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Singing, Praying and Crying at LA's George Floyd Memorial
Christian, Jewish, Buddhist and Muslim faith leaders gathered with Black Lives Matter organizers in downtown Los Angeles on Monday for a memorial for George Floyd and others killed by police.
They stood, in the shadow of City Hall, in robes and prayer shawls, making a wide circle around caskets covered with yellow flowers and framed photographs.
Behind them, people swayed and sang and held up protest signs and bouquets of flowers.
Rev. Gary Bernard Williams, lead pastor at Saint Mark Methodist Church in South L.A., said he supports "what Black Lives Matter is asking for: prosecute killer rogue police officers and defund the LAPD."
But other black clergy have been hesitant to join the Black Lives Matter movement. And in a speech, Black Lives Matter-LA co-founder Melina Abdullah called them out:
"The church and the movement should be united, not divided!" she said. "We need spaces to meet. We need access to your clergy. We need you to lend us your sound systems from time to time. And we need you to refuse to be the house negroes that this system of white supremacy wants you to be."
READ ADBULLAH'S FULL SPEECH:
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