Memphis Flyer 1/27/2022

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OUR 1718TH ISSUE 01.27.22

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OUR 1718TH ISSUE 01.27.22

JERRY D. SWIFT Advertising Director Emeritus KELLI DEWITT, CHIP GOOGE, HAILEY THOMAS Senior Account Executives MICHELLE MUSOLF Account Executive ROBBIE FRENCH Warehouse and Delivery Manager JANICE GRISSOM ELLISON, KAREN MILAM, DON MYNATT, TAMMY NASH, RANDY ROTZ, LEWIS TAYLOR, WILLIAM WIDEMAN Distribution THE MEMPHIS FLYER is published weekly by Contemporary Media, Inc., P.O. Box 1738, Memphis, TN 38101 Phone: (901) 521-9000 Fax: (901) 521-0129 memphisflyer.com CONTEMPORARY MEDIA, INC. ANNA TRAVERSE FOGLE Chief Executive Officer LYNN SPARAGOWSKI Controller/Circulation Manager JEFFREY GOLDBERG Chief Revenue Officer MARGIE NEAL Chief Operating Officer KRISTIN PAWLOWSKI Digital Services Director MARIAH MCCABE Circulation and Accounting Assistant KALENA MATTHEWS Marketing Coordinator

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Success has no age limit.

Years ago, I was visiting my sister and brother-in-law. My brother-in-law’s nieces were over as well, which leads me to believe it was probably either Thanksgiving or my nephew’s birthday, though the reason for the occasion hardly matters.

At some point, my BIL’s niece, let’s call her Sandra, was talking about people’s ages — hers, her teacher’s, her friends’ — and I asked her how old she thought I was. Her answer, after a moment of careful consideration, was that I was, “At least 55.”

Reader, I was in my twenties.

We all know children aren’t good at estimating adult ages, but my point here is this: Everyone’s idea of “young” and “old” is different. I don’t mean that in some vaguely creepy “age is relative” way. Your age is your age. It can be measured objectively. But we in the good, ol’ United States have some funny ideas about youth.

Of course, I bring this up because this week’s issue of the Flyer is our “20<30” issue, our annual celebration of the young people who are doing the work of shaping the city. This year’s class is, like the 12 classes that have come before, made up of an inspiring group of Memphians working to make the city a better place — a safer, more musical, more tech-savvy city full of opportunities and hometown pride. I say this with absolute honesty and conviction — they inspire me. It’s impressive to see so many people so devoted to bringing out the best of what the Bluff City has to offer.

So I both salute and thank you, our 20<30 class of 2022.

At the same time, though, I want to caution any of our readers who are feeling like they haven’t made the leap yet — whatever leap, whatever goal lives in the back of your mind — that it’s not too late. Heck, Joseph Conrad was 32 before he began writing his first novel, let alone published it.

There may or may not be a typical path to success in your chosen field, but who’s to say you have to follow the path anyway? I first published a story in a newspaper when I was about 16 — in The Chester County Independent — but my real career in journalism didn’t begin until I was 28. Some might say that’s too late to begin a new endeavor, but some might also learn to keep their noses out of other people’s business.

We live in a system that is, by definition, built on competition, so it’s N E WS & O P I N I O N no surprise that most people spend some THE FLY-BY - 4 time and energy comparing themselves NY TIMES CROSSWORD - 6 to others. It’s such an easy trap to fall POLITICS - 8 into, but it’s ultimately meaningless. We FINANCE - 9 don’t all share the same goals, so neither AT LARGE - 10 should we feel forced to work on the COVER STORY “20<30” same timelines. Do the work. Get there

BY CHRIS MCCOY - 12 when you get there.

WE RECOMMEND - 18 In the meantime, please join me in MUSIC - 20 congratulating the Flyer’s newest 20<30 CALENDAR - 21 honorees. Let’s all dream of — and work FOOD - 24 toward — a happier, healthier, more SPIRITS - 25 FILM - 27 hopeful Memphis together.

C LAS S I F I E D S - 30 Jesse Davis LAST WORD - 31 jesse@memphisflyer.com

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CONTENTS

JESSE DAVIS Editor SHARA CLARK Managing Editor JACKSON BAKER, BRUCE VANWYNGARDEN Senior Editors TOBY SELLS Associate Editor CHRIS MCCOY Film and TV Editor ALEX GREENE Music Editor SAMUEL X. CICCI, MICHAEL DONAHUE, JON W. SPARKS Staff Writers ABIGAIL MORICI Copy Editor, Calendar Editor LORNA FIELD, RANDY HASPEL, RICHARD MURFF, FRANK MURTAUGH, MEGHAN STUTHARD Contributing Columnists AIMEE STIEGEMEYER, SHARON BROWN Grizzlies Reporters ANDREA FENISE Fashion Editor KENNETH NEILL Founding Publisher

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fly-by

MEMernet Memphis on the internet.

FAM O US M E M P H IAN S Ryan Hailey — 2020’s Best of the MEMernet winner — dropped a new Memphis classic on his Ryan’s Shorts YouTube channel last week. It names dozens of famous Memphians, all in under two minutes: “Al Green, B.B. King, Shannen Doherty, Penny, and Lil’ Penny …

Drake’s dad, Disco Duck, Howlin’ Wolf, Saliva … Reggie White, Lil Wyte, Herman Cain pizza bites, half of MGMT.” N OTH I N G LE F T

J a n u a r y 2 7 - Fe b r u a r y 2 , 2 0 2 2

POSTED TO REDDIT BY U/JEDIARCHITECT

FARTLE K World got you down? Jim Eubanks had some ultra-specific advice on Nextdoor: Run a fartlek. It was something about brain chemicals, evolutionary biology, evolutionary psychology, pollution, waste, and alienation. As of press time, the only comment on the post got to the heart of it all: “What’s a fartlek?”

