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Black Kos Tuesday: Two peas in a pod [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-09-02
Two peas in a pod
Commentary by Chitown Kev
Some community activists go on to become President of the United States. Well...one did.
Some go on to achieve levels of national prominence such as civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump.
Most community activists, though, remain in the community doing the tireless and, sometimes, thankless work that their community needs.
One such activist was Lorna Barnes, who passed away last Friday morning.
She was a friend of mine. Maybe.
Some caveats apply here.
I had not talked with Lorna in two decades for many reasons which I will not, of course, give name to here.
I honestly cannot say if she was ever a friend of mine.
What Lorna and I did have, though, is a remarkable bond forged with mutual virtues and vices that were well-seasoned in a cast iron skillet or, more often, over an all-night diner table.
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I think that Lorna and I first met sometime in the fall or winter of 1995-96 but we really got to know each other in the summer of 1996. I was fresh off of a relapse into mood and mind=altering substances and was fighting on an hourly basis, really, to remain clean and sober. Lorna and I would often run into each other and we began to strike up more and more conversations. Finally—it had to be with me having about 4 or 5 days of sobriety- she invited me to her home.
For the first thirty days of my sobriety, my routine was fixed: I would wake up in the recovery house, go to The Meeting Place and take in a meeting or two, then go over to Lorna’s apartment until the late afternoon/early meeting began and then go back home. When I got a new job in August 1996, the meetings at Lorna’s house meetings became less frequent but we still had them, usually with other company in our particular circle.
Those initial meetings at her house saved my life. SAVED. MY. LIFE!
(I may or may not have gotten sober some other way and with other people, who knows. But it was Lorna (and a few others) that was there at that time and in that place.)
Lorna lived, at that time, in a nice one bedroom apartment on Farwell Ave. in the Rogers Park section of Chicago. Nicely furnished and a bit cluttered. I could usually count on coffee always being prepared and having some leftovers to eat. Occasionally there was food simmering on the stove. And if I could find a place on her big dining room table to eat, that’s where I ate.
The dining room table was for work, though, and it was stacked with books, papers, books, and papers.
Lorna believed in education. In spite of her accomplishments at the time: some awards, a cable access show, some mention in local publications and even, IIRC, a couple of mentions in national publications, she was a self-taught woman that had low self-esteem that she did not go to college. One of the first things that she did when she got sober was enroll in one of the local universities. And she told everyone. Talked about it to some nauseating excess, in fact. And especially to me, since she discovered that I could be counted on to lightly edit the various papers and projects that she had going on.
And she was not nice about doing that at all. It was one of the reasons that the friendship (?) terminated after about five years. (I will say this: by that time, I had enrolled part-time at one of the local community colleges.)
We began to associate less and less frequently in spite of the fact that people continued coming up to me with the latest Lorna drama for which, frankly, I was all ears. I do remember an infamous banquet that we both attended where we were both outside catching a smoke and rolling our eyes at one another, lol.
And then when she was mentioned on the front page of Daily Kos, I think that my initial reaction was “chiiiiiiile...” I wasn’t surprised to see her name at all on the DK front pages. Surprised that I hadn't seen it sooner.
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The day after Lorna’s passing, I attended a picnic event with some mutual acquaintances when someone whispered to me, “I thought Lorna was arrogant.”
Well, yes.
Lorna was a Diva in all the bad and good ways and she did not have a problem letting anyone know that.
Over the years, I have occasionally heard Lorna and I described as “two peas in a pod,” a description I have always resented for many reasons.
I will admit that there’s some truth to it, though. Maybe even the “Diva” part.
I’ve studied the philosophy of friendship that has evolved over the millennia and I still can’t tell you whether Lorna and I were ever friends.
Maybe it will always be a question that I am nowhere near qualified to answer and that I need to defer to others in our mutual acquaintance circle.
I know this: She saved my life when I didn’t think that I had a life with saving.
