I AM the Black Dot in the WATER that is Pissing in a Philly Pool

(PHOTO CAPTION: In 2004, Maritza Correia is the only African-American woman to qualify for the US Olympic Swim Team)
It was the early 80s and I just finished winning a 50 meter freestyle race somewhere in the Valley, right outside of Los Angeles. I was the only black in the event and one of the few blacks there. My older brother and sister made it to these finals for LA County's aquatic summer swimming program. As I was rounding the corner, a group of white girls who I just beat came up to me. The leader of the hyena pack said, "My daddy told me to tell you that you are a nigger." Appalled, hurt, and upset, I ran to my parents and told my father what happened. He told me to run back and tell them, "You ain't nuthin' but a peckerwood, cracker."

Oh no, my father does not believe in the non-reactive Civil Rights approach found in the black swimmers' movie "Pride". That was the typical MLK "turn-the-other-cheek" song and dance that we did not boogie to. So when I saw that girl, I let her have it, and of course, a couple of choice words I had picked up from my father as well. Then, I won another event and went on to become a lifeguard for 10 years.

Racism in the swimming pool and at swimming areas still goes on as we can see in the latest contempo-segregation at a Philadelphia pool where 60 black and Latino kids were turned away. Unfortunately, this is a norm that white America likes to avoid. That for the most part, there is an inner anxiety in intimate settings with darker hued folk.

Black people do not swim as much in this new world, not because they don't want to. For the most part, many of us did not have access to pools. Also, I argue that blacks, in particular, in the US, have not dealt with the spiritual pain of the Atlantic waters, or the sea. Plus, black women are so imprisoned by their hair care regime that the pool was never an option for many black women.

In spite of the aquatic segregation that was fought in the 1960s with "wade-ins", we are lovers of the water, best believe. My mama told me that one of her older brothers used to dive in the bayous in Louisiana to pull out the bodies that drowned in the waters. Talk about having Jacques Cousteau beat!

On a serious note, aquatic recreation has dried up in many communities of color, and like the long list of things we have not fought for, nor have funded---efficient and clean public pools are one of them.

Here is a little list of stories of inkwells (black swim areas) that were either removed, or set up to segregate black communities. Click on them to read a link about their histories.
(PHOTO: Black Inkwell in Santa Monica)

Martha Vineyard's Black Inkwell

Santa Monica, CA's Inkwell Beach

Racial Division in Chicago Public Beaches

Carr's Beach in Annapolis

Sparrow's Beach in Annapolis

Atlantic Beach in South Carolina

Segregation in Cape May, NJ

Gulf Coast Segregation

This reminds me about a documentary about Black Surfers called "Whitewash" that is being showed in Harlem next Thursday at an amphithetre by Marcus Garvey Park. The music score is by The Roots and Erykah Badu. A surfer girl who is land-locked. I will be there doing my AquaBoogie, yep, yep. Here is a trailer of the documentary.



However, I would like to the know the address of this recreational facility so I can piss in the waters and perhaps donate a Baby Ruth candy bar.

Things to Do: Free Weekend Festivals

Philadelphia
Odunde Festival
Odunde means "Happy New Year" in the Yoruba language, a culture and people currently living mostly in southwestern Nigeria. It is a festival that was started in the 1970s to pay homage to African spirits, in particular, Osun, the Goddess of Fertility, Love, Wealth, Art, Refinement, Children, etc. You cannot miss this "cultural jewel". It is an uber fest of black folk. Great dancing, food, singing, clothes, and good vibes. It gets hot and it is rainy this weekend so bring an umbrella and comfortable shoes.

I've gone to Odunde twice and the first time was breath-taking. The part I enjoy is the Sunday ritual where people make offerings into the Schuylkill river. Oh yeah, and I love the great food, especially the vegan jerk goat. Oooh weee! I MUST also recommend that folk who love the music that comes out of Philly attend because the live performances are outstanding. You will see a plethora of African ensembles with popular soul & r&b performers. The last time I went Kindred was performing, but the sound outta Philly is incredible. You will not be disappointed.

June 13, Saturday
Saturday the African Business Roundtable - 9AM - 1PMBusiness Roundtable Ambassdors include: Guinea and Sierra Leone.Location:
Philadelphia Department of Commerce1515 Arch Streets - 18th FloorPhiladelphia, PAFREE!!ODUNDE Cultural Center – 2308 Grays Ferry Avenue (23rd & South Streets). The Egungun Procession celebrates the memory of our elevated and honorable African ancestors. We humbly request that everyone wear white clothing. Bembe (a drum and dance celebration) will follow the procession.

June 14, Sunday
ODUNDE Festival and African Marketplace 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. South Street and Grays Ferry Stage Performances…Following the river procession, performances begin on ODUNDE's stages and end at dusk. As a cultural celebration designed for families to enjoy together, ODUNDE emphasizes performers and craft artists from throughout the African Diaspora whose work celebrates the diversity of traditional African or African-American art forms including: African dance, hair braiding, stepping, roller dance, drill team formations, hip-hop and tap dance, traditional African instruments, drumming, rhythm and blues, and traditional African American popular dance forms. Each year ODUNDE employs over 40 artists. Many have launched their careers from our stage. The ODUNDE Festival was an originator of authentic African Marketplace festivals, featuring traditional foods, art, crafts, clothing and jewelry. The most colorful aspect of the festival which continues throughout the day, The African Marketplace draws return customers every year. We are grateful to its vendors, who are major supporters of our organization. http://www.odundeinc.org/

