The cavalry finally came to my rescue, three years later.
See, my neighborhood was effectively shut down in June 2020 for 2 weeks during the BLM unrest here in West Hollywood — because shutting down a mostly gay neighborhood was the right place to stick it to the man, I guess: "Let's go preach to the choir, school them about what systemic discrimination is. They've had partial equal right for 5 years now. That's enough!" My pharmacy was shuttered, and I was about to get a hip replacement. My list of woes is long and whiny.
So there I am, news helicopters overhead breaking through the earplugs while I'm trying to work. My new lawyer on a slam-dunk court case to collect for unpaid work calls me to review the case. First I have to apologize for the helicopter noise. Then I ask him if there's a legal definition of 'systemic' that I'm not aware of; after 35 years as a professional writer, I know the meaning of a few words, and as far as I can tell, there is no longer systemic racism in America. The question spins into an argument faster than I can make my case. Finally he says, "I can't speak for the Black experience. We need to agree to disagree about this." Click. Two days later, I get a formal letter dropping me as a client.
Three days after that, after taking over our neighborhood for two weeks, BLM boots LA Pride's 50th anniversary parade from honoring them by joining their big finale in Hollywood, cast of a hundred thousand — "they didn't ask properly." So there has to be a separate march call All Black Lives Matter running parallel to the main event. And still nobody objects or questions any of it, but it's okay, we're used to that sort of thing.
You know what, I'm sending this video to those lawyers. Once again, thank you for being you, Dr. Loury.
The cavalry finally came to my rescue, three years later.
See, my neighborhood was effectively shut down in June 2020 for 2 weeks during the BLM unrest here in West Hollywood — because shutting down a mostly gay neighborhood was the right place to stick it to the man, I guess: "Let's go preach to the choir, school them about what systemic discrimination is. They've had partial equal right for 5 years now. That's enough!" My pharmacy was shuttered, and I was about to get a hip replacement. My list of woes is long and whiny.
So there I am, news helicopters overhead breaking through the earplugs while I'm trying to work. My new lawyer on a slam-dunk court case to collect for unpaid work calls me to review the case. First I have to apologize for the helicopter noise. Then I ask him if there's a legal definition of 'systemic' that I'm not aware of; after 35 years as a professional writer, I know the meaning of a few words, and as far as I can tell, there is no longer systemic racism in America. The question spins into an argument faster than I can make my case. Finally he says, "I can't speak for the Black experience. We need to agree to disagree about this." Click. Two days later, I get a formal letter dropping me as a client.
Three days after that, after taking over our neighborhood for two weeks, BLM boots LA Pride's 50th anniversary parade from honoring them by joining their big finale in Hollywood, cast of a hundred thousand — "they didn't ask properly." So there has to be a separate march call All Black Lives Matter running parallel to the main event. And still nobody objects or questions any of it, but it's okay, we're used to that sort of thing.
You know what, I'm sending this video to those lawyers. Once again, thank you for being you, Dr. Loury.