were just, as so many others, gobsmacked about what was going on in the country. for us, the most striking thing i remember when watching that horrible video was the last words of george floyd, mama. and that just kept ringing in the back of our ears, these conversations that we were having with people in our community and so my partner commissioned the work and was really came out of this idea, how do we not only mourn the loss of george floyd, but how do we then maybe possibly create an image that is going to spur us to action so this doesn t keep happening? so we dove into the sacred art images that have come from the past and george call out for
mama, a mother holding her son, a man of color who is unjustly murdered by the state 2,000 years ago that the same thing is continually happening and using that historic image to then convey and move us towards contemlaing what had happened. and, kelly, to that point, you know, folks, control room, put the painting of mama back up because in the new york times, you mentioned this, the style, in the new york times , they note rather than looking at the body of jesus, the virgin mary is looking at the viewer. they quote you as saying she s asking, what are you going to do so this doesn t keep happening. yes. and i think one of the striking things that happened in that summer is we had saw another image going online of george floyd s mother holding him, cradling him as a young baby, and it is in the same image that
flattened and trees and powerlines down everywhere, somebody said, hey, a lady lost her kids, they had been sucked out by the tornado. and at that time we all tried to get as quiet as we could, i guess during all the chaos and listened. and i heard the screaming or crying from the infants in the distance. and that s when the crew and myself and deputy arnold all ran toward the sound of the crying, and just started pilfering through all the damaged area. and finally we got to the bathtub and located the kids. oh, my gosh. and is it correct i was told the bathtub was actually turned upside down almost like cradling protecting these little babies from the debris on top of the tub. it was, yes, ma am. wow.
the arms of strangers. u.s. troops cradling newborns in perhaps one of the most tender images, this little girl exhausted, asleep on the cold metal floor of a c-17, snuggled in the jacket. captain mark lawson snapped a photo. after we had initially taken off, there was a general sense of calmness that kind of swept through and relief throughout the personnel that were inside that cargo hold. you saw the small children they started to lay down and relax and even fall asleep. reporter: a child finally finding peace after escaping this in kabul. with the tarmac overrun, a split second decision by the crew to take as many as they could. we saw an opportunity to save lives, and we took it. reporter: packing a plane that normally carries 350 with more than 800, the most ever. every life matters, right? so we couldn t sit there and say how do we determine? where s the cutoff line we have to figure out how much
the taliban s quick takeover of afghanistan produced many distressing images. the airport in kabul, mobbed. people desperate to get on evacuation flights. there are other stories from that vaccination, too, filled with warmth and kindness. thanks to the u.s. service members on the ground. nbc news pentagon correspondent courtney has the story. reporter: among the chaotic scenes from the rushed withdrawal from afghanistan, endearing images. a baby handed over the wall to the hands of strangers. u.s. troops cradling newborns and perhaps one most he said thor images, this little girl exhausted, a sleep on the floor of the c-17. the captain snapped the photo.