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Lift Your Voice: How My Nephew George Floyd's Murder Changed The World
Angela Harrelson, George Floyd’s aunt and closest relative in Minnesota, tells the behind-the-scenes story of George’s family—how he lived and why he died—and how the world can find a solution to racism through his death.
Angela Harrelson grew up poor, one of thirteen brothers and sisters raised in a shack in the North Carolina woods. She was first in her family to go to college, first to be commissioned in the military, and first to have a career as a professional nurse. Along the way, she and her family were exposed to the harshest forms of racism—from her childhood riding the school bus with white children who made the Black kids stand, to racist commanding officers in the Air Force who told her they wanted her to fail.
Nothing stopped Angela, and nothing removed the hope in her heart that America could learn to stop hating people based on the color of their skin. This is the story of George Floyd’s aunt, Angela Harrelson, and how, after being suddenly thrust into the spotlight, she went on a quest to make sure her nephew did not die in vain.
Lift Your Voice is a memoir of faith, hope, and bravery, of what we all—Black and white—need to do to eradicate racism from our society. It’s a story of tragic loss and a worldwide uprising to ensure Perry’s death ushers society into a time where people are no longer judged, hated, or killed because of the color of their skin.
Angela Harrelson grew up poor, one of thirteen brothers and sisters raised in a shack in the North Carolina woods. She was first in her family to go to college, first to be commissioned in the military, and first to have a career as a professional nurse. Along the way, she and her family were exposed to the harshest forms of racism—from her childhood riding the school bus with white children who made the Black kids stand, to racist commanding officers in the Air Force who told her they wanted her to fail.
Nothing stopped Angela, and nothing removed the hope in her heart that America could learn to stop hating people based on the color of their skin. This is the story of George Floyd’s aunt, Angela Harrelson, and how, after being suddenly thrust into the spotlight, she went on a quest to make sure her nephew did not die in vain.
Lift Your Voice is a memoir of faith, hope, and bravery, of what we all—Black and white—need to do to eradicate racism from our society. It’s a story of tragic loss and a worldwide uprising to ensure Perry’s death ushers society into a time where people are no longer judged, hated, or killed because of the color of their skin.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published February 8, 2022
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140 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
April 5, 2023
I may not have picked this up w/o it being a book club read. What made this book powerful and unique were Angela’s personal experiences. I definitely learned from her and have takeaways to do better.
February 27, 2022
I read this book after Audible offered it for free for a limited time.
George Floyd's aunt describes in detail the horror she felt watching her nephew suffocate to death on TV, and her anguish after his death a triggered a renewed force for the Black Lives Matter movement that consumed the year 2020. And she says her family always called him Perry instead of George.
She makes no effort to hide the difficult life Perry had as a struggling alcoholic, and believes he probably did hand a counterfeit $20 bill to a cashier before he died. Yet she doesn't believe that justified his agonizing death as he struggled to breathe for nine and a half minutes.
She also discusses the racism she herself endured as a young girl struggling to stand on a school bus because the white kids prevented her from sitting down as the bus driver deliberately drove recklessly to throw her off balance. (He later apologized to her as an adult because he felt so ashamed for piling on those kids' cruelty.)
She also describes how her faith in God sustained her afterward, and the kindness and sympathy she received from so many white strangers who empathized with her pain.
And she was relieved after Derek Chauvin's guilty verdict only because it demonstrated that her fellow Americans finally understood the ordeal so many black men had endured for decades, because many of my own black coworkers claimed they always lectured their sons on how dangerous it was to see flashing blue lights in their own rearview mirrors.
George Floyd's aunt describes in detail the horror she felt watching her nephew suffocate to death on TV, and her anguish after his death a triggered a renewed force for the Black Lives Matter movement that consumed the year 2020. And she says her family always called him Perry instead of George.
She makes no effort to hide the difficult life Perry had as a struggling alcoholic, and believes he probably did hand a counterfeit $20 bill to a cashier before he died. Yet she doesn't believe that justified his agonizing death as he struggled to breathe for nine and a half minutes.
She also discusses the racism she herself endured as a young girl struggling to stand on a school bus because the white kids prevented her from sitting down as the bus driver deliberately drove recklessly to throw her off balance. (He later apologized to her as an adult because he felt so ashamed for piling on those kids' cruelty.)
She also describes how her faith in God sustained her afterward, and the kindness and sympathy she received from so many white strangers who empathized with her pain.
And she was relieved after Derek Chauvin's guilty verdict only because it demonstrated that her fellow Americans finally understood the ordeal so many black men had endured for decades, because many of my own black coworkers claimed they always lectured their sons on how dangerous it was to see flashing blue lights in their own rearview mirrors.
