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And final , Mr Johnson if you want to really make a point put an SB at the ne corner of 52nd and Pine, across from Malcolm X Park.
Starbucks uses a formula, like other chains based on roof tops, population, and demographics. Starbucks is EXPENSIVE. They also don't locate where their stores will fail. They are a business, not a public charity designed to "make a point". They are responsible to stock holders who have invested their money in order to get a return. I don't see a Panera Bread, or other high end, overly expensive chains in that part of town either, and I know why. The demographics don't support it, at least not yet. Get more yuppie, gentrifiers in there, and then you will see a Starbucks.
Starbucks uses a formula, like other chains based on roof tops, population, and demographics. Starbucks is EXPENSIVE. They also don't locate where their stores will fail. They are a business, not a public charity designed to "make a point". They are responsible to stock holders who have invested their money in order to get a return. I don't see a Panera Bread, or other high end, overly expensive chains in that part of town either, and I know why. The demographics don't support it, at least not yet. Get more yuppie, gentrifiers in there, and then you will see a Starbucks.
I know what they are. Don't think I don't I have investments/assets. I do. I care a lot about making money since I'm single and have no spouse. Mentioning 52nd and Pine was a bit of a joke.
However I was not joking about the two notable anchors in the vicinity of 48th/49th and Market, which I guess you are unfamiliar with(the CHOP facility is very new), apparently. Kirkbride Center was originally the Institute of the Pennsylvania Hospital. It has a long and distinguished history going back to the 1840s. An SB might work there. Just like it might work in Overbrook Farms near the Overbrook train station. Overbrook Farms doesn't need yuppies or gentrification. Its housing stock of terrific huge single houses( there are no row houses in Overbrook Farms) is among the best I'm aware of in the city.
The first Center City SB I can recall wasn't technically in CC. It's the small store at 20th and Callowhill which appeared about 20 years ago. There was blight a couple of blocks away then along Spring Garden St. So they took a chance there. This was also back when the Phillies were very seriously considering putting their new ball park at Broad and Spring Garden.
I know what they are. Don't think I don't I have investments/assets. I do. I care a lot about making money since I'm single and have no spouse. Mentioning 52nd and Pine was a bit of a joke.
Never said you didn't have investments, or that you didn't care about making money. My point was that ultimately Starbucks is a business first, not social justice crusaders trying to change the world. Although some of the things they do to virtue signal seem like it.
I was going to write you about this, but since you've posted this here, I'll comment here.
But before I do, keep in mind that there's a pretty long tradition of highly educated, erudite African-Americans retaining a highly polished rage against the country of their birth over its history of continued denigration and diminution of black folk, progress be damned. W.E.B. DuBois eventually gave up on this country and resettled in Ghana. James Baldwin did same, choosing France as his destination, but before he did, he left his parting shot in the form of "The Fire Next Time." Ta-Nehisi Coates may end up doing the same thing before he exits this coil.
None of these were "anti-white" as much as they were dismayed, to the point of anger, by what I will charitably call continued white cluelessness on a host of issues. And cluelessness can be as potent as actual racism in its effects. (I can give you some examples from journalism off-board.) Owens IMO belongs in this camp.
But the difference between Owens and the others I've mentioned here is actually captured pretty well in the passage of yours I boldfaced. There's actually something he shares with Donald Trump but would probably be offended to hear if it were phrased that way: He has spent most of his life so far seeking the acceptance and approval of the "smart set" or the social elite only to be pointedly rebuffed by them. (Go back to that Phillymag essay on his Penn experience and re-read the part about how others regarded him in Houston because of the high school he attended; he was a brilliant student, but somehow this brilliance was delegitimized in some way because he attended a school not known for its academic prowess.) Now that he's in a position where he can do something to settle the score, he's seizing the occasion.
A friend of mine once told me that, were he to bestow one of those high-school-yearbook-type honors on me, he would name me Least Likely to Care What Others Thought of Him. That can be a handicap in some situations, but it does enable one to shrug off the various indignities others may inflict on one. Ernest isn't likely to get one of those awards. Especially because it's all about him anyway.
Here's one of the internal contradictions I nurture: One of the ways is to educate people (black, white and otherwise) of the value of civility, or "good manners" if you will. Etiquette isn't dead, but it is on life support, and as has already been remarked upon here, politeness can go a long way towards keeping a potentially unpleasant encounter from going south. Yet I also still chafe a bit at the idea that, where this applies to situations where race comes into play, the burden of making the extra effort falls exclusively on the black person. I didn't say this when I was being followed in that store, but I wondered to myself whether someone white dressed as I was would have been followed as I was. (And the fact that the guard was black made no difference to me here.)
By the way, if I were a store manager and I found that disheveled folks in the store were eating into my business, then my own tolerance would have to take a back seat to my interest in a continued paycheck.
.
What bothers me the most about him is that he is so desperate (a wannabe) to fit in with the elite class that when they shut the door in his face (which they do to many) he blames it on his skin color.
He is quite possibly the most unappreciative, bitter, insecure, angry person I have ever encountered in my life. He hates Penn, rich people, white people, the gay scene, and so on. Basically any situation where he didn't get his way or he was looked at as "lesser than" he turns that into a bitter racially fueled rant, YET he has never marched, volunteered or stood up to action.... He instead is a wannabe trying to get into galas and is angry because he didn't come from the blue blood upper crust society.
I mean what did he expect Penn to be?! He is also a coward, because many of my friends and myself have reached out to him on numerous occasions in a polite manner asking to speak with him on his view points we have either been ignored or received a sour response in return.
