Coffee shops and bars where you can also do laundry, and clubbing in Brussels at age 85
Things I Saw This Week — Saturday, July 5
Art
A new LA art exhibition celebrates the 25th anniversary of the debut of the TV show “Girlfriends.”
Each artwork featured in the all Black women exhibition was selected by the “Girlfriends” cast and LaRosa — all of whom are first time art curators. The three-day event will also feature an artist talk led by DCDG & Co. co-founder Delaney George on Saturday, which is open to the public.
Also in LA, Kamasi Washington and 100 other musicians helped christen LACMA’s new gallery space.
Cities
A roundup of city, state, and country news of note:
“Nowhere to sit? In France, a debate over park benches and community.”
“Down South, a Trail Ride is a Party on Horseback — and So Much More”
Yet when LeBlanc, a documentary filmmaker, rides his Tennessee Walking Horse, Koupé, it is alongside sometimes hundreds or even thousands of other riders, most of whom are Creole or Black like him. They ride to the beat of Zydeco music thumping from sound systems on flatbed trailers that wend between the trees alongside the horses. And they snack on pork steak sandwiches handed over by chefs tending smokers in the backs of pickup trucks trundling beside the herd.
Across the American South, this version of a trail ride has grown from a traditional community event into a collective show of Black horsemanship, a celebration with the vibe of a cookout astride, with its own line dances, theme songs and swag.
Food (and Drink!)
These laundromats also serve as coffee shops and bars.
The laundromat, which opened in April 2023, was named after Mr. DuPree’s Aunt Pearl, who “prepared our meals and laundered our clothes.” Inside Pearl Lee’s, patrons can do their laundry in the front area and then mingle at the bar in the back while they wait for their wash and dry cycles to finish. Pearl Lee’s also hosts live jazz, comedy shows, watch parties and barbecue pop-ups.
A bookstore and cafe dedicated to Black food is coming to Brooklyn.
BEM has already carved a reputation as a valued resource. Aside from cookbooks like the Edna Lewis Cookbook, and newer releases like Crystal Wilkinson’s Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts, BEM highlights books like Toni Morrison’s Beloved, in which biscuits feature prominently, and Francesca Ekwuyasi’s Butter Honey Pig Bread, which recounts the task of baking a cake in lyrical prose. Ntozake Shange’s If I Can Cook/You Know God Can, which pushed Gabrielle to pursue Black food writing, was essential, too.
And, here are the five best mezcals under $50.
Music
Examining the “Boots on the Ground” hit song.
Wagener, S.C., is home to a population of 631, a proud history of asparagus crops and now an unlikely dance phenomenon.
To write “Boots on the Ground,” the stomping, midtempo anthem with a wailing chorus, also known as “Where Them Fans At?,” the singer 803Fresh, born Douglas Furtick, lifted a bit of vernacular from the dancers who attend trail rides in the area. Those rides — part horsemanship display, part social gathering — frequently culminate in field parties, where line dancers and steppers show off choreographed moves to Southern soul and country anthems.
“I heard a lot of the steppers: They were like, ‘Hey, we got boots on the ground tonight,’” 803Fresh said, describing how they would hype up a trail ride to friends and neighbors. The song’s central query was a genuine one. At one outing, he saw steppers wielding fans and tried to buy one — to no avail. Writing the lyrics, he said, he did not yet fully understand the significance of the fans that were ubiquitous.
These Brussels nightclub outings are meant to combat loneliness in seniors.
Thérèse Troch, 85, said she wasn’t a big partyer when she was younger. Her favorite genre of music is classical. But she said she decided to join the group to get out of her retirement-home bubble.
“It’s the possibility of being in contact, of not just talking to old people,” said Ms. Troch, a former yoga teacher. “Because it is always the same thing. ‘Oh, my rheumatism!’ And stuff like that.”
Travel
A ranking of the 50 best American airports, according to data. Spoiler: No. 1 is PDX — Portland International Airport.
SILT playlist is fire. 🔥