H I STO RY MYSTE R I ES

POSTED TO MEMPHISLIBRARY.ORG

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Historians with the Memphis Public Libraries need your help. They have Memphis photographs for the digital archive but can’t identify the people in them. Have a look at the Dig Memphis Collection and see if you can solve what they call Dig Memphis Mysteries.

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Questions, Answers + Attitude Edited by Toby Sells

ENVIRONMENT B y To b y S e l l s

The Other Cost of Crypto Cryptocurrencies suck power and dirty the air. Could Memphis be next?

Cryptocurrencies have a massive environmental impact, and Memphis’ low-cost energy could make it attractive for crypto mining operations — possibly even driving up energy costs here.

Powering only the Bitcoin and Ethereum cryptocurrencies produced 78.8 million tons of carbon last year, the equivalent of tailpipe emissions from 15.1 million gas-powered cars, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Environmental impacts like these from cryptocurrencies were the centerpiece of a Thursday hearing by the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

“One estimate found that the energy required to process transactions on the Bitcoin PHOTO: TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY/FACEBOOK network could power a home Memphis’ low-cost energy could attract crypto miners and raise electricity prices. for more than 70 days,” said committee chairman Frank Pallone (D-New Jersey). “Last year, there were hundreds of and prices. A University of Berkeley Business School study thousands of transactions on this network. Just imagine the estimated crypto mining operations in upstate New York climate implications.” increased electric bills for small businesses by $165 million, Most of crypto’s environmental impact — energy and by $79 million for individuals. consumption, carbon production, and electronic waste — is Four years ago in the Memphis subreddit, a user asked if from crypto mining operations, according to Digiconomist, others mined crypto here and the conversation went quickly a website dedicated to tracking unintended consequences to the cheap cost of electricity. One commenter noted that of digital trends. Crypto miners use massive amounts of “university dorms are the best place for crypto mining. All the computer power to find digital currency. free electricity your rigs can guzzle down.” Another commenter How much power? If Bitcoin was a country, it would rank said the energy prices in Memphis were so low, “it honestly between Thailand and Vietnam for annual energy usage, doesn’t even matter where you run it from in this city.” according to Digiconomist, and Ethereum energy use matches The crypto mining conversation does not seem to have that of the Netherlands, per the website. made any public appearances in Memphis as of yet, with no This need for power has some crypto investors looking to major announcements from TVA or Memphis Light, Gas set up their mining operations in areas with low-cost energy and Water. But a data center is headed for East Tennessee’s to maximize profits. QuoteColo, a company that matches Claiborne County, also a TVA customer, according to the other companies to an array of services like Bitcoin mining Claiborne Progress newspaper. and miner hosting, said Memphis is a good place for a Bitcoin The local power company there just signed a $9 million mining operation. For this, it cited the city’s low price of annual contract to provide the “controversial” facility with electricity. electricity. The local utility would supply the facility with Last week, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) claimed nearly 20 megawatts of power per month, according to the Tennessee energy costs are lower than 80 percent of other newspaper, at a cost of about $750,000 each month. The utilities across the country. Should crypto miners rush to operation is not expected to raise rates in Claiborne County.

Memphis for low-cost energy, that could increase demand Leaders there said the project had the approval of the TVA.

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The New York Times Syndication Sales Corporation 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10018 For Information Call: 1-800-972-3550 For Release Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Crossword ACROSS

34 2016 Best Supporting Actor winner Mahershala

1 Sends to eternal punishment 6 Apple desktop

35 Collections for afternoon socials

10 Kind of tide 14 Kindle purchase

38 Reticent 15 Greek goddess of 39 Ballet dancer in Earth “Fantasia” 16 “Free Willy” 41 Regal initialism creature 42 Physics prereq., 17 Easter hopper maybe 18 Not mine alone 19 Platypus feature 43 “Just as I expected!”

20 Coined phrase?

47 “The Giving ___” 23 Bob who won the (Shel Silverstein 2016 Nobel Prize title) in Literature 48 Civil rights leader 24 What a kitten is Medgar picked up by 49 2016 Best 25 Something Picture nominee Linus carries in … or a hint to “Peanuts” the circled letters 31 Buds in 20-, 25- and 43-Across 32 What it takes to tango 54 Frozen yogurt 33 Canine, e.g.

mix-in

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE E B B S G I G

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55 Item cut up for a salad, informally 56 Dental care brand 59 Tilt 60 “That makes perfect sense now!”

61 Crude carrier 62 “SportsCenter” airer 63 Unauthorized disclosure 64 “Be prepared,” for example DOWN 1 One at a coming-out party, briefly 2 ___ Dhabi 3 Wallet alternatives 4 Puzzle 5 Actor Astin of “Pitch Perfect” 6 Composer Stravinsky 7 Island east of Lanai 8 Website with a lot of home pages?

9 Laid-back 10 Mock Spanish expression of disapproval 11 The Emerald Isle 12 Rights org.

13 It can be greased 21 Wed 22 Footwear for a dandy 23 “What’s the ___?” (slangy “How’s it going?”)

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‘Whatever They Want’ Wrongful death lawsuit claims MPD officers act with impunity.

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PUZZLE BY NATAN LAST, ANDY KRAVIS AND THE J.A.S.A. CROSSWORD CLASS

25 Hall-of-Fame pitcher Warren 26 Onetime Pan Am rival 27 Dinosaur in the Super Mario world 28 Passover brisket seasoning 29 Anesthetics of old 30 “Parsley, sage, rosemary and ___” (“Scarborough Fair” lyric)

35 Longtime Yankees manager Joe

49 It may wind up at the side of a house

36 Triage sites, for short

50 Annoys

37 What’s exited in Brexit, for short

51 Profound

40 Insult

52 Company whose how-to manuals lack words

42 “Ta-ta!”

