy in her own way. “I’m OK,” Gianna told Medcalf. Still, bullies at her Texas middle school know Floyd’s story and have started to pick on her because of it. “They’ve teased her at school,” Medcalf reported. “They know about her father and the nasty things bad people say about him, so they repeat those words.”
Gianna was only 6 years old when Floyd was killed by ex-officer Derek Chauvin. After his death was caught on viral video, an estimated 20 million people around the globe flooded the streets in protest to Floyd’s murder and other Black killings by police.
One month after his 2020 death, Gianna stood on the shoulders of NBA legend Stephen Jackson and famously said “Daddy changed the world!” Sunday (May 25) marks the fifth anniversary of Floyd’s death.
Despite legislation to ensure Floyd’s killing wasn’t repeated, Gianna’s bullies are reminders that there’s still a lot of work to be done. She plans on helping with the effort. “Let’s just say a police hurts a guy, I want to be able to help them and help them to be stronger and stand up to police, that’s rude,” Gianna told ABC 13. “It’s okay to lose a loved one, and you’re always going to see them one day again.”