Harlem

Biked to Harlem via the Hudson River bike path. It was a beautiful day. One of those "I totally understand why they have those t-shirts -- I LOVE NEW YORK" kind of days. The trees are all in full bloom. Pink. White. Purple Green. Amazing.

I was headed to the demonstration protesting the gratuitous killing of Sean Bell. I don't really know much about the case, so I can't in good conscience comment on the right or wrongness of the aquittal, but I can say that either way, 50 shots seems excessive. So, with a journalist friend, I biked up there to see what was going on. We got there a little late for the actual demonstration. There were a few people with signs and flyers, but nothing really noteworthy. Or was it?

I think that the expectation is that the black community would be the folks who are outraged in this event since Sean Bell was black. However, the people sticking around to the bitter end were white, asian, latino, but not really a black presence.

Another thing came to pass while we were in Harlem. My friend's bike got a flat. So, we started asking people about a bike shop. The man at what I'm calling the "Jesus Table" suggested that we go to a man who sets up on the side of the road and fixes bikes for "the children". Sounded good to me, but I wasn't quite sure about the directions. So I asked someone else. This guy said he'd lived in Harlem for years, knew the neighborhood like his hand, and had never seen a bike shop. That's why (he said) that there was so much violence around -- people don't ride bikes here. So we decided to follow the directions of the Jesus Table man. And then we encountered "The Doctor". The Doctor was a barber-shop-esque setup in a garage where three or four guys sat waiting for customers surrounded by bikes.

For $20 we got the flat fixed, tightened the brakes, straightened out the rim, and got back on the road.

The most surprising thing? The philosophy lessons. I'll admit it. I'm a little limited in what I think that most people think about religion. I think that sometimes people take things literally and I'm not down with that.

However, I overheard a woman talking on the phone with someone about tackling problems by setting the right frame of mind and letting things happen from there -- making the mind the most important, or at least the beginning, part. Then, the man who fixed the bike told us he had had 2 strokes, 2 heart attacks, spent 2 years in a wheel chair, and had beaten cancer. He attributed his current health to faith and an internalization of the divine. Deep.

10+ miles by bike. Cultural experience. Good company along the way. And guacamole and homemade lasagna when we returned home. Beautiful day.