44 Tentatively schedule, with “in” 45 Say no to

53 Tech whiz 57 Tennis do-over

46 Remote location? 58 “Dude!”

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Family members want $20 million from the city of Memphis; Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW); and the Memphis Police Department (MPD) for the 2020 beating death of a man by an MLGW employee.

In September 2020, MLGW employee Earnest Cartwright was working on a Whitehaven home when he found J.C. Payne inside his work truck, the suit says.

MPD reported at the time that, when Payne was discovered, he struck Cartwright in the face and a struggle between the two ensued.

Court papers say when MPD arrived on the scene, they found Cartwright “on top of and severely beating” Payne, who was “unarmed, unconscious, and totally incapacitated on the ground.” Cartwright told police he beat Payne with his radio and “several hard objects.” Lawyers say Cartwright continued to beat Payne after he lost consciousness. Officers on the scene had no probable cause that Payne had committed any crime, the lawsuit says.

Payne was lying on his back with multiple cuts on his face, head, and body; broken bones in his face; and broken teeth, lawyers say. He was incapacitated, unable to care for himself, and unable to communicate with officers to tell his side of the story.

Police officers rolled Payne on his stomach and handcuffed his wrists behind his back. His face was on the ground and he never moved his head, the suit states. Payne remained in this position “for an extensive amount of time,” a claim lawyers say is supported by police body camera footage.

Payne was transported to Methodist

PHOTO: CALVIN L. LEAKE | DREAMSTIME.COM

Lawsuit lays much of the blame on the city and MPD for Cartwright’s death.

South Hospital in critical condition. There, he was pronounced dead.

Payne’s death was ruled a homicide in April by Dr. Juliette B. Scantlebury, a pathologist for the West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center, the lawsuit says.

Scantlebury said Payne died as a result of blunt force head trauma complicated by probable suffocation.

The lawsuit says the three responding MPD officers knew “to a moral certainty” that rolling Payne over and cuffing him was “likely to cause severe injury or death.” For the officers’ actions, the suit lays much of the blame on the city of Memphis and MPD. “By failing to provide proper training and counseling for its officers, and by failing to conduct appropriate investigations and implement appropriate disciplinary action in situations where its officers violate the civil rights of its citizens, [the city and MPD have] created an environment within the police department where officers believe that they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, to whoever they want, irrespective of the United States Constitution,” the suit says.

For all of this, Susan Sims, on behalf of Payne’s three children, is seeking a jury trial, $10 million in compensatory damages, $10 million in punitive damages, all court costs, and attorney fees. No trial date has been set.

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POLITICS By Jackson Baker

No Bated Breath

J a n u a r y 2 7 - Fe b r u a r y 2 , 2 0 2 2

On some matters, the County Commission’s Democrats and Republicans keep close to the party line.

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@SouthPointGrocery

Monday’s regular the text of the enabling resolution, though meeting of the that description stuck in the craw of a long Shelby County list of people who came to the dock of the Commission, commission to decry it as a giveaway of the second of taxpayer funds to “abortionists.” CHOICES 2022, provided an does perform abortions, among other indication of how services, though the money was destined partisan politics will for the creation of a playground for the impact the actions of children of the center’s visitors. that body in the new year.

An impressive number of proponents As the GOP-majority cartographers also came to the dock to make their of the state’s reapportioned legislative support on behalf of the outlay, which and congressional districts have just came from discretionary funds allotted discovered, their virtually absolute to each member of the commission. one-party power can’t do everything.

The sponsors of the resolution (and its For example, though they could split up principal endowers) were Democratic the Nashville metropolitan area so as Commissioners Tami Sawyer and Mickell to ensure that no Democrat is likely to Lowery. The process of citizen comment get elected to Congress from there, they was an extended one in its own right, but couldn’t do the same to Memphis, where not quite as lengthy as was commission the Democratic tilt of debate beforehand as to the city’s heavily Africanwhether the public discussion American population is should be allotted into pro gerrymander-proof. and con segments or allowed Memphis has a to proceed in random order.

Democratic congressman Ultimately the latter solution in Steve Cohen, and he prevailed.

— or anyone else who When it came time for could conceivably win the commissioners to vote, that seat — will continue the eight to five spread, to be able to make the PHOTO: COURTESY TAMI SAWYER with Democrats prevailing case for Democratic Party Tami Sawyer on the pro side, conformed positions, regardless explicitly to Commissioner of who gets a majority in this fall’s Van Turner’s advance advice to expedite congressional elections. the vote, “since we all know how we’re That’s something like the situation on going to vote. This is politics.” Indeed it the Shelby County Commission — with the was. A basic fact of contemporary politics party positions reversed. Two votes taken is that the Democratic Party coalition by the commission on Monday indicate tilts “pro-choice,” while the Republican fairly accurately how partisan positions Party aligns itself with professed “pro— at least the ideological ones — will be life” sentiment. disposed of this year.

The day’s second party-line vote As of now, there are eight Democrats occurred on the matter of whether the and five Republicans on the commission, commission should formally endorse, and the redrawn map of commission as part of its legislative agenda, a request districts (overseen essentially by the body’s for a renewed review by the U.S. Justice Democratic majority, though with an eye on Department (following the first one of a the county’s ever-changing demographics) decade ago) of possible continued racially makes it probable that this fall’s elections based shortcomings at Juvenile Court. will render that ratio nine to four.

