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Blog archive

September 2026

August 2026

Triumph Over Tragedy
08/31/2026

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

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January 2026

Unbreak My Heart

By Lora Harrington-Pride
Posted: 08/23/2025
Tags: lora harrington pride

During WW2, in which my father served, he met and befriended a man whom the authorities did not want to place with the Blacks in the segregated quarters because he looked Chinese.  He finally proved that he was Black and was placed.

         After the war Daddy and his friend remained close once they learned they were both from Ohio.  He became an honorary uncle to me and my siblings. 

(He was Uncle Julian to us.)  Uncle Julian moved to Washington D.C. where he met and married a surgical nurse, while he held a job as a waiter serving a restaurant frequented by the members of Congress.  He had high earnings due to the generous tips given to him by these men.

         He told my parents of an incident that took place where he worked, that confused and puzzled me when I eavesdropped, overhearing it.

         A group of Black men were denied entry and were tuned away at the door.  “Blacks were not allowed.”

         The offended men went to the African Embassy and registered their complaint.  It turned out that these men were Africans.

         The restaurant was contacted and informed, whereupon the African men were contacted, given profuse apologies, with the explanation that American Blacks were not allowed, and that they were unaware that they were not such, and the same.

         They were given entry and were served graciously.

         American Blacks were not allowed!  The ones who built America.  The ones who gave their lives on the front lines to protect and defend America, the Country where they were born, were not allowed?

                                                                Lora Harrington-Pride

                                                                8/8/25

 

*To see Lora's latest writings, see her Return to Writing post. 

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