Remembering George Floyd's Death: Marches And Vigils Scheduled In Massachusetts

BOSTON (CBS) -- Rallies, marches, and vigils will take place across the country on Tuesday to mark the one-year anniversary of George Floyd's death.

Thousands are expected to attend a March for George and Justice from Milton to Mattapan starting at 5:30 p.m.

Director of Dunk the Vote Ron Bell went door-to-door in Milton Tuesday morning to leave flyers with information about the march.

"The word's getting out in Milton, Mattapan, Dorchester, actually across the state, people are coming from all over the place to commemorate the anniversary," Bell said.

Luis Pierro from the Milton For Peace group spent much of Monday organizing signs for attendees. "This stuff is still going on and we have to do something about it," Pierro told WBZ-TV.

His signs have "names of over the 200 Black men who were shot and killed by police in 11 plus months since George Floyd."

Other local events include:

• A community observance at the Needham Town Common at 5:30 p.m.
• A rally organized by Mass Action Against Police Brutality in Franklin Park (near the zoo entrance on Blue Hill Avenue) at 6 p.m.
• A candlelight vigil organized by Diverse People United in Lynn at 7 p.m.
• May 29: We Are Resilient Rally For George Floyd by the Mayor's Office of Resilience and Racial Equality at Nubian Square at 1 p.m.

"We need to pressure on, keep on the streets. The protest movements that we saw unfold last year because of George Floyd, what happened to him, it's historic and we need to keep that going, that's really why you're seeing the changes," said Brock Satter of Mass Action Against Police Brutality.

"We have come a long way but we have a long way to go," said Bell. "We can't continue to just march and protest and kumbaya, it's time for us to really change some laws so that black men will no longer be killed and racially profiled."

Acting Mayor Kim Janey held a moment of silence in honor of George Floyd at the beginning of Tuesday's COVID reopening update.

"We recognize that the conditions that led to George Floyd's death are still present. That is the urgent work that is before us. We honor his life and his legacy with an urgent agenda for racial equity and justice," Janey said.

"This really is an urgent call to action to continue that is already underway when it comes to racial justice and inequity work and to double down on our efforts. We are doing that through our investments with the FY22 budget, we're doing that with these investments from federal funds, we're doing that in the policy work whether it be police reform, whether it be supporting our young people in schools, whether it be supporting small businesses and ensuring that we are intention and laser-like focus when it comes to equity. That is the work that is underway."