Revisiting 'The Life of George Floyd'

Today, we’re re-airing this special episode of “Post Reports,” where we tell the story of George Floyd’s life, his upbringing and how racism hobbled his ambition. Plus, an update from Floyd’s family members after the trial of Derek Chauvin.

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Last fall, the Post Reports staff and a team of reporters at The Post worked on an exhaustive telling of George Floyd’s life, about this one man and his family and the forces of systemic racism that shaped their experiences over the course of more than a century. 

This week, in the aftermath of the Chauvin trial verdict, we are re-airing this story about George Floyd, to remind people about the real three-dimensional person whose life and death were at the center of the trial. We also went back to some of the people interviewed in the original episode to find out what they think about the verdict, and how they have been processing their grief almost a year after his death. 

This story is part of The Washington Post’s series “George Floyd’s America.” The reporting explores the institutional and societal roadblocks Floyd encountered as a Black man from his birth in 1973 until his death, and the role systemic racism played throughout his life.  The series is based on a review of thousands of documents and more than 150 interviews with Floyd’s friends, colleagues, public officials and scholars. The picture that emerges is one that underscores how systemic racism has calcified within many of America’s institutions, creating sharply disparate outcomes in housing, education, the economy, law enforcement and health care. 

Read more in this Special Report from The Washington Post: George Floyd’s America.

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Credits  Reporting for this episode from Ted Muldoon. “George Floyd’s America” was reported by Arelis Hernández, Tracy Jan, Laura Meckler, Tolu Olorunnipa, Robert Samuels, Griff Witte and Cleve Wootson. This “Post Reports” episode was produced by Ted Muldoon and Linah Mohammad and edited by Maggie Penman and Martine Powers. 

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