Turning mourning into dancing: Festival to remember Floyd

The intersection where George Floyd took his final breaths was to be transformed Tuesday into an outdoor festival on the one-year anniversary of his death, with food, children's activities and a long list of musical performers.

"We're going to be turning mourning into dancing," rapper Nur-D tweeted. "We're going to be celebrating 365 days of strength in the face of injustice." The site of Floyd's death, 38th and Chicago, was taken over by activists soon after and remains barricaded to traffic. The "Rise and Remember George Floyd" celebration, including a candlelight vigil at 8 p.m., caps several days of marches, rallies and panel discussions about his death and where US is in confronting racial discrimination.

Many members of the Floyd family were scheduled to be in Washington Tuesday, in a private meeting with Joe Biden, who called family members after the Chauvin verdict and pledged to continue fighting for racial justice.

Nur-D, whose real name is Matt Allen, took to the Minneapolis streets in the days after Floyd's death, often providing medical assistance to protesters who were shot or gassed in confrontations with police. He eventually founded an organization, Justice Frontline Aid, to support safe protest, which has stockpiled 3,000 items surrounding Floyd's death - things like artwork left behind in the square, and will display some of them in a pop-up gallery.

People across the UK were also said to be taking the knee on Tuesday evening to mark the one-year death anniversary. The demonstration is to see people across England, Scotland and Wales show their support for black lives, and involves people kneeling down on one knee.