UFO’s, Big Rigs & BBQ by Mojo Nixon?
Thats the one, I couldn’t remember the name.
These guys were going to give them out for free though. What if I made two BBQ sandwiches and brought them to the park and gave one to a friend who met me there?
I think that is still considered a private gathering. If you hang up posters and invite the public, it’s a public gathering.
I lived in San Angelo, not all that far from Odessa in West Texas terms, when I was a kid in the '80s. At that time, blacks made up less than five percent of the city’s population and all lived in one area of town. There was no official segregation of course, but it was VERY rare to see a black person at the grocery store or the mall or a restaurant. I only remember maybe two or three black kids attending my elementary school. From what I remember, and my parents have confirmed this, the black community generally kept to the Black Part of Town or the Air Force base. I’ve heard it’s a little better now, but socially San Angelo is about 30 years behind the times.
If Odessa is anything like San Angelo, I would imagine the local black community might be sensitive to any city actions that seemed to harass them. Calling it “slavery” is waaaaaaaaaaay overstating the case, and I’m sure the health department’s concerns are valid, but depending on how it was handled I can see how it could become an ugly situation.
I’m just going on memory here, but I once read in the paper about a woman who was written up on similar charges because she cooked up chicken and rice in her kitchen, transported it to where homeless people hung out, and passed out free food to anyone who wanted it. Same thing: she was told by the authorities that she couldn’t publicly distribute food that was prepared elsewhere/at home. I’m betting that in this case the neighbors wanted to discourage the homeless from gathering at the food distribution point.
So is Sapphire’s Space-Age Love Garage a real place?
That one I’m afraid I don’t know.