Memphis Flyer - 1.26.23

Just a few weeks into the new year and Memphis has already had its fair share of “scary things in the news.” Feeds are inundated with seemingly endless reports of homicides, shootings, car the s, robberies, and near abductions.

SHARA CLARK Editor

SAMUEL X. CICCI

Managing Editor

JACKSON

BAKER, BRUCE VANWYNGARDEN Senior Editors TOBY SELLS Associate Editor

KAILYNN JOHNSON News Reporter CHRIS MCCOY Film and TV Editor ALEX GREENE Music Editor

MICHAEL DONAHUE, JON W. SPARKS Staff Writers

ABIGAIL MORICI

Arts and Culture Editor

GENE GARD, FRANK MURTAUGH

Contributing Columnists

SHARON BROWN, AIMEE STIEGEMEYER Grizzlies Reporters

ANDREA FENISE Fashion Editor

KENNETH NEILL Founding Publisher

CARRIE BEASLEY Senior Art Director CHRISTOPHER MYERS Advertising Art Director NEIL WILLIAMS Graphic Designer

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Last week, ve o cers with the Memphis Police Department were red a er the death of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols — a father with no criminal record — following a fatal tra c stop. An administrative investigation determined the o cers “violated multiple department policies, including excessive use of force, duty to intervene, and duty to render aid,” according to a statement from MPD. Nichols’ family was allowed to view the body-cam footage this past Monday, and their attorney Ben Crump says the last words Nichols spoke on the video were calls for his mother.

We’ve also lost a handful of Memphis icons this month with the passing of Gangsta Boo, Lisa Marie Presley, Vincent Astor, and Dr. Charles A. Champion. ese tragedies and losses just scratch the surface of these rst 23 days of 2023 — and this is without mentioning the horrors beyond our city, state, and country. It has been a rough start. And with so much bad news circling, it can be di cult to see the good that’s still — and always — happening in our periphery.

To bring some of that good to the forefront — and highlight a few of those much-needed “helpers” — we’re happy to share with you the 20 < 30 Class of 2023. Within this annual issue, we feature a group of 20 individuals under the age of 30 who are doing work in our community to ignite innovation and push for positive change. e Flyer rst introduced this cover feature in 2010, and in the years since, we’ve found determined young people working in various elds, from healthcare to scienti c research, advocacy to activism, restaurants to real estate, arts to education, and much more in between.

NEWS & OPINION

THE FLY-BY - 4

POLITICS - 8

FINANCE - 9

AT LARGE - 10

SPORTS - 11

Each year, we ask our readers to submit nominations for the best and brightest 20-somethings they know, and each year without fail, we receive dozens of emails introducing us to the younger generation aimed at making Memphis a better place. Our team sits down and sorts through these nominations to select just 20 among them to pro le in our pages — narrowing this kind of talent pool down is a task I wouldn’t wish on any of you. Every one of them deserves recognition, and we’d love to include them all.

COVER STORY “20 < 30”

BY CHRIS MCCOY - 12

WE RECOMMEND - 18

MUSIC - 19

AFTER DARK - 20

CALENDAR - 21

NY TIMES CROSSWORD - 22

FOOD - 25

NEWS OF THE WEIRD - 26 ASTROLOGY - 27 FILM - 28

CLASSIFIEDS - 30 LAST WORD - 31

Without further ado, we welcome you to read about this year’s honorees as we celebrate their accomplishments, goals, and contributions to the progress we so hope to see. ese are the young people paving the way; they’re the helpers lighting the path toward a brighter future. Let their aspirations be a hopeful beacon for us all.

Shara Clark shara@memphis yer.com

1, 2023

THE fly-by

MEM ernet

Memphis on the internet.

TYRE NICHOLS

A turbulent week was expected at press time as the family and public were slated to view the bodycam footage of the Memphis Police Department (MPD) killing of Tyre Nichols.

Five MPD o cers involved in Nichols’ killing were red Friday as they “violated multiple department policies, including excessive use of force, duty to intervene, and duty to render aid,” MPD said in a statement.

{CITY REPORTER

By Toby Sells

Questions, Answers + Attitude

Edited by Toby Sells

Getting Consent

Patient consent mandates for pelvic exams are more common despite no state law.

While nonconsensual pelvic exams are legal in Tennessee, the practice is banned at the state’s largest medical school, the Memphis-based University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC).

Under normal conditions, these are called pelvic exams. In them, doctors, nurses, or medical students examine a woman’s vulva and internal reproductive organs like the vagina, cervix, ovaries, fallopian tubes, and uterus. e exams are considered routine parts of wellness checks, and Planned Parenthood suggests them for those turning 21.

Clockwise from top le : Justin Smith, Demetrius Haley, Tadarrius Bean, Desmond Mills Jr., and Emmitt Martin III.

An MPD o cer stopped Nichols last Saturday for reckless driving, according to police. A er two “confrontations” with o cers, Nichols was taken to St. Francis Hospital where he later died from his injuries.

However, done under anesthesia and without permission, the exams have been labeled nonconsensual pelvic exams. e use of such exams has been normal and widespread for decades. However, more and more states have outlawed the practice with legislation. Also, more schools and professional medical groups have instituted policies and guidelines against them.

UTHSC o cials enacted a policy last year that says the “attending [physicians] will ensure that adequate consent is obtained for an exam under anesthesia. Such procedures include examination of the external genitalia, vaginal speculum exam, internal vaginal exam, and rectal exam.”

Dr. John Schorge is the chairman of obstetrics and gynecology (OB-GYN) at UTHSC. He arrived at the university a er its policy against the exams was passed. But he said such policies banning nonconsensual exams have become “fairly universal.”

“ e bottom line is that performing pelvic exams on women under anesthesia without their knowledge or approval is unethical and unacceptable,” Schorge said.

is has been acknowledged, he said, with guidelines and policies from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). ose say pelvic exams should only be performed on a patient under anesthesia if they have given explicit consent, are related to the planned procedure, are done by a student recognized by the patient as part of their care team, and are supervised by a teacher.

occasionally say they don’t want students involved in their treatment at all, he said, “and we respect that, just like we do in the o ce.”

Pelvic exams are necessary and integral to plan treatments, Schorge said. As an example, he said hysterectomies can be done numerous ways and pelvic exams are the best way to choose one.

Before 2019, only six states banned the exams, according to data from the Epstein Health Law and Policy Program at the University of Illinois. A er 2019, 16 more states banned the practice. In 2021, bills to outlaw the exams were before legislators in four states, according to the latest data.

Schorge said he favors professional guidelines to state laws.

“We — in the OB-GYN arena at least — have national guidelines for a reason,” Schorge said. “ e reason is that we would like to have a certain consistency, versus a state law that’s kind of draconian in my opinion. We’re indebted to our national organization for guidance on topics like this and it’s pretty clear.”

Florida’s law against nonconsensual pelvic exams took e ect in July 2020. e law was originally written to only include exams in certain training environments, according to ACOG. But it was later expanded to mandate consent for the exams in all settings and by all healthcare practitioners. For this, ACOG opposed the legislation, called it “intrusion,” and vowed to ght it.

Nichols was a father, a skater, and had no criminal record.

Schorge said patients are “rarely” opposed to such exams but “there is a spectrum as you can imagine.” Patients will

No such legislation is now before the Tennessee General Assembly.

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POSTED TO TWITTER BY MEMPHIS POLICE DEPARTMENT

PHOTO: PIRON GUILLAUME | UNSPLASH

A wave of institutional and professional guidelines now mandate patient consent before performing a pelvic exam on a woman under anesthesia.

By Kailynn Johnson

HIV Funding

Tennessee leaders are responding to the recent news regarding HIV funding being cut in the state.

Last week, the state of Tennessee was reportedly “cutting funding for HIV prevention, detection, and treatment programs that are not affiliated with metro health departments as of May 31st,” according to an email obtained by The Commercial Appeal . The email from United Way of Greater Nashville “told partner organizations there would be a change in the state’s HIV prevention program.”

A January 17th letter from Pamela Talley, medical director of the HIV/ STD/viral hepatitis section of the Tennessee Department of Health, stated that Tennessee has “provided HIV surveillance, testing, and prevention services through a CDC pass-through grant from the federal government.” e letter also said that the state of Tennessee has determined “it is in the best interest of Tennesseans for the state to assume direct nancial and managerial responsibility for these services.”

In the past, the CDC had awarded more than $10 million to health departments and organizations in Tennessee for HIV prevention and “care activities.” The CDC also projected in 2020 that Tennesseans living with HIV would face an average lifetime cost of $510,000.

diagnosed.

In a statement released by the Tennessee Senate Democratic Caucus, House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. John Ray Clemmons of Nashville said, “ e decision is the latest instance of the governor turning his back on vulnerable Tennesseans.

“ e Lee administration’s unilateral decision to cut funding to HIV prevention, detection, and treatment programs is only the latest example of his alarming lack of concern for Tennesseans’ health and well-being,” Clemmons said. “It is di cult for those of us who have personally experienced a loved one su ering and ultimately dying from this horrible virus to view this decision as anything less than a heartless act and o ensive — it’s beyond the pale.”

AIDSVu, an online mapping tool by Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, reported that as of 2020, there were 6,283 people living with HIV in Shelby County, and 235 people were newly diagnosed. In Memphis, there were 6,589 people living with HIV, with 233 people being newly

Clemmons also stated that “multiple programs that serve communities across this state will be directly impacted by this callous decision, leaving them scrambling for funding to provide much-needed healthcare services.”

In the same statement, state Senator London Lamar (D-Memphis) said, “ e administration’s irresponsible decision to reject federal funding for community-based HIV/AIDS prevention endangers the lives of Tennesseans. Our state has made steady progress against this incurable disease thanks to these exact public health e orts.”

Lamar also tweeted, “ ere is NOTHING ‘pro-life’ that has come out of Tennessee lately. Complete abortion bans. Foster care system worst in country. DCS. Rape kits. Now HIV funding cut. When I think it can’t get worse, the state proves me otherwise. People are not safe here.”

“When I think it can’t get worse, the state proves me otherwise.”

PHOTO BY TESTALIZE.ME | UNSPLASH

e funds came

through a federal grant.

State cuts blasted as “alarming lack of concern.”

a y AND

POLITICS By Jackson Baker

Dates Certain

From the intensity of both behindthe-scenes action and up-front newsmaking, it would almost seem that the 2023 city election — especially the mayoral-race component of it — is a matter of immediate import. e fact is, however, that for all the present abundance of action, we are still four months from the rst day that candidate petitions can be picked up at the Election Commission. at day will be Monday, May 22nd. e next key date in the city election process will be a ling deadline of ursday, July 20th, at noon. Early voting will begin on Friday, September 15th, and election day will be ursday, October 5th. Should a runo be necessary in a district race for city council, that date will be ursday, November 16th.

A key date of sorts just passed last week: e January 15th cuto for nancial receipts, which must be disclosed by the January 31st deadline. Sometime next week, as the results of this rst round of disclosures get known, the actual pecking order of mayoral candidates should become clearer.

Early leaders in the money race are thought to be Sheri Floyd Bonner and Downtown Memphis Commission CEO Paul Young, with former County Commissioner and NAACP head Van Turner also doing well.

• Meanwhile, in the wake of reports that former City Councilman John Bobango is considering running for mayor, another white candidate is letting his interest in a mayoral race be known.

is is Rick White, a realtor and relative unknown, who says he intends to devote much of his time to the message that the citizens of Memphis are the responsible parties in any potential strategy for resolving the city’s crime issue.

In what sounds like a paradoxical sentiment, the mayoral aspirant says, “Whoever is mayor isn’t nearly as important as telling the citizens that it is they, and not an o cial, who can do something about crime.” Conveying that message would be an important element

in his campaign should he run, White said.

• Add the name of Frankie Dakin, aide to Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, to the list of those thinking of running for the key District 5 City Council seat.

• ough the outcome of Tuesday’s special Democratic primary in state House District 86 could not have been known by the deadline (Tuesday noon, roughly) for this week’s print edition, it will have been posted subsequently in the Flyer in the form of an online article.

Like us, the Shelby County Commission was up against a deadline on the matter. As commission chairman Mickell Lowery noti ed members at the tail end of Monday’s regular commission meeting, January 31st is the nal date for submitting legislation in the General Assembly; whereas, the commission’s next regularly scheduled meeting would not come until February 6th.

