Northside Social

Earlier on this fine Saturday morning in Arlington, Virginia I decided that I needed a jolt to my day in order for a smooth drive back to Richmond. The local coffee shop, Northside Social, was only a ten minute drive from where I stayed the previous night and a strong urge for an iced coffee with vanilla syrup accompanied by three shots of espresso had draped itself upon me.

The drive to the crowded coffee joint was great, blaring my blues music with the windows down with seventy degree weather surrounding me. Paying to park for the solemn fifteen minutes that I stood in line was pretty bogus, but the sensation of being immersed into the local scene of a small city made up for the time that was stolen from me. But there was one minuscule observation that came to the forefront while standing in line... I was the only black person there.

Which isn't bad at all. I've been to many places where I have seen only one white person in line surrounded by plenty people of color.

Usually I wouldn't notice such things, as I like to keep color, race, gender, sexual orientation, beliefs, and traits/attributes in hindsight so that when I am interacting with someone who doesn't look, talk, or act like me that I know that they are being treated fairly. We all would like the same to be done for us, right? I am sincerely hoping that if anybody takes the time to read this that it doesn't come off as me being insecure with my ethnicity. That is the exact opposite of what I am trying to explain.

When I noticed that I was the only black person in there, I was a little shocked. Maybe it is because Richmond is a more diverse place, with VCU playing a major factor in that. The lack of diversity that I saw in the coffee shop was just slightly odd, at best.

However, after the weird sensation of being one of the few people of color in the establishment dissolved, a feeling of uniqueness and belonging came over me. Not to say that white people aren't unique, everyone has a unique side to them. What I am saying is that even in a room full of people who don't look like me, I felt just as I would in a room full of people of color.

I solely share this experience because I happen to know several individuals who are not comfortable in their own skin, black white and everything in between. I believe that it is truly important to have the comfort of knowing that you belong in this world and that regardless of how you look or what guidelines you live your life that YOU BELONG in this world.

Now, this experience of mine is not to say that all of the white people in the coffee shop earlier this morning don't appreciate or like people who aren't white. That is not the point I am trying to get across. I personally did not know anybody in that coffee shop or had any previous relations with anybody in there. I don't know their lives. Therefore, I can't judge and can only think positive things about them since they have not given me a reason not to think highly of them.

What I am saying is that earlier today I noticed that I was the only black person in the coffee shop. And while being the only black person in there, I did not feel any different than how I would feel any other day of the week. I felt comfortable. I felt good. I felt comfortable in my own skin, and in retrospect felt grateful for being able to feel something that I know others have difficulties with.

Also, the coffee was great.