[Disclaimer: This might just be my longest post ever so begin with caution].
Today started out awfully dreary. As I awoke and looked out the window, I could tell that it had rained the night before. Puddles had gathered at the base of our driveway, and the air was quite brisk. However, waking up at 8:30 or so on a Monday morning can be considered nothing short of a blessing! A few hours later, donning my upstate NY winter coat, my roommates Zack, Matthew and myself headed on out for the annual Kingdom Day Parade, sponsored by Stevie Wonder’s local radio station, KJLH (“Remember, don’t fight at the Kingdom parade”, encouraged one of the DJs as we listened on the way. “Save that for tomorrow, but leave it at home for today.”)
Taking the little known shortcut of West St. in order to avoid the traffic and delays of parade-route Crenshaw Blvd., we parked just a few blocks west of the parade’s main intersection, Crenshaw Blvd. and Martin Luther King Blvd. It had just begun to rain.
By the time we had taken our places along the western edge of the street, the rain had become thicker and with some great difficulty we were able to see the paraders past the barrage of umbrellas lining the streets.
As I looked around, I saw street vendors selling everything from sausages to silly string to t-shirts. And for every vendor there were at least ten others passing out literature: info for an upcoming anti-curfew protest, $1,000,000 bills that turned out to be Bible tracts from the local Assemblies of God church, and of course, the obligatory campaign flyers for the two leading Democrats in this year’s presidential race.
As my attention soon returned to the parade, I noticed the usual suspects who were present: LAPD Commissioner William Bratton, LA County Sheriff Lee Baca, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, LAUSD Board Member Marguerite LaMotte (who, may I add, I did not vote for in her recent re-election. Maybe if more than 7% of registered voters would have showed up for that one we’d have someone incredibly more effective doing the job that she obviously can’t.).Of course this is not to mention our maverick Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa who, instead of riding in his city vehicle chose to go bounding down Crenshaw Blvd with free smiles and handshakes for all.
Notably absent was LAUSD Superintendent Admiral David Brewer III, much to the dismay of my roommate who wanted to shout out, “When will I get paid right?“ as he would pass by. But just like Keith says, you can’t always get what you want.
Soon after these figureheads had passed and the marching bands got into their routines, the sun began to shine and we began walking down the boulevard to the finale of the parade, Leimert Park, where we could already begin to smell the fragrances of what has quickly become one of my favorite types of food out here, barbecue! The potato salad was great, the tri-top ribs were even better, but the greatest of all was Bilal Muhammad, “The Bean Pie Man”, who sold us pecan pie, carrot pie, and pineapple cheese pie! As we were finishing wolfing down the thick, juicy, and flavorful dessert and heading back to Crenshaw, the older Bilal had turned to a group of young ladies standing behind us and exclaimed “If sweetness is your weakness, then I’m your man!”
The day had finally come to a close and as we headed back up Crenshaw I heard from behind me, “Hi Mr. Hunsberger!” It turned out to be one of my students (actually the same one who “don’t play video games no more“). I wished him a Happy King Day and said I’d see him Tuesday. This was not to be my final school encounter as later this evening I ran into Y——, a former student of mine whom I had taught 7th and 8th grade math to two years ago. She’s now a sophomore at a charter school in Venice and from what she says, she’s going very well! She’s one of the great examples of a kid who struggled with math in 7th grade, and then really came back with an amazing effort for her 8th grade year and really did well!
This is one of the things that I love the most about living in the same neighborhood as my school. The opportunity to interact with kids and their families outside of Room 216 is invaluable. It reminds me that after all, they’re just kids, and it reminds them that yes, I am human too. And as we celebrate the life of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, I wouldn’t want it any other way.
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