'Turning pain into purpose': Philonise Floyd, brother of George Floyd, keeps brother's legacy alive

Philonise Floyd had never seen Lake Erie frozen over, let alone been as close to the lake as he was on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

"It looks like Alaska to me," Floyd told nearly 120 participants on a video conference call.

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Floyd traveled through an Erie snowstorm to be part of Penn State Behrend's MLK Day celebrations, only to be stuck in his hotel room.

But through a virtual format, Floyd managed to have a conversation with Behrend students about the legacy of his brother, George Floyd, who was killed at the hands of police in Minneapolis, Minnesota almost two years ago.

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Philonise Floyd was first asked what turning pain into purpose meant to him. It's a motto he boasted on his t-shirt — which included an illustration of George Floyd's face morphed with a lion's — and one Behrend chose as it's MLK Day theme this year.

"I get up everyday and try my best to try to change laws, make sure other individuals don't have to go through what my brother had to go through," he said. "Laws are made for everybody, not just for one, so when I’m turning pain into purpose, I really mean that."

The saying "turning pain into purpose" is what the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act is all about, Philonise Floyd said. The act, which is a human rights and police reform bill, was passed in Congress but has yet to pass in the Senate.

The focus shifted to before May 2020, in which Philonise Floyd reflected on the type of man his older brother was.

"He was a big brother, not just to me but a lot of individuals who I grew up around, because a lot of us grew up without a father in the household," he said. "He would teach kids how to play basketball, and people loved him because he was a big kid at heart.

"He just wanted to be loved, he didn’t want anyone to fear him. He used to say to me, 'When people see me, they have fear and I don’t want individuals to be scared of me.' "

Finding out about his brother's death

On the day of his brother's murder, Philonise Floyd didn't even know it happened.

"It was the day after. I was on my way out of town to Oklahoma for work (as a truck driver). Someone sent me a photo of a man and I sent it to my cousin and my cousin said, 'that’s him,' " he said. "I immediately started crying."

Before he knew it, the video of his brother's murder had gone viral.

"People watched someone lose their life like a motion cinema picture," he said. "Anybody who has seen it, all you need is an inch of humanity to know that it was wrong."

Philonise Floyd said the news destroyed him, but he never really got a chance to grieve because the work had just begun.

"I had to speak about it. So many people around the world wanted to know about who he was, what was going on," he said. "If I didn’t speak about it, who was going to?"

On the day of his brother's funeral, Philonise Floyd was on a plane to Congress to speak about why his brother's life mattered, and how his unfair death was only one of many.

"When I went to Congress, I had never seen that many cameras in my life," he said. "I’m not in the NBA or the NFL, I’m just a regular person brought in there to shed light on a situation that was terrible, not just to me, but the world.

"We live in a place where justice and liberty is supposed to reign, but we don’t get that," he said. "Some say it’s not justice, it’s just us."

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Continuing his brother's legacy

Speaking out about racism and prejudice was never something Philonise Floyd thought he'd be doing, but the platform he's been given from his brother's death is one he plans to take advantage of.

"Many people around the world want to keep his legacy alive," he said. "I’m just his brother and I’m just trying to do it, but I’m not just fighting for my brother, but all my brothers and sisters across the world, no matter what race or color."

George Floyd's death sparked a conversation that was long overdue. It's one his brother plans to keep at the forefront of the social justice movement.

"People are always looking for a story and the story they got is one for a lifetime," he said. "On this MLK Day, we have to keep fighting. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream that we march in solidarity. George is in the history books forever and I just want the world to be a better place for anybody and everybody."

Baylee DeMuth can be reached at 814-450-3425 or bdemuth@timesnews.com. Follow her on Twitter @BayleeDeMuth.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: MLK Day: Philonise Floyd, brother of George Floyd, speaks at Behrend