The vote here was five Democrats for, four On Monday, there were two issues Republicans against, and one abstention on the commission’s agenda that were (the GOP’s Mick Wright, who recused guaranteed to create vote totals split down because the firm he works for does business the party line. The first was the matter of a with the court). proposed CEP (Community Enhancement In the case of both votes, there was Program) grant of $25,000 to CHOICES little heated argument as such. With the Memphis Center for Reproductive Health outcomes known in advance, both sides — dubbed “a charitable organization” in basically just made their usual case.

FINANCE By Gene Gard

Snow much fun!

Investing for Your Kids Instead of a first car, fund a Roth IRA for your teen.

But it should be! A 15-year-old putting $6,000 to work in a Roth IRA and never investing again would see it grow to $774,000 by age 65, assuming a 10 percent annualized return. That kind of nominal return is optimistic but probably not impossible in the coming decades, especially if inflation remains somewhat elevated. For comparison, an investor who starts investing $6,000 a year at age 40 (around the time most people start thinking seriously about retirement) enjoys the same 10 percent annualized return and continues to contribute $6,000 every single year until age 65 would not catch up to the 15-year-old’s single $6K investment. The late starter would only have about $720K by age 65 in this hypothetical scenario.

There’s nothing to be afraid of with a Roth IRA — you’re not locking your money away forever. A nice feature (but also a pitfall) of Roth IRA contributions is that they aren’t as permanent as some other retirement elections. Contributions may be withdrawn at any time, without penalty or additional tax to pay. This is a nice

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PHOTO: THOUGHT CATALOG | UNSPLASH

feature and might help convince a reluctant investor to move forward, but it also makes it very tempting to rob the cookie jar and use Roth funds for projects or large purchases throughout the working years.

You can’t put the contributions back in once they’re out, and the ability to grow Roth contributions and withdraw them later in life tax-free is such a powerful opportunity that early withdrawals should be avoided if at all possible.

To me, the power of a Roth is so compelling that I am planning to match contributions 1:1 for my teenagers as they start working, at least at first. For example, my high-school-aged son will have an internship this summer that should pay about $4,000 in all. I’m going to let him keep the money but gift him an equal amount to fund his Roth IRA with no strings attached (other than making him listen to me ramble on about it frequently and at length!). This might seem overly generous — especially since I’m sure he’ll spend his share on what I would consider frivolous things — but to me it’s worth it to try to hook him on the excitement of watching his investment account rise in value over time. Besides that, this gift will likely make a real impact on his future as he ages — far in excess of anything else I could spend $4,000 on this year. I am optimistic that if it stays invested for his lifetime, it really will turn into a six-figure amount some day in the future.

Parents buy cars for their children all the time, and we all know that cars tend to be depreciating liabilities with no lasting value.

Helping younger children maximize their Roth IRA contributions is a meaningful gift that can change the trajectory of their lives later on — and get them in the habit of maxing it out each year.

An investor who contributes $6,000 to their Roth each year from age 15 to 65 and achieves 10 percent annual returns would have over $8 million dollars at age 65, money that can be withdrawn tax-free in retirement. That thought alone should be exciting even to an overstimulated and insouciant 15-year-old most interested in deciding which video game to play next!

Gene Gard 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 question at ggard@telarrayadvisors.com.

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here are few absolutes in investing, but one thing that should be on everyone’s mind is the idea of funding a Roth IRA. Today we’ll focus on the importance of Roths for young people, and a decision I made for my children that might be overly generous but hopefully meaningful and impactful in the long run.

The primary requirement to contribute to a Roth is earned income, so if you get a W-2 from a job of any sort, you should qualify. This means that even a teenager working their first job can fund a Roth.

Of course, the problem is that a teenager working their first job likely has many things on their radar, none of which is retirement, so a teen maxing out their IRA is probably not too common.

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AT L A R G E B y B r u c e Va n W y n g a r d e n

The Quiet Part The erosion of our democracy continues unabated.

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aybe you saw this quote last week, when Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the quiet part out loud while defending the defeat of the Voting Rights Act in the Senate: “AfricanAmerican voters,” he warbled, “are voting in just as high a percentage as Americans.”

Never mind that McConnell apparently believes African Americans aren’t actual Americans, like, you know, white people.

And never mind that the bills his party is passing in GOP-controlled states around the country are intended to change that pesky situation before the next election rolls around. McConnell is intentionally glossing over the fact that the Voting Rights Act would have outlawed the implementation of these undemocratic new laws, and that every Republican Senator voted against it — as did two hypocrites calling themselves Democrats, Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin.

Since the 2020 election, dozens of restrictive voting laws have been enacted in 19 states, laws that supposedly remedy “voter fraud” (which didn’t happen) but that have the actual purpose of making voting more difficult for poor people and people of color — who just coincidentally tend to vote for Democrats.

You don’t have to look any further than Nashville for a perfect example of how far the GOP is willing to go to establish a permanent and overwhelming majority. Last week, the Tennessee Senate Judiciary and House State Government committees approved three redistricting plans for new state House, state Senate, and Congressional maps, which are drawn every decade after the federal census to reshape state and federal districts, if necessary, to ensure equity at the polls.

The new Republican-created Tennessee maps are a joke at all three levels, a mugging of democracy in plain sight.

Newly configured districts in and around Memphis, Nashville, and Knoxville are designed to break up neighborhoods and Democratic voting strongholds in urban areas, especially Black communities. The new maps pit Black and Democratic incumbents against each other in four instances at the state representative level and give Republicans a huge numerical advantage in eight out of nine of Tennessee’s Congressional districts. That’s an 11 percent representation in Congress for Democrats,

who made up 41 percent of the vote in the most recent statewide election.

The lone outlier is Tennessee’s Ninth District, represented by Congressman Steve Cohen, but it’s not for lack of trying.

