My Personal Story — Re-Elect Johnny Boykins, Vice Chairman, Pinellas Democratic Party
By: Johnny V. Boykins
Tags: Pinellas County, Personal Story, Democratic Party, Local Politics, Millennials

Chairwoman Barbara Scott and Vice Chairman Johnny Boykins, First Presidential Debate in Miami, Florida

To my fellow Pinellas County Democrats:

I know many of you know me as I have served as Vice Chairman of the Pinellas Democratic Party for the last two years. Many of you don’t know me and have not heard my personal story. My name is Johnny V. Boykins, and I am asking you to Re-Elect me Vice Chairman of the Pinellas Democratic Party on December 7, 2020.

I am a native son of Pinellas County, the grandson of a letter carrier and seamstress, and the son of a single mother who would ultimately become the first person in our family to go to college. I am an organizational leader and manager in the physical security field by profession. I am the Director of Operations for the State of Florida and Manager of Licensing Compliance at PalAmerican Security, securing assets and facilities around the United States.

I am a United States Coast Guard Reserves Veteran, serving seven (7) honorable years, including deploying to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and responding to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

I graduated from the Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School, where I studied music in 2004. I would later attend and graduate from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg with an undergraduate degree in Political Science and Communications in 2008. I also attended and graduated from Norwich University with a graduate degree in Security Studies and Diplomacy.

I am a foodie and amateur chef, and bow tie aficionado. You will always find me eating some good eats and searching for a time and place to get dressed up. I am a dog dad to two wonderful german shepherds, Queen Reina and Sir Reikar. But most importantly, I am a husband to my husband of five (5) years, a brother to my two (2) brothers, an uncle to my eight (8) nieces and nephews, and a friend of too many to count.

I am a community and servant leader with a passion for education, climate change advocacy, and of course, politics. I serve on the Pinellas Education Foundation, Take Stock in Children Committee. I also serve on the St. Petersburg College Foundation Board of Directors. Furthermore, I am on the Board of Directors of the grassroots organization of Communities Responding to Extreme Weather (CREW). CREW is a network of local leaders building grassroots climate resilience through inclusive and hands-on education, service, and planning. I am a member of the Pinellas Democratic Veterans Caucus. I have led the Pinellas County Young Democrats as President for the last three (3) years, and I have been an elected Precinct Committeeman for the previous ten (10) years. I am a member of the St. Petersburg Branch of the NAACP and volunteer as a Mentor in Pinellas County Schools.

However, none of that tells you why I am a Democrat. Here is my personal story: When I was nine (9) years old, my mom left her corporate job to become a full-time caretaker for my grandfather, who was dying of cancer. Over the course of that year, my family would lose everything. We would lose our home, car, and dignity. It would take my mother nearly two decades to regain what she had lost because she chose to become a caretaker. We would become food and shelter insecure; my mom’s savings would be completely decimated. After my grandpa passed away, my mom would be hit with the indignity of being told that she was either overqualified or not skilled enough to re-enter the workforce. I am a Democrat because I believe that no family should have to suffer in ways mine did. I am a Democrat because I think people should be treated with dignity and grace.

I am a Black, gay, veteran millennial who believes that Climate Change is real and an existential threat to our way of life. I also recognize that climate change and environmental injustice will impact communities like mine. I am looking around, having survived the dog days of summer, nine months of the new normal of pandemic living, and what seems like world-ending catastrophic weather events across the United States. The west coast is on fire; hurricanes are barreling towards us on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, 100 and 500-year floods in the Midwest, a once-in-a-generation Derecho in the Great Plains, and the highest temperatures ever recorded in dozens of states. I am a Democrat because only one party is sounding the alarm of climate change.

If we do not address and combat the issue of Climate Change, nothing else really matters. I am worried that American cities, large and small, are not taking the proper steps to build up resiliency. Storms are getting stronger, droughts more prolonged, floodwaters moving inland, summers hotter, winters colder, topsoil degrading, wildfires blazing, and biodiversity shrinking. I recognize that we need radical action. I fear that I will enter my golden years watching mass climate migration, water wars, and regular devastating weather-related emergencies. I fear that we are not developing the green technologies of the present and future. We will not see racial justice, economic justice, or social justice without addressing environmental justice. I am a Democrat because I know that Climate Change is real, and we need to do something about it.

I will return to where I began. The Pinellas Democratic Party has made significant progress in the last couple of years. I signed on to work with Chairwoman Barbara Scott to reform how our party was managed and organized. We have restored power to the people and grassroots. Today, the Pinellas Democratic Party is more inclusive, more organized, more respected, and more empowered than it has been in recent memory. We should build upon that success. I have always said that I will never let perfection be the enemy of good. We have done good work. Now that you’ve gotten to know me a little better, I ask that you RE-ELECT me, Vice Chairman of the Pinellas Democratic Party.

Onward with Justice, Equality, Equity, Dignity, and Respect in mind,

Johnny Boykins, Vice Chairman

Pinellas Democratic Party