FIVE. OH! TOO…

FIVE.

1. 

This week, activist Shameka Parrish-Wright of the local chapter of the Bail Project, a national organization that aims to end cash bail, announced she’ll be running in 2022 to become the first Black person and first woman to be mayor of Louisville. Taylor Killough has been working on a profile of Parrish-Wright since the peak of protesting last summer, and I’ll share the piece here next week, when it goes live on our upcoming redesigned Louisville.com.

Parrish-Wright told Killough, “I’ve been a part of what it takes to help keep the city from burning. As a country, we’re recognizing that Black women’s leadership has always been there; it just hasn’t always been given the light. We can no longer stay in the background.”

2. A couple weeks ago I resurrected Where Am I?, a small bit that used to run in the magazine. Just a small pic, and readers would guess where it was taken. Here’s the first Where Am I?, originally published in 2014.

That’s outside Hammerheads on Swan Street. (I’m embarrassed to tell you how many times during the pandemic I’ve to-go-ordered the sweet-spicy “NashHot” pork belly sliders from the Douglass Loop location. Not gonna tell you whether or not I once ate them three days in a row. And I don’t mean leftovers.)

This week’s pic:

Do you know this location? Let me know and I’ll give you a shout-out in the next newsletter.

3. In a letter to U of L, former hoops star Butch Beard asked for his name to be stripped from the record books “until I see change.”

He wrote: “The university has been remiss and negligent in its hiring practices within the athletic department. No black role models exist for the student athletes playing men’s basketball or football. You may think assistant coaches in these sports are sufficient. They are not. Players need and want head coaches to confide in on real life issues on and off the court. Respect comes from the top: the head coach.”

In a statement, U of L president Neeli Bendapudi replied, “He is a Cardinal legend and will always be remembered for his many accomplishments on the court and in the classroom. Mr. Beard rightly points out that in the past, the university may not have always lived up to its responsibility to provide an equal opportunity to Black candidates seeking jobs at the highest levels of our athletic department. I can say with total confidence that (AD Vince Tyra) and I are committed to changing that narrative.”

4. I guess 2💩2💩 wasn’t punishing enough, so I watched the next two episodes of Call Me Kat, the laugh-tracked FOX sitcom set (but not filmed in) Louisville, to see how we’re being portrayed. The main character stands on a rooftop across the river with the skyline behind her, faces Indiana and yells, “Hey, Louisville!” And she also says: “Remember when you won those two giant pandas at the water-in-the-clown’s-mouth game at Kentucky Kingdom?”

More dialogue:

“I found your soulmate. A gentleman I met at the track.”

“I’m not gonna go on a date with a random man you met at the horse track.”

“He’s not a random man. He’s the track announcer.” (Whose dream is to open a cigar bar, possibly named Nice Ash.)

“I’ve always been fascinated by that skillset.” (Impression of a fast-talking track announcer.) “Aaaaaand I’m going on a date with a track announcer because I said yes to my mother, yes to my mother, and taking the lead is Hell Must Have Frozen Over!!!”

Also, who’s up for some “burny-throaty” bourbon, coffee, slices of Derby Pie and *checks notes* jumbo crab legs at the *checks notes* Parkley Hotel? Hope it doesn’t *checks notes* lead to “the governor thinking you have IBS.”

5. Bri and I told our first-grader, Emilia, about what in-person public school will look like if she goes back. Temperature screenings, masks (her favorite is Trolls World Tour-themed), distanced desks, “nearly all furniture to be removed,” lunch delivered to classrooms, “individual cones” outside on nice-weather days to keep kids separated. “Sounds like a nightmare,” Emilia said, “but I’m ready.”