Full interview: Tammi Mac, John Kobylt discuss George Floyd protests one year later
LOS ANGELES - Show hosts Tammi Mac and John Kobylt stopped by FOX 11 to discuss the unforgettable year that was 2020.
In a year that included the death of Kobe Bryant, the start of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the George Floyd murder, the previous calendar year was full of emotion and shock.
"Everything stirs up emotions about 2020. From beginning to end," said Kobylt, co-host of the "John and Ken Show" on KFI-AM 640.
"2020 was a year that I don't think anyone who was born before the 1960s could have imagined happening in America.," said Mac, the host of the "Tammi Mac Late Show" on FOX Soul. "It was emotionally draining, it was physically draining and it was mentally draining."
Both Kobylt and Mac agreed the Kobe Bryant death set the tone for the dark and emotional rollercoaster of a year that 2020 would end up being.
"When you think about Kobe Bryant and his name being synonymous with the Lakers, synonymous with LA. But when he died, we realized in LA that he didn't just mean so much to us. He meant so much on a global level," Mac said.
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"This was a global loss. And then we move from a global loss to a global pandemic. And in the midst of a global pandemic, we get this one instance that happens where a police officer murders a man in cold blood on a platform that goes global. All of a sudden, that sparks global protest," Mac adds. "This was one heck of a year when we talk about 2020 and how it's going to be written in history."
Interactive Timeline: Critical moments that led to social justice movement
Kobylt recalled the shocking video that showed ex-police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd's neck.
"It was a strange kind of violence. " Kobylt said. "It was just this slow, squeezing the life out of a person, which I don't think any of us have ever seen before… It was the weirdness of what he was doing. And that he had no emotion. No reaction from it."
You can catch all of Episode 1 of Rising Up by clicking here.
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Rising Up is a five-part docuseries produced by FOX 11 that examines the death of George Floyd, the protests that occurred in response, and the important, sometimes uncomfortable, conversations surrounding race, policing, activism, and the future of America, that have taken place since.
Rising Up: FOX 11 documentary series official trailer
In this new limited edition documentary series, Rising Up, FOX 11 conducts new interviews -- as protesters, law enforcement, activists and journalists -- share what they saw or experienced and help trace the timeline of the critical moments in social justice which led to a movement never to be forgotten.
The series features interviews with Rev. Al Sharpton, Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA), LAPD Chief Michel Moore, FOX 11 anchors Elex Michaelson and Christine Devine, and some two dozen other journalists, activists, academics, and protesters.
Rising Up airs nightly at 6 PM PST from May 24 through May 28, and is also available anytime on Tubi, FOX Soul, NewsNow, FOXLA.com, and YouTube.
For more information and exclusive content, go to foxla.com/risingup.