I suppose that I should have given Lorna her flowers for that while she lived but this is the best that I can do now.
So...Farewell, Lorna Barnes. See you on The Other Side. We still got some fussin’ to do but, thanks to you, I also have some work here to finish.
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News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
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Red Lobster CEO Damola Adamolekun discusses how he’s returning the seafood chain to its glory days with the help of Black America. The Grio: Black America has put Red Lobster back on the map–CEO Damola Adamolekun was betting on it
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Red Lobster’s triumphant return to the cultural mainstream is owed squarely to Black America, whose love, nostalgia, and joy have reignited the brand’s popularity.
That’s according to CEO Damola Adamolekun, who recently told The New York Times that Black diners have played a pivotal role in the restaurant’s epic comeback.
“Black Americans tell me it was a celebratory experience, and I think people were sad to lose that and want to get it back,” he told the publication.
For many, Red Lobster has always been more than a place for seafood. From being one of the first restaurants to welcome Black diners and workers with open arms in the late 1960s to becoming the venue for countless family dinners, graduation celebrations, and first dates, to even earning a mention in Beyoncé’s iconic song “Formation,” the chain has been deeply rooted in Black culture. Adamolekun is leaning into that legacy, restoring Red Lobster as a space for Black joy, connection, and celebration.
The 36-year-old Nigerian-American executive became Red Lobster’s youngest-ever CEO in August 2024, after successfully leading P.F. Chang’s out of the dark as its first Black chief. As he approaches his one-year anniversary leading Red Lobster, the results are already clear. Sales are up, the buzz is louder than ever, and the brand feels relevant again. Social media chatter has surged, influencers are raving, and pop culture is embracing the chain.
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The University of Cincinnati’s AACRC was shut down, but Black student groups are working hard to preserve its legacy, programs, and community support despite the loss. Newsone: Black U Of Cincinnati Students Preserve Tradition After AACRC Closure
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The University of Cincinnati’s (UC) African American Cultural and Resource Center (AACRC) has been dismantled, but Black organizations at the university are doing everything in their power to make sure the center’s crucial initiatives and resources dedicated to the needs of the community remain intact.
According to WVXU, the AACRC was forced to close in June following the implementation of the Advance Ohio Higher Education Act (Senate Bill 1), which prohibits universities from supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The UC announced it would shut down its identity center serving Black students. Governor DeWine signed the bill into law on March 25, 2025, and it took effect on June 25, according to a release shared to the UC African Student Association (UCASA).
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She reportedly described the man as being 5 feet 6 inches, officers arrested Williams two months after the incident, he stands at 6 feet 2 inches. ABC: Man's wrongful arrest puts NYPD's use of facial recognition tech under scrutiny
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Civil rights and privacy groups are demanding an investigation into the NYPD's alleged misuse of facial recognition technology after a false match led to a man being wrongfully arrested for a crime he did not commit.
"I was so angry ... I was stressed out," Trevis Williams told Eyewitness News. "The man they were looking for, he was eight inches shorter than me and 70 pounds lighter."
Williams was falsely arrested and jailed for two days despite not matching the physical description given by the victim of a sex crime. The only similarities were that they were both Black men with locks, he says.
Location data from his cell phone showed that Williams was miles away from the crime, the New York Times first reported.
"Williams was driving from Connecticut to Brooklyn at the time another man was photographed flashing a woman in Manhattan's Union Square," the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (STOP) said in a statement.
x Trevis Williams was driving his car miles away from the sex crime that the NYPD jailed him for. Now, critics of the NYPD's facial recognition tech are calling for an investigation.
https://t.co/z3auVvIY1u pic.twitter.com/uREew4lg4R — Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) August 28, 2025
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WELCOME TO THE TUESDAY PORCH
IF YOU ARE NEW TO THE BLACK KOS COMMUNITY, GRAB A SEAT, SOME CYBER EATS, RELAX, AND INTRODUCE YOURSELF.
[END]
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