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It’s safe to say that when we started planning Episode 100, which was right around February 1st, after we recorded Episode 80, we did not see any of this coming. About one month later, a global pandemic hit the US, and the specter of coronavirus has irreversibly and, likely, permanently changed our lives. Just when we started to see a light at the end of the tunnel that we didn’t think was just another oncoming train, the shocking murder, yes, murder, of 46-year old Black man George Perry Floyd, Jr. on May 25, 2020, at the hands of four Minneapolis police officers rocked our nation to its core. 

Protests erupted in hundreds of cities here in the US and around the world, with many taking place right in our own backyards in Los Angeles. The murder of Floyd, which followed so closely on the heels of the murders of Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, seems, hopefully, to be the final straw in a movement long overdue, and one that starts with three simple yet, for us at least, unimaginably complex words: Black. Lives. Matter. 

In building this platform we have over the course of 100 episodes, we have had incredible moments and shared many stories with you. We have also pledged, from the very beginning, as part of the Force for Good in the LAFC community, to do whatever we could, however we could, for whomever we could in the spirit of our club’s credo: One by one. Block by block. Street by street. Shoulder to shoulder. 

This brings us to Episode 100. Certainly not the episode we envisioned four months ago, but we believe it’s our most meaningful one we have put together. 

We are acutely aware of several facts: We are two white guys who sit in Founders Club, neither of us rich monetarily but certainly wealthy with privilege and opportunity, some of which we may have taken for granted or not even acknowledged just a few months ago. But now, that is crystal clear. We feel qualified to speak on many topics and help tell many stories, especially as they relate to the worlds of football and sports, life on each of the coasts, teaching, drinking, seizing opportunity, learning from one’s mistakes, and more. But we do not feel qualified, nor do we feel comfortable, speaking on this topic alone. 

Yes, unequivocally, we believe Black Lives Matter. We stand with the Black community and all people of color as allies and soldiers in the cause. But the story behind it, the feelings and experiences interwoven with the emotions that the Black community is feeling right now and has been for centuries? We not only need help with this message, we at Defenders of the Banc need to stop. Pause. Listen. Absorb. Think. Reflect. Learn. 

And only then, after that, can we even begin to know where to start and how to help. The one thing we are sure of is that we want to be a part of the world-changing solution as best we can. With all of that said, we asked our friend and former guest of the podcast on Episode 74, Brandon Salaam-Bailey, better known to the LAFC community as Stix, to join us today. 

Stix the founder of the Think Watts Foundation, a foundation we have highlighted many times on this podcast. He is part of the fabric of the LAFC community, not merely for his work with the Black and Gold, but for what he does for the Watts community and people across Los Angeles. Stix’s mantra of “Educating, rebuilding, and redeveloping minds and communities for the next generation of leaders” isn’t just a slogan on his website, it is the driving force behind his numerous actions. 

We are honored to once again bring on the pride of Watts, Brandon Salaam-Bailey, Stix.