His Name Is George Floyd

In this groundbreaking biography of George Floyd, Washington Post reporters Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa use the prism of entrenched poverty, systemic racism, a broken criminal justice system, and police violence to tell the story of one man's life, revealing how his tragic killing ignited an international movement for change On May 25, 2020, at the age of forty-six, George Floyd was murdered outside a Minneapolis convenience store by white police officer Derek Chauvin. His death set off a series of protests in the United States and around the world, awakening millions to the dire need for reimagining this country's broken systems of policing. But while police brutality may have been the final injustice of Floyd's life, it was far from the first. This definitive biography of George Floyd places his life within the larger context of America's deeply troubled history, offering an unparalleled look into the forces and experiences that shaped him. From his family's roots in slavery and sharecropping, from his childhood attending segregated Houston schools, from his gridiron dreams to his stints in prison, and his attempts to break free from drug dependence, we see the willpower, hope, and determination Floyd carried, as well as the inescapable pressures of an America built to entrap him. In examining how systemic racism is entrenched in institutions like housing, health care, education, and prisons - and by comparing the trajectory of Floyd's life with that of Derek Chauvin - Washington Post reporters Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa make a poignant and compelling case for what it truly means to envision a different America.