2 days ago
Share Parkland's present, shape its future at Courier Journal mobile newsroom
For too long, Parkland's story has been about making do.
Before November 2024, when Norton West Louisville Hospital opened in Parkland, the West End had gone 150 years without a hospital. Parkland had also gone 40 years without a library until February of this year when Parkland Library, one of Louisville's first nine libraries, funded by millionaire Andrew Carnegie, reopened after budget cuts forced its closing in 1986.
Blak Koffee owner, Ronyale Smith, opened the shop's second location in Parkland's Goodwill Opportunity Center to fill another gap in the neighborhood. 'The same thing that drew me to Jefferson Street (Blak Koffee's first location) is the same thing that drew me here,' Smith said. 'This far west, there's not really restaurants and there's definitely not coffee shops for people to gather.'
Parkland's history is probably familiar even if you don't know it. It follows a common pattern of struggle against racial barriers found in predominantly Black neighborhoods across the country. Some Black folk know it intimately in the boil of their blood, the fatigue in their bones. I'll give you the ultra-summarized version of one of this neighborhood's many stories.
Once upon a time, Black people were just trying to make it. Oh, I'm sorry. Black people are always just trying to make it. Let me be specific.
It was 1968. And Black people in Parkland were doing alright for themselves with a nice community of Black businesses and homeowners when a white police officer, Michael Clifford, attacked Manfred Reid, a Black man, during a racially-motivated traffic stop that turned violent. Clifford was suspended for excessive force.
And reinstated weeks later.
After a rally at 28th and Greenwood, where Stokely Carmichael, a leader in the Black Panther Party, was scheduled to speak but didn't show, a bottle smashing to the ground brought police, expecting gunfire, rolling onto the scene. All of the racial tension that had been building since Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination a month earlier, the attack against Reid and, well, forever went boom!
Young Black people who were sick and tired of being sick and tired looted and burned businesses. The National Guard was called in. After days of destruction and military presence, two people were dead, 52 injured and 472 arrested. The white flight was swift. Many of the remaining businesses left, along with essential services and resources that opened gaps still visible to this day along with half-hearted city maintenance.
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Leemesha Cole, who I met at the Goodwill Opportunity Center, said of Parkland, 'It stinks here. They should fix the sewers, the potholes. They don't care about us down here.' Carl Barrett, originally from New Jersey, said when he lived in Valley Station he used to tell people back home about the smooth streets. 'The roads were beautiful,' he said. When Cole spoke about Parkland's potholes, Barrett, who now lives downtown, shook his head in mournful agreement.
George Harbin, who's lived at various locations across West Broadway, said Parkland 'needs to be cleaned up' and there should be 'more resources in the community for kids.' He added, 'I think the Goodwill (Opportunity Center) is a good start.'
Dorothy Jackson, a Louisville native, agreed: 'I think it's nice what they're doing now. They didn't have that when I was growing up. It was the state fair and Fountain Ferry, only on Saturdays. There wasn't much to do. There's a spot here for children, ages 16-24. I think it's fantastic.'
I met James Cross, another Louisville native, at Blak Koffee watching a chess match so intense the players didn't lift their gaze from the board to acknowledge my greeting. His face lit up when I told him the Parkland Library had reopened. 'I used to go to Parkland Library years before it closed. I'm happy to know Parkland is open.' Cross is affiliated with the West Louisville Chess Club, run by Corbin Sevrs. 'Corbin recruited me to promote chess in the area with young people. The owner of Blak Koffee wants us to be here.'
Cross echoed Harbin's concern about youth, caught in the Parkland Uprising's aftermath. Their restlessness and anger hold the potential for destruction and violence that could keep this vicious cycle spinning. 'They're not all bad. They just need care and attention.'
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Recent developments in Parkland raise hopes for the future, but large federal budget cuts and racial barriers that continue to mount under an administration hostile to diversity, equity and inclusion could stop that progress. What is the story of Parkland's next generation? What do they want us to know? What stories are we not telling?
The Courier Journal's mobile newsroom will be at the Parkland Library, 2743 Virginia Ave., from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 9-13. We will be raffling off a $50 gift card to Blak Koffee. But most of all we want to meet with you, hear your stories, your ideas and your concerns. We invite community members of all ages and backgrounds to join us and offer your take on topics big and small.
Why?
Because we're here to serve you, and knowing what's important to you will help us do that.
Also, because stories teach lessons. They resurrect history so we don't repeat mistakes. They set records straight and share blueprints of how we got over. If more of us tell our stories, maybe we won't have to make do; maybe we can make things better.
Tell us what you think. Send your letter to the editor.
Kristen Gentry is the engagement and opinion editor at the Courier Journal. Reach her at KGentry@ and (585) 479-0660. You can also follow her on Instagram at and Facebook at
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Parkland, the CJ mobile newsroom wants to hear your stories | Opinion
