Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five: Ninetysomething Days of Summer, #2 Summer of '95

Although every summer of my youth was "life-changing", not even the No. 1 summer in this countdown can top the summer of 1995; heck, there aren't too many years that can contend with 1995 outside of the forthcoming top dawg.  For Momma Scribbler, Big Little Brother Scribbler and I, it was our second summer living in our first-ever house in Far Southwest D.C. (or the "Southeast part of Southwest" as many of us D.C. folks call it, which also happens to be geographically accurate) that came with a lot of firsts, including our own rooms and a private line for us to talk about the mindless things that adolescents discuss with our friends.  When we weren't at our respective summer programs, the broski and I kicked it around the way with our new friends playing Spades in our backyard, hooping at the basketball courts or hanging at whatever mall was accessible by Metro as we were neither old enough to drive nor mature enough to earn our parents' trust even if we had the age and the license to boot.  However, beyond my overall quality of life improving between the ends of ninth and tenth grade--especially from a social standpoint--the following five things rightfully earned the summer of '95 the No. 2 spot in the "Ninetysomething Days of Summer" edition of my "Rave & Favorite Five"...

#5 THE SUMMER OF '95 FOLLOWED MY FAVORITE YEAR OF GRADE SCHOOL.  So unlike the summers of 1987, 1992 and 1993, the summer of 1995 arrived on a high note because my first year at School Without Walls Senior High School was one of epic proportions.  Now whether it's the hope for a snowstorm or a pesky hangnail, most kids look for any reason to miss school.  For the only time in my years of education, I was actually upset when I was absent. Between having two enjoyable classes, humanities with my favorite teacher of all time and bowling (which made us the envy of the school); consistently posting some of the best grades of my entire academic career; finally being at a school where I felt like I belonged socially, which included having a true crew of friends and playing basketball nearly every day after school at "The Cage"; and being "bunned up" for most of the year, which led to the beginning of my creative writing prowess, why on Earth would I want to stay home?  In fact, I had only missed five days the entire year and at least two or three of those days were because I was Slick Rick around the eye for a couple of days in June.  Truth be told, I was a little disappointed when school let out--especially knowing that my girlfriend at the time was changing schools--but judging from how well the tenth grade went, I knew summer break had to be just as lit if not more...

#4 MUSIC WAS KING.  Looking at pages from the old Billboard charts, it is extremely difficult to put any summer of music ahead of 1995 because there were so many good and great songs and albums from which to choose.  If you wanted music from proven legends, then you had the return of the late, great King of Pop Michael Jackson with HIStory as "Scream" with Janet Jackson and the R. Kelly-produced "You Are Not Alone" owned both the R&B and pop charts.  If you wanted to see how a group could follow up a successful freshman album, then "Waterfalls" by TLC was the best proof in the pudding.  If you wanted something new, then you were treated to "Don't Take It Personal (Just One Of Dem Days)" by Monica, "You Used to Love Me" by Faith Evans, "Brown Sugar" by D'Angelo, "Tell Me" by Groove Theory, "I Got 5 On It" by Luniz, "Player's Anthem" by Junior M.A.F.I.A. and "Boombastic" by Shaggy.  Unfortunately, if you could spot a one-hit wonder from a mile away, then you already knew the fates of "Shy Guy" by Diana King, "He's Mine" by Mokenstef and "I Wish" by Skee-Lo--the latter of which was one of my favorite jams of the summer because it was kind of my theme song.

However, among my family, friends and associates, it was all about two entities who were ironically at odds with each other: various members of the Wu-Tang Clan and The Notorious B.I.G.  Ol' Dirty Bastard followed up the gritty "Brooklyn Zoo" with the super-catchy "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" off of Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version while everybody claiming to be a hip hop fan had, "lost" and reacquired a copy of Raekwon's classic tour de force album, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx aka "The Purple Tape".  Although released in 1994, Method Man's Tical and The Notorious B.I.G.'s Ready to Die were still molten lava and the olive branch extension by Meth to Biggie to collaborate on "The What" despite grumblings from his Wu-Tang brothers showed why the Staten Island and Brooklyn MCs, respectively, were so hot.  When they weren't joining forces, they topped the charts with two of the biggest remixes and duets of the summer as well as hip hop history: Meth and Mary J. Blige paired up on "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By" while Biggie had wife Faith Evans at his disposal (as well as an uncredited appearance from the Queen of Hip Hop Soul) on "One More Chance/Stay with Me (Remix)".  Those two songs alone epitomized how much music meant to me and the rest of us young bucks that summer...

