Episode 69 of the “In The Paint” show deals with the topic that is pervading society and sports: Ending systematic racism and police brutality against African-Americans across the country.
In these unprecedented times, there is no sports topic worth mentioning that is more important than the reactions to the murder of Minneapolis resident George Floyd by a police officer that was captured on camera and ignited a firestorm of protests that had been festering before the unfortunate incident.
As a result, our special guests for this episode are four African American men of various ages and backgrounds who wanted to share their experiences.
Those four men are D’Cean Bryant, the head coach at Fountain Valley (Calif.) High School, who was 14 years old when the L.A. Riots happened in April 1992 and now has a son reaching that age, as well as three young daughters, 57-year old Lavel Johnson of the Mississippi Hoops Report, a life-long Jackson resident who was a youth at the tail end of the 1960s Civil Rights movement, Evan Barnes, who is a media peer of co-host Devin Ugland who grew up in Mid-City Los Angeles and now lives in Memphis, Tenn., and Charles Williams, a peer of co-host Ronnie Flores who grew up in South Central L.A., attended Manual Arts High School, played at the University of Cincinnati and still lives in Ohio. The final guest is Fullerton College head coach Perry Webster, a white junior college coach basketball coach who wanted to share his experiences growing up in South Orange County and participating and coaching in California’s junior college system (Fullerton JC).
The four African American men have a common identity growing up Black in America and share their thoughts on the latest civil unrest against the backdrop of living through prior incidents, while Webster shares his experience and what White Americans can do to begin the process of change.
You know why they were brought on as guests, you know why this was necessary and now it’s time for change. Give this podcast a listen and continue to educate yourself on what you can do, and how you can use sports, to bring positive change to our country.