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Blog archive

August 2026

Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained/Lost
08/30/2026

A Gallery of Neighbors: The Village Art Group’s Group Show
08/28/2026

A New and Improved Way to Stay Safer Online
08/28/2026

A Trip to The Geffen Galleries
08/28/2026

Barrier Free Living - A Path to Living a More Independent Lifestyle
08/28/2026

Conversations with Art
08/28/2026

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
08/28/2026

Member Connections with Music Conductor Bill Bing
08/28/2026

Pasadena Heritage Walking Tour
08/28/2026

In Their Hands
08/23/2026

Ease of Being: Managing the stuff of everyday life
08/20/2026

A Tribute to Fire Debris Remediators and Their Super-Sized Dump Trucks
08/18/2026

Really Irene?
08/15/2026

There Is A Risk
08/09/2026

2026 Year in Review
08/03/2026

A Message From Your Newly Elected President
08/03/2026

Neighborhoods Within the Village
08/03/2026

Reflection from PUSD Intern Isabella "Izzy" Roberts
08/03/2026

Reflection on Service & Joy from 2025/26 President Dick Myers
08/03/2026

The Villager Engagement Team Welcomed 54 New Villagers
08/03/2026

Treasurer’s Report
08/03/2026

What Activity! The Cultural Activities Team Report
08/03/2026

An Even Exchange
08/01/2026

July 2026

June 2026

May 2026

April 2026

March 2026

February 2026

January 2026

Real Life Event with Racism

By Lora Harrington-Pride
Posted: 10/26/2023
Tags: racism, history, personal, lora harrington pride

After Dick’s encouragement, I am releasing to people who are interested, concerned and even unaware of racist happenings, some right here in Pasadena, stories about what I, and people like me have experienced.

 Once I have shared these “War Stories” that I want you to bear with me, I will extol the beautiful, kind, and generous things I have, and still am, experiencing in my relationships with people who don’t look like me.

 Our most common bond is our shared humanity, which we see first and foremost in each other, before we discover the other things that bind us.

 It has been, and it still is, a wonderful journey.  I can’t wait to tell you about it.

For today, here is a story of a little incident that took place and is part of my memories:

I was in a department store once and upon reporting to the cash register to ring up my purchases, the White associate started speaking to me in a heavy accent, replete with Ebonics greatly exaggerated.

I said “What part of the South are you from?”  Hearing my clear, accent-free, mid-western speech, he turned red and said more quietly, embarrassedly, “I’m not from the South.”  His speech was accent free, like mine.

I said, “Oh, you had me believing  that you were so far back in the woods, down south, that I was wondering how you got hired in this store.”  I smiled and walked away, leaving him regretting having mocked this Black person, having “assumed,” and given himself permission.

 

Lora Harrington-Pride

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