Newark
Portugual Heritage Celebration "Dia de Portugal"
Ironbound Section of Newark (East of Newark's Penn Station)
This section of Newark has legacy of housing immigrant populations over the centuries. Portugues migrants began settling en masse into this neighborhood in the early 1900s. Today it is a combination of Portuguese Americans and Brazilians, and currently is experiencing an influx of Mexicans. If you come to Newark, you gotta eat at one of the famous eateries in the area, Forno's of Spain or Iberia's. The food is plentiful and delicious. The service is impeccable. The ghetto grapevine told me that the official end of the party only starts a night of dancing, eating and drinking until about 3 am.
Saturday: 2PM - Midnight
Sunday: 9AM - 11PM
Just go down Ferry Street and you will not miss a thing.
http://ironboundnewark.com/

Socio-Culturo-Politico Thursdays: Gentrification Roll Call

When I moved back to my hometown of Los Angeles in 1998 I thought I had stepped into a ghost town. In the black community there were blocks and blocks of empty commercial buildings and in the residential areas, there were abandoned, half-eaten homes. The decline increased rapidly right after the 1992 civil unrest and was at an apex at the end of that decade.

Shortly after, the famous homeless tent city in downtown Los Angeles was being bulldozed and the tenants were being forced out. There were rumors that downtown Los Angeles was about to go through a serious transformation. And it did. Today, the downtown L.A. that I knew has been replaced with gorgeous restored buildings and renovated warehouse spaces that are serving as upscale trendy lofts. You have the Staples Center and this new addition right across the street called L.A. Live, which is supposed to be a West Coast rendition of New York’s Time Square. Of course, it does not come close and is only a bunch of blinding lights and frou frou fake madness. Horrible copycats.

Now, on the surface, people might think. Isn’t that nice that L.A. is getting cleaner and fancier for its residents? Those homeless people need to get a job and get the hell on. But that is a convenient answer and one that is uninformed and filled with historical and political gaps. Gentrification happened in Los Angeles, and just like the California economy, the ones who benefited is not the common resident, and definitely were not the residents who sustained those broken sections of Los Angeles while the scarred lived in gated communities on the Westside or left the area for the desert.

According to Merriam Webster, gentrification is the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents. It is the reverse white flight that happened when blacks began moving into the cities in the early 1900s for more job opportunities. Back then white folk created suburbs, or communities outside of the city, but most of them still worked in the metropolises.

To give you a quick example of how white flight undermined cities, I will talk about education. Now, when people bitch and beef about inner city schooling without understanding the politics of it all they actually support the myth that inner cities offer poor education because the children and the communities are biologically crippled due to circumstances.

So let’s do basic suburban life 101. You have John who lives in Oxnard, but works in downtown Los Angeles. He makes a $1 million plus a year. Now John makes sure that he is out of the city before dark and is back home comfortably with his wife and children. His children go to schools that are ample in resources and parent support. John’s wife, Sue is a typical stay-at-home soccer mom who shuttles her children back-and-forth, and is very involved. This is what the American Dream offers, so I’m not hating.

Now when it comes time for taxes and John pays for his house taxes which go directly to the school district where he lives, it does not account for the money he makes in a neighborhood he has absolutely no financial or political obligation. Oh, I’m sorry, he does donate $100 to the NAACP yearly. If John worked and lived in the same area than his taxes would greatly help the local schools.

However, where John works, most of the residents are unemployed, underemployed, and undocumented workers. The schools in downtown Los Angeles barely function off of subsidized money. The little resources have been allocated by someone who probably has been working for the LA Unified School District before downtown L.A. became a mess and cannot understand why these Mexicans and Blacks never get their shit together.

One question that someone might ask is, “Why do rich people want to move to the hood?” Well, inner cities are the prime property throughout the country. Cities are the most developed, or at the very least, are the easiest to renovate. They are near the major government facilities, water & electric supplies, and have the oldest history of the city. Most cities have precious underground pathways that have been abandoned, but can be restored, and all major cities were built by a significant body of water and sacred lands of the former indigenous people that were massacred. Plus the intricately mapping of the cities made these metropolitans an architectural and geographical landmine.

For example, my parents live a 10 minute drive from the beach by the highway, 10 minutes from LAX airport, and live about a 3 – 7 minute drive to five major freeways. But where they live is South Central. The social stigma of the place draws people away, but in the back door there are people waiting to snatch the land.

Now, now dear one, L.A. is definitely not the only city that has experienced the ugliness of gentrification. There are cities like Harlem that you would not even recognize. About seven years ago I saw a Jewish couple walking a poodle at night on Lenox Avenue and 119th. Yes, gentrification is coming to a hood near you. And though it could be stopped, it will take a miracle to remove the crust of ignorance from millions.

Gentrification usually begins to occur around a section of the city where commercial and government wants to rebuild. Look for historical landmarks or buildings, usually around a mega university, a large water source, a lucrative business district, or a sports arena for football, baseball, or basketball. These areas have serious social and economic ills such as high crime and power. The property value is also ridiculously low so that investment firms will buy large numbers of plots and monopolize ownership. Once a significant portion is

So here is your gentrification roll call. These are not all the cities…please add (click on cities for links to gentrification articles)
Atlanta
Austin
Baltimore
Brooklyn
Camden
Charleston
Chicago
Cleveland
Dallas
Detroit
Harlem (NYC)
Houston
Jackson
Los Angeles
Miami
Montreal, Canada
New York City (Manhattan/Washington Heights & Lower East Side/Chinatown)
Newark
New Orleans
Oakland
Philadelphia
Portland
Richmond
Seattle
St. Louis
Trenton
Washington D.C.
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