Pool Bar became a meeting spot for Black alternative kids, as the venue regularly booked Black rock acts. While most kids of color in the scene seemed to downplay race, Ryan went out of his way to put together a Black band. Being so close to this creative energy, at times eye to eye, is part of what makes punk rock so inspiring. No one said the words outright, but again and again, I saw bands with more than one Black member dismissively downgraded to “Black rock.” Six years earlier, in 1985, Vernon Reid, guitarist of Living Colour, partnered with the illustrious music journalist Greg Tate to start the Black Rock Coalition.