This posting isn’t really about street art – except it is about painting literally on the street in Brooklyn. We just received an email from a Brooklyn club inviting us to a memorial for a friend who was killed on her bicycle.

“In Loving Memory of Solange – DJ Reverend Soul. Yesterday, we lost one of our dearest members of the Rose family to a tragic accident. We were so lucky to have had this lovely lady spin for us every Monday night at the Soul Sessions. Her joyous spirit and soul was truly infectious and brought a smile to everyone she ever encountered” (image to the right courtesy Rose Live)

Yesterday, in a Brooklyn neighborhood named Greenpoint where she lived, Solange Raulston, an artist and musician originally from the U.K., was struck and killed by a flatbed truck while riding her bicycle.  She DJ’d regularly at Rose Live and Bembe, two clubs in Williamsburg.

There have been a number of articles in the past couple of weeks regarding the mysterious disappearance of bike lanes in parts of Brooklyn and the efforts of people to restore them. The discussions taking place over the appropriate location for bicycle lanes are pretty firey.

It hasn’t been reported if there was a bike lane there yesterday, or if Solange was riding in it when she was struck and killed, but it has become more obvious that more and more intrepid and low-to-moderate income artists, professionals, musicians, dancers, photographers, pizza delivery dudes, construction workers – you name it – are using their emission-free human-powered bicycles to get around New York.  It isn’t just for David Byrne anymore!  Many people have begun riding bikes since the economy took a downward turn and they could not afford public transportation or car services, let alone a car.

The fact that bike lanes exist in the first place is the result of community-powered activists who have fought for them for years and worked with the City to get them in place.  The streets, which everyone pays for, are largely unsafe for bike riders still and riding on the sidewalk can endanger pedestrians and will get you a ticket in some areas. Luckily, newly re-elected Mayor Bloomberg celebrates the plans to “green” our city with hundreds of miles of bike lanes over the next few years. And it’s universally acknowledged that bike lanes save lives and improve safety.

Rose Live club in Williamsburg will be having a memorial for DJ “Reverend Soul” and is raising money to send to her family. You can find them through their website www.roselivemusic.com

“Soulful ‘DJ Solange’ Raulston is killed after being struck by car while riding bike in Brooklyn” – Daily News

33 year old Solange Raulston, a Brooklyn DJ who played at Rose Live and Bembe in Brooklyn regularly, was killed on her bicycle in Greenpoint yesterday. (photo courtesy ©The Daily News)