George Floyd’s uncle, Selwyn Jones, will have a virtual conversation about the Black Lives Matter movement on Dec. 20 with local police brutality activist Stephanie Babb. Her brother, Brian Babb, was killed by Eugene police in March 2015.

Jones turned to activism after Minneapolis police killed his nephew earlier this year — a horror that sparked a civil rights awakening across the country. Babb’s own activism began when the Eugene Police Department shot her brother after he called his therapist for help.

A former professional athlete, Jones now speaks on behalf of Floyd and advocates for other families who lost loved ones to police violence. He was recently named a GQ magazine “Man of the Year” for his activism.

Babb says she was connected to Jones on Facebook through some mutual friends. In an effort to keep Black Lives Matter evolving in different areas across the country, Jones reached out to have the conversation.

During the discussion, Babb and Jones will dive into how Black Lives Matter is a social revolution with police brutality being only one facet of the nation-wide movement. Babb adds she also wants to talk to Jones about where he sees the movement evolving and what kind of role white people could have.

“He wants this movement to not slow down,” Babb says of Jones. “We both come from the same viewpoint that if we don’t start this transition of growing into a newer phase of what this movement looks like, we will lose people. And we can’t afford to do that.”

She continues, “I can’t relate my experience to being a person of color. But, what we’re trying to do is change the laws, so we work together with respect to the way that it looks.” 

The virtual conversation is on Sunday, Dec. 20 and can be viewed on Pacific Northwest Family Circle’s YouTube channel.

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