Whoever ends up representing District 86 in the state House should have the opportunity to formally le bills by the appointed General Assembly deadline, Lowery said.

Accordingly, the chairman announced a special called meeting of the commission on Wednesday of this week, for the express purpose of making a formal appointment of the top vote-getter as the state representative-elect. As Lowery noted, Tuesday’s leader would be eligible for that status because there were no Republican primary entrants for the position, making the Democratic primary winner the de facto winner of the seat and a proposed March 14th general election date moot.

Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. raised the issue that, depending on how close the election turned out to be, it might be di cult to designate a certi able victor as soon as Wednesday. Nevertheless, the special called meeting date stands.

e District 86 seat was lled for 26 years by the late Barbara Cooper, who died last October a er winning the Democratic primary for the seat in August. is week’s special election to name a successor was called a er Cooper’s formal — and posthumous — reelection in November.

PHOTO: COURTESY RICK WHITE Rick White

For all the attention it continues to get, the mayoral race is still some distance away.

Secure 2.0

n late 2022, a bill called SECURE 2.0 was signed into law. There’s nothing revolutionary in the law; it’s more of a kitchen sink of various adjustments and tweaks to retirement plan and IRA rules. There are dozens of parts to the law, but some changes are important and relevant for typical investors and we’ll highlight some meaningful ones here.

Delayed Age for Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs): SECURE 2.0 increases the required minimum distribution age to 73 starting on January 1, 2023, and increases the age further to 75 starting on January 1, 2033. This is meaningful because it allows the option to defer taxes to later in life.

No More RMDs for Roth 401(k)s: Previously, all 401(k) plans required RMDs (including Roth). This change is a fix to an oversight — typically Roth accounts don’t have RMDs.

Leniency for RMD Mistakes: RMD mistakes are extremely costly, and now only slightly less so. This law reduces the penalty for a missed RMD from 50 percent to 25 percent. If a mistake is corrected quickly and proactively, then the penalty might be only 10 percent.

529 to Roth IRA Transfer: Effective in 2024, if you have an unused balance in a 529 plan, you can transfer those funds to your child’s Roth IRA tax-free. The most you can transfer is $35,000 over a lifetime. These transfers reduce the amount of your child’s regular contributions, and they must be eligible to make contributions to a Roth IRA (i.e. have earned income, etc.). The 529 plan must have been maintained for at least 15 years, and the funds eligible for transfer must have been in the 529 plan for five-plus years.

New Future Limit for Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs):

For years, the maximum annual QCD amount was limited to $100,000. Beginning in 2024, the limit will be linked to inflation.

Mandatory 401(k) Enrollment: Requires new 401(k) and 403(b) plans started after 2024 to automatically enroll participants in the plan with at least 3 percent but not more than 10 percent contribution, with automatic increases of 1 percent until contributions reach 10 percent but not more

than 15 percent of income.

New Catch-Up Contribution: Increases the catch-up contribution to the greater of $10,000 or 50 percent more than the regular catch-up amount in 2025 for individuals who have attained ages 60, 61, 62, and 63. The increased amounts are indexed for inflation after 2025. New limits are effective for taxable years beginning in 2025.

Matching Student Loan Payments: Allows employees to receive matching contributions by reason of repaying their student loans rather than contributing to retirement plans. This is effective for contributions made for plan years beginning after December 31, 2023.

Retirement Savings Lost and Found: Creates a national online searchable lost-and-found database for retirement plans at the Department of Labor (DOL), allowing participants to search for the contact information of their plan administrator. Directs the creation of the database no later than two years after the date of enactment of SECURE 2.0.

Catch-Up Contributions Must Be Roth: The cost of SECURE 2.0 will be offset by requiring that catch-up contributions be designated as Roth contributions. This provision will apply to eligible participants whose wages for the preceding calendar year exceed $145,000 and is effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2023.

SECURE 2.0 was broadly bipartisan and is largely main-street investor friendly, which is refreshing news coming from Washington. It’s definitely worth you or your advisor thinking through how these changes might help you. Retirement always creeps up more quickly than new retirees ever imagined possible, and every little bit helps on the path to your secure financial future.

Gene Gard, CFA, CFP, CFT-I, is Chief Investment Officer at Telarray, a Memphis-based wealth management firm that helps families navigate investment, tax, estate, and retirement decisions. Ask him your questions or schedule an objective, no-pressure portfolio review at letstalk@telarrayadvisors.com. Sign up for the next free online seminar on the Events tab at telarrayadvisors.com.

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What the new bill means for retirement plans.

AT LARGE By Bruce VanWyngarden

Woke-A-Mole

Here’s the latest news from Florida, the cutting edge of “conservative” politics, where Governor (and GOP presidential candidate in waiting) Ron DeSantis is determined to stamp out “wokism” in all its terrifying forms and get his name in the news as o en as possible.

Last spring, at DeSantis’ urging, the state passed its own version of the “Don’t Say Gay” act, which bans mentioning sexual orientation or gender identity in any manner deemed to be against state standards in schools, and prohibits public schools from adopting procedures that maintain the con dentiality of a disclosure by a student of their sexuality or gender.

Last week, because DeSantis was apparently not content to limit his interest in harassing transgender students to undergraduates, the governor requested data on the number of students who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria or who have received treatment in university clinics across the state.

Also, last week, in an even more stunning development, Florida banned the teaching of AP classes on African-American history in the state’s high schools.

e department of education said the curriculum “is inexplicably contrary to Florida law and signi cantly lacks educational value.”

So, to review: In Florida, you can’t say gay or Black in schools because teaching about LGBTQ+ issues or Black history is “woke” and might make straight white people sad. Or have to think. Or learn something.

DeSantis is also now pushing for a bill that would give discounts to those wanting to buy a gas stove because gas stoves were a momentary thing that woke people were supposedly woke about last week, due to a study that revealed gas stoves can leak methane into people’s homes. It was all over Fox News, and Tucker Carlson made hay with the “issue” for several nights. Conservatives went on Twitter and dared liberals to come and take their stoves. Liberals were like, “What? Nobody wants your stupid stove, gas boy.” So the issue went away a er a few days.

By the way, if you want to see what DeSantis is going to be outraged about next, you can just watch ol’ Tucker. Unbelievably, in recent days, Carlson’s been saying how good cigarettes are for America, how the country was built on smoking. is was in response to House Republicans opening a smoking lounge in the Capitol building. So maybe DeSantis will put gas stoves and cigarettes on a plane to Massachusetts. at should trigger the woke

folks, right?

I know, I know, it’s hard to keep up with these fools, but here’s a handy list of woke things conservatives are (or have been) worried about in recent times: the feminization of Mr. Potato Head, the feminization of M&Ms cartoon characters (a Carlson favorite), Dr. Seuss’ Sneetches, gay Teletubbies, drag queens (including, amazingly, the movie Mrs. Doubt re), litter boxes in schools for students “who identify as cats,” the word Latinx (banned in Arkansas by new Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders), the emasculation of alpha males by aggressive liberal women, bare arms on females (banned in the Missouri legislature), and, of course, the all-time woke pisser-o er — pronouns.

To be accurate, these are usually the kinds of trendy topics that get a lot of air-time in the right-wing news silo for a while, then fade as they lose their usefulness — or people nally see through the charade. (Is “charage” a word? It should be.)

ere is, of course, a more durable outrage list that gets tapped when the base rubes really need an anger x. ese include: abortion (and nonexistent “postbirth abortions”), the morning-a er pill and other contraceptives, immigrants (non-white), Covid vaccines (they kill people), crime waves (in Democrat cities), gas prices (Joe’s fault), books about sex or race, the “myth” of global warning, and “Critical Race eory” (which isn’t taught in public schools and which no conservative can actually explain but is really scary).

So, that’s a lot of woke stu , right? What does it mean if none of it scares or triggers you? Are you still woke? I’m pretty sure I am, but maybe it’s because I’ve come to think being woke simply means that you believe in science, medicine, education, research, fact-based reporting, and the importance of being open to new information. Honestly, I think being woke is what we used to call “normal,” before so many got sucked into their own social media bubbles by charlatans and gri ers. At its heart, maybe being woke is simply being unafraid to call “bullshit” when you see it.

PHOTO: KWON JUNHO | UNSPLASH

What is the right really afraid of?

Penny’s Path

Following last ursday’s win over Wichita State at FedExForum — with a road game at Cincinnati looming three days later — University of Memphis basketball coach Penny Hardaway mentioned the Bearcats having been a “thorn in my side” for quite some time. I asked the 1993 AllAmerican if he talks to players about 1992 and the origin of that thorny relationship. “No,” he said. “I never talk about my time against Cincinnati. It’s a rivalry that’s been here forever. e motivation [for them] is here. ey know the importance, for sure.”

In case you need a 30-year refresher,

stumble when they expect the same level of performance (and motivation) from current players that they knew in uniform “back in the day.” And a crushing defeat — or four of them — 31 years ago had nothing to do with Sunday’s big win at snowy Cincinnati. But with Hardaway now merely one win shy of his 100th as Memphis coach, connecting the dots between the man’s current role in blue and gray and the one many Memphians still celebrate from his playing days is a pleasant exercise. Only six other coaches have reached the 100-win plateau with Memphis, and the only one among those six who also starred as a player for the Tigers — Larry Finch — now has a statue on the university’s south campus. Hardaway is still nding his legs as a head coach, and doing so in an atmosphere quite di erent from most of his predecessors. But he occupies that atmosphere as a hometown hero, which makes all of this worth watching. And celebrating.

“I haven’t had a chance to think about the milestone,” said Hardaway last ursday. “I’m blessed to be the coach here. I haven’t lost that feeling of wanting to win for the city and for this university. My wins [total] is great, but I’m a team player. It wouldn’t happen without all the great players and sta . When [the 100th win] comes, I’m sure I’ll be excited.”

Cincinnati — coached by Bob Huggins at the time and led on the oor by Nick Van Exel — beat Hardaway’s Tigers four times in the 1991-92 season: twice in the regular season, again in the Great Midwest Conference championship game, then most painfully (and by 31 points) in the NCAA tournament’s Midwest Regional nal, leaving Hardaway and the Tigers one victory short of a Final Four appearance. (Hardaway led the Tigers in scoring that day, but with merely 12 points.)

If the 51-year-old Hardaway resists mentioning his playing days — particularly the disappointments when he was not quite 21 — as a motivation tool, good for him. Coaches with decorated playing careers o en

• Sunday’s game against Cincinnati was the 85th meeting between the Tigers and Bearcats (Cincy leads, 47-38). e only two programs Memphis has faced more frequently are no longer conference foes: Louisville and Southern Miss. e Tigers will host Cincinnati at FedExForum on February 26th, and the teams could meet again in the AAC tournament. en it appears that will be it for this rivalry, as the Bearcats depart for the Big 12 (with UCF and Houston) next season.

ere’s no positive spin in losing Cincinnati on the Tiger schedule and gaining the likes of North Texas, Charlotte, and Rice. So Hardaway will be tasked with nding rivalry games for the nonconference lineup. He’s mentioned a desire to add the likes of Louisville and Arkansas back to the mix. Here’s hoping Cincinnati gets a phone call, too.

PHOTO: LARRY KUZNIEWSKI

Penny Hardaway

Connecting the dots between Hardaway the player and Hardaway the coach.

SPORTS By Frank Murtaugh

20 30

STORY BY CHRIS M c COY PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRANDON DILL

The class of 2023

Every year, the Memphis Flyer asks our readers to tell us all about the outstanding young people who are doing their best to make the Blu City a better place. is time, we had a record number of nominees, and narrowing it down to just 20 was more di cult than ever. Speaking to an immensely talented 20 never fails to ll us with hope, and allows us to introduce Memphis to the leaders who will be shaping our future.

Here they are: Your 20<30 Class of 2023.

BRENDA LUCERO AMADOR President, Voices United

“I was born in Mexico and moved to the U.S. when I was 3 years old,” says Amador. “My parents came here to give [us] a better future, something that couldn’t be o ered in Mexico.” Amador grew up in Atlanta and came to Christian Brothers University on an Opportunity Scholarship. Under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), she and thousands like her must reapply every two years to stay in the country. “I didn’t really get into advocacy until I got to college.”

Now, she ghts for immigration reform with Voices United. “DACA has been around a long time and we haven’t seen any progression, but if we keep advocating, sharing our stories, and organizing, something can happen in the future.”

e education major is now a student teacher at Idlewild Elementary. “I want to be not only an activist, but also a leader, because education is the root of everything. If we can x the system or make it better, then everything else will fall into place. Because that’s the future generation.”

