RIDE In Living Color: A Community-Based Effort

05/24/2026

Back on the block today in Downtown LA after days of riding along the calmer coastal roads and spaces of La Jolla. What a difference.

Even in La Jolla, you’re still moving alongside cars and pedestrians — but Downtown LA holds a whole different level of density, intensity, noise, movement, and visible struggle. The lack of sanitation, the pressure on bodies and minds, the pace of survival all exist right there in the landscape.

And still… I continue to ride.

Just like the message in our 2022 short film, Biking While Black: Continuing to Ride Through Decriminalization, Disenfranchisement and Gentrification — we continue to ride through it all. Truth is, it’s even more than what could be named in that film.

But I’m still here. Still observing. Still moving. Still believing there must be another way forward together.



Yet…

05/24/2026

What is going on - Main and 1st by City Hall!
⁉️

05/22/2026

These past days in La Jolla were more than a getaway for me. They were restorative, reparative, and honestly a form of personal reparation for my spirit, imagination, and nervous system.

Five years ago, this kind of spontaneous retreat would not have been possible for me. So I do not take this lightly. I am deeply grateful. I have worked hard to arrive at this moment — and I also recognize the alignment and spiritual energy that carried me here.

Between peaceful bike rides along the coast, kind strangers, slowing down, deep reflection, learning more about the Kumeyaay land I was standing on, and experiencing The Dean Collection by Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys, I was reminded that creativity, healing, imagination, and rest are all connected.

Alicia Keys says the sky is not the limit — and this week reminded me of that deeply. Sometimes we simply have to give ourselves permission to imagine, create, heal, and move forward anyway.

Love kept reintroducing itself to me here — through people, nature, movement, art, stillness, and care.

And somehow, I leave feeling more prepared for another day forward. 🌊✨🚲

https://lnkd.in/dgBgT5RW

Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
(Recommended visit - The Dean Collection by Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys)

Charles T. Brown, MPA, CPD (Recommended reading - ARRRSTED MOBILITY the book - https://lnkd.in/gdkAtC3Y)

*I also acknowledge this as unceded Kumeyaay land, carrying generations of Indigenous history, presence, and relationship to this place.

05/21/2026

Wrapping up my last roll of self-healing time in La Jolla, CA - but this the beginning of my next phase in my life to make this type of healing, reflective, creative inspiration time around nature and outdoors! also gravitates beautiful people.🙏🏽🌊🌞

05/21/2026

05/20/2026

Much needed

05/16/2026

Hello, meet Yolanda — founder of Biking While Black — and her dogs: her Nissan Rogue (2022) and her Brompton Bike she named “Liberation” (2026).
🚲✨🚗
Biking While Black Film

Since moving downtown 11 months ago, Yolanda’s time driving her Rogue has been cut nearly in half. Living in the heart of the city has shifted the way she moves through daily life — with more time spent walking, biking, and using transit.

While she’s not completely car-free, she is doing an amazing job reducing her carbon footprint and reimagining mobility in a way that feels more connected, intentional, and freeing.

The beautiful thing is… this kind of shift is possible for many of us. Sometimes all it takes is finding motivating activities, meaningful destinations, and small lifestyle adjustments that make moving differently feel joyful and doable.

And by the way… she’s also thinking about adding a “furry roll companion” to the mix someday in the future. 🐕❤️ So we’ll see how this mobility journey evolves moving forward.

💥Brompton 💥UrbanMobility 💥TransitLife 💥WalkBikeTransit 💥ClimateAction 💥CommunityMovement 💥BlackJoy 💥CarLightLifestyle

05/15/2026

There’s something I’ve been reflecting on lately…

I probably have at least five different books within me — one from my 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and now my 60s. Each decade has carried major lessons, deep observations, unexpected turns, survival, growth, movement, love, loss, caregiving, community, creativity, and transformation.

And if I could get even three of those books out into the world while I’m still moving and kicking in this human experience — that would feel pretty incredible.

As many of you probably know by now, I like to journal. I observe. I watch people. I pay attention to systems, cities, bicycles, relationships, race, infrastructure, aging, joy, contradictions, and the beauty and complexity of being human. I’m always taking photographs, documenting moments, and trying to make sense of this life experience we’re all moving through. And sharing some recent pics I’ve captured over the past weeks!

The interesting thing is… I probably have never felt more alive than I do right now — and honestly, that has surprised me.

So stay tuned…

You never know — maybe a publishing offer or two might show up along the way. Wouldn’t that be something.

And honestly… after all these decades of living, observing, surviving, building, loving, questioning, caregiving, creating, and moving through this world — I think I might actually have something worth saying.

05/14/2026

Hello.
Would you happen to know what a Brompton Bike is? And did you know it folds and creates amazing possibilities in where your bike can be right next to you - in a cafe, at a community event, on the train, and more.

Let’s explore ways we can bike, walk, and each public transit to bring more joy in our life. Lord knows we can use some uplifting!☺️🚴🏽🚶🏽‍♀️🚉

05/09/2026

Please Join SAFE on Saturday for the release of a Vision Zero letter to the Media

All who can join are invited to attend SAFE’s press conference and Ghost Tire Memorial on Saturday, May 9th at 10 AM. SAFE will be remembering the victims of the mass traffic fatality event that happened on 5 Feb at 99 Ranch Market in Westwood, where 3 people were killed and 6 seriously injured by a driver.

What: 3 Ghost Tires for those killed
Date: Saturday, 9 May
Time: 10 AM to 11 AM
Where: 99 Ranch Market
1360 Westwood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90024

05/05/2026

What Bike Month Means To Us💥 Growing our understanding of the streets and what bicycling has to do with it!

Field notes from Main Street.
Pico → Cesar Chávez. 🚲

Bike lanes matter—they create space and safety.
But I also saw e-motorcycles in the bike lane… and cars parked in it.

Let’s be clear:
E-bikes ≠ e-motorcycles.
And speed changes everything.

This is bigger than one ride.

We stand with California Bicycle Coalition in opposing AB 1557 and AB 1942—bills that blur the line between e-bikes and e-motos and could lead to more enforcement.

That’s a mobility justice issue.
More enforcement = more risk for Black and Brown communities.

As we move through spaces named after historic figures, we also hold space for the full history—and continue lifting up leaders like Dolores Huerta and the ongoing fight for women’s rights and bodily autonomy.

📣 Take action: Protect safe access to legal e-bikes.

🔗 Read our May Field Report:
https://open.substack.com/pub/bikingwhileblack/p/may-2026-bwb-field-report-bike-month?r=5kz5m9&utm_medium=ios

We’ve got work to do…
but it was a good ride.



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