Louisville Barbecue Cook Slain by Cops ‘Fed the Police for Free’
‘PILLAR OF THE COMMUNITY’
His name was David “YaYa” McAtee, and he was not protesting when he died in a hail of bullets on Sunday night. He was cooking his world-class barbecue at an outdoor stand.
by Michael Daly
Nobody was protesting when the police and the Kentucky National Guard rolled up to 26th Street and Broadway in Louisville at 12:10 a.m. Monday.
The world had been upended by a pandemic and the whole nation was being rocked by protests against police brutality, but people had gathered at this corner because 53-year-old David “YaYa” McAtee was cooking his world-class barbecue at an outdoor stand. He had been doing so every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night for two years.
“I have always been blessed with the skills to cook,” McAtee told a local blog in February. “I didn’t need anything else. People have to eat every single day, and all I need is my skills.”
He said that his culinary abilities had stayed with him through rough stretches of his life, during which he had been shot and robbed. And he had kept thinking about the corner that was the place to establish himself.
“I always wanted to be in this spot, and when the opportunity came, I took it,” McAtee told the blog. “I’ve already built my clientele… I’m here for a reason. Eventually, I’m going to buy this lot and build. I gotta start somewhere, and this is where I’m going to start. It might take another year or two to get to where I’m going, but I’m going to get there.”
And the success of YaYa’s barbecue seemed assured not just because of the food, but also because of his generosity of spirit. He was welcoming and warm. A person who was hungry but short of the price of a meal needed only to step up to the stand and ask.
“Anybody wanted something, he gave it to them,” his mother, Odessa Riley, told The Daily Beast. “He extended his good will to those who are sworn to be our protectors.
“He fed the police for free,” she said.
more:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/david-mcatee-louisville-barbecue-cook-slain-by-cops-fed-the-police-for-free?via=newsletter&source=DDMorning
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