DR. ADAM CHAN Chief Resident Physician, UTHSC Adult Psychiatry Residency Program

“Growing up, mental health was always a taboo topic in my community,” says Dr. Chan. But during his medical education, he saw a need to destigmatize the topic. “I felt the absence of treatment options in low-resource settings during rural Tennessee rotations and international medical mission trips.”

Now, he’s a leader in researching innovative techniques to treat disorders like depression. “Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive procedure that involves using electrical currents generated from magnetic elds to stimulate di erent structures and connections in the brain. If your brain was a ‘muscle,’ I like to think of it as helping it train!”

But improved treatment is no substitute for building a healthier society, he says. “Prevention is power! Health and mental health are intimately tied to their sociocontextual components.”

SPENCER CHASTEEN Manager of Talent Acquisition & Workforce Planning, FedEx Dataworks

“Dataworks is the first time since FedEx started that we started a brand-new operating company,” says Chasteen.

“ e goal of Dataworks is to make supply chains smarter for everyone, and really optimize and make our networks more e cient, and o er our customers more products faster. For instance, Dataworks was behind the vaccine distribution. I really knew that Dataworks had that startup environment, and it was new territory for us. So being able to come over and start building something from scratch, and especially in the talent acquisition world, was a great opportunity.

“My passion is bringing people in. I always say, someone took a chance on me, and I was able to build my career.”

“I’m the oldest of four, and my mom raised us all by herself,” says Desiderio. “She’s a single mother, so a lot of my drive and determination, I always credit back to her.”

Desiderio works full-time as a marketing coordinator for a commercial real estate company, while also pursuing a master’s degree in integrated strategic media at University of Memphis. “It kind of encompasses journalism, public relations, marketing, advertising — all of the things that I like in one very long name.” She also serves as vice president of communications for the U of M Graduate Student Association.

She’s a mentor in the STREETS Ministries Pathways program. “It is in the Berclair/Nutbush area. at’s actually where I grew up with my mom and all my siblings. It resonated a lot. ey talk about rst-generation college students, and how these kids really don’t have a strong support system, and how having a mentor in their life can really help.”

KIRSTEN DESIDERIO Marketing Coordinator, Cushman & Wakefield

COVER

LILY K. DONALDSON Miss United States 2022

“I’ve only been Miss United States for two months now and I’ve gotten to go to almost every region of the U.S. so far,” says Donaldson. “It’s been really fun to meet people from all walks of life and all the places across the U. S. and get even more new perspectives than I had before.”

For Donaldson, competing in pageants is a way to ex her communications skills. She holds a computer science degree from American University and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in agriculture, focusing on the development of urban vertical farming. With nonpro t Art Technically, she promotes STEM and arts education. “I took a computer science class my rst semester and ended up loving it. It wasn’t something that I had ever really had an opportunity to pursue or interact with. … Art Technically is all about trying to present those opportunities to underserved students, so they can see for themselves if it’s something they would like to pursue.”

SHANICE D’SHARA DOWDY New Ventures Strategist, ALSAC/St. Jude

“I come up with social media-heavy activations to make St. Jude and Memphis relevant all over the world,” says Dowdy. “We’ve been successful, and because social media is not going anywhere, I bring that sophistication to help us stay cool to young people. I bring innovative solutions to advance philanthropy. I study industries that we haven’t tapped into before.”

Dowdy remains active in Memphis’ Beta Epsilon Omega chapter of AKA sorority, recently organizing a bene t for struggling Black-owned food trucks. She’s the mother of two children and, on New Year’s Eve, married Darry Dowdy Jr. at her grandfather’s church in Greenwood, Mississippi.

“I’m a Baptist who went to a Catholic school, and have traveled around the world to do missionary work,” she says. “It’s being able to embrace di erences that allows others to embrace your di erences.”

20 30

GUNTER GAUPP Musician, Composer

Crosstown Arts’ 2022 Composer in Residence has a degree in jazz guitar performance from Rhodes College, but you’ve probably seen him playing bass around town with folks like Louise Page. “It’s such a cool place that it’s hard to leave,” says Gaupp. “Immediately, the music community was so much more inviting than it was for me during 18 years in Baton Rouge. … Every culture I can imagine has a music space here.”

Recently, Gaupp has made the leap to teaching music at the Memphis Rise Academy High School. “I’ve been teaching guitar lessons since I graduated high school, but full-time in the classroom is de nitely a di erent beast. It’s as rewarding as it is challenging. … I think with any of the arts, we’re trying to teach people how to be people.”

FRED GRIFFIN Fashion Designer, Founder of Swish

Have you seen those pink U of M Tigers shorts? ose were Gri n’s idea. “I started making apparel in middle school,” he says. “Anything that I do, I always try to have meaning behind. My mother and my father are really both big into community work. We’ve always done things with breast cancer awareness.”

Gri n designed and made a limited edition of the now-iconic streetwear in 2020 through his brand Swish. “I shot a commercial and put it on Instagram, and I couldn’t turn my phone o because the reaction was crazy. And that was in the middle of a pandemic! I love the fact that the people of Memphis appreciated it enough to where they still talk about it. People still love them, people still wear them.”

Gri n has parlayed his success with Swish into jobs with Nike and the Memphis Grizzlies. “Fashion is really tough because there’s so many people doing it,” he says. “I still keep at it because I’ve been doing it for so long, and I have such a passion for it. e ideas that pop in my brain and the concepts I come up with are able to stand alone by themselves.”

SARAH JEMISON Director of Strategy and Services, Alco Management Inc.

Finding a ordable housing is an increasingly di cult problem for lowincome Memphians. “HUD [United States Department of Housing and Urban Development] has de ned a ordability as 30 percent of your income or less going to housing — but plenty of people are spending 50 to 60 percent,” says Jemison. “We have the added issue in Memphis of out-of-state and out-of-country investors who are buying up rental properties to make a pro t on them. ese are people’s homes, and they can’t live there because their rent goes up or the property’s not well-maintained.”

Alco Management is committed to providing quality, low-cost housing to those who need it the most, with rents based on percentage of income. “We have a Memphis that works really well for people like me who went to private school and are white and privileged,” says Jemison. “I think we need to deeply examine the ways in which that system makes the rest of the city not work for so many people.”

DANTE

LIZZA

Lawyer, Bass, Berry & Sims

Originally from rural Pennsylvania, Lizza came to Memphis during his rst year of law school in 2019. “I fell in love with the city instantly,” he says. “I think the thing I like the most is just the culture of the city, the spirit of perseverance, grit and grind. People are very proud of the city and want to make it a better place. I’m from a small town, and I went to law school in Washington, so I’ve had the big city experience, and I’ve have the small town experience. For me, Memphis is the perfect balance.”

He currently practices healthcare law, helping pharmacies and clinics comply with regulation, while also providing free legal services for elders in Orange Mound. “I really enjoy getting involved in the local community in Memphis and helping people have access to resources and advice that they otherwise may not be able to get. I know I’m in an incredibly privileged position, and I feel it as my duty to pay it forward.”

ALEX ROBINSON Educator, The Collective Blueprint

“I teach young people about the art of getting jobs,” says Robinson.

A Memphis native, Robinson went to college in North Carolina and decided to enroll in Teach For America when she graduated. “Teach For America sent me back home, which ended up being one of the best things I think could have happened to me.”

A er her TFA hitch was up, she moved to e Collective Blueprint. “We work with young adults without college degrees. We help them train for a job eld where they’re able to make a living wage. at was really important to me a er being an elementary school teacher. I saw just how big an impact poverty has on absolutely everything. You can’t learn if you’re hungry. You can’t learn if you’re stressed. It was really important for me to get into a space where I was able to help combat that economic inequity in this city.”

MEGHAN MEADOWSTAYLOR Pre-Award Coordinator, University of Memphis School of Public Health

It was coincidence that MeadowsTaylor earned her Ph.D. in epidemiology just as the coronavirus pandemic was exploding in March 2020. She quickly found herself in charge of a $13 million CDC grant to the Shelby County Health Department to serve under-resourced populations. “It’s been extremely rewarding, seeing the impact of what we do in the community,” she says. “ ere’s some challenging aspects for sure, dealing with the political aspect. ere’s a lot of resistance to change, but I think Memphis is open to making sure we have a healthier community.”

An author of 20 published research papers, she’s only getting started. “Violence prevention is another aspect of public health. We’re trying to build a violence prevention center within the school. … I want to make sure that we can all come together. I think diversity is important, everyone has their place, but we all need to take care of each other.”

MOTH MOTH MOTH Drag Performer

Two weeks a er graduating from Memphis College of Art, “I put on a wig and dress and started performing at nightclubs. I’ve had part-time to full-time work doing that ever since my very rst gig. I’ve been very lucky.”

at rst pro drag show was a bene t for victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting. “Drag for me is much less about being erce or whatever. Plenty of people are really good at that. Drag for me is like being a nun or something. It has a huge community service component.

e most important people I serve as an entertainer are the lonely people and the people who need connection.”

Moth Moth Moth has become the most recognizable drag gure in the Mid-South, doing events for the Focus Center Foundation and hosting a podcast, Musing with Mothie. But that visibility has come with an increase in harassment and threats from conservatives, and now the Tennessee Legislature is considering legislation that would ban drag performances in public. “Y’all should be focused on making sure that mamas and babies are not starving across the state. ey’re mad at me for reading stories to children in a yarn wig? Please.”

KAYLA MYERS Programmer & Black Creators’ Forum Manager, Indie Memphis

Myers had always loved lm, but it wasn’t until she was studying digital storytelling at the University of Missouri that she wanted to make a career out of it. Now, she’s preparing to program short lms for her fourth Indie Memphis Film Festival. “I’ve learned so much in my time with Indie Memphis, not just as a person, but thinking a lot about what it means to be a programmer and to advocate for independent lmmakers and especially lmmakers from marginalized backgrounds,” she says. “I’m constantly thinking about ways to expand my own taste, or recognizing that this [ lm] may not be for me, but I think there’s someone in Memphis who may really enjoy this experience and get something out of it.”

Working on the Black Creators’ Forum has been an especially meaningful experience. “I think it’s really important for Black lmmakers to have a space where they don’t feel like they need to be representing all Black artists, all Black people. … We’re always trying to make sure the Black Creators’ Forum is a space for connection and gathering and warmth, but also honesty about the ways that this industry really works.”

DANIEL STUART NELSON

Actor, Director, Choreographer

Since he rst auditioned for Playhouse on the Square seven years ago, the Kansas native has appeared on Midtown’s biggest stage 27 times. In the process, he discovered a talent for choreography, made his directorial debut with Smokey Joe’s Cafe, and earned three Ostrander awards. “I got to ll a dream role last season,” he says. “I got to be Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors!” ese days, he splits his time between Playhouse and his position as advertising manager for the Orpheum eatre. “It’s interesting to have these calls with marketing reps who are from LA or New York or Chicago,” he says. “ ey want to know about the Memphis market and what’s the best way to spend ad money here. I tell them, try as much as you can to make a personal connection with Memphis. at’s the way to go. Never be fake here.”

KELSEY SEITER

Project Engineer, Memphis Light, Gas & Water

e Mississippi State graduate is the president of the Memphis chapter of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers. At MLGW, she’s a mistress of all trades. “Basically, I do process improvement projects,” she says. “If there’s something at the company that they don’t really know who could tackle it, they ask our group to do it. I’ve done a lot of di erent types of projects, from workload studies for sta ng to cost analysis. Right now, I’m doing a company-wide truck inventory.”

She also nds time to volunteer for the United Way steering committee and MLGW’s Mobile Food Pantry. “When it comes down to it, our biggest mission is to serve the customer,” she says. “I don’t think everybody even realizes that we are not a private company; we’re a public [utility.] We try to do a lot of stu in the community, like our bottled water drive when we had the boil water advisory, our mobile pantry, and the Share the Pennies program, where we ask people to round up on their bills, and we use that money to weatherize people’s homes.”

