Narrator: Cars have to go through these checkpoints
before entering the square where George Floyd was killed.
Residents occupied the intersection,
and now they defend it as a community space.
Police barely enter the four blocks.
For many here, this is the definition of a safe space.
Marcia Howard: Whose streets?
Crowd: Our streets!
Marcia: It's exhausting to be black in America.
And yet, behind these barricades, I've never felt more safe.
I'm in the free state of George Floyd.
Narrator: The future of George Floyd Square is contested.
Local authorities want to tear down the barriers.
Jacob Frey: This is not an autonomous zone,
and it will not and cannot be an autonomous zone.
Narrator: We spent a week in Minneapolis during the trial
to learn what's next for George Floyd Square.
Marcia: No justice!
Crowd: No streets!
Marcia: No justice!
Crowd: No streets!
Marcia: And we mean that s---.
Narrator: Marcia Howard is one of the protesters
in the square.
She guards a checkpoint
and holds meetings near this firepit every day.
Marcia: Just assume everyone in this square has COVID.
Act accordingly. Mask up or back up.
Assume that everything you say
and everything you do is being recorded.
But if you say something around this circle,
make sure you say it with your whole chest.
Assume that everyone in this square,
and definitely everyone in this circle,
might be a little crazy.
Because you've got to be cuckoo
to think you can take on the state and win.
Narrator: On the morning of Chauvin's trial,
people traveled to the intersection of 38th and Chicago,
the spot where George Floyd was killed.
Many gathered around this wooden fist,
built by a team of artists after his death.
Marcia: These barricades are the rib cage,
and the fist is the beating heart of this movement.
What's being protected is this font of Black power.
Narrator: Residents have a list of 24 demands,
like ending qualified immunity for officers
and investigating their police department.
Marcia: Is that too much to ask?
Why do I got to be 47 years old,
standing next to my house saying, "My life matters,"
and have people argue with me?
Narrator: They also demand the conviction of all four cops
involved in Floyd's killing, starting with Derek Chauvin,
the officer who knelt on Floyd's neck.
Emotions ran high in front of the courthouse
in the afternoon of April 20,
as protesters gathered to hear the trial's verdict.
Say his name!
George Floyd!
Say it louder!
George Floyd!
Say his name!
George Floyd!
Guilty!
Narrator: That sentiment was echoed at George Floyd Square.
God did not let this man die in vain!
His life will not be dead in vain!
It can't be!
Narrator: But the feeling of victory didn't last long.
Marcia: When we were celebrating the referendum on a Black life,
while we were celebrating that,
our city leader was holding a press conference,
talking about forcibly clearing the square.
Frey: Moving forward as the chief has mentioned,
there will be a reopening of the intersection.
Narrator: They propose turning the fist sculpture
into a roundabout
or relocating it to where George Floyd was killed.
None of the options include keeping the space as is.
But caretakers of the square say they won't move
until the 24 demands are met.
Crowd: Black lives, they matter now.
Black lives, they matter now.
Narrator: They say the fight isn't just about George Floyd.
Marcia: If you could go down the street
and go around the corner,
you'll see the Say Their Names Cemetery,
and that has become part of the ritual of this space.
We walk down the road, and we say the names of the fallen.
So when they ask us, "Are we done?"
the answer has to be a resounding no.
Narrator: Through the week,
protesters continued to protect the square.
Madi Ramírez-Tentinger defends the square
alongside Marcia.
They guard one of the four entrances each day.
Madi: I think the goal of George Floyd Square
is to hold the city accountable,
to build community, and to seek justice.
Each barricade, over the course of the last year,
has been personed by people looking out
to keep an eye out for police movement,
for suspicious vehicles, for white supremacists,
and to greet people, importantly, to greet people.
Madi: Hey, oh my gosh, hello!
How are you? Good, how are you?
I'm so good.
Ah, it's good to see you.
Yeah, you too, I didn't know you were back today.
Madi: I think earlier on, we were a little more vigilant.
And I think we had to be,
because in the beginning, things were very chaotic
and dangerous, frankly, and violent.
Narrator: But today, Madi says the space feels much safer.
Residents have been transforming this former Speedway
into a community meeting center
now known as the Peoples' Way.
They also created a garden center for visitors.
Still, not all business owners are supportive
of what George Floyd Square has become.
Some say they've seen an almost 75% loss in revenue
over the last year.
Madi: They have helped a lot of community members
by giving them jobs or renting to them.
The business is trying to say that they're not doing well
because of the space, but they can't separate
how much is because of COVID.
I would imagine some of them did a lot better
because this space is closed,
because you're having constant visitors.
Narrator: 38th and Chicago is still a place
where a tragic event happened.
But today, many say it feels
like the safest place in Minneapolis.
Marcia: I am more myself
the more connected I am with my neighbors.
I think this is the first time
I'm actually articulating that.
I've become more myself
the more connected I am with them.
When you're looking people in the eye, it changes things.
You have to put someone into your keeping
in order to consider them in this fight for equality.
We hear a lot about, like, white fragility or white guilt
and allyship and what it means to be an ally or not.
You're going to have to love me more than you hate police.
And so every day I show up, because you're going to see me,
and you're going to hear me, and you're going to know me.
You're going to love me so you can fight for me.
That's what we do at 38th and Chicago.