saturday in the park

Had a great time this weekend. I was the Marshall at graduation too, which meant all the faculty had to enter behind me and Maya Angelo was our speaker. I don’t know if it was the fact that there were three game seven NBA final games expected in near dates or that no famous people or anyone I knew got shot or injured. It started early Saturday morning, had to take my son to the airport at 6am to catch a flight to St. Louis for his aunt’s wedding. I would have attended but I had graduation to deal with at the school of Medicine. I got this snappy photo with our interim president – Dr, David Satcher. This will be his last graduation as the head of the School of Medicine.

After that I had to get home and run a few errands. In which I was also able to take a nice evening nap, starting at around 1pm. I got a call from my boy Shorty Greg. He wanted me to meet over at the barbershop on Bankhead across from the spot his car wash used to be. He said he wanted me to go to a block party that his old neighborhood was sponsoring – Kimberly Courts. Now for yawl folks who don’t know anything about the ATL., it is located on the heart of the Westside in the area of Simpson road, and Bankhead.


After hanging out in the parking lot by the barbershop, my daughter and I followed Short Greg to the park. As soon as I got there I was almost in heaven. The music was loud and the best of what the Westside had to offer. The food was cooking, and I was welcomed as if I was from KC myself. Greg took me around and introduced me to folks (me, him and Mook-B (D4L status) go way back). Since I had baby girl with me, I posted up in the back of this truck that was filled to the brim with Ice and beverage. Young Dro and his folks were there passing out his new mixed CD with DJ Drama. I was more impressed with this young kid named Carlos who Greg said put on the party every year, and this was the 5th anniversary bash. The kid road up in a Chevy with butterfly doors open, with his boy in the passenger side and pulled out a lot of gallons of Absolute and Hennessey.

They way Greg walked around, you could have sworn he was the mayor of Kimberly Courts or at least running for office. He had all the women taking care of me from bringing me plates of food to getting me beer and cognac. And the best thing about it was that it reminded me of being home, and that these were real folks and the only violent acts I saw regarded dancing drinking, laughing and me and shorty greg taking pictures with my daughter by his car. Good lookin’ Short Greg, I will be back next year for sure.