AMBER SHERMAN

Political Strategist

While Sherman was a student of political science, legal studies at University of Tennessee, Martin, the UT system tried to outsource the jobs of the schools’ maintenance workers. “I organized the rst protest there in like 20 years,” she says. at was the beginning of a lifetime of scholarship and advocacy. “I took an unconventional path from my parents and my family in general,” Sherman says. “ ey work in government or have stable corporate jobs. I just knew that that wasn’t what I wanted to do. I was really passionate about making a di erence in people’s lives, beyond being a teacher or something like that. I really wanted to like be in the action, and be the reason a policy was changed, or writing new laws, or advocating for people. I wanted to be right in the thick of it.”

Sherman has worked on campaigns all over the country, but her greatest visibility is her podcast, e Law According to Amber. “I created the podcast because I like to talk, and I’m passionate about policy and law. It’s a great way for me to explain stu to people in layman’s terms they can understand, so they don’t feel like they’re being le out.”

JAZMYN TRIBBLE University Relations Coordinator, International Paper

When she was a struggling college freshman, a mentor from STS Enterprise helped Tribble stay in school. Now, she pays it forward as a mentor herself. “I love STS. ey’re like a second family to me,” she says. “A lot of young adults in Memphis just don’t have that positive role model who could tell them the ins and outs of what life is like really like a er high school, a er college. I like being that voice of reason sometimes for students because I think, especially now, you see students who have big dreams and aspirations, but no real guidance, no road map to get there.”

In her role at International Paper, she’s always on the lookout for fresh student talent. “I think there’s a lot of opportunity, and I see Memphis growing all the time, especially in the work that I do. ere’s so much potential here, and I want to pay it forward by staying here and doing what I can to help bring the city up.”

The class of 2023 20 30

January 20 - February 19, 2023

Mid-South Scholastic Art Awards Exhibition

Presented by the Brooks Museum League

Kendall by Sydney Wickens, Arlington High School, Art Portfolio Gold Key Senior Best-in-Show

ANA VAZQUEZ-PAGAN

Ph.D.

Candidate, St. Jude Graduate School for Biomedical Sciences

A native of Puerto Rico, Vazquez-Pagan decided to dedicate herself to medicine a er a pregnant family member died in the 2009 in uenza epidemic. Now, she researches the e ect of pregnancy on vulnerability to infectious disease in one of the most prestigious Ph.D. programs in the country. A er defending her thesis this spring, she will be traveling to Ghana as a Fogarty Global Health Fellow to study malaria in pregnant women and infants.

“I’ve always just been innately curious about everything around me, from nature to the way things work. Science allows you to ask questions, the most basic questions we can think of. And research allows you to answer those questions. I love that I get to be creative and ask the questions I’m most interested in, that we think have potentially a very big impact globally as well.”

OAKLEY WEDDLE Founder, Jubilant Communications

ere aren’t many people Weddle’s age who have started their own PR rm, much less work full-time as marketing manager for an IT rm as large as ProTech Services Group, all while still in school. “I majored in public relations as an undergrad, and I’m getting my master’s right now in journalism and strategic media. So I’m all about communications. I think it’s incredibly important.”

Weddle was homeschooled, and now he runs a theater program for other homeschoolers. “I’m teaching these kids at a young age that it’s important to stand up for themselves, to use their voice,” he says.

e PEYitforward Foundation is a nonpro t he founded with his family a er the 2016 death of his brother Peyton, and it recently established a scholarship at the University of Memphis Fogelman College of Business and Economics. “ at’s where he went to school,” says Weddle. “He unfortunately was not able to nish college, so we have a scholarship there for people who want to pursue higher education but may not be able to a ord it.”

PRESENTED BY

steppin’ out

We Recommend: Culture, News + Reviews

Re-pair

By Abigail Morici

By the time Brian R. Jobe and his wife Carolyn founded Tri-Star Arts in 2015, they had moved from Tennessee to Texas to New York and back to Tennessee. Finally, the two artists from Memphis and Nashville, respectively, knew that the Volunteer State was their home. “I think it was just something about Tennessee,” says Brian. “ ere’s just a rich history, a depth of ideas, a tangible passion among people here. It’s really fertile ground for art-making, and you see that in a much more celebrated way in the music, literary, and culinary worlds.” But the visual arts world, Brian says, lacks that same level of celebration in Tennessee.

And so, the couple founded the nonpro t, Tri-Star Arts, now based in Knoxville. “We wanted to support other artists here and to have malleable programs that function as tools to normalize experiences with contemporary art and show people that a lot’s already happening.”

One of the rst programs Tri-Star Arts implemented is the online resource, LocateArts.org, which holds a directory of current and upcoming exhibitions across the state as well as a curated artist registry. But, perhaps, its biggest endeavor yet will be the rst-ever Tennessee Triennial, which begins this week a er a two-year Covid-related postponement.

From Memphis to Nashville to Knoxville and Chattanooga, several artistic venues throughout the state will host exhibitions adhering to the theme: Re-pair. How the venues interpret and execute this theme is up to the individual venue’s curator — a diversion from typical biennials or triennials where a single person curates all the exhibitions.

In Memphis, the four participating venues are the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art with its “Tommy Kha: Eye Is Another” exhibition, the Memphis River Parks Partnership with a sculpture of an enlarged Afro pick by Hank Willis omas, Tone with an exhibition by Talibah Sa ya and Bertram Williams Jr., and UrbanArt Commission with its “Tend To” exhibit by Sarah Elizabeth Cornejo, Verushka Dior of the Mane Wildling, and Joel Parsons.

Ultimately, Brian says, Tri-Star Arts, in line with the triennial’s theme, hopes to connect people statewide through conversations about art. “We want to center our focus on the state as a place of a lot of activity, a lot of rich histories within each city, but also that it’s a place where a visual language can be spoken, something that is distinctly di erent from other forms of communication. … People have a hard time talking to one another these days. I think it’s a great moment for art to be the meeting point.”

Brian adds that even those who don’t have an arts background can and should participate in the conversation. “I just encourage everyone to trust their instincts. In a way, it’s no di erent than scanning the radio; you land on and listen to what you like and you’re honest with yourself about what you like. I don’t want people to feel di erently about art.”

To keep up with all the triennial’s exhibits and programming, including a highlight weekend in Memphis on April 27th-29th, visit tennesseetriennial.org.

TENNESSEE TRIENNIAL, VARIOUS LOCATIONS, FRIDAY, JANUARY 27-MAY 7.

Tosca

Germantown Performing Arts Center, Friday-Saturday, Jan. 27-28, 7:30 p.m., $35+

Opera Memphis is excited to present Puccini’s gripping masterpiece, Tosca. Set in Rome in the early 19th century, Tosca tells the story of singer Floria Tosca, who has dedicated her life to music for the glory of God, at the urging of the pope himself. When the amoral, corrupt chief of police Baron Scarpia holds the life of the man she loves in his hands, Tosca must make an impossible choice between love and dishonor.

One hour prior to each performance, Opera Memphis will lead a pre-show talk for ticket buyers. e artistic team will provide insights into Tosca’s themes, music and production.

Lunar New Year Celebration

Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Saturday, Jan. 28, 10 a.m., free Celebrate Lunar New Year as the Chinese Community Center and Memphis Brooks Museum of Art bring you an a ernoon lled with performances, art-making, food, and more.

e lineup of performances includes a lion dance by TNTT Sacred Heart, a dance performed by Memphis Chinese Culture Performance Group, and a tinikling performed by Rhodes College A.S.I.A. Club.

Art-making activities, including Year of the Rabbit origami bookmarks and make-your-own red envelopes, will be available from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Food by Dim Sum Memphis will be provided for free while supplies last. Loaf will be selling their rose dumplings, a fan favorite.

Meet the Author: Brad Taylor

Novel, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2 p.m.

Local bestselling writer Mark Greaney, author of the Gray Man novels, will interview Ret. Special Forces Lieutenant Colonel Brad Taylor, also a bestseller, for the publication of Taylor’s new thriller e Devil’s Ransom

e event is free and open to the public, and attendees will have the opportunity to meet the author and have their books signed.

Robert Burns Night

Celtic Crossing, Saturday, Jan. 28, 7 p.m., $80

For a special night in honor of Scottish poet Robert Burns’ birthday, Celtic Crossing will o er a three-course meal, whisky cocktail, bagpiper performances, recitations of Burns’ poetry, and more. Traditional Scottish attire encouraged

PHOTO: SARAH ELIZABETH CORNEJO As seen in UAC’s “Tend To”

Punky Reggae Party

You might not expect to hear a host of original tunes at a tribute show, but David Higgins feels it’s a necessary part of the upcoming Railgarten event, Forever Loving Marley, on Saturday, February 4th.

“We incorporate our originals within the traditional Bob Marley songs. All the artists are going to be doing that at the show,” says Higgins, the guitarist for headliner Chinese Connection Dub Embassy (CCDE). Not only does he see it as being in the spirit of Marley’s creativity, he’s itching to perform the songs of the reggae band live again a er several years of upheaval.

For both David and his brother Joseph, who plays keyboards in the group, the worst upheaval imaginable was losing their brother Omar in the spring of 2019, age 37, a er he su ered a stroke and a staph infection. row in the pandemic, and it’s a miracle that CCDE made any music at all in recent years, especially given that Omar was the founder and driving force of the band. And yet they did, releasing the excellent Crew Vibez album, which marked a shi in their sound, mixing traditional reggae with hip-hop and dancehall. Still, there have been precious few live shows since Omar’s death.

“We’re gonna put our best foot forward with this music,” says Joseph. “It’s almost like we’re rebranding everything. Without Omar, we’ve had to start from scratch with a lot of stu . is is the rst o cial show of ours this year. What better way to kick o 2023 than with some positive, good vibes?”

And, as noted, original music. If any band has earned the right to put their own songs side by side with those of Marley, it’s CCDE. “I won’t be bought, I won’t be sold/ We will decide how our story’s told,” they sing on “Dem A Callin’ (Flodgin),” and the band is deciding how their new tale will be told even now. Part of that means recapturing their initial approach to reggae.

“Crew Vibez was something nobody had ever heard from us, really,” says David. “And they loved it. We got invited to Afro Punk [Festival] and other places. So we want to continue that sound, but we’ve got to put the live instrumentation in it, too. Our sound is not going to be so digital.”

But the Higgins brothers stress that the Marley tribute is about more than CCDE; several other artists will be performing, including cameos from Kween Jasira and dancehall artist I-Sypha during CCDE’s set. And JParris from the Virgin Islands will bring his band, Carib Vibes, for some authentic Caribbean spirit. But, as David notes, the event will already have plenty of that. “When we do these Marley tributes,

it doesn’t even feel like we’re in the Railgarten because we try to put that whole island aesthetic into the look, the sound, everything. From lights to palm trees and tapestries.”

Beyond that, there will be plenty of other local groups mixing Marley with their magic, including Yubu & the Ancient Youth, Black Cream, and Moses Crouch.

Meanwhile, David Higgins is deeply involved in Omar’s other musical legacy, the celebrated hardcore group known as Negro Terror. Given that their popularity once outstripped that of CCDE, carrying the torch of Negro Terror forward has been the greater burden for David, who always played guitar in the group, but now carries the extra duties of front man. But he wants people to know that Negro Terror will live on.

“People want product, product, product, and I felt like I le the fans in the dark,” David says of the time a er his brother’s death. “I couldn’t respond

to them because we were going through so much in the pandemic, and healthwise personally, I was going through a lot. But I never wanted to stop the band. I want all his projects to continue, especially CCDE and Negro Terror. I want them to keep growing, and I’m in the process of starting Negro Terror up again. I want to tell the fans, ‘Hey, it’s going on, guys! Calm down!’ Not only are you going to get the unreleased material; you’re going to get two new records that we’ve already started working on. With y’all’s support, we can get together and make some new memories, and keep the legacy going in a whole other way. at’s the goal, that’s the dream.”

Forever Loving Marley is at Railgarten, February 4th, 6 p.m., $20.

FEBRUARY 4

Honey-voiced alt-country chanteuse who matured into a thoughtful, stylistically adventurous indie pop singer/songwriter.

— ALLMUSIC

CÉCILE MCLORIN SALVANT

FEBRUARY 9

A unique voice supported by an intelligence and full- edged musicality, which light up every note she sings. —Jessye Norman

PILOBOLUS

FEBRUARY 11

…adventurous, adaptive, athletic, surprising and revealing of beauty in unexpected places… wit, sensuality, and stunning physical acumen…

— PILOBOLUS DANCE

PHOTO: ANTONIO HOBSON

Joseph and David Higgins of Chinese Connection Dub Embassy

MUSIC By Alex Greene

e Higgins brothers carry on in the name of brother Omar.

