May 25, 2022, marked two years since George Floyd’s killing at the hands of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. The MSR recently took to the streets to ask community members if they felt there has been positive social change in the last two years.

Fancy Ray McClonney

Things have changed but it’s standing still. What I’m saying is that there is a lot of talk and a lot of intention. People are frustrated and going through things. We have awareness, but we continue to see Black-on-Black violence.

The important thing is what can we do? What are you actually doing to bring about change, growth, love and understanding?

It’s about communication, but at the same time I see more hate and division in our own communities. We are not coming together and standing strong to build alliances that can actually be a foundation of strength.

Loretta Arradondo

Unfortunately, no! People are working toward it, but it’s happening way too slow. We need to come together as a community; if we see crime we should report it. We need to get behind the good police officers that we have at this time. If a police officer sees [another officer] doing wrong, they should speak up and get them off the police department.

Brother Tyran

The problem is there is not a lot of love in the world, not in this city. Too many broken homes… Young men don’t feel loved ‘cause there are no fathers in the household. Young men go out in the streets to find that love from men on the streets that don’t mean any good. I haven’t seen any strides in social justice in the last two years.

Dawn Shannon

I do not believe there were enough significant strides in social justice. African Americans are still leaders in all disparities across the board, such as education, homeownership and incarnation. We have a long way to go!

I feel as a community, collectively, we need to establish the standardization in individual families. We need to decide where the legacy is going. How many family members have been lost due to violence? I feel that one day Black men will be extinct.

When is it going to stop?! What are we going to do? I want my community to be more involved with the education of our children.