Finally, his latest article regarding the Starbucks incident is extremely nauseating, he claims that anyone who doesn't take action or isn't disgusted is part of the problem... Then 3 hours later he's gets dressed up for a gala the Academy of Music. I have said it before, and I will say it again, he is an embarrassment to Philadelphia, and I wish he would just turn in his degree and leave the city alone.
I have encountered a lot of negative people in my life, but for whatever reason this guys strikes a cord with me, and there is nothing I can do about it, which is upsetting.
Finally, What good does his rants do to alleviate the situation at Starbucks????
There's a big Dunkin' Donuts at 45th and Market which gets a ton of business. So, obviously, serving a lot of AAs works for them.
There's open land at 48th and Market that can be developed. CHOP's Karabots Center is at 49th and Market. The historic Kirkbride Psychiatric Hospital, is steps away, at 48th and Haverford Ave. So those are substantial anchors,that are not part of UC. If Johnson wants to fix this he should think about how to really fix this.
To Johnson. How about 60th and Lancaster, which is pretty much okay? There a great pizza joint on that corner, Pap's Pizza, that has been there for as long as I can remember. Lots of AAs go there. Chains have not ignored this area either. There's a Little Caesar Pizza at 59th and Lancaster. How about right near Overbrook regional rail station? There's a block of retail possibilities at 63rd and Woodbine Ave, next to Our Lady of Lourdes parish.
And final , Mr Johnson if you want to really make a point put an SB at the ne corner of 52nd and Pine, across from Malcolm X Park.
What bothers me the most about him is that he is so desperate (a wannabe) to fit in with the elite class that when they shut the door in his face (which they do to many) he blames it on his skin color.
He is quite possibly the most unappreciative, bitter, insecure, angry person I have ever encountered in my life. He hates Penn, rich people, white people, the gay scene, and so on. Basically any situation where he didn't get his way or he was looked at as "lesser than" he turns that into a bitter racially fueled rant, YET he has never marched, volunteered or stood up to action.... He instead is a wannabe trying to get into galas and is angry because he didn't come from the blue blood upper crust society.
I mean what did he expect Penn to be?! He is also a coward, because many of my friends and myself have reached out to him on numerous occasions in a polite manner asking to speak with him on his view points we have either been ignored or received a sour response in return.
Finally, his latest article regarding the Starbucks incident is extremely nauseating, he claims that anyone who doesn't take action or isn't disgusted is part of the problem... Then 3 hours later he's gets dressed up for a gala the Academy of Music. I have said it before, and I will say it again, he is an embarrassment to Philadelphia, and I wish he would just turn in his degree and leave the city alone.
I have encountered a lot of negative people in my life, but for whatever reason this guys strikes a cord with me, and there is nothing I can do about it, which is upsetting.
Finally, What good does his rants do to alleviate the situation at Starbucks????
Imagine Ernest Owens facing Bull Connor's storm troopers and dogs in 1963 Birmingham...lol.
She's also the one that was discriminated against at Penn for not be allowing to do his senior thesis on BLM, a group that, at that time, had been around about a year or so.
It never ceases to amaze me the lengths that people will go to to deny what is happening right in front of them, lol.
Are you referring to the SB manager and the 2 commercial real estate brokers involved in this incident? None of them have been identified or have made public statements.
What bothers me the most about him is that he is so desperate (a wannabe) to fit in with the elite class that when they shut the door in his face (which they do to many) he blames it on his skin color.
He is quite possibly the most unappreciative, bitter, insecure, angry person I have ever encountered in my life. He hates Penn, rich people, white people, the gay scene, and so on. Basically any situation where he didn't get his way or he was looked at as "lesser than" he turns that into a bitter racially fueled rant, YET he has never marched, volunteered or stood up to action.... He instead is a wannabe trying to get into galas and is angry because he didn't come from the blue blood upper crust society.
I mean what did he expect Penn to be?! He is also a coward, because many of my friends and myself have reached out to him on numerous occasions in a polite manner asking to speak with him on his view points we have either been ignored or received a sour response in return.
Finally, his latest article regarding the Starbucks incident is extremely nauseating, he claims that anyone who doesn't take action or isn't disgusted is part of the problem... Then 3 hours later he's gets dressed up for a gala the Academy of Music. I have said it before, and I will say it again, he is an embarrassment to Philadelphia, and I wish he would just turn in his degree and leave the city alone.
I have encountered a lot of negative people in my life, but for whatever reason this guys strikes a cord with me, and there is nothing I can do about it, which is upsetting.
Finally, What good does his rants do to alleviate the situation at Starbucks????
Wow, you actually know EO?! So his major MO is trolling. Sad! I would ask him quite bluntly why he didn't transfer to a black school since he hated/hates Penn so much. Lincoln, Howard, Moorehouse.... nothing wrong with them.
In the long run neither the city or Penn will care what he says or does. Unless he surprises everyone and makes a ton of money or actually does something other than talk, Penn, especially, won't care.
What did everyone think of the Meek Mill / Sixers helicopter scene yesterday? It nearly broke the internet. I would bet a good portion of people had never even heard of Meek Mill until yesterday.
I can't lie, I hate the "Bike Life". I know some people believe it has positive aspects, but there are 10,000 better things to do than race down streets and zig zag through traffic riding red lights. Kids are killed every year on the bikes and atvs. Meek is a cultural force in the city and he definitely had a hand in making the "bike life" cool.
Do I think his most recent sentence of 2-4 years was fair? No. Did he deserve to do time for violating probation so much and showing complete neglect for the law? Most likely.
Anyway the police are doing their annual sweep and taking bikes off the street. A 6 year old boy died last week riding on the back with his father on an ATV at 63rd and Callowhill.
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I care a lot about making money since I'm single and have no spouse. Mentioning 52nd and Pine was a bit of a joke.