March 3, 2022
What a powerfully vibrant memoir from a well-known tragedy and social justice gamechanger. Harrelson's bravery in telling her story, as well as Perry's is a gift to all of us. Her nephew's murder changed the world, and her gracious retelling of her experience during that time, and after, provides powerful insight to white Americans whose privilege often blinds us to the social injustices our black friends face every day. I am so thankful for her voice, her stories, her authenticity and her willingness to share with the world. So many of us followed this story closely as it happened, but hearing her voice tell it brought out a sense of humanity that media coverage never conveys. To my fellow white friends...please listen and learn. We have work to do.
May 5, 2022
I listened to this audible, and I can't say enough about it. Angela Harrelson is up there with Amanda Gorman as far as I'm concerned. In this book, she tells about her childhood as a child of sharecroppers and her large and loving family. She goes into complete detail about the killing of her dear nephew which was heart wrenching and had me in tears more than a few times. Additionally, she explains what it is like to be a Black or Brown person in no uncertain terms and how things are beginning to change since her nephew's murder. Determined to make something of herself, she worked her way through college and became a nurse. In addition to that, she is now an activist speaking out against racism and wears many hats. I recommend this book to all! I now have a new hero!!!!
March 6, 2022
This is the hopeful, even triumphant memoir of the aunt of George Floyd, known as "Perry" to his family. With great-grandparents born into slavery, Harrelson traces a family arc from that to Jim Crow and "Black code" laws. Harrelson eventually served in the military and became an RN despite adversity and now confronts the systemic racism of our day's institutions finding hope in the worldwide reaction to her nephew's murder. I think it is great she narrates the audiobook herself, which adds authenticity. I wish I could share her hopefulness, of which she is very earnest and for which I greatly admire her.
April 16, 2022
I listened to this book on audio thinking that this courageous, educated woman used her pain for good. When reading or listening to this book with an open mind we have opportunity to learn from the pass and look forward to a better future, for us all. Like the Berlin wall we must free ourselves from the confines and wounds of racism. If only we are willing to listen and learn from each other. This writer helped us to understand where her past met the present. I love to read an learn but in all my reading I have yet to find a book that helps me to understand the perspective of those who believe or can justify racism.
June 13, 2023
Angela’s recount of George Floyd’s family history, his struggle with substance abuse and her traumatic experience of learning of her nephew George’s murder was humble and thought-provoking. I had the pleasure of meeting her in person at a public event and she is an authentic person who wants to see a better world. She has become a change agent following George’s death and encourages readers to self-asses and be aware of their own implicit biases. It is a good read and is a good reminder of how life’s direction can turn on a dime.
May 5, 2022
Harrelson tells the inextricably linked stories of her family and systemic racism, the death of her nephew George "Perry" Floyd, and the incredible (and long overdue) wave of outrage, activism and calls for change that arose from it. An intensely powerful memoir of the "should be required reading variety".
December 29, 2024
A passionate evaluation of am absolute travesty by the members of the police against George Floyd. The story talks of injustices in society from his aunts point of view, indicating white privileges' within society. Explaining her reasoning though out the book. 4.3 Stars
February 23, 2022
Powerful beyond words. Not just a story about George Floyd's life and murder. Systemic racism, 400 years of inequality, white privilege. Not a black lives matter tale. Story of love.
April 12, 2022
This should be mandatory reading for white people
March 19, 2022
I got half way though the book and put it down. I couldn’t read anymore. Not only is it NOT about the life of George Floyd, it is full of hatred towards white people.
A majority of what I read was how terrible white people were all though our history. She mentioned brief negative encounters she had with white peoples that were negative. The victim mentality in this book is ridiculous.
The crimes he was committed of, especially the one her served prison time for, were blamed on “him being bigger than the other people there” and “his drug addiction should have been treated as an illness”. She compared the treatment of Blacks on drugs to whites on drugs saying police would have taken a white person on drugs to rehab but the put a black man in cuffs and send him to jail.
Floyd’s daughter was never mentioned nor was the mother of his child. I never got far enough to see if the book would mention the events on May 24, 2020 when he died.
If you want to read an autobiography of Angela Harrelson, this is the perfect book for you. If you want to read the countless reasons as to why she dislikes whites and how Blacks are victims in America (despite the success of Barack Obama and Kamala Harris as well as countless Black males in the NFL and NBA) you picked up the right book!
A majority of what I read was how terrible white people were all though our history. She mentioned brief negative encounters she had with white peoples that were negative. The victim mentality in this book is ridiculous.
The crimes he was committed of, especially the one her served prison time for, were blamed on “him being bigger than the other people there” and “his drug addiction should have been treated as an illness”. She compared the treatment of Blacks on drugs to whites on drugs saying police would have taken a white person on drugs to rehab but the put a black man in cuffs and send him to jail.
Floyd’s daughter was never mentioned nor was the mother of his child. I never got far enough to see if the book would mention the events on May 24, 2020 when he died.
If you want to read an autobiography of Angela Harrelson, this is the perfect book for you. If you want to read the countless reasons as to why she dislikes whites and how Blacks are victims in America (despite the success of Barack Obama and Kamala Harris as well as countless Black males in the NFL and NBA) you picked up the right book!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews