“Political Grab Bag”
By Steve Bagby Sr., Political Action Committee Chair

An unspeakable tragedy unfolded before our eyes! Another death of a black man at the hands of the police. This one seemed to be a bit different, however! We saw a callous disregard for life and liberty by someone in a position of authority whose motto is “to protect and to serve.” There was no response to the cries of the witnesses who were onsite and viewing what was taking place . . . I can still remember some of the words of the bystanders on the portion of the tape that I recall them re- playing on TV. “He’s not moving.” He was moving before . . . now he’s not moving. “Check his pulse man . . . check his pulse.” “Get off of him.” I noticed the attitude of the officer after he “finished the deed” in going over to the other officer who was keeping the crowd at bay and tapping him on the shoulder, beckoning him on . . . as if to say “we’ve finished the dirty deed and we can go now!!” I remember how casual the interaction was between those two officers. What? You just killed a man, but you have no obvious anxiety about that situation . . . you appear to be cool and calm . . . just another day on the job . . . as if to say . . . okay . . . “one more down”. . . “what’s our next stop?” No wonder there was immediate rage and distress . . . nationwide and worldwide. We all witnessed the wanton and callous disregard of the cries of George Floyd, and ultimately the life, of a man on whom you were allegedly trying to effectuate an arrest and who the video revealed was co-operating!! Oh no!! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!! NO MORE, NO MORE, NO MORE!! Let us protest, let us gather, let us speak, and let us act. What do we do? What can we do!! The culture of policing has to change and beginning steps have been taken in that regard!!! There is more to do!! We also have to put those in office who can hear us, understand the need and have a willingness to do something about it. How do we make sure that happens? WE CAN AND MUST VOTE!!! We’ve seen what happens when there is someone in the highest office of the land who can’t, won’t or just refuses to hear us . . . who could care less about all the atrocities happening to us as African Americans, who is trying to perpetuate and advance his own agenda to maintain what he feels is a position of superiority . . . who is fearful of losing
ground to the vast and growing minority population in the U.S. We need those in a position of
power who will hear us!! We need to act and exercise our power to make a difference . . .
make a change by voting!! We cannot be complacent as this is a critical time. We each have to
do our part in a significant way!! We cannot “sit this one out” as some have done in the past.

Before I give specific information relating to voting, I want to bring to your attention the com-
ments of two of our young people at Second Baptist Church who have expressed their thoughts

about the George Floyd killing and the subsequent protests. We have some critical thinkers in
our midst and I want to share their thoughts with you. Please see the attached Statement of
Occasion given by our own Ayana Woods who graduated as a Valedictorian from Los Angeles

Center for Enriched Studies (LACES High School) and who will be attending UCLA in the
fall. Ayana shared her thoughts over the radio at our 8:00 a.m. broadcast service on June 28th,
but I felt it was important that her statement be available in writing for all the members and

others to read so as to understand the perspective of our youth on this topic. I also want every-
one to read the article written by our own Blair McDonald, the Deputy Voices Editor of the

Vanderbilt student newspaper, who just completed her sophomore year at Vanderbilt University
in Nashville, Tennessee. While Blair’s article was previously disseminated via email to some
this past June, I think it is an important piece that should also be made a part of the Political
Grab Bag for everyone to read as it, too, speaks to the issues surrounding the protests as well

as race relations from the prospective of a University student-athlete. Both of these young la-
dies are obvious scholars of whom we are definitely proud! Please see the attached comments.

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