After the 2010 census (in what was widely seen as a direct skewering of Cohen), the GOP took a literally phallic-shaped piece out of the Ninth that just so happened to include Cohen’s place of worship in East Memphis and a large surrounding Jewish neighborhood. To balance the population math, the GOP added a large chunk of Tipton County to the Ninth, meaning Cohen now represents a disparate melange of rural, inner-city, and suburban voters.

This isn’t just unfair to Cohen (or whoever the Ninth District representative may be in the future); it’s unfair to all the residents of the district, who deserve to be represented by someone who reflects their concerns and values. The Republicans, it appears, would prefer it if Memphis residents found themselves being represented by a Republican turd farmer from Atoka.

But compared to Nashville, Memphis got off easy. The Fifth District — represented by Democratic Congressman Jim Cooper, and which currently encompasses most of Nashville and Davidson County — will now encompass parts of five (count ’em!) counties. The city’s vote will be split and allocated to three rural-majority districts. Meaning Nashville’s urban residents will soon more than likely be represented by three Republican turd farmers.

This isn’t how democracy is supposed to work. Our elected representatives shouldn’t be allowed to create districts specifically designed to keep them — and their party — in office. Geographic political districts — at every level — should be created by bipartisan commissions, not party hacks.

And yes, I know gerrymandering has been done by Democrats as well. The point is that it’s wrong, no matter who does it, and that we had in our hands a bill that would have eliminated all this cheating, that would have kept states from arbitrarily reducing the number of polling places in certain districts or shortening voting periods or, for god’s sake, banning the dispensing of water to voters in line.

In our system, unfettered democracy is supposed to be a feature, not a bug.

But unfortunately, that’s not how the Republicans see it these days.

Mid-South Scholastic Art Awards Exhibition

Jan. 22 - Feb. 20

Congratulations to Adele Ferguson from Houston High School on winning the 2022 Best Senior Portfolio Award.

NEWS & OPINION

m e m p h i s f l y e r. c o m

Presented by the Brooks Museum League

Open in Overton Park | BrooksMuseum.org

11

Adele Ferguson, 'Pax'

20 30 CARRIE BERNANS Actor, stunt performer, film producer

J a n u a r y 2 7 - Fe b r u a r y 2 , 2 0 2 2

Carrie Bernans had already lived all over the world by the time she came to the Bluff City. “I loved Memphis. It’s a place that I consider home — the longest place I really stayed in my childhood.”

She turned down scholarships at Fordham and Vanderbilt to study international business and theater at the University of Memphis, where she became a track and field star. “I wanted to be a black belt. I speak six languages, and I knew some martial arts.”

Her athleticism made her a natural stunt performer.

In 2018, she was cast as a Wakandan warrior in Black Panther, a role she reprised in Avengers: Endgame. “Show business for me was a way of telling stories that were important to tell. I want younger people of color to see themselves on screen in other ways beyond what we were already used to. It wasn’t only 12 rappers and drug dealers, but also astronauts and warriors.”

COVER STORY BY CHRIS McCOY PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRANDON DILL

The Class of 2022 Every year, the Memphis Flyer asks our readers to nominate the city’s best and brightest young leaders. We do this so Memphis can meet the leaders who will be shaping our future. Even though we live in a time of uncertainty, speaking to these talented 20 young people never fails to fill us with hope.

From sports to government to tech, these are the Memphians who will be shaping our future.

Here they are: Your 20<30 Class of 2022.

ALFONSO CANADY Lead Software Engineer, Cinilope

KEVIN CARPENTER Music educator, Shelby County Schools

IRAH GATES Mental Health Outreach and Engagement Specialist, CMI Healthcare Services

It was a middle school Minecraft obsession that introduced Canady to programming. He recalls the first time he was able to make a computer say, “Hello world!” “Even just doing something really simple like that, I was dumbfounded by the power at my fingertips.”

Now, Canady works on more complex problems. At the Memphis tech company Cinilope, he develops new technology for drones and self-driving cars. “You get a lot of titles when you’re in a start-up,” he says.

While he was at Rhodes College, he found another passion: introducing others to programming.

Ultimately, he wants to help make the Bluff City a world-class tech hub.

“That would mean people taking the initiative, these young people who are intelligent, who are bright, staying in Memphis. That’s what we’re doing here within Cinilope.”

“My mom’s family is full of teachers, and my dad’s family is full of varying degrees of musicians. I had two amazing elementary school music teachers … and then had great band directors after them.”

When the trumpet player first stepped in front of a class to teach, he knew he had found his calling. “The most important thing for me is to be a meaningful agent of change. And that means delivering equitable, high-quality music education to every student that needs it.”

When the pandemic hit, he used his skills as a recording engineer by organizing the Memphis Area Virtual Youth Choir. “It was a really beautiful thing to see come together. Then I realized this isn’t just a thing that our kids need here. This is a thing that everybody needs access to everywhere. So I opened up my own virtual performance studio and have put together performances for over a thousand musicians, all around the world.”

Giving back has been a major theme in Irah Gates’ life. “I had lost my father at the age of 7, so [my mother] struggled to put us through school, my two big sisters and myself. So we built that resilience.”

She has organized volunteers for St. Jude’s Pantry Restock project through her church, New Allen Chapel African Methodist Episcopal; raised funds for Ronald McDonald House; and spearheaded the Operation Warm Hearts winter clothing drive. She traveled to South Africa, where she tutored and organized after-school programs in the low-income townships near Cape Town.

“My passion is working with children since I went through what I went through at an early age, and I just wanted to give back and let people know — and their students know — that it’s okay to go through adversities in life. You can always turn that into positivity and you can accomplish anything that you put your mind to.”

PRESENTED BY

“We are the only destination management company in Memphis. We work with a lot of outbound or inbound, groups and corporations. … I feel very fortunate to be able to wake up and love what I do every day.”

