Ole restaurant group threatened by BLM

https://www.courier-journal.com/story/n ... 562669002/

[Robin Garr]

I saw that ... still trying ty puzzle it out.

https://www.bossworld.net/nulu-social-justice

[Robin Garr]

https://www.bossworld.net/nulu-social-justice

Bookmarked. Thanks, Madeline.

https://www.bossworld.net/nulu-social-justice

Question: from what I find on-line, BIPOC normally includes Latinos and Asians. If this were so, I would think Fernando deserves a better grade than "F" given the makeup of his staff and that he gives to Latino organizations. Is the Louisville group different from the NYC, Chicago, and other groups who have a broader definition of POC?

(I am not trying to start a fight; I'm trying to educate myself!)

[Robin Garr]

Andrew, it may be at least in part an attitude thing. Here's a link to another CJ story that goes into a little more depth.
https://www.courier-journal.com/story/n ... 546810002/

Martinez, a partner in the Olé Restaurant Group, which recently opened La Bodeguita de Mima on East Market Street, wrote that as a Cuban immigrant with Black relatives, he does not need to undergo diversity training.

I'm not sure "don't need your diversity training" was the best way to encourage a productive conversation.

Mark Ford’s comment is interesting

https://www.facebook.com/57539566641/po ... 76642/?d=n

I'm not sure "don't need your diversity training" was the best way to encourage a productive conversation.

I don't see how giving (scarlet?) letter grades is a productive conversational tool either.

I'm not sure "don't need your diversity training" was the best way to encourage a productive conversation.

I don't see how giving (scarlet?) letter grades is a productive conversational tool either.

No matter how good your cause might be, I don't think blaming a minority-owned, operated, and staffed business for gentrification is a great look. Especially someone who was jailed in Cuba, built a raft in his living room while hiding from the secret police, then spent a year in Gitmo. I'm not trying to diminish systemic racism, gentrification, etc., but look at the dude's story and realize he's not going to let anyone push him around. He's not the guy I'd pick a fight with, and I figure he'll be here long after the BLM movement dries up.

I mean, they're not fighting with Louisville Cream, and there's nothing more emblematic of a neighborhood's gentrification than $10 pints of ice cream. If anything, both businesses should probably be getting praised for, you know, taking advantage of hipster wallets to improve the lives of the sort of people who, at one point, could have been living in Clarksdale or similar housing projects around the city.

Looks as if mistakes have been made on all sides. Maybe everyone can step back and take a deep breath and return to the negotiating table.
Or just keep fighting, screaming and finger pointing so we’re back to a bunch of white folk on one side and 1/2 dozen other, in fighting minorities on the other. That approach hasn’t been working out so well.

Looks as if mistakes have been made on all sides. Maybe everyone can step back and take a deep breath and return to the negotiating table.

Definitely. It seems like a whole lot of miscommunication and defensiveness on both sides. I'm not saying there aren't valid requests on the list being passed around, but I think there are probably better people to publicly go after. Those boutiques and restaurants and whatnot aren't the cause, they're the symptom.

I can definitely say there's no way I'm letting ANYTHING that looks like a C from the Health Department anywhere near my window if I'm in the restaurant industry. Especially considering how many people pay just enough attention to see that letter in the window and keep on driving.

I always try to put out front that Fernando and crew are friends. As an interested person Ive been following this since the protest in NULU. First, I think the demands (which is what they were presented as), did not sit well. As others have said, Im not sure Fernando with his story is the one you want to make these kinds of demands too. People after the fact said that if he didn't agree with the demands then he could have a conversation with them about the demands. The problem is that when something is presented as "Meet these demands or we will seek to do damage to your business through social media and fake reviews", that is not a great place to start a conversation from!
Second, an Activist(?) sent out a call for anyone who was available to head to the restaurant immediately a few days after the initial protest. This encounter was posted on Facebook and frankly did not make the protestor look too good. But again, sending a call to action for numerous people to show up to disrupt a business is not going to lead to constructive conversations.
As for the post that Sadiqa wrote that was shared by the Mayan Cafe, I asked her in the comments of that post for any examples of discrimination from Ole, where had Fernando "organized against the idea that Black Lives Matter",What would be a satisfactory way to “respond to the demands tendered, even in the negative”? Does he not have the right to simply say no?

I asked these questions and others to her because the weight her voice carries from her position as with the Louisville Urban League. The response was " it is the comments he's made to other owners in the area and his posts. Walk around. I have. This was hard to do. I understand your feelings and did not take the time to read all of your questions but I get the gist. Believe me, nobody likes Cuban food more than me and like he has Black family, I have Cuban." So, not a very helpful response.

The counter protest at the restaurant was not against the idea that BLM. It was against socialism. Considering what Fernando and others escaped from is it not surprising that they would protest against the idea of socialism? You dont have to agree with them, but I can't fault their feelings on this. One last thing...Fernando and OLE no doubt poured a ton of money into La Bodeguita, only to have the opening delayed by Covid. Then once it opened, they lost a Saturday night because of the protest right in front of their place, and were faced with the threat of further action to harm their business of the BLM protesters' demands were not met. How would you have responded?