Equity Lab: It’s a Hot-Vax Summer in Sacramento’s Lavender Heights
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It’s Wednesday, June 30, 2021, and this is Alex Yoon-Hendricks.
Dipping my toe deeper in the waters of post-vaccinated life, earlier this month I headed to the heart of Sacramento nightclub culture — Lavender Heights, and more precisely, Badlands.
June is Pride Month, which is why it felt almost serendipitous to the gay bar’s general manager Johnathan Cameron when it was announced that California’s economy would reopen mid-month.
“It’s going to be interesting to see,” Cameron told me. “We don’t use the word drunk, we call it festive. Because legally you can’t have drunk people at a bar. But I think people are going to forget how to behave. We know we’re going to be packed, so we’re just being very careful about it.”
When I visited a few Fridays ago, I was amused by what a mushy blend of pandemic-era practices and hot-vax-summer liberties the Lavender Heights scene had become. The drag show was performed in what was once a parking lot. The dance floor had been filled with tables and chairs. It was still a cash-only bar. Dozens of rentable scooters lined the corner.
I’ve been fascinated by how Sacramento will look and feel different this summer. Like, the aesthetics of the city itself.
For example, the city’s Al Fresco dining scene — the decks on sidewalks, barriers along street parking and closed-off streets — is here at least until next summer. The program now has 122 restaurants on board, according to the city, helping them weather the pandemic when indoor dining was banned.
And the city’s slow streets program — which limits vehicle traffic on certain residential streets to encourage walking and biking — is piloting through next month, with the goal of potentially making some permanent. When I felt particularly sad during the spring about the slow vaccine rollout and (then) impossibility of reopened summer, I’d lazily bike back and forth down the car-free streets near my house. (Streets in Oak Park, Meadowview and Tahoe Park are currently closed off now, if you haven’t checked it out already.)
These next few months, I’ll be keeping an eye out for how COVID-19 continues to pervade our lives in small and big ways. If you see something interesting, let me know! DM me on Twitter, or you can email me at ayoon-hendricks@sacbee.com.
Here’s what else you need to know this week:
Must-Read Stories
FREE ENERGY-EFFICIENCY UPGRADES FOR HOMES AND RENTALS IN SACRAMENTO:
Depending on your income, you could be eligible for a federal program that installs free upgrades to your home.
These upgrades are meant to limit wasted energy consumption and reduce your climate impact.
“The program is at no cost to the homeowner or tenant,” said Eric Esquivel, energy director of Sacramento’s Community Resource Project Inc. “The goal is to help residents living in poverty and seniors on a fixed income in particular.”
- THE DEBATE BEHIND RENAMING A HISTORIC CALIFORNIA PARK:
Residents of Folsom and visitors of Negro Bar, a California State Historic Park, continue to discuss if the park name should include ‘Negro’ in its title.
Michael Harris is a board member of the Sacramento Historical Society. He says that it’s not the word but instead the history behind it.
“This place is the last place that’s recognizable in the context of the Gold Rush era that [Black] people were here,” said Harris.
[Read more here]
TARA LYNN GRAY’S PLAN TO SAVE CALIFORNIA’S SMALL BUSINESS ECONOMY:
The former CEO of Fresno’s Black Chamber of Commerce was recently appointed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom to lead the office of Small Business Advocates.
As a former small business owner, Gray has worked in small business support services for 25 years.
“We’ve had a crisis with small business across the economy, but crisis presents an opportunity, and I think that’s the place where we are right now,” Gray told The Sacramento Bee.
[Read more here]
More Interesting Reads
How a co-founder war led every employee to quit Instagram’s trendiest cookware company | Business Insider
Bill Cosby’s sex assault conviction overturned by court | AP News
Oregon farmworker dies at worksite during heat wave | Oregon Live
VIDEO: Taylour Paige on Her Saturn Return And Preparing For ‘Zola’ | W Mag
‘Out to Vote:’ A story of redemption and democracy | AFRO News
What we’re watching (and you should, too!)
The movie “In The Heights” (which is a fun, summery splash with glaring shortcomings) just dropped in theaters and on HBO Max. But what I’m recommending you check out is actually an episode of the PBS documentary TV show “Great Performances” about the production of the original Broadway musical.
I remember watching this hourlong episode, aptly titled “In The Heights: Chasing Broadway Dreams,” back in high school for my Spanish class. It’s hard to stress how groundbreaking and exciting “In The Heights” was back in 2008, weaving hip-hop and samba and salsa and more into a technicolor story about family and home.
This was Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first show, before “Hamilton” fame and all that followed. There is something incredibly charming about seeing Miranda running up and down the theater with a copy of TIME magazine, and sharing a newly published article about the musical with every person he runs into.
The PBS documentary weaves performances from the original Broadway show with behind-the-scenes looks at the choreography, set building and show writing. I love vignettes of personal stories the actors and creators of the show share. They are parents and daughters and former athletes and oddballs. Some are Broadway veterans, others have never been on Broadway before. All are just thrilled to be a part of something new, but also to feel seen and dignified by a show that is an unapologetic “Latino explosion.”
The full PBS episode has been posted on YouTube in several parts.
Where to find us
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Thank you for reading, and we will see you again next week!
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This story was originally published June 30, 2021 at 11:58 AM.