If you were one of the 20,000 people who ran the St. Jude Marathon, you were greeted in the Edge District

by Alex Gordon. Organizing comes naturally for her.

Gordon is also on the Edge District board of directors and volunteers with Best Buddies International, where she helps throw the Joy Prom, an annual event for high schoolers with special needs. “It’s so awesome,” she says. “You get to walk them down a red carpet, get their photo taken, and then you just go and dance all night! It is just such a great thing because those kids are so happy to be alive.”

MARGARET HALTOM Director of Emergency Rent Assistance and Housing Policy, The Works Inc. “Urban planning to me is all about building relationships and working in partnership with communities,” Haltom says. “I wanted to start my planning career working in the city I knew best, my hometown.”

Haltom works to save pandemicstrained families from losing their homes in the midst of a nationwide eviction crisis. “Since March of 2021, we’ve paired over 6,000 households facing eviction in Shelby County with free legal representation and administered over $40 million in rent relief across over 15,000 households. … I want to build a city where all Memphians have access to stable, highquality, affordable housing, and when crises come, have the support they need to stay in their homes.” continued on page 14

COVER STORY m e m p h i s f l y e r. c o m

ALEX GORDON Project Manager, LEO Events

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continued from page 13

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ALEX HENSLEY Former Special Assistant to Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris

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Through their work at BRIDGES and the county mayor’s office, Hensley has devoted themself to the larger good. “What is rewarding about my work is tangibly improving quality of life — even if it’s for a few families. Policy-level work has allowed me to make change on a larger scale.”

Hensley became notorious when Councilman Edmund Ford objected to their email signature identifying their preferred pronouns. “I use both ‘she’ and ‘they’ pronouns because my sense of myself goes beyond being a woman,” they say.

Whether it’s affecting change at the governmental level or bringing together artists for the Art Kognito collective, Hensley says, “Organizing is crucial because we can only address the urgent issues of climate change and social and economic injustice by electing and building power among folks who prioritize people over profit.”

EMILY JENNEWINE Pediatric nurse, Lifedoc Health Keeping Memphis’ children healthy is a big job, but Emily Jennewine is on the case. “Providing care to patients in the school setting not only provides healthcare that students may otherwise not receive, but also allows for early intervention to address identified health concerns.

Together with a team of school nurses, we are able to provide close, school-based follow-up and coordinate further care for these patients. Beyond that, through community partnerships, we are able to provide interventions such as nutrition education and access to nutritious foods through a food bank at the schools,” Jennewine says.

“My goal is to build a future for Memphis that is healthier. I believe we need to invest in preventative healthcare for our children and shift the focus to disease prevention. … One of the first places we can start to build a healthier Memphis is in our school systems.”

VALENCIA JENNINGS Human Resources, Baptist Hospitals, COO HomeT3amHoops After earning a master’s degree in human resources, Jennings joined Baptist Hospitals two years ago. “HR healthcare professionals must acknowledge that the group of individuals under their stewardship includes not only employees who receive a paycheck, but also patients who are receiving treatment,” she says.

Outside the hospital, she co-founded HomeT3amHoops. “I wanted to create a nonprofit to afford the youth of my community opportunities that are not usually afforded to them. My best friend and I [Trey Draper, 20<30, Class of 2019] created this vision in 2021. Our focus is to not only impact the lives of youth by helping them gain the fundamental skills through basketball, but also by giving them needed life skills, educational resources, and volunteer opportunities.

We want to ensure that the children of our community know that there are opportunities for them.”

ANDREW MOK Category Manager, AutoZone The son of Korean immigrants, Andrew Mok knows what it’s like to struggle. Now he is one of the youngest executives at AutoZone. “I’m very fortunate to be in the position that I am today at such a young age, but I wouldn’t be here if it was just me working. I had leaders in the community who really invested in me to help me get to this point.”

Mok gives back to the community with the Technical Training Center at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Memphis.

MARISSA MANTHONGKHAM Director of Operations and Educational Programming, PRIZM Ensemble Raised in a music-rich Memphis household, Manthongkham left to pursue her career as a clarinetist, eventually earning a Ph.D. at Michigan State University.

“I wanted to return home to apply these global perspectives. I am so thrilled to be back in Memphis as a leader in the local musical community.”

With PRIZM Ensemble, she helps provide musical opportunities for marginalized groups. “It has been proven that students who study music excel academically above their classmates. …

Since I have personally benefited from these advantages, I feel obligated to share my knowledge and experiences with others in an effort to encourage more youth to study instrumental music. As an advocate, I will ensure that I reach as many young children as possible to inspire them to recognize the full benefits of music.”

“I don’t want us to just focus on the big things, like making Downtown better.

There are a lot of areas that need our help.

That’s the reason why I am drawn to the Boys & Girls Club. I volunteered to take the lead on that project because I know what they’re going through. I’ve seen it firsthand growing up.”

He is also on the board of directors for the University of Memphis Alumni Association, a position that “means everything to me. There’s a lot of characteristics and qualities and traits that I have today that I wouldn’t have had if it wasn’t for the University of Memphis.”

Memphis has seen our share of basketball stars, but no one has ever thrilled our city like Ja Morant. The 2020 NBA Rookie of the Year has led the Memphis Grizzlies to a record 11-game winning streak, putting the team in playoff contention and his name in the conversation for MVP. In the process, he has become the hero to the city.

“Since day one, Memphis made me and my family feel comfortable here and made us feel like home. I love everything about it, from the front office down, the fans, the community.

Me and my family couldn’t ask for anything better, I want [Memphis] to receive more recognition. I feel like we have something good going here and just got to continue to grow.”

