AERIEL LanE
Leading a March of 3,000 for the George Floyd Family Story By:
STAFF WRITER
T
he murder of George Floyd, a Minnessota Black man who took his final breaths in May 2020 pressed to the sidewalk under a police officer’s knee, was seen everywhere. It played on a loop for viewers of national and international news. It appeared in everyone’s newsfeed on social media. It was the topic of podcasts, talk shows, and many other mediums of public conversation. Coverage of Floyd’s death was also plastered across Aeriel Lane’s television. Aeriel is a
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Baltimore native who moved to Gainesville in 2013 with her then-husband and their biracial son. “When the death of George Floyd occurred, I think like the rest of us, I was a little bit confused and trying to figure out what I could do to kind of affect some sort of change on at least a local level,” she said. “And I had a lot of questions. I’m African American, but does that mean that I have to do something? And if I do something, am I putting myself at risk? What can I do?” Then, her 8-year-old son caught sight of the coverage.
“He looked at me and he asked me, ‘Could this happen to you, and could this happen to Mr. Sean,’ who is my partner.” At first, Lane told him no. “I realized that I wasn’t really telling him the truth because I didn’t know if it could happen to me or happen to a loved one or my family,” she said. “And I think at that point, when you’re a parent and you feel powerless, that’s when you’re like, ‘Okay, I have to do something.’”
TAKING ACTION TO BRING ABOUT CHANGE At first, Lane attempted to join existing local efforts. “I sent the mayor a message on Facebook and
asked him if there was any type of activism planned around the city,” she said. “And he just responded, ‘Not that I know of.’” Instead of accepting that there were no efforts to organize in Gainesville, Lane created a Facebook group to connect with local friends and plan a march in support of the Floyd family. “I think I was operating purely on adrenaline and emotions,” she said. “I want to say I woke up and I was like, ‘Okay, it’s time to plan, plan, plan, and put it together and get it done.’ But really, I think the emotion of feeling helpless and powerless to yet another Black man dying, being publicly lynched,
