The Black Rodeo
It's me again, Sidney. I'm back over this recording device again, this strange machine in my hand. I don't know how to
explain it but I do the best I can.
This past weekend, to my amaze, some beautiful people took me to my first rodeo in my life and I was overwhelmed. It was a
Black Rodeo and I didn't know what to expect or how to act. It was two beautiful ladies and three little boys. They took me on a scenic route through the back roads and stuff. They had an hour and something to spare and so she showed me some beautiful lakes and where she worked at and I was just enjoying, watching the scenery and stuff. She showed me a cherry field where they pick cherries and it was all beautiful.
The community was so clean, you could eat off the streets. I never seen anything like this. I seen two cups and a piece of paper
on the street, that's all. No police cars. No helicopters. Beautiful houses and it was a beautiful community and it was a beautiful day for me. I want to say I got emotional, it was just overwhelming to me to see this kind of community exists out here. No violence, no anger. I thought I was in another world.
It's fascinating how in this world is you could go ten miles, twenty miles up the street and you see one of the most beautiful
communities I ever laid my eyes on, but to live there you got to have money. Twenty miles and it's a whole different world.
When I was a kid, when I growed up...sometime when I think where I came from...I know the world have changed, but when you look at things now from the past that I came from, people in this era here they have no concept of what I was going through as a kid. There was curfew. I couldn't be in the neighborhood at a certain time. You get caught on the street after ten o'clock, you get beat up or get arrested or get killed. Lots of places I couldn't go to, water fountains I couldn't drink out of, swimming pools I couldn't go into, lakes I couldn't swim in. I couldn't go in certain stores. It was just bad back then. I didn't know which way to turn as a kid but I had one thing. I had just a little bit of sense in my head but I had a lot of speed in my legs and I run like a rabbit if I had to. It sound funny but it's the truth–couldn't nobody, I don't think a man on this planet coulda caught me when I was in flight when I was in my teens.
Now it's mindboggling to see this other community. There's more people on this planet, more communities that I find out about that I didn't know existed for better or worse. So it was just a pleasant ride for me that day. I enjoyed the company of these two ladies and these three boys. I was their guardian and their caretaker that day. I was there to protect these kids and these two lovely ladies.
I was emotional that day but I didn't cry. I held it in.
And when we got to that Black Rodeo, I could not believe what I was looking at. All these beautiful people. Beautiful women,
childrens, men, just having a beautiful time. Cows, sheeps. The kids were having fun. I was just in awe of everything out there. It's fascinating how the world has changed, how they accepting other minorities and other races in this big beautiful world we living in. I went there with the intention of not knowing what I was going to see and when I got there was I shocked. I seen black cowboys–something I had never seen in my entire life. They was riding horses and bulls. It just blew my mind watching that people riding cows and bulls and kids out there chasing around. It was so funny There was a lot of black people there, some whites too, probably some Hispanics, everyone getting along. I was the only one didn't have a cowboy hat. It was a festival that everybody should try to go see and participate in once in their life. It's a beautiful world out there and a lot of good people in it.
She say, "You enjoying yourself?"
Enjoying. That's an understatement. I didn't know what to say. I just stood there in shock, looking.
When it was all over, I got in the car and then we started home and it was such a beautiful ride, a beautiful day. I don't know
if God intended me to go on this journey but he sure put me in this position with two lovely ladies and some kids and it just made my day.
I can't explain it. There are no words to say how I feel in my heart. I'm not the same fellow that got locked up years ago, angry
young man want to hate and take things. That's just not me. I'm more at peace with myself. I don't know how I'm gonna fit into this world but I'm going to do the best I can because with my limited education, at 72 years old, I can't change that. I don't know how many golden years I have left on this planet but I try to do the best I can and be positive to everybody I come in contact with because that's what life is about.
To see how this world is evolving is quite fascinating and now I'm not going to break any laws. I might not be the most
educated person in the world but if you give me a chance–anybody deserve a chance in life to be a decent human being. And I thank God for giving me this chance to be out free in this society again. I'm not going to let Him down and I'm definitely not going to let myself down. I just take one step, one baby step at a time.
Out there, there's a cute kid and I enjoy watching him. He's lonely and he wants somebody to talk to him. I wish I could
have a son like that. I lost my son. Wish I could give him some kind of guidance. Guidance I didn't have as a kid growing up, not having a parent there, a father, a brother, a sister. It would mean the world to me to have that in my life. But I don't have it. All my family's gone. I miss them dearly. But I know I'm not alone. 'Cause God up there, He's watching over me for some reason or other. And I got peoples in my life that cares about me.
I probably have more to say but now it's just me and the machine and the sun pouring in my face and outside I'm looking at a
mother cat and two little kittens cuddling one another. It is beautiful. Life is great and I guess I just hope for another beautiful day tomorrow.
explain it but I do the best I can.
This past weekend, to my amaze, some beautiful people took me to my first rodeo in my life and I was overwhelmed. It was a
Black Rodeo and I didn't know what to expect or how to act. It was two beautiful ladies and three little boys. They took me on a scenic route through the back roads and stuff. They had an hour and something to spare and so she showed me some beautiful lakes and where she worked at and I was just enjoying, watching the scenery and stuff. She showed me a cherry field where they pick cherries and it was all beautiful.
The community was so clean, you could eat off the streets. I never seen anything like this. I seen two cups and a piece of paper
on the street, that's all. No police cars. No helicopters. Beautiful houses and it was a beautiful community and it was a beautiful day for me. I want to say I got emotional, it was just overwhelming to me to see this kind of community exists out here. No violence, no anger. I thought I was in another world.
It's fascinating how in this world is you could go ten miles, twenty miles up the street and you see one of the most beautiful
communities I ever laid my eyes on, but to live there you got to have money. Twenty miles and it's a whole different world.
When I was a kid, when I growed up...sometime when I think where I came from...I know the world have changed, but when you look at things now from the past that I came from, people in this era here they have no concept of what I was going through as a kid. There was curfew. I couldn't be in the neighborhood at a certain time. You get caught on the street after ten o'clock, you get beat up or get arrested or get killed. Lots of places I couldn't go to, water fountains I couldn't drink out of, swimming pools I couldn't go into, lakes I couldn't swim in. I couldn't go in certain stores. It was just bad back then. I didn't know which way to turn as a kid but I had one thing. I had just a little bit of sense in my head but I had a lot of speed in my legs and I run like a rabbit if I had to. It sound funny but it's the truth–couldn't nobody, I don't think a man on this planet coulda caught me when I was in flight when I was in my teens.
Now it's mindboggling to see this other community. There's more people on this planet, more communities that I find out about that I didn't know existed for better or worse. So it was just a pleasant ride for me that day. I enjoyed the company of these two ladies and these three boys. I was their guardian and their caretaker that day. I was there to protect these kids and these two lovely ladies.
I was emotional that day but I didn't cry. I held it in.
And when we got to that Black Rodeo, I could not believe what I was looking at. All these beautiful people. Beautiful women,
childrens, men, just having a beautiful time. Cows, sheeps. The kids were having fun. I was just in awe of everything out there. It's fascinating how the world has changed, how they accepting other minorities and other races in this big beautiful world we living in. I went there with the intention of not knowing what I was going to see and when I got there was I shocked. I seen black cowboys–something I had never seen in my entire life. They was riding horses and bulls. It just blew my mind watching that people riding cows and bulls and kids out there chasing around. It was so funny There was a lot of black people there, some whites too, probably some Hispanics, everyone getting along. I was the only one didn't have a cowboy hat. It was a festival that everybody should try to go see and participate in once in their life. It's a beautiful world out there and a lot of good people in it.
She say, "You enjoying yourself?"
Enjoying. That's an understatement. I didn't know what to say. I just stood there in shock, looking.
When it was all over, I got in the car and then we started home and it was such a beautiful ride, a beautiful day. I don't know
if God intended me to go on this journey but he sure put me in this position with two lovely ladies and some kids and it just made my day.
I can't explain it. There are no words to say how I feel in my heart. I'm not the same fellow that got locked up years ago, angry
young man want to hate and take things. That's just not me. I'm more at peace with myself. I don't know how I'm gonna fit into this world but I'm going to do the best I can because with my limited education, at 72 years old, I can't change that. I don't know how many golden years I have left on this planet but I try to do the best I can and be positive to everybody I come in contact with because that's what life is about.
To see how this world is evolving is quite fascinating and now I'm not going to break any laws. I might not be the most
educated person in the world but if you give me a chance–anybody deserve a chance in life to be a decent human being. And I thank God for giving me this chance to be out free in this society again. I'm not going to let Him down and I'm definitely not going to let myself down. I just take one step, one baby step at a time.
Out there, there's a cute kid and I enjoy watching him. He's lonely and he wants somebody to talk to him. I wish I could
have a son like that. I lost my son. Wish I could give him some kind of guidance. Guidance I didn't have as a kid growing up, not having a parent there, a father, a brother, a sister. It would mean the world to me to have that in my life. But I don't have it. All my family's gone. I miss them dearly. But I know I'm not alone. 'Cause God up there, He's watching over me for some reason or other. And I got peoples in my life that cares about me.
I probably have more to say but now it's just me and the machine and the sun pouring in my face and outside I'm looking at a
mother cat and two little kittens cuddling one another. It is beautiful. Life is great and I guess I just hope for another beautiful day tomorrow.