PHOTO: JA MORANT COURTESY OF JOE MURPHY / NBAE | GETTY IMAGES

JONATHAN MOSLEY Program Director, Memphis in May International Festival; actor As an event manager, Mosley has been responsible for Diner En Blanc, the Downtown Riverfront Market, and the Covid-era “Santa in a Bubble.” “Luckily in Memphis, it’s not too hard to have a good time! You can throw a rock and hit singer or DJ, the community will always come through, and our city has some of the best scenic backdrops for any event-type venue. Mix in a good cause and you’re bound to have a good event for good people looking for a good time.”

Mosley’s passion is acting. In 2018, he got the role of a lifetime at Hattiloo Theatre. “Playing the role of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an extreme honor, privilege, and challenge. This was my first lead role in the city that MLK died in, and the show was running during the 50th anniversary of his assassination.

The pressure was on, to say the least, but with the help of Hattiloo, I was ready.”

CORI MCCLESKEY She-E-O, Remember Media

NORA MURRAY Director of Community Impact, New Memphis Institute

McCleskey, a native of Marion, Arkansas, sought to overcome her fears by facing them head-on. Her first exposure to social media was as an art gallery coordinator for the University of Arkansas. “At one point in college, I was running a little agency. I had eight accounts, and that led to me doing social media for the Arkansas Razorbacks for two football seasons.”

McCleskey was working a corporate job when the pandemic forced her to reevaluate her path. “I knew it was time for me to jump off that entrepreneurial ledge.

Around that time, all my friends were asking me to manage their social media accounts for their small businesses. So I was like, ‘Why do I keep refusing?’”

Her company Remember Media now counts many Downtown businesses among its clients. “Even through the highs and lows of running a business over the last 18 months, I’ve always believed in myself and believed in my team. We can overcome anything together.”

When Murray moved to Memphis in 2018, she says she had trepidation about a place where she knew no one, and which gets a lot of bad press. “Memphis and Memphians quickly wrapped their arms, souls, and hearts around us, and we love sharing that experience to continue working to change the narrative about Memphis.”

Now, greeting newcomers is one of her duties at the New Memphis Institute.

“Having been a newcomer myself, I love to ensure that each person I meet becomes connected to Memphis and feels a sense of community here.”

Last year, she took over as the organizer of TEDx Memphis. “Bringing TEDx Memphis to a new, outdoor location certainly had its challenges, but it was so rewarding to see the tradition continue and to amplify the Memphis voice on a grander stage,” she says.

“What makes our city unique is that when Memphians have an idea, they can quickly garner a community to support that idea and put it into action.”

LOUISE PAGE Musician Louise Page didn’t expect to stay in Memphis after graduating from Rhodes College. “But I’ve just never wanted to move. I love it here.”

The English major worked as a librarian for two years before quitting to pursue music full-time. “I started playing the original songs I’d been writing since high school, but never performing, right after I graduated. That was organically picking up steam, and I felt like I could make it my real job.”

Since then, she has released three

independently produced albums, most recently Play Nice, a collection of solo piano and vocal songs she wrote during the pandemic. “All of my songs are really personal,” she says. “I don’t necessarily write what I think will be popular. I write what I need to write.”

Before the pandemic sidelined her gigging and touring, she organized benefit shows for organizations like Mariposas Collective. “My parents instilled these values in me,” she says. “If you have more than you need, you should share.” continued on page 16

COVER STORY m e m p h i s f l y e r. c o m

JA MORANT Point Guard, Memphis Grizzlies

15

continued from page 15

JUSTIN J. PEARSON Founder, Memphis Community Against Pollution “I’m an unlikely leader of the environ-

mental justice movement,” says Pearson.

“I didn’t truly understand those words until our fight with the Byhalia Connection Pipeline.”

Memphis Community Against the Pipeline fought the construction of a new oil pipeline that would have bisected the predominantly Black, Southeast Memphis community where he grew up. “What I believed, and what I think our team and neighborhood association believed was, ‘We may not win, but they don’t expect a fight. So they’re not prepared for us; whereas, we mentally can be prepared for them.’”

But after a bruising few months of protests and City Council meetings, win they did. Now, Pearson has pivoted the organization he founded to fighting for environmental justice for all Memphians.

“I want to build a Memphis where we can live in peace,” he says. “People deserve to not live in fear that the air we’re breathing is going to kill them.”

LYNDSEY PENDER Research and Evaluation Specialist, The Works Inc. Lyndsey Pender decided to switch course from photojournalism to anthropology while in college and returned from

Kentucky to her hometown. “I was lucky because the anthropology program at the University of Memphis is nationally ranked, a great program.”

Now, with The Works Inc., her mission is to make life better for the poor people of Memphis. “We are a Community Development Corporation, a 501c( 3), and our focus has historically been on housing,” she says. “But we really take a holistic approach. For the health and wealth and safety of a family, you have to have a stable home environment, but we understand that you can’t address housing without addressing some other problems at the same time. … I do work across all of our programs. My background is medical pathology.

“I think Memphis is unique, in that we are a predominantly Black city. But like a lot of Black Americans, our Black citizens don’t have the same job opportunities and educational opportunities. I want a city where everyone can flourish, regardless of the ZIP code that they were born into.”

20 30 The class of 2022 HELP Empower Deaf Children to

HELP Listen, Learn, and Talk.

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SHELBY SMITH Director of Communications, Choose901 “I was always talking about moving away,” says Smith, who grew up in the eastern

portions of Shelby County. It was a college internship at Choose901 that changed her mind. “I wasn’t really coming to the city very often because the media was only telling me about the bad things.”

Now, it’s her job to tell people about the great things her city has to offer. “I’ve been here my whole life, and I’d rather put on my gloves and fight than see someone from a different city think they know what’s happening here and try and fight that battle on their own,” she says.

