SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — If the name Julian Beaudion sounds familiar to you, that’s for good reason. He has been a key figure in various events across Sioux Falls

However, before he started to consider himself an activist, he worked for the South Dakota Highway Patrol.

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“I was a trooper for about 13.5 years when I became a trooper. I was the third black person to ever put the uniform on,” Julian Beaudion said.

But after George Floyd was murdered, things changed for Beaudion. He was one of the voices at the protest that was held in Sioux Falls.

“Right after I gave that speech talking about the negatives in law enforcement, I had to turn around that same night because there was a riot at the, at the, at the mall and put the uniform on. And, you know, some of those same faces that attended the protest were also at the riot,” Beaudion said.

Since then, he has expanded his role as an activist in the city. He’s now president of the Juneteenth celebration in Sioux Falls and has helped manage its tremendous growth.

“We’ve been able to grow and develop that organization, into, you know, from what used to be, you know, 50 to 100 people coming to have a picnic to where now we have 5,000-6,000 folks showing up,” Beaudion said.

Beaudion was selected as an Obama Leader this year. He was one out of 106 people from 6 countries to receive the honor and go through the Presidential leadership program.

“I want to make sure that I’m taking those tools and those resources and the knowledge to bring right back to South Dakota to say, how can we implement success here in South Dakota, as they have, in other states across the country,” Beaudion said.

As Black History Month comes to a close today, it’s an important reminder that Black history is American history, and should be remembered year round.

“We’re not in this battle to say black people need to be better than anyone. We’re here to say the inclusion of black folks makes everyone in our country better,” Beaudion said.

Beaudion says one of his largest accomplishments was being selected as the Biden nominee to be the U.S. Marshal for the Territory of South Dakota. While he never went through the Senate confirmation process, he was the first black person to be nominated for it in the state of South Dakota.