AFTER DARK: Live Music Schedule January 26 - February 1

South Main Sounds 8th Anniversary Show Friday, Jan. 27, 7 p.m.

SOUTH MAIN SOUNDS

After Hours Sundays

Karaoke, Afrobeats, hip-hop, and R&B. Music by NYCELYFE and friends. Sunday, Jan. 29, 10 p.m.

JERRY LEE LEWIS’ CAFE & HONKY

TONK

Amber Hayes Combo Saturday, Jan. 28, 7 p.m.

MEMPHIS CLOVER CLUB

Andrew Cabigao Sunday, Jan. 29, 3:30 p.m.

TIN ROOF

Andy Whatley & Co. Saturday, Jan. 28, 6:30 p.m.

TIN ROOF

Clayton Anderson Friday, Jan. 27, 8 p.m.

TIN ROOF

Denver Massey Friday, Jan. 27, 5:30 p.m.; Wednesday, Feb. 1, 5:30 p.m.

TIN ROOF

Drew Parker with Noah Hicks Friday, Jan. 27, 7 p.m.

THE BLUFF

Glenn Miller Orchestra

Over 18 musicians and singers bring the unforgettable Glenn Miller sound and perform those songs that everyone remembers. is is a show not to miss for jazz and swing fans alike, or the incurable romantics who want to step back in time. $66-$88. Monday, Jan. 30, 7 p.m.

ORPHEUM THEATRE

Harmonica Showcase and Jam Friday, Jan. 27-Jan. 28.

RUM BOOGIE CAFE BLUES HALL

Hunter Flanagan Tuesday, Jan. 31, 7 p.m.

TIN ROOF

International Blues Challenge

Representing the worldwide search for those blues bands and solo/duo blues performers ready for the international stage, yet needing that extra big break. rough Jan. 28.

BLUES FOUNDATION

Jarred Kingray ursday, Jan. 26, 6:30 p.m.; Saturday, Jan. 28, 3:15 p.m.

TIN ROOF

King Bee and the Stingers ursday, Jan. 26, 12:30 p.m.

ALFRED’S

Nick Schnebelen ursday, Jan. 26, 9 p.m.

RUM BOOGIE CAFE

Rodell McCord Sunday, Jan. 29, 7 p.m.

TIN ROOF

Rodel McCord Wednesday, Feb. 1, 8 p.m.

TIN ROOF

Scratch and Snare

With DJ Stringbean and Matt the Drummer. ursday, Jan. 26, 10 p.m.

TIN ROOF

Too Hot for Leather Friday, Jan. 27, 10 p.m. | Saturday, Jan. 28, 10 p.m.

TIN ROOF

Trevor Berryhill Saturday, Jan. 28, noon.

TIN ROOF

An Evening with Livingston Taylor $40-$45. Sunday, Jan. 29, 7 p.m.

BUCKMAN ARTS CENTER AT ST.

MARY’S SCHOOL

John Williams and the A440 Band

Featuring Chick Rogers, Courtney Little, and legendary Yella P. along with DJ Jus Borne. Hosted by Bev Johnson. $20. Friday, Jan. 27, 8 p.m.

NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM

King George Saturday, Jan. 28, 7 p.m.

PERIGNONS RESTAURANT & EVENT CENTER

Livingston Taylor $45. Sunday, Jan. 29, 7 p.m.

BUCKMAN ARTS CENTER AT ST.

MARY’S SCHOOL

Poe Leos with Sari, Raneem Iman, DJ Stringbean $20. Saturday, Jan. 28, 8 p.m.-2 a.m.

NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM

The Brian Johnson Band Friday, Jan. 27, 8 p.m.

NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM

40 Watt Moon with Your Academy

A cool night of indie rock and power pop on Railgarten’s indoor stage. Saturday, Jan. 28, 8 p.m.

RAILGARTEN

Almost Famous Saturday, Jan. 28, 10 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Amber McCain Band Friday, Jan. 27, 6 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Animal Crackers Saturday, Jan. 28, 2 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Blurry $10-$12. Saturday, Jan. 28, 10 p.m.

HI TONE

Church Brothers Friday, Jan. 27, 7 p.m.

THE COVE

City of Caterpillar, Pressed, Breaking/ Entering $15-$18. Sunday, Jan. 29, 8 p.m.

HI TONE

Destroy Lonely

With special guest Homicide Gang. Friday, Jan. 27, 8 p.m.

MINGLEWOOD HALL

Devil Train ursday, Jan. 26, 9:30 p.m. B-SIDE

DJ Zirk Birthday Bash

With special guests Chilie Parker, Lil Tino, Wild Child (aka Chiselbaby), Y Vicious, Christenelle Diroc, Homicyde, P Foreign, and more. Saturday, Jan. 28, 8 p.m.

GROWLERS

Dream Crusher Hope Smasher

From the depths of the underworld to the farthest reaches of space, Dream Crusher Hope Smasher has always been one step ahead of the zeitgeist. eir legendary live shows and ground-breaking albums have them cemented as an iconic band in every sense imaginable — just not in your reality. Saturday, Jan. 28, 7:30 p.m.

THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS

Dystopia Productions: Goth Night DJs Evonech, St. Faust, and special guest 10.29 and Graveyard Gloria will bring you music ranging from classic Goth club hits to current artists in Goth, Darkwave, Industrial, and Dark Electro. 18+. $12. Saturday, Jan. 28, 10 p.m.-3 a.m.

BLACK LODGE

EXILE

Techno with Justin Hand, Mike McConnell, Stephen Mirdo, and special guests. 21+. Saturday, Jan. 28, 10 p.m.-3 a.m.

CANVAS

Globalpalooza (a concert to benefit Global Citizens Adventure Corps)

A diverse lineup of local artists share their talent to bene t Memphis students. Produced by Music Is My Drug of Choice. $12. Saturday, Jan. 28, noon-5 p.m.

GROWLERS

Graham Winchester Song Swap Saturday, Jan. 28, 8 p.m.

BAR DKDC

IMAKEMADBEATS

@ Memphis Music

Listening Party

Join MPL for this latest installment of the Memphis Music Listening Party, where host Robert Gordon will talk to James Dukes (aka IMAKEMADBEATS) about his career through ve of his songs. Monday, Jan. 30, 7 p.m.

BENJAMIN L. HOOKS CENTRAL

LIBRARY

Iris Collective: “Spacetime” e Iris Collective presents “Spacetime,” a curation of pieces that focus on the expansion of time and exploration of space. ursday, Jan. 26, 7:30 p.m.

CROSSTOWN THEATER

Jack Oblivian Saturday, Jan. 28, 10 p.m. BAR DKDC

Jamalamma Sunday, Jan. 29, 8 p.m. B-SIDE

Jay Jones Band Sunday, Jan. 29, 8 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

JD Westmorland Band Monday, Jan. 30, 10 p.m. B-SIDE

Jesse James Davis Friday, Jan. 27, 9 p.m.

BAR DKDC

Joe Restivo Saturday, Jan. 28, 11 a.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Joe Restivo 4 Sunday, Jan. 29, 11 a.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Jon Ridnell Tuesday, Jan. 31, 9:30 p.m. B-SIDE

Liquid Chrome Showcase

Sleepy Knockz, GasBag Ari, eProphetNajee, Kalothei, Parkway TJ, and more. $10. ursday, Jan. 26, 9 p.m.

GROWLERS

Marceaux ft. Qemist, Strooly $10. Friday, Jan. 27, 8 p.m.

GROWLERS

Model Zero, Glyders, Dream Journal Sunday, Jan. 29, 8-11 p.m.

LAMPLIGHTER LOUNGE

Moon Baby with Fearless Dave & the Tsunamis $10. Sunday, Jan. 29, 7 p.m.

GROWLERS

Red McAdam, Oakwalker, Los Psychiosis $10. Sunday, Jan. 29, 8 p.m.

HITONE

Rice Drewry Collective Saturday, Jan. 28, 6 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Roosevelt Collier, with Yella P. $20-$25. Tuesday, Jan. 31, 7:30-9 p.m.

THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS

Samantha Fish with Special Guest Eric Johanson ursday, Jan. 26, 7 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

School of Rock Wolfchase Presents A Tribute to Pink Floyd School of Rock Wolfchase presents a Tribute to Pink Floyd performed by the performance students. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased by calling 901-425-7625 or at the door. Sunday, Jan. 29, 5:30 p.m.

1884 LOUNGE AT MINGLEWOOD HALL

School of Rock Wolfchase Presents Funkalicious: The Best of Funk School of Rock Wolfchase presents Funkalicious: e Best of Funk performance by performance students. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased by calling 901-425-7625 or at the door. Sunday, Jan. 29, 3:30 p.m.

1884 LOUNGE AT MINGLEWOOD HALL

School of Rock Wolfchase Presents The White Stripes vs. The Black Keys School of Rock Wolfchase presents e White Stripes vs. e Black Keys performed by performance program students. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased by calling 901-425-7625 or at the door. Sunday, Jan. 29, 1:30 p.m.

1884 LOUNGE AT MINGLEWOOD HALL

Scott Collins, The Stupid Reasons, Lyric Brock $12. Friday, Jan. 27, 10 p.m.

HI TONE

SooperFlat SooperFlat celebrates Jackson Pollock Day. Saturday, Jan. 28, 8 p.m.

THE COVE

Swingtime Explosion Big Band

Monday, Jan. 30, 6 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

The Breakfast Club Saturday, Jan. 28, 2 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

The Emo Night Tour

e Emo Night Tour DJs will be spinning all the angst your teenage dirtbag heart desires all night long. ursday, Jan. 26, 7 p.m.

BLACK LODGE

Twin Soul Friday, Jan. 27, 10 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Vide, Lykwid, Polar Dose, Raxx, Odd Wilson 18+. $15. Friday, Jan. 27, 11 p.m.-3 a.m.

BLACK LODGE

Honky Tonk Airlines with Mac Leaphart

Mac Leaphart is kicking o the night! Honky Tonk Airlines will play a set of Johnny Cash songs before playing their originals and some classics. Saturday, Jan. 28, 7 p.m.

HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY

Matt Heckler

$12-$15. Wednesday, Feb. 1, 7 p.m.

HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY

Shara Layne & the Drive

Friday, Jan. 27, 8:30 p.m.

DAN MCGUINNESS PUB

The Eastwoods with Whiskey South Friday, Jan. 27, 7 p.m.

HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY

901ROX

Saturday, Jan. 28, 8 p.m.

THE HAYSTACK CAFE

Amber McCain Band Saturday, Jan. 28, 9 p.m.-1 a.m.

T.J. MULLIGAN’S

The Brian Johnson Band

Wednesday, Feb. 1, 8 p.m.

HADLEY’S PUB

Thumpdaddy Saturday, Jan. 28, 9 p.m.-1 a.m.

ROCKHOUSE LIVE

PHOTO: GLENN MILLER PRODUCTIONS

Glenn Miller Orchestra

CALENDAR of EVENTS: January 26 - February 1

ART AND SPECIAL EXHIBITS

“2023 Mid-South Scholastic Art Awards”

Exhibition featuring more than 135 artworks by area public, private, and independently schooled youth.

Through Feb. 19.

MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART

“AI Artificial Intelligence: Your Mind & The Machine”

Learn how AI touches lives — now and in the future.

Through May 6.

MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & HISTORY

“American Made: Paintings and Sculpture from the DeMell Jacobsen Collection”

Exhibition of more than 100 works from the DeMell Jacobsen Collection, spanning 250 years of American history.

Sunday, Jan. 29-April 16.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

“Community Art Gallery: Southern Buildings”

This series of small-scale watercolor paintings by artist David Rawlinson gives new life to abandoned buildings

and homes found in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi.

Through March 4.

MORTON MUSEUM OF COLLIERVILLE HISTORY

“Gentle

“Mending Things”

Exhibition of Kelly S. Williams’ small tondos and diptychs. Through Feb. 11.

DAVID LUSK GALLERY

“Never

Done Making History”

Art Auction and Gala”

“Incognito

Over 100 of the Mid-South’s beloved artists are creating a collection of original, unsigned works … incognito!

Through Jan. 27.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

“Jeanne Seagle: Of This Place”

Jeanne Seagle’s perceptive drawings portray the landscapes surrounding Memphis with a remarkable precision.