Smith “grew up as a dancer” and taught for Collage Dance Collective before the pandemic. “If I’m on stage, it doesn’t matter if I’m wearing shoes or if I’m barefoot, if I’m in my Nike Dunks or my heels, that form of expression is a release for me.”

Smith is set to continue spreading the good news about the Bluff City with an upcoming partnership with Unapologetic.

“I want to continue to build a Memphis that’s proud of itself.”

BRENNAN STEELE Author and Director of Advancement, Believe Memphis Academy Brennan Steele says he was drawn to

teaching by the many small acts of kindness he received from teachers. “I was taught to whom much is given, much is required,” he says. “Over the course of my educational journey, I was afforded a lot of educational wealth by people, specifically teachers and counselors, who were looking out for me. What really pushed me over the edge was when I had my first and only Black male teacher in the 11th grade.”

Having an AP English teacher who looked like him made Steele believe anything was possible, which “made me want to have that impact on all students.”

Soon after he came to Memphis to teach, he had the idea for Breathe: A Guided Healing Journey for Black Men, a journal with 45 days of writing prompts designed to facilitate self-discovery. “I think there are so many times where Black people are reduced to a hashtag, especially after people have been murdered,” he says. “This is like the active reclaiming of your story.”

GRIZZLIES VS JAZZ FRIDAY, JANUARY 28

LEGENDZ OF THE STREETZ SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 6

PROFESSIONAL BULL RIDERS SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12

GABRIEL “FLUFFY” IGLESIAS SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19

Be there to watch Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies take on Mike Conley and the Utah Jazz at 7PM. Get tickets 901.888.HOOP | GRIZZLIES.COM

Legendz of the Streetz tour comes to Memphis, featuring Rick Ross, Jeezy, Gucci Mane, 2 Chainz and more.

Tickets available!

PBR’s Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour returns to FedExForum with the PBR Bluff City Classic.

Tickets available!

Film star and comedian Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias brings his Back on Tour show to FedExForum.

Tickets available!

Get tickets at FedExForum Box Office | ticketmaster.com | fedexforum.com

COVER STORY m e m p h i s f l y e r. c o m

PRESENTED BY

17

steppin’ out (& stayin’ in)

We Recommend: Culture, News + Reviews

Girl in a Country Song

By Abigail Morici

PHOTO: PLAYHOUSE ON THE SQUARE Late summer 2020, Bligh Voth agreed to do a Zoom reading as the protagonist of a new musical, produced by country duo Florida Georgia Line.

May We All on stage “There is something that Zoom does not capture,” she says. “We did our first in-person reading in September of this past year in New York City, and it was so nice to hear everyone singing and performing together.” Now the musical, titled May We All, is in its developmental production phase in Memphis, which Voth describes as “utilizing all this insane local talent and getting this show on its feet [in front of an audience].”

The musical centers around Jenna Coates, a young woman returning to her Tennessee hometown after trying to make it big in the Nashville music scene. “She comes back in a state of frantic energy, and is also met by the frantic energy of this town that has pinned a lot of its hopes on her success in Nashville and are doubling down on it as she comes back to visit because they are in such a state of panic for the longevity of their home, as small businesses are being pushed out by Walmart types.”

And of course, the musical includes a “shit-ton of great music” with country favorites and two new songs by Florida Georgia Line. “We kind of run the gamut of country music stylings,” Voth says. “For every Kenny Chesney song, there’s a more contemporary Kacey Musgraves song that balances it out.”

“In my opinion,” Voth adds, “beginning to end, this musical should feel like a great Hallmark movie. You sit down and you want to enjoy yourself and listen to some awesome music and follow a great story and know that two hours later you’re going to feel a little revived.”

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Memphis is one hot tamale when it comes to winging a night in.

Last Word, p. 31

TRAVIS MINTER

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PAMELA MCADAMS | DREAMSTIME.COM

MAY WE ALL , PLAYHOUSE ON THE SQUARE, 66 S. COOPER, PERFORMANCES RUN THROUGH FEBRUARY 20TH, $27.

Get baked … baked potatoes, that is … with “Showtime Sheba” Minter.

Food, p. 24

VARIOUS DAYS & TIMES January 27th - February 2nd The Goodbye Levee Playhouse on the Square, 66 S. Cooper, performances through Sunday, Jan. 30th, $42 Winner of the 2020 NewWorks@ TheWorks National Playwriting Competition, The Goodbye Levee addresses dementia and mental health with comedy as a devastating diagnosis compels protagonist Celeste Banks to invite the audience into her confidence as she hosts a “Goodbye Party.” Due to her erratic memory and hallucinations, her party turns into chaos, which threatens the control she so desperately desires to retain.

Sundance Film Festival Crosstown Theater, 1350 Concourse, Friday-Sunday, Jan. 28th-30th, $12-$36 Sundance Film Festival has selected Indie Memphis as an official satellite screen, bringing featured films and customized programming to the Crosstown Theater.

The line-up includes Sirens directed by Rita Baghdadi, La Guerra Civil directed by Eva Longoria Bastón, Honk for Jesus … Save Your Soul directed by Adamma Ebo, and many more. Single tickets cost $12, and four-ticket bundles cost $36.

Stargazing on the Lawn Museum of Science & History, 3050 Central, Friday, Jan. 28th, 5-7 p.m., $10 Celebrate the night sky with MoSH on the front lawn of the Pink Palace Mansion. There will be observing on the lawn through telescopes operated by the Memphis Astronomical Society and planetarium staff. Short planetarium shows describing the sky tonight, and maybe a few surprises, will go on approximately every 30 minutes. Plus, you get to make your own constