A look at the promise by George Floyd’s family to 38th and Chicago area in the years since grants awarded

Explore Our Galleries

An NAACP flyer campaigning for the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives in 1922, but was filibustered to defeat in the Senate. Dyer, the NAACP, and freedom fighters around the country, like Flossie Baily, struggled for years to get the Dyer and other anti-lynching bills passed, to no avail. Today there is still no U.S. law specifically against lynching. In 2005, eighty of the 100 U.S. Senators voted for a resolution to apologize to victims' families and the country for their failure to outlaw lynching. Courtesy of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Some Exhibits to Come – One Hundred Years of Jim Crow

Bibliography – One Hundred Years Of Jim Crow

Claude, age 23, just months before his 1930 murder. Courtesy of Faith Deeter.

Freedom’s Heroes During Jim Crow: Flossie Bailey and the Deeters

Souvenir Portrait of the Lynching of Abram Smith and Thomas Shipp, August 7, 1930, by studio photographer Lawrence Beitler. Courtesy of the Indiana Hisorical Society.

An Iconic Lynching in the North

Claxton Dekle – Prosperous Farmer, Husband & Father of Two

Ancient manuscripts about mathematics and astronomy from Timbuktu, Mali

Some Exhibits to Come – African Peoples Before Captivity

Shackles for Adults & Children from the Henrietta Marie

Some Exhibits to Come – The Middle Passage

What I Saw Aboard a Slave Ship in 1829

Life After Hate: A Former White Power Leader Redeems Himself

Breaking News!

Today's news and culture by Black and other reporters in the Black and mainstream media.

Click Here

Ways to Support ABHM?

Click Here

May 23, 2025

By Eric Chaloux, KSTP

George Floyd’s family were among those present when a statue dedicated to Floyd was unveiled in his hometown of Houston (HC Precinct1, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

The family of George Floyd made a promise to the community around 38th and Chicago in Minneapolis to give back $500,000 through a fund started in his name.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS reviewed online federal filings that show at least 16 entities, from small businesses to restaurants and nonprofits, received grants in 2023.

The 2023 IRS Form 990s, listed on the website Guidestar, showed that The Ward 8 Community Benevolence Fund awarded more than $449,000 in grants.

In the time since those filings, the fund told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS they have awarded all the funding promised by the Floyd family.

[…]

A closer look at the groups that received grant funding ranges from small businesses and restaurants around 38th and Chicago, to nonprofits including the Pillsbury House Theatre, Chicago Avenue Fine Arts Center and a Boys and Girls Club for a program that focused on mental health counseling in the area.

Near the corner of 38th and Chicago, you’ll find the Listen to Us Studio.

The art studio space is filled with captivating photographs from the days, weeks, and months after George Floyd’s murder in the streets of Minneapolis.

“When you see your images on a computer, it’s one thing, when you see it full blown like it is now… is breathtaking,” said KingDemetrius Pendleton, who runs the gallery.

The original article includes a statement from the foundation. You can also learn about other ways the family is pushing for change.

Our breaking news section covers the anniversary of Floyd’s death.

Comments Are Welcome

Note: We moderate submissions in order to create a space for meaningful dialogue, a space where museum visitors – adults and youth –– can exchange informed, thoughtful, and relevant comments that add value to our exhibits.

Racial slurs, personal attacks, obscenity, profanity, and SHOUTING do not meet the above standard. Such comments are posted in the exhibit Hateful Speech. Commercial promotions, impersonations, and incoherent comments likewise fail to meet our goals, so will not be posted. Submissions longer than 120 words will be shortened.

See our full Comments Policy here.