Through April 9.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

“Jet Lag”

An exhibition of works from 16 of the artists comprising the new Art Collection at the Memphis International Airport’s Concourse B. Through Feb. 24.

THE MARTHA AND ROBERT FOGELMAN GALLERIES OF CONTEMPORARY ARTS

“Looking Back”

Exhibition of Lynda Watson’s work that incorporates materials such as metal, felt, and charcoal, in addition to found objects. Through Jan. 29.

METAL MUSEUM

Exhibition

5.

CROSSTOWN ARTS AT THE CONCOURSE

Installation highlighting the legendary Tennessee State University’s (TSU) Tigerbelles track team and one of the most triumphant Olympic stories. Through Feb. 28.

NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM

“Salmon Skin Fried … and Other Delicacies”

Exhibition of work by Sharon Havelka who constructs mixedmedia quilt sculptures from old clothing and other found objects. Through Feb. 25.

BEVERLY + SAM ROSS GALLERY

“Shared Spaces: Works by Rob Gonzo & Collabs with George Hunt”

This colorful, fun show features pieces that were sketched by Hunt before his death and later finished with paint and collage by Gonzo. Through March 4.

BUCKMAN ARTS CENTER AT ST. MARY’S SCHOOL

On display at the Dixon, “American Made” surveys 250 years of American history. continued on page 22

memphisflyer.com

Awakenings, The Art of Keith Burns” Exhibition of woodwork by Keith Burns. Through April 22.

MORTON MUSEUM OF COLLIERVILLE HISTORY

“Mending in a State of Abundance”

of work by Katrina Perdue exploring the emotional and physical labor of repair. Through March

PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE THOMAS H. AND DIANE DEMELL JACOBSEN PHD FOUNDATION

SPONSORED BY

“Sons

and Daughters”

Exhibition of Anne Siems’ work featuring tattooed figures centered around the growing children of friends and family who have all been deeply affected by mental health conditions. Through Feb. 11.

DAVID LUSK GALLERY

“Summer in Shanghai”

A three-part video series of reflections and meditations during the hottest time of the year in China’s biggest city. Through March 5.

CROSSTOWN ARTS AT THE CONCOURSE

“Tarred Healing”

A photographic exhibition by award-winning Black photographer Cornell Watson. Through March 20.

NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM

“The Ecstasy of Influence: Midsouth Artists Centering the Margins”

Featuring Ahmad George, Maritza Davila, Tommy Kha, Richard Lou, and D’Angelo Lovell Williams. Through March 10.

CLOUGH-HANSON GALLERY

“The Making of Elvis Movie Exhibition”

Exhibition looking at the beginning of the creative process for Baz Luhrmann’s film and fol-

lowing it through its journey to the big screen. Through Sept. 4.

GRACELAND EXHIBITION CENTER

“Those Who Hold Dominion Here”

Exhibition of work by Sarah Elizabeth Cornejo takes inspiration from serpents in Incan mythology and Southern snakes. Through March 5.

CROSSTOWN ARTS AT THE CONCOURSE

“Tommy Kha: Eye is Another”

A site-specific, photography-based installation by artist Tommy Kha exploring themes of identity, (in)visibility, and sense of place. Friday, Jan. 27-May 7.

MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART

ART HAPPENINGS

Craft Supply Swap Winter ’23

Drop off your new or gently used goodies beforehand. You do not have to make a donation to attend. $5. Saturday, Jan. 28, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

FIVE IN ONE SOCIAL CLUB

Fresh and Fabulous with Pattie Wallander

Professional florist Pattie Wallander, AIFD, CFD, will introduce the principles and elements of design, and participants will create a seasonal bouquet like the pros. $70. Saturday, Jan. 28, 10:30 a.m.-noon.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

Opening Presentation by Diane DeMell Jacobsen, PhD

Diane DeMell Jacobsen is one of the foremost — and most generous — private collectors of American art in the country. In this rare presentation, she shares her long engagement in American art. Sunday, Jan. 29, 2-3 p.m.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

Otto Stok ’35

Art sale and live music soiree. $5. Saturday, Jan. 28, 6 p.m.

MEMPHIS CLOVER CLUB

Sketchy Saturday

Presented by the Mid-South Cartoonist Association, this hands-on workshop will allow you to create some sketchcard and sketchcovers. Free. Saturday, Jan. 28, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

901 COMICS

BOOK EVENTS

Horticultural Book Club

This month’s meeting will discuss Richard

Powers’ Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Overstory. Monday, Jan. 30, 7-8 p.m.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

Meet

the Author: Brad Taylor

Novel welcomes NYT bestselling author Brad Taylor in conversation with Mark Greaney to celebrate the launch of The Devil’s Ransom Saturday, Jan. 28, 2 p.m.

NOVEL

COMEDY

Memphis vs. Atlanta Comedy Battle $20. Saturday, Jan. 28, 8 p.m.

THE COMEDY JUNT

Secret Show Comedy at Local on Main presented by Comma Comedians

A fantastic lineup of local and touring comedians. Free. Thursday, Jan. 26, 8-9:30 p.m.

LOCAL (DOWNTOWN)

COMMUNITY

Dear Fathers Night

Pregame panel discussion on fatherhood and mental health, hosted by Dear Fathers whose mission is to inspire, strengthen, and heal Black men by creating safe spaces for impactful conversation. Sunday, Jan. 29, 12:30-2 p.m.

FEDEXFORUM

FAMILY

Kids Night Out: Winter Adventure Drop your kids off at Arrow for winterthemed art class followed by pizza and a movie! $45. Friday, Jan. 27, 5:30-8:30 p.m.

ARROW CREATIVE

Story Time with Valerie June

All ages welcome! Wear your favorite pajamas or comfy clothes and curl up on the floor for a book reading and short performance by Valerie June. Free. Monday, Jan. 30, 6 p.m.

MORTON MUSEUM OF COLLIERVILLE HISTORY

Youth Workshop: Home Project Open Studio (ages 10-13)

Working on something cool that you just want to share? Stuck on a project and need help? Bring your project to the Dixon and get help from an instructor or a friend and share ideas! $10-$15. Saturday, Jan. 28, 1:30-2:30 p.m.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

FILM

AI After Dark: A High Tech Happy Hour featuring The Terminator 2D Join MoSH for a night of drinks and games and a chance to see The Terminator. $23-$28. Saturday, Jan. 28, 5:30 p.m.

MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & HISTORY

Assault on Precinct 13 Rapid-fire banter flies fast and furious

NYT bestselling author Brad Taylor will discuss his latest release The Devil’s Ransom with The Gray Man author Mark Greaney.

continued from page 22

between charismatic convict and policewoman as the faceless, virtually supernatural marauders attack. $5. Thursday, Jan. 26, 7-9 p.m.

CROSSTOWN THEATER

Psycho

Based on the book by Robert Bloch, this sinister, terrifying tale of a woman on the run, a lonely motel in the middle of nowhere, and a horrifying secret, is absolutely iconic and unforgettable. 18+. Free. Tuesday, Jan. 31, 5 p.m.

BLACK LODGE

Robots 3-D

A fascinating and fun look at what makes us human, how far machines can really go to look and act like us, and how humanoids, through their successes and failures, are already changing the world. Through Feb. 22.

MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & HISTORY

Sonic the Hedgehog & Detective Pikachu

A double feature of video game action movies! Wednesday, Feb. 1, 7 p.m.

BLACK LODGE

FOOD AND DRINK

Blues, Bleus, and Brews Blues, Bleus, and Brews features a tour of the HQ facility as well as a pairing of Wiseacre beer with the world’s finest bleu cheeses. $25. Saturday, Jan. 28, 1-2 p.m.

WISEACRE HQ

Robert Burns Night

A special event in honor of Scottish poet Robert Burns’ birthday on Saturday, Jan. 28. $80. Saturday, Jan. 28, 7 p.m.

CELTIC CROSSING

HEALTH AND FITNESS

Winter Off-Road Series

5k

Trail race presented by the Memphis Runners Track Club. Sunday, Jan. 29, 2 p.m. W.C. JOHNSON PARK

PERFORMING ARTS

Dungeons & Drags

Your Dungeon Master and host, Miss Rebekah Random,

will lead some of your favorite performers in a journey through a dangerous land with lip sync battles, dragons, and a few surprises. Friday, Jan. 27, 10 p.m.

DRU’S PLACE

Professor Wow’s Funbelievable Science Show Watch Professor Wow turn scientific phenomena into a phenomenal show with help from some interesting devices. Perfect for kids from kindergarten to eighth grade. $10-$15. Saturday, Jan. 28, 2 p.m.

BARTLETT PERFORMING ARTS

AND CONFERENCE CENTER

Shen Yun Ancient legends of dynasties past, inspiring stories of the modern day, the world’s finest classical Chinese dancers, and dazzling animated backdrops converge in a spectacular performance, accompanied by a grand East-West orchestra. Saturday, Jan 28.-Jan. 29.

CANNON CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

Tosca

Presented by Opera Memphis, Tosca has dedicated her life to music for the glory of God, at the urging of the Pope himself. But a voice like hers can drive a listener from appreciation to obsession.

Friday, Jan. 27, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Jan. 28, 7:30 p.m.

GERMANTOWN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

SPECIAL EVENTS

Lunar New Year Celebration

Celebrate Lunar New Year at Memphis’ art museum! The Chinese Community Center and Memphis Brooks Museum of Art bring you an afternoon filled with performances, art making, food, and more! Saturday, Jan. 28, 10 a.m.

MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART

The Birds & the Seeds

Learn about birds and seeds while birding and collecting seeds. Community partner activity tables, craft workshops, and live animal presentations will also take place. Saturday, Jan. 28, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

MUSEUM

SPORTS Memphis vs. SMU

Thursday, Jan. 26, 6 p.m.

FEDEXFORUM

NBA Memphis Grizzlies vs. Indiana Pacers

Cheer on the Grizzlies. Sunday, Jan. 29, 5 p.m.

FEDEXFORUM

NBA Memphis Grizzlies vs. Portland Trail Blazers Cheer on the Grizzlies. Wednesday, Feb. 1, 6 p.m.

FEDEXFORUM

Rodeo of the Mid-South Bring the whole family as Harper and Morgan Rodeo comes to town with the seven major events of professional rodeo along with rodeo clown Dusty Myers and contract entertainer Dusti CrainDickerson. $20. Saturday, Jan. 28, 2 p.m.; Saturday, Jan. 28, 7:30 p.m.

LANDERS CENTER

THEATER

Escaped Alone

Caryl Churchill’s conventiondefying play juxtaposes backyard tea with environmental disaster, exploring themes of politics, crisis, communication, and culture. Through Feb. 5.

FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

If Pekin Is a Duck, Why Am I in Chicago?

A gangster in 1920s Chicago kidnaps a lyricist and a composer to win a bet saying he can find two men to write music better than the music that is currently popular — all in an effort to save a dying theater. Through Jan. 29.

THEATREWORKS

Sondheim Tribute

A concert presentation celebrating the body of work of Stephen Sondheim, covering every aspect of his career and contains some of the all-time musical theatre favorite songs and orchestrations. Through Jan. 29.

THEATRE MEMPHIS

The Scottsboro Boys

A retelling of the landmark trial of nine falsely accused black teenagers. This case would eventually give rise to the Civil Rights Movement. Through Feb. 19.

PLAYHOUSE ON THE SQUARE

TOURS

Cemetery Walk

Shake off the dust mid-day and join one of Elmwood’s volunteer tour guides for a one-mile, 30-minute Cemetery Walk. Free. Wednesday, Feb. 1, noon-12:30 p.m.

ELMWOOD CEMETERY

PHOTO: CARLA MCDONALD Theatre Memphis’ Sondheim Tribute, which includes musical theater all-time favorites, closes this weekend.

Bon Ton Roulet

ou now have a new place to buy a king cake.

Queo Bautista is selling the New Orleans-style cakes with the little plastic babies inside his new bakery, Panaderia Monterrey, in South Memphis. Just in time for Carnival season, which began January 6th.

Bautista, 46, opened his new bakery in October. Previously, he and his brother, Misael, were co-owners of Kay Bakery.

He went into an entirely di erent occupation a er he le Kay, which is now owned just by his brother. “I was in the remodeling business,” Bautista says. “ at’s not what my passion is. My passion is baking and design. And that’s the reason I came back. I stepped out for two years and I decided I wanted to come back. is property opened up and I got it.”

Customers might not see some familiar Kay Bakery items, such as the gingerbread men, right away. “[Eventually] I’m going to get all those Anglo cookies. Like American-style baking cookies.”

For now, people can order any of their favorite Kay Bakery items, including the “regular cake” with buttercream icing, if they give him a day or two notice. “It’s a pretty small shop. Only 1,600 square feet.”

Bautista carries a lot of Mexican items, including “SeaShell bread — a bread with sugar icing on top. We got Elephant Ears. ey are like sugar pastries. Flu y. Of course, churros. We got those. And what we call the French bread. It’s like a sandwich bread.”

And they sell tres leches cake, which is made with evaporated, condensed, and regular milk.

Bautista’s clientele is di erent from his brother’s. “Honduras, Salvador, and Guatemala in this Winchester area. More South American population than over there on the North side. at’s more like a mix. A lot more Mexican population.”

His customers “use a lot more French bread. Like nonsweet bread rather than sweet bread. And then, of course, nothing with spice. ey don’t eat any spicy food.”

Bautista, who is from Acapulco, Mexico, didn’t grow up eating a wide variety of sweets. “We only had what we could a ord. Homemade cookies from mama and also bread.”

His mother made “shortbread and sugar cookies. And, of course, the churros.”

When he was 16, Bautista got a job as a helper in a bakery in Mexico. But he got more involved in the business when he got a job in a small bakery a er his family moved to Chicago in the late ’90s.

Bautista liked everything about the business. “ e way the bread smells a er it’s baked. e smell of all the ingredients. And all the sweets, of course.”

His family moved to Memphis in 2002. And in 2007, Bautista and his brother bought Kay Bakery. “We had it together until 2020. at’s when I stepped out.”

His new bakery isn’t a second Kay Bakery location, but Bautista still uses the same recipes as his brother, which are the original Kay Bakery recipes that he and his brother own. “We share the recipes together.”

His king cakes, which have to be ordered, are “made out of sweet dough. And it’s also got the color in it. e green, purple, and gold icing.”

ey come with the decorations, including a pair of Mardi Gras beads. “It’s got a baby inside. I guess you can say the baby represents Jesus when he was running away from the king. Jesus was hiding.”

e baby also is hidden in Bautista’s popular ree Kings, or “Epiphany” cake, which is sold a er Christmas. at cake, which isn’t as sweet as the king cake, is also round, which means “Jesus has no beginning and no end.”

e ree Kings cake isn’t as sweet as the king cake. “On the king cake, we put the icing. On the ree Kings cake, we don’t put any icing.”

And, he says, “It’s got candy on it. Like fruit candy. Papaya candy from Mexico. And then we got the gs, pecans, and cherries.”

A lot of ree Kings cakes recently went out of his new bakery’s door, Bautista says. “I made about 160 and then I sold out.”

Panaderia Monterrey is at 3127 South Mendenhall; (901) 249-7248.

PHOTO: MICHAEL DONAHUE

Queo Bautista

Queo Bautista whips up king cakes at Panaderia Monterrey.

SHELBY COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING FISCAL YEAR 2023 ANNUAL ACTION PLAN PUBLIC HEARING

Shelby County Department of Housing (SCDH) will hold two public hearings to discuss Shelby County housing and community development needs in preparation for the Fiscal Year 2023 Annual Action Plan (HUD Program Year 2022, Annual Planning Year 5 (AP5)) on Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 12:00pm and 5:30 pm and provide both in-person and virtual attendance options.

In Person Attendance Option: Shelby County Code Enforcement, Training Room, 6465 Mullins Station Road Memphis, TN 38134. Attendees should enter the Code Enforcement Building through the Training Room entrance on the west side of the building.

Virtual Attendance Option: A virtual option to join is also provided, and participants can join the meeting with a computer, tablet, or smartphone at https://www. gotomeet.me/DanaSjostrom or dialing in from a phone +1 (224) 501-3412, Access Code 169-900-933 at the above noted meeting time.

If you plan to attend the public hearing and have special needs, please contact the Department of Housing at (901) 222-7600 by 4:30 p.m. Friday, February 10, 2023 and we will work to accommodate you. Resident input and public participation are strongly encouraged.

The consolidated planning process for FY 2020-2024 serves as the framework for a community-wide dialogue to identify housing and community development priorities that align and focus funding from the Community Planning and Development (CPD) formula block grant programs Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program. The FY 2023 Annual Action Plan establishes within this broader Consolidated Plan (FY 2020-2024) the basis for the use of these formula funds for the period of July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024. The primary purpose of this hearing is to receive comments on community development needs in order to consider them in the FY 2023 Annual Action Plan. Shelby County anticipates receiving level funding for the upcoming program year. Shelby County expects to submit the Annual Plan for FY 2023 to HUD on or before May 15, 2023 following a 30-day review and comment period.

Shelby County Department of Housing has prepared an Allocation Plan to utilize HOME American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds intended to assist individuals and households that are experiencing homelessness, at risk of homelessness, and address the needs of other vulnerable populations. SCDH will provide an update and share work with community agencies conducting eligible activities outlined in the HOME-ARP notice CPD-21-10 published September 2021.

The hearing will also provide an update on current activities under the CDBG and HOME Programs, information on Section 3 contracting opportunities, and will provide information on other programs operated by SCDH.

Persons wishing to comment on the FY 2023 Annual Action Plan (AP5) or HOME-ARP Allocation Plan may do so by writing to Dana Sjostrom via email (dana.sjostrom@ shelbycountytn.gov), or written comment to Shelby County Department of Housing, 1075 Mullins Station Road, Memphis, TN 38134. Shelby County will schedule an additional public hearing in April 2023 to present the draft Annual Action Plan for FY 2023 for public comment before it is submitted to HUD. For additional information contact the Department of Housing at 901-222-7600 or TTY at 901-222-2300.

The Shelby County Department of Housing does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age or disability in employment or the provision of services. Equal opportunity/equal access provider.

Para mas información en Español, por favor llame Dana Sjostrom al 901-222-7601.

Harris

Mayor

Scott

Walkup, Administrator

Shelby County Department of Housing

NEWS OF THE WEIRD

By the editors at Andrews McMeel Syndication

Least Competent Criminal

The Rockdale County (Georgia) Sheriff’s Department posted a list of its top 10 most wanted fugitives on Facebook on Nov. 28, Fox News reported. One local criminal evidently felt left out, though: Christopher Spaulding, an area man with two warrants for his arrest, commented, “How about me?” The sheriff’s department responded, “We are on the way” and on Dec. 1 arrested Spaulding. Later, they commented, “We appreciate you for your assistance in your capture!” Spaulding’s warrants were for felony violation of probation. [Fox News, 12/2/2022]

Making a Statement

Mindy Janette Stephens, 46, was arrested on Dec. 1 and charged with illegal dumping after an incident that took place on Nov. 10 in Electra, Texas. According to KXAN-TV, Stephens, seen on security footage wearing a white hazmat suit and a yellow mask, deposited three 5-gallon buckets of human excrement at the front door of the Electra police department, then got in her SUV and drove away. Stephens told another media outlet that she had been renting an apartment to a man who had not paid rent or utilities for a year, and after she evicted him, she found the buckets of waste. “He’d been pooping in the buckets,” she said. She said she called the police department to ask what she should do with them, but officers weren’t helpful — so she took the buckets to the station. City wastewater officials removed them, and Stephens bonded out of jail. [KXAN, 12/6/2022]

Harsh

An Olive Garden restaurant manager in Overland Park, Kansas, is out of a job after they sent a ranting message to team members about excessive time off, KCTV5 reported. “We are no longer tolerating ANY excuse for calling off. … If your dog died, you need to bring him in and prove it to us. … If you only want morning shifts, too bad, go work at a bank. … Do you think I want to be here until midnight on Friday and Saturday? No. I’d much rather be at home with my husband and dog,” the message said. An Olive Garden representative said the message was “not aligned with our company’s values. We can confirm we have parted ways with this manager.” [KCTV5, 12/6/2022]

Bad Behavior

Five-year Chicago police veteran Henry Capouch, 30, was arrested for battery and disorderly conduct on Dec. 5 in St. Petersburg, Florida, where he was vacationing, The Smoking Gun reported. According to officers, Capouch was discovered around 12:30 a.m. by an employee of Jimmy B’s Beach Bar as he was “[urinating] on the ice in the machine.” The worker told Capouch to stop, but instead he shoved both him and a security guard. Police said Capouch actively resisted and did not obey commands while being arrested. They said he showed an “indication of alcohol influence.” [Smoking Gun, 12/6/2022]

Wrong Place, Wrong Time

On Nov. 28 at around 1:45 a.m., an unnamed 27-year-old man visited the Apple store on Fifth Avenue in New York City and made a huge purchase: 300 iPhone 13s. (The store is open 24 hours.) He bought the phones to resell through his small business. But, the Daily Star reported, he didn’t get very far with them: As he walked to his car, another car pulled up and two men jumped out, demanding his three bags. The customer defended himself, but the thieves made off with one of the bags, which contained about 125 phones, worth approximately $95,000. The New York Police Department is investigating. [Daily Star, 11/30/2022]

Anger Management

Mark Curtis Wells, 51, of Biloxi, Mississippi, and another golfer got into an altercation on Nov. 28 at Hollywood Casino, WXXV-TV reported. They had played earlier in the day at Bridges Golf Course, where the argument allegedly began, police said. When officers arrived at the casino parking lot, they found one of the men suffering a facial injury: His nose had been bitten off.

Wells took off from the scene in a Tesla but turned himself in on Nov. 30 and was charged with mayhem. The nose was not found. [WXXV, 11/30/2022]

Send your weird news items with subject line WEIRD NEWS to WeirdNewsTips@ amuniversal.com. News of the Weird is now a podcast on all major platforms! Visit newsoftheweirdpodcast.com for info. NEWS OF THE WEIRD © 2023 Andrews McMeel Syndication. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

Lee

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Noah Webster (1758–1843) worked for years to create the first definitive American dictionary. It became a cornucopia of revelation for poet Emily Dickinson (1830-1886). She said that for many years it was her “only companion.” One biographer wrote, “The dictionary was no mere reference book to her; she read it as a priest his breviary — over and over, page by page, with utter absorption.” Now would be a favorable time for you to get intimate with a comparable mother lode, Aries. I would love to see you find or identify a resource that will continually inspire you for the rest of 2023.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “The aspects of things that are most important for us are hidden because of their simplicity and familiarity.” So declared Taurus philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein in his book Philosophical Investigations. Luckily for you Tauruses, you have a natural knack for making sure that important things don’t get buried or neglected, no matter how simple and familiar they are. And you’ll be exceptionally skilled at this superpower during the next four weeks. I hope you will be gracious as you wield it to enhance the lives of everyone you care about. All of us non-Bulls will benefit from the nudges you offer as we make our course corrections.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Poet Carolyn Kizer said the main subject of her work was this: “You cannot meet someone for a moment, or even cast eyes on someone in the street, without changing.” I agree with her. The people we encounter and the influences they exert make it hard to stay fixed in our attitudes and behavior. And the people we know well have even more profound transformative effects. I encourage you to celebrate this truth in the coming weeks. Thrive on it. Be extra hungry for and appreciative of all the prods you get to transcend who you used to be and become who you need to be.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): If you have any interest in temporarily impersonating a Scorpio, the coming weeks will be a favorable time to play around. Encounters with good, spooky magic will be available. More easily than usual, you could enjoy altered states that tickle your soul with provocative insights. Are you curious about the mysteries of intense, almost obsessive passion? Have you wondered if there might be ways to deal creatively and constructively with your personal darkness? All these perks could be yours — and more. Here’s another exotic pleasure you may want to explore: that half-forbidden zone where dazzling heights overlap with the churning depths. You are hereby invited to tap into the erotic pleasures of spiritual experiments and the spiritual pleasures of erotic experiments.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The circle can and will be complete — if you’re willing to let it find its own way of completing itself. But I’m a bit worried that an outdated part of you may cling to the hope of a perfection that’s neither desirable nor possible. To that outdated part of you, I say this: Trust that the Future You will thrive on the seeming imperfections that arise. Trust that the imperfections will be like the lead that the Future You will alchemically transmute into gold. The completed circle can’t be and shouldn’t be immaculate and flawless.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Shakespeare’s work has been translated from his native English into many languages. But the books of Virgo detective novelist Agatha Christie have been translated far more than the Bard’s. (More info: tinyurl.com/ ChristieTranslations.) Let’s make Christie your inspirational role model for the next four weeks. In my astrological estimation, you will have an extraordinary capacity to communicate with a wide variety of people. Your ability to serve as a mediator and go-between and translator will be at a peak. Use your superpower wisely and with glee!

