{"id":2275,"date":"2023-10-04T01:13:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-04T01:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/?p=2275"},"modified":"2023-08-28T12:40:22","modified_gmt":"2023-08-28T12:40:22","slug":"chap-18-shopping-while-black","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/?p=2275","title":{"rendered":"Chap. 18 – Shopping While Black"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Chapter 18<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shopping While Black<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Turns out Ken, Max\u2019s ex-brother-in-law, is very <\/em>connected to the Hollywood political set \u2013 sort of an anti-war gigolo getting paid and put up by his Hollywood friends to keep on agitating and escorting.   Currently sharing Rosie O\u2019Donnell\u2019s mansion with her, Ken looked more the part of a gigolo than a protester:  Curly blond hair wound tight, about one inch long, with no discernible part; square jawed, broad shoulders, bulging biceps, a hunk of a man.  Later, at a bar, Huck claims he overheard a woman remark about Ken, \u201cGod, I could get off in public looking at him!\u201d  Ken never talked much about the services he provided, just that occasionally he got hired to be someone\u2019s escort at some fancy Hollywood event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Ken thought maybe we could get some buy-in and publicity from the celebrity crowd for our Rumpkins idea – imitating the politics of colonial Virginia but on the internet instead of in a tavern. Sally contacted Pirate Jack who said he\u2019d get his company to move on the idea of a test run of a first Rump “legislative” session.   Skip contacted Jesse to get the Portland Pirate\/Yang Gang to coordinate with Pirate Jack about how to do voting and have debates on line. Rocky, using his John Birch credentials, went in search of the local Libertarian Party to see if they had any interest in getting their platform into the discussion.  Steve checked-in with the local Lawyers Guild chapter to see what political issues were hot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Turns-out, no one was much interested in our Rumpkins organizing idea.  We did read in the paper that California seceding from the union was a hot topic.  The head of the Mexican-American Defense Fund was quoted, saying:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cToday, more Californians trace their roots to places south of the border than to the time of the Pilgrims.  And we love being Americans, but if folks in D.C. keep saying we\u2019re not wanted, well, that\u2019s why the secessionist movement is so strong in California.\u201d   <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

     We decided to propose the idea of California seceding from the Union as the focus for our test Rump session, and invited anyone looking at our blog to submit other ideas.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/em>Meanwhile, Rocky, Huck and Huck\u2019s local musician buddy organized a Thursday<\/em>–through<\/em>–Friday<\/em>–night<\/em> pub crawl for all of us and our L.A. friends.  We put the \u201citinerary\u201d on our blog site and brought the Land Yacht out of storage to make the rounds.  Our Thursday stop was a daytime visit to a bar called Mom\u2019s Place in Santa Monica, right by the beach, kind of a combination artsy – biker bar.  Some of us checked out the beckoning beach under a blazing sun.  Inside the bar, drinking margaritas, Patty\u2019s Sacramento friend suggested, \u201cWhy not add graffiti art to the Land Yacht?  You know, buy some removable paint – invite passers-by to do their thing.  It will sure help the movie.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     A bit later, Patty called from the Nordstrom\u2019s Department Store over on 2nd Street where she and her friend had driven the Land Yacht to buy some paint.  \u201cThe cops have detained our friend and accused her of shoplifting!  It\u2019s a case of shopping while Black.  Steve, you got to get over here \u2013 it\u2019s just a four-block walk.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Arriving on the scene Steve asked the cops if anybody was being arrested.  Patty\u2019s friend had shown the cop a receipt for all the Nordstrom\u2019s merchandise, and the issue now was lack of a driver\u2019s license.  \u201cOkay,\u201d Steve said, \u201chere\u2019s my<\/em> driver\u2019s license.  I\u2019ll drive.  Everybody, let\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cNot so fast, Bub,\u201d one of the cops said.  \u201cYou been drinking?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cOfficer, the answer is yes \u2013 one drink \u2013 but we\u2019re done answering questions.  You\u2019ve got no right to detain us without probable cause a crime has been committed.  I happen to be a lawyer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cThat so?  Well, you can shove that lawyer license up your ass.  One drink, where?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cLook Officer, no need for us to continue the conversation.  You\u2019re in the wrong on this.  I told you, only one drink.  There\u2019s no shoplifting beef.  It\u2019s illegal and<\/em> immoral<\/em> to profile Blacks.  If you think I\u2019m drunk, arrest me as I drive away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     The street was crowded with cars and buses and throngs of shoppers.  Meanwhile, Patty had turned her camera on and the whole scene had attracted a dozen or more onlookers.  \u201cYou can turn that fuckin\u2019 camera off lady.  Get out of here.  Get out of Santa Monica.  Every step you take, every bar you make, I\u2019ll be following you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cCome on, let\u2019s go,\u201d Steve said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \u201cNot just yet,\u201d Patty said.  \u201cAny onlookers want to comment on what you just saw?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Patty\u2019s friend started it off saying it\u2019s not the first time she\u2019s been accused of \u201cshopping while Black.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \u201cSaw where they didn\u2019t ask for citizenship papers,\u201d a Mexican looking bystander remarked.  \u201cI\u2019ve been asked for mine just because my name ends in \u2018e-z\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Steve got on camera saying we were making a movie \u2013 a movie about journeying across the country \u2013 and how different the journey would be if we all happened to be Black instead of white.  \u201cMight as well be Black, what with that rig you\u2019re travelin\u2019 in, all hippied-up,\u201d somebody in back shouted.     <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     The itinerary on our blog had our last bar-hopping stop being Dirty Nick\u2019s in East L.A. where Huck\u2019s musician friends were playing.  By now, our Nordstrom\u2019s video had gone viral, and a flash mob thing developed.  It seemed half of L.A. was following our blog to see when we\u2019d get busted, or what we were going to do next.  We were careful to have a designated driver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Dirty Nick\u2019s is in a shopping mall.  By 10 p.m. all the stores were closed, just the bar open, but the parking lot was full of cars, and a bunch of honking started up as we pulled in.  Some folks clamored to get on the bus, others wanted to help paint it, some just wanted to be movie stars.  Once we had the Land Yacht locked, and managed to get inside, the place was packed and Patty had the camera on live-streaming.  An older woman, saying her name was \u201cWenderful\u201d got in front of Patty\u2019s camera and told us about doing a strip tease with<\/em> Bo Belinsky and Dean Chance (former Los Angeles Angels baseball pitchers \u2013 known for being playboy-types) on the top of Dirty Nick\u2019s bar back in 1964, and then flashed her 75-year-old boobs for the camera. The crowd cheered for more.  We decided it was time to go, but folks were definitely now following us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chapter 18 Shopping While Black      Turns out Ken, Max\u2019s ex-brother-in-law, is very connected to the Hollywood political set \u2013 sort of an anti-war gigolo getting paid and put up by his Hollywood friends to keep on agitating and escorting.  … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2275"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2275"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2275\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2766,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2275\/revisions\/2766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}