A One-Man Positivity Machine
They call him “Beltline Kevin.” If you have ever visited Atlanta’s Beltline trail — a 22-mile loop that has transformed old railway lines into parks, paths, art, and food — you might have seen him: a man in rainbow-laced rollerblades, singing at full volume, headphones wrapped in Ziploc bags to guard against sweat, offering high-fives to strangers as he skates past.
Kevin Randolph, 61, is hard to miss. And when you hear his story, you begin to understand that his joyful presence is more than spectacle ... It's a daily act of courage.
A former long-distance runner with knees that no longer cooperate, Kevin took up rollerblading during the pandemic to stay active. And the singing came shortly after: “The Beltline is not a place to be tense,” he said. But after the COVID pandemic, "you could feel the tension.”
So Kevin did what few others were brave enough to do: He began to sing: loudly, cheerfully, and even when people stared. “Now they come up to me and sing with me,” he said.
Kevin has a running playlist of over 100 favorite songs, and he skates up to three hours a day, logging more than 300 miles a week. His skating outfit might raise eyebrows — Ziploc-covered Beats headphones, tank top, shorts, colorful laces — but Kevin doesn’t care. “It takes an act of faith to not wear the clothes everyone is wearing, to follow your own path," he said.
He holds degrees in computer science and math education, once performed in a men’s choir, and taught middle school and Navy classes. But it’s his joy that has made him an icon. Social media users have crowned him “the king of the Beltline,” and a mural now honors him on one of the trail’s columns.
But Kevin isn’t performing for applause. “It’s sometimes lonely to be yourself,” he said.
In a world that often tells us to quiet down, fall in line, or blend in, Kevin reminds us of Paul’s charge in Romans 12:2: "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
As Kevin would argue, the lesson is simple: Be who God made you to be, and do what you can to bring joy to those around you ... even if that means singing “Party in the U.S.A.” on rollerblades.