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Libran musician Franz Liszt (1811–1886) was a prolific and influential genius who created and played music with deep feeling. He was also physically attractive and charismatic. When he performed, some people in the audience swooned and sighed loudly as they threw their clothes and jewelry on stage. But there was another side of Liszt. He was a generous and attentive teacher for hundreds of piano students, and always offered his lessons free of charge. He also served as a mentor and benefactor for many renowned composers, including Wagner, Chopin, and Berlioz. I propose we make Liszt your inspirational role model for the next 11 months. May he rouse you to express yourself with flair and excellence, even as you shower your blessings on worthy recipients.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): This may risk being controversial, but in the coming weeks, I’m giving you cosmic authorization to engage in what might appear to be cultural appropriation. Blame it on the planets! They are telling me that to expand your mind and heart in just the right ways, you should seek inspiration and teaching from an array of cultures and traditions. So I encourage you to listen to West African music and read Chinese poetry in translation and gaze at the art of Indigenous Australians. Sing Kabbalistic songs and say Lakota prayers and intone Buddhist chants. These are just suggestions. I will leave it to your imagination as you absorb a host of fascinating influences that amaze and delight and educate you.

AQUARIUS

(Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis (1883–1957) was nominated nine times for the prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature, but never won. He almost broke through in the last year of his life, but French author Albert Camus beat him by one vote. Camus said Kazantzakis was “a hundred times more” deserving of the award than himself. I will make a wild prediction about you in the coming months, Aquarius. If there has been anything about your destiny that resembles Kazantzakis’, chances are good that it will finally shift. Are you ready to embrace the gratification and responsibility of prime appreciation?

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “All the world’s a stage,” Shakespeare wrote, “and all the men and women merely players.” That’s always true, but it will be even more intensely accurate for you in the coming weeks. High-level pretending and performing will be happening. The plot twists may revolve around clandestine machinations and secret agendas. It will be vital for you to listen for what people are NOT saying as well as the hidden and symbolic meanings behind what they are saying. But beyond all those cautionary reminders, I predict the stories you witness and are part of will often be interesting and fun.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In this horoscope, I offer you wisdom from Capricorn storyteller Michael Meade. It’s a rousing meditation for you in the coming months. Here’s Meade: “The genius inside a person wants activity. It’s connected to the stars; it wants to burn and it wants to create and it has gifts to give. That is the nature of inner genius.” For your homework, Capricorn, write a page of ideas about what your genius consists of. Throughout 2023, I believe you will express your unique talents and blessings and gifts more than you ever have before.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Piscean educator Parker Palmer has a crucial message for you to meditate on in the coming weeks. Read it tenderly, please. Make it your homing signal. He said, “Solitude does not necessarily mean living apart from others; rather, it means never living apart from one’s self. It is not about the absence of other people — it is about being fully present to ourselves, whether or not we are with others. Community does not necessarily mean living face-to-face with others; rather, it means never losing the awareness that we are connected to each other.”

Creepshow

Every 10 years since 1952, the British Film Institute and Sight and Sound magazine conduct a poll of the world’s most prominent film critics, asking to list their favorite films. For decades, Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane topped the list as the greatest film ever made. Then in 2012, Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo edged it out. Then in 2022, a funny thing happened. A movie that had never appeared on the list of 100 before debuted at No. 1: Chantal Akerman’s 1975 film Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, 1080 Brussels Akerman didn’t live to see herself crowned as the greatest director in film history. She committed suicide in 2015. But if she had ever made a horror film, it would probably look like Skinamarink . In Akerman’s first film, 1973’s Hotel Monterey , she took her camera into every nook and cranny of a run-down flop house in then-decaying Manhattan, blurring the lines between the building and the people who lived there. For the first 20 or so minutes of Skinamarink , director Kyle Edward Ball does something similar with an average suburban house in what the opening credits tell us is 1995.

It’s the middle of the night, but 4-year-old Kevin (Lucas Paul) and 6-year-old Kaylee (Dali Rose Tetreault) are restless. Kevin is a sleepwalker, and Kaylee is trying to make sure her little brother doesn’t hurt himself on his nightly rambles,

as he has done in the past. The night is full of subtle terrors. Is that daddy (Ross Paul) on the phone, talking about us to some stranger? Is mom (Jaime Hill) crying? Is there another presence in the home — maybe something less natural? Wasn’t there a door here before?

The operative word for Skinamarink is “creepy.” Ball has a YouTube channel where he dramatizes people’s nightmares, and since “writing down dreams and visions from transcendental

meditation” is pretty much David Lynch’s MO, that’s a pretty good pedigree for a horror director. Shot on a reported budget of $15,000 (although I will wager that figure doesn’t include the final sound mixing, which is exceptional), Ball’s Kubrickian insistence that you look at every square inch of the frame makes a virtue out of poverty. He keeps his

camera low, shooting up to give the film the point of view of a kindergartener. Everyday objects take on sinister import. The staircase bannister looms like a colonnade. He borrows disorienting techniques from the earliest example of surrealist cinema, Un Chien Andalou . Is that heavy breathing, or just a burst of static from the television tuned to a blank channel? Is that a figure in the darkness, or just an illusion made of swirling film grain?

Ball assiduously avoids faces, showing his kiddy protagonists only by their sock feet and spilled crayons. When he finally does show a face, you’ll wish he hadn’t.

Skinamarink is not going to be for everyone. Ball’s hypnotic pacing will grate on some smartphone-blasted attention spans. But like another recent lo-fi horror masterpiece, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair , that’s kind of the point. Skinamarink is not a rubber mask, jumpscare fest. It’s made to tap into something primal — call it “object permanence horror.” It’s that fleeting memory of how your toys were strewn across the floor of your room the day your parents told you they were getting a divorce. It’s that little voice in your head telling you to do bad things, and the fear that this time, you’ll listen to it.

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Skinamarink

FILM By Chris McCoy

Skinamarink gets in touch with your childhood traumas.

Director Kyle Edward Ball channels surrealist cinema as everyday objects take on sinister import.

Infinity Pool

Art house nepo baby Brandon Cronenberg returns with horror it-girl Mia Goth as Gabi, a mysterious, sexy townie who lures tourists Alexander Skarsgård and Cleopatra Coleman off the grounds of their resort hotel and into a whirlpool of violence. If you’re rich enough, you can get away with anything.

Women Talking

Sarah Polley’s acclaimed drama features a murderers’ row of acting talent. Rooney Mara, Jessie Buckley, Frances McDormand, and Claire Foy star as wives and daughters living in an isolated, ultraconservative Mennonite community in Bolivia. When

they discover the men they trust have been drugging and raping them for years, they gather to debate an impossible decision: Do they do nothing, stay and fight, or leave? Based on a true story.

Billie Eilish: Live at the O2 (Extended Cut)

The teen phenom grows up on one of the world’s biggest stages, London’s O2 Arena.

Originally presented as a live stream for Apple Music, this Grammy-nominated concert film is on the big screen for one night only: Friday, Jan. 27th.

Avatar: The Way of Water

James Cameron’s sci-fi epic has been No. 1 at the box office for six weeks — the first film to accomplish that since the original Avatar in 2009. With $2 billion in the bank, it’s showing no sign of stopping.

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THE LAST WORD By Mel Gurtov

The Threat Business: Russia or China?

Congress has voted for a record $858 billion in military spending.

For those in charge of U.S. national security, the central challenge is identifying threats and determining how to counter them. e Biden administration has cast China and Russia, in that order, as the major threats to U.S. security.

China is a “pacing challenger”; whereas, Russia is an “acute” challenger. ose rather odd designations mean, in plain English, that the administration considers China, once called a “peer competitor,” an all-encompassing threat, not just military but also political, economic, and technological. Russia has been downgraded from the Trump years. It is a military threat, but not on par with China.

Here’s how the Biden-Harris “National Security Strategy” paper (October 2022) puts it: “ e People’s Republic of China harbors the intention and, increasingly, the capacity to reshape the international order in favor of one that tilts the global playing eld to its bene t, even as the United States remains committed to managing the competition between our countries responsibly. Russia’s brutal and unprovoked war on its neighbor Ukraine has shattered peace in Europe and impacted stability everywhere, and its reckless nuclear threats endanger the global non-proliferation regime.”

At rst glance, the Biden-Harris paper seems to say that the Russian threat is actually far more serious than the threat from China. Russia, not China, is carrying out a war of aggression, condemned as such by the United Nations. China requires managed competition; whereas, Russia is a belligerent that has “impacted stability everywhere” and poses a global nuclear threat. China, the paper says, seeks to “become the world’s leading power” and has both the intent and the capability to “reshape the international order.” Russia is said to be pursuing “an imperialist foreign policy with the goal of overturning key elements of the international order.” Is that a distinction without a di erence?

Despite all the contentious issues between the U.S. and China, they are not at war; whereas, to all intents and purposes the U.S. is at war with Russia, which not only “has shattered peace in Europe” but has shown that destroying Ukraine is just part of its mission to undermine the Western alliance. ose are the reasons the U.S. is heavily invested in defending Ukraine: tens of billions of dollars in military aid, military training of Ukrainians, supply of advanced weapons capable of hitting targets in Russia, and sanctions on Russian o cials and trade. In the Asia-Paci c, the U.S. strategy does not rest on war- ghting scenarios but on deterrence of China, marked by strengthening security partnerships, particularly with Taiwan, Japan, and Australia. Engaging either adversary, whether through negotiations or transactions, is not a priority. We worry that Russia will use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine. We don’t worry, according to the president, that China will invade Taiwan, much less deploy a nuclear weapon. e U.S. has brought NATO into the Ukraine war, with allies supplying arms, advisers, intelligence sharing, and nancial and political support. But Russia’s supposed strategic partner, China, has not provided Russia with military assistance for the war.

As the war moves closer to its rst anniversary, U.S. and NATO involvement gets deeper — more military assistance of all kinds, such as a reported doubling of Ukraine soldiers trained, Patriot missiles, and HIMARS rocket launchers — and prospects for a negotiated settlement with Putin become more remote. In fact, the more successful the Ukrainians are in prosecuting the war, the greater the outside aid to Ukraine — but also, the greater the risk of expansion of the war. If Ukraine’s forces succeed at ousting Russia from more of its territory, Putin might react by escalating the use of force, such as use of a nuclear weapon. A unidenti ed Biden administration o cial recently made just such a suggestion. at prospect would present the U.S. and NATO with an entirely new challenge, one that might make them full- edged combatants.

In the U.S. Congress, one nds declining enthusiasm for supporting Ukraine, but plenty of enthusiasm for confronting China. With Republicans about to control the House of Representatives, its far-right members are anxious to reduce aid to Ukraine. eir line of argument closely follows Moscow’s narrative on the war.

But when it comes to dealing with China, a Cold War-style consensus has formed among House members across the political spectrum. Republicans are forming a Select Committee on China that will assuredly take a very hard line, going beyond what the Biden administration has already decided — such as banning TikTok.

Republicans want Democrats’ support, the committee’s chair (Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin) saying: “We want the Democrats to nominate serious, sober people to participate, because defending America from Chinese Communist Party aggression should not be a partisan thing.” You can bet plenty of Democrats will apply. A er all, isn’t TikTok a greater threat to national security than Russian aggression and election interference?

And let’s not forget the bread and butter of the threat business: the weapons and money for the Pentagon and military contractors.

e New York Times reports: “Military spending next year is on track to reach its highest level in in ation-adjusted terms since the peaks in the costs of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars between 2008 and 2011.”

In a spirit of bipartisanship that national security always prompts, Congress has voted for a record $858 billion in military spending. at’s $45 billion more than the president requested.

e war in Ukraine has been a boon to the permanent war economy. One specialist nds that U.S. military contractors will receive about 40 percent of the latest round of military aid to Ukraine (about $47 billion). Please note: All these spending decisions have been made with virtually no debate.

Mel Gurtov, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is professor emeritus of political science at Portland State University and blogs at In the Human Interest.

PHOTO: PEXELS | алесь-усцінаў e Ukraine war has been a boon to the war economy.