Way back in 1970, Pasadena, CA held the distinction of being the first non-Southern city ordered by the federal courts to desegregate its public school system. Basically this meant that all of the lily white schools would be integrated by implementing forced busing and would bus in black students from other neighborhoods. Now I didn't realize it at the time (because I was just a kid) but I guess this was a hotly debated topic. I always wondered why one of my longtime friends and his family suddenly upped and moved away to Newberry Park. I think I know why now.
Me? I have many, many experiences about this whole busing situation that I will be blogging about. Because I was a pretty cool kid (at least I thought I was) most of my experiences were pretty good although there were the occasional bad ones as well. All I can say is that if this busing would not have taken place I would be probably be one square peg and then I wouldn't be here writing this blog and trying to hip you, the unhip!
What this experience brought me was an exposure to various cultures and races but most of all it hipped me to all of the great music that I had been missing out on. Music like The Temptations, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Moments, The Jackson 5, The Temprees, The Whatnauts, and many, many more. I probably would still be listening to Iron Butterfly or Rare Earth! Nooooooooo! So all I can say is God bless this experience because I am all the hipper for it.
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