South L.A.

Listening, thinking. Riding.

Amazing ride to the Watts towers last weekend, thanks to the no less amazing Will. From Jelly Roll Morton, to the first black person to be honored with the Nobel Peace Prize, to the Black Panther, to Sanford & son to the ‘65 Watts riots to Eula Love (Stop N° 7) to Rodney King twenty years ago already, the history of L.A. is built on race conflict, mostly white and black people.

South L.A. For the first time, I saw black people in Los Angeles. Not just here and there, entire neighborhoods. People nod, smile, wave at us. Everywhere. Some neighborhoods supposedly “bad” aren’t bad at all. They might have been. Segregation is so strong. I felt bad sometimes, like I’m in some sort of safari with 25 white people despite the fact that I wanted to hang out for a while with every black person seen there. Always confronted to the same thing: I’m in the middle, on the edge crushed and quartered by how society works today.

Deep and profound experience. I was more tired from emotions than from riding 50 km.

But it was good.