06/07: Winston-Salem, NC

06/08: Asheville, NC

06/09: Nashville, TN

06/10: Little Rock, AR

06/11: Oklahoma City, OK

06/12: Amarillo, TX

06/13: Albuquerque, NM

06/14: Flagstaff, AZ

Final Destination: 06/15: Garden Grove, CA

Museums, hikes, kava bars, girl scout cookies, beaches, missing ta chance to trek Palo Duro because reservations were completely booked, trying to keep up with my weekly TRC book club Zoom meetings while traveling down I-40 from Memphis to Little Rock.

I’m leaving out a bit, but it has been a month since I’ve arrived in California.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, and I need to actually finish reading that book.

Including my home state of Virginia and my current residence of California, I stayed in nine different states during the nine days I was on the road. How each state is handling the pandemic is a good assessment of what the residents and the culture around it are like. I’m sure some states have opened up more or maybe have become more restrictive since my stay there over a month ago.

For instance, one of my hosts was staunch “anti-mask” advocate and never bothered wearing even one, but the state of Oklahoma never had an actual stay-at-home order and don’t plan on having a mask mandate. I know half of the people reading this probably would agree with my host, but this among other things explains why the COVID cases there are rising. Sure, some of the protests haven’t helped rise in cases, but at least a large majority of us wear masks. That being said I did go out to one of the bars in OKC and stayed out at least past midnight with no masks required. I can only fault them so much as upon entering the state the toll booth worker did warn me

“There is nothing to see in Oklahoma but the chickens.”

The only way to make a purchase from REI in New Mexico was to use the application and wait two days for my curbside order to be prepared. Arizona, the next state over had its stores open with social distancing and most of its customers wore masks. I was still unable to climb at a climbing gym in Flagstaff, AZ because it was only open to members while I was in town. I know the argument is that it is your freedom to not wear one, but lives are at stake apparently on will only take around six weeks. Can everyone try this and if it doesn’t work then I won’t say another word about not wearing one.

I hiked in Asheville and Sedona, got some amazing BBQ from Central BBQ while over looking the Mississippi River while in Memphis. Before getting drinks at a bar late night in Oklahoma City, I bought some trefoils and are undoubtedly one of the best drunchie food — the basically mugged me though. I stopped by Black Wall Street to get a haircut at Tee’s Barber shop.

Recapping the trip so late feels like a disservice and I spent most of the time just enjoying myself. My computer being stolen from the PC shop, Experimax almost felt like it was necessary for me to enjoy to moment while road tripping, I didn’t really lose anything because the shop has insurance and they just sent me a new one a month later. That being said it is a tragedy that a small business was targeted shop during one of the nights there were ‘actual’ riots and looting in Richmond. The owner may have met his GoFundMe requirements, but still donate to the man and his business.

My favorite rated PG portion of the trip was probably driving through the mountains of Sedona, AZ and the Blue Ridge in Tennessee, the level of adrenaline that I experienced from the falling rocks signs is something I don’t experience too often.

I would frequently check up on the newest updates in my hometown of Richmond. Since then several statues have been removed, some toppled, numerous protesters being arrested, gassed, shot with rubber bullets, harassed, a resigning of the police chief and interim police chief. Crazy how much has changed in a month.

As a protester myself I’m not going to pretend I did haven’t heard of some instances of some behavior I could not back, I was never present for any of this, but it was rare and only contained to the first few days in most places. The message still stand and most of us just want accountability, to end police brutality, and to help dismantle racism that the system was built upon and basically thrives on —I don’t only mean law enforcement.

Traveling across country I learned a lot more about the racism in our nation, especially being out west. The rhetoric I heard about the Navajo nation in New Mexico is one of the best examples I can give. A white male in his late 40s/early 50s I met while taking pictures on a trail in Albuquerque told me to avoid Gallup to before I fill up gas. He basically said nothing against him it is a dirty city and the Navajo there are dirty people so there is no reason to stop by there.

Based on Demographics it is only 45% Navajo and that is besides the point. I went out of my way to go just to be sure. They have a fucking Del Taco in Gallup right after you get off the highway. As much as I regret not eating an actual local restaurant it is simple moments like that that reinforces stereotypes and racism. Imagine if I didn’t stop by the town and didn’t question what he said, anti-racism has to be implemented and not just discussed.

Proposals are being made all across the country; in my new home Los Angeles — I’m actually living in OC, but close enough— a committee voted on to slash and divest $150 million from the LAPD. Well short of the People’s Budget , but I’m not going to blindly back that budget either. This is definitely a good start.

Law enforcement uses over 55% of the states budget and while I’m not for entirely abolishing the police, I’m sure they can find more funds out of $3 billion to divest into the communities being adversely affected by systemic racism. Demilitarizing the police, probably the correct thing to do and have a selected and well trained few members like the special forces be able to use deadly force in scenarios where it is warranted, which is pretty rare. Maybe arm the normal force with less-than-lethal weapons instead of deadly force, they are effective enough. Marcus David Peters may have been a bit upset and possibly injured, but they could have easily subdued him with one of these weapons they are being trigger happy about.

Whether how you feel about the protests, they are making a change. Look at Minneapolis dismantling their Police department and re-branding as community safety and violence prevention department. I do believe deadly force is warranted in the most extreme of circumstances, but we need hold police officers accountable as we do any other occupation. Qualified immunity and police unions shouldn’t be able to dictate the narrative in any instance and we need body camera footage to be readily available with out the need of a subpoena and the establishing of citizen review boards to keep our officers transparent.

Oh, Right. I forgot, I roadtripped to Southern California from Richmond,VA. Well, I didn’t take a lot of photos either, but enjoy those below.

Till next time,

—MKH