Derby Cruising---END IT

Many young Black folks (and completely misguided old Black folks) think that Derby Cruising is the Black Derby event. I’ve heard and read people say that Abramson is taking the wrong approach to the situation and the city should just let the cruising happen. I work with a lot of police officers and I’ve heard that last year’s Derby cruising was the worst public display of lawlessness they have seen in their career. There were so many guns on Broadway on Derby Day it could have been mistaken for a military installation. Plus the National Guard had the ghetto bird out flashing spotlights all over the street. There were 65 arrests, one murder, rapes, sex in public, illicit drug use in public, and countless other acts of destructive ignorant behavior. Anyone who went to college and is over the age of 30 can tell it sounds a lot Freaknic, aka Black College Weekend, in Atlanta. (And most people will also tell you that the trouble makers were from out of town and not college students.) Atlanta put a stop to it. It was out of control and Atlanta authorities did not tolerate it. Atlanta has had a black mayor for years and tons of black police officers for years as well, so it was not a race issue. They put their collective foot down on the insanity caused by cruising in their city. Louisville has done the right thing by ending Derby cruising. It’s not a race issue, it’s a safety issue. People don’t need to ride in a circle wasting gas acting like a bunch of immature donkeys (I would use the other word but this is a family show!) to have fun. Ok, many would say: what about the In-Field and cruising on Preston and other parts of the South End?? Simple: they don’t have guns. They’re drunk. They’re rowdy. They may even have a couple of FIST fights. But, they are not walking around with assault rifles (one officer told me he saw one last year). Gimme a break, people. Derby cruising is a menace and dangerous. And as quiet as it’s kept most of the residents on Broadway and neighboring streets (black folks) want it to stop. They are not vocal because many don’t want to seem disloyal to the “black community” or be perceived to be siding with “the Man.” But guess what: I could give a damn about this elusive, phantom ‘black community’ think. I’m on the side of right and obeying the law. Simple. Any good Christian or Muslim or Jew should be on the side of being a law-abiding citizen and not a criminal no matter what race. Malcolm X said if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything; Stand up for what’s right. But like my mother said: if it were easy to do what’s right, everyone would do it.

Listening to Weary by Amel Larrieux. This girl is good. Great lyrics.

Kevin Johnson, no not that guy down the street….

Kevin Johnson, KJ of the Phoenix Suns, left the NBA to get involved in his community and take over his old High School. He’s the principal and his goal to make EVERY child college ready. And he is making progress. Why don’t we know about this? How come I don’t know about this? This intelligent, Black athlete who is doing something extremely positive and I never heard about it. I’ve heard of the overpaid athlete who choked his coach. I’ve heard the cornrowed guy who threw his wife out of the house. We’ve all heard about the stories of the thug athletes who dominate professional American sports. Why don’t we here about the Kevin Johnsons?? I want to hear about these guys. I guess it’s not a sexy story. I guess it won’t sell newspapers. I guess the nightly news would rather lead with sex or gory violent crimes. When are Americans going to stop feeding off of negativity? Here in Louisville crime drives the nightly news. It’s the lead, the middle, and Kentucky basketball is the end. I want to hear some success stories, some uplifting stories, some encouraging stories. I guess people would rather be full of apprehension. Doesn’t make much sense does it.

Listening to EWF. Simply the best band of ALL TIME.

521.46 Miles

According to Mapquest this is the distance to a part of my heart. This part of my heart has been missing since I was seventeen years old. It’s unimportant how we came to be separated. The stars, the fates or the gods felt is necessary to split this heart in two for a period of time. Maybe each half of the heart needed to learn a lesson before it could begin its life long journey together. Each half thought it was ready for the ultimate experience, but Someone felt differently. It’s been a long fourteen years for each half. Pain, anxiety, happiness, joy, sorrow, hurt, hate and love. Each half has had its share of all the emotions: positive and negative. Over the years each one has thought and fantasized about the other. Hoping the other was thinking the same thing at, maybe, the same time. Have you missed me? Have you yearned for me? Have you dreamed of me? Each moved through life trying to link itself to a heart that seemed to be a fit, but ultimately never was. Deep down an ember of love and hope glimmered, but circumstances keep them apart. Now, circumstances may bring them together. Don’t despair, dear reader, the halves may be united very soon. What’s in store for these two is unknown, but it’s sure to be an adventure.

Listening to Don Omar. A fiiiine Puerto Rican man. I may have the vapors.

Thank you sis.

Me and the sister partied all weekend long. I barely saw the sun this weekend because we slept during the day after getting in after three in the morning for TWO nights in a row. Apparently, the sun didn't make a lot of appearances, but nonetheless, I missed it. We had a lot of fun! I feel sorry for you people without a built in best friend of a sister or brother. We giggled all weekend long. Flirted with cute boys. Drank a few spirits. Ate bad night time food. It was a good weekend. We started off at a networking event at Felt's on 4th Street Live right after work on Friday. Very interesting. I did much better at this event than the one I went to a few weeks ago (I actually talked to people and introduced myself to strangers). Friday night we saw old friends at Club Villa Fontana. Danced and reminisced with friends we hadn't talked to in months. It was totally serendipitous that we missed the deluge that happened around 1 am on Saturday morning. Later, that night I had a mostly innocent encounter with a NEW boy. I'm moving on, people. I'm not chasing the one anymore. I'm going to give a chance to the nice and INTERESTED guy for a change. (And, I'm going to move super SLOW with this one, no sense in rushing, right?) Saturday morning and afternoon was totally dedicated to recuperation, but we did go to a cookout in the early evening. A little light shopping right before the stores closed at nine and then it was out to 4th Street AGAIN. My sister had tons of energy and I tried to keep up with my OLD butt. I managed pretty well. This time we were at the Parrot Beach, Palm Bar, Red Cheetah. Is it me or is that place letting in 19 year olds?? Just kidding ABC and other authorities, they carded TWICE, but I swear everyone is getting younger....oh, yeah, I'm getting older. Shoot. But I still LOOK good! Thanks for sharing the adventurous weekend with me sis….

Listening to Sean Paul's Temperture. Love this song and all other Reggaeton.