#3 MAYOR BARRY'S YOUTH LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE HAPPENED TO ME.  When I first entered Mayor Barry's Youth Leadership Institute (MBYLI), I mainly cared about the fact that they paid more money than most of the other jobs in the D.C. Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP), implemented by the late Honorable Mayor Marion S. Barry.  However, once I got into "The Program" and witnessed firsthand what they were all about, my priorities quickly shifted and my life was forever changed.  Although I received a quality education through the D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) system, MBYLI taught me about civic participation and responsibility, the importance of city, quadrant, ward and neighborhood demographics, personal awareness and, of course, how to tap into my leadership skills.  The latter was important because I came into this program as still a largely-reserved young man from Ward 8, but through public speaking seminars and team building through our sectors, I began coming out of my shell and willingly interacting with others even more than I began to do in my tenth grade year.  To ensure we wouldn't feel like we were in school for six weeks, our weekly general body meetings featured various competitions, impromptu and planned fashion and talent shows, guest speakers and comedians and the always-raucous sector chants and level cheers.  Speaking of MBYLI and the fun factor, nothing tops this...

#2 CAMP RIVERVIEW.  Familiar with the "it's never as good as the first time" cliche?  That certainly applies to my first trip to Camp Riverview, a D.C. government-owned camp set along a Potomac tributary in Scotland, Maryland.  Most of us inner city kids had never been to camp camp before, so when we were told to bring things like Off! Bug Spray, flashlights and proper clothing for a night hike, we were completely out of our element.  However, it didn't take us long before we got acclimated to our new surroundings.  I remember being in a van full of other teenage boys amped to see the girls in their bathing suits at the swimming pool, all while Jodeci's "Freek'N You" was on full blast and all of us were singing loudly in unison, "Every time I close my eyes...I wake up feeling so horny!"  From there, we let the splash fights and dunking games begin as I never had that much fun swimming before--and to my recollection, I can't recall having as much fun outside of any Camp Riverview excursion thereafter.  When I had time to myself, I loaded my Walkman with some of my favorite R&B cassettes, grabbed a chair and sat by the water as the sun beamed on my face and I soaked in the scenery.  Among all of the great things that occurred on that trip, two things stand out the most.  First, before it was lights out in our cabins, a bunch of us gathered around--either standing by the water or laying in the grass--and looked up at the sky.  Instead of seeing helicopters or airplanes as the flashing lights in the sky, we saw the most amount of stars at one time that most of us had ever seen in our young lives--a scene that calmed even the rowdiest of young men among us.  As for the second thing, it sets up the No. 1 reason why the summer of '95 ranks so high...

#1 I WON A RACE I TOTALLY DIDN'T EXPECT TO WIN.  Weeks before the Camp Riverview trip, our sector program assistant and one of my mentors strongly encouraged me to run for Level One Youth Mayor.  Although I eventually put my name in the hat, I still lacked the confidence as I was running against my fellow sector buddy who appeared to be the more popular choice.  However, on the bus ride back from camp, one of the guys who did security for the program thoroughly convinced me for like an hour why I had as good of a shot as anyone to win the race.  Fueled by that pep talk, I immediately put my artistic skills to work by sketching a flyer with my face pointing at potential voters featuring a simple, catchy slogan: "VOTE FOR ---, IT'S THE WAY TO GO!"  (Now y'all knew I wasn't gonna give up my true identity that easily.)  Disseminated by the security guard and one of my other buddies in my sector, word got around that I wasn't to be counted out yet.  Featuring two intelligent and articulate young men who came through the public speaking competition, it was the biggest gladiator-like match in which I'd ever been as my "fraternity brother" spoke with boldness and certainty as expected.  However, as I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and stepped to that podium to face 500 of my peers, I proclaimed every word on those sheets of paper with every bit of God-given sincerity and confidence as this scrawny, bobble-headed kid from East of the River delivered the speech that would not only change the course of his life, but also for youth in our great program as well as throughout the city.  At the time, I didn't care if I won or not because the most important thing to me was beating a failure with a try, so when they announced me as the winner, it was even sweeter as it was one of the most surprising, humbling and joyous moments of my life.  Right then and there, a key part of our program's declaration rang true: "If it is to be, it is up to me."


So was the summer of '95 as memorable or life-changing for you as it was for me, or was there another great summer that's still one off from your top spot?!?!  Either way, PLEASE feel free to share your recollections.  Don't forget to come back to find out which summer reigns supreme as I unveil the No. 1 spot in the "Ninetysomething Days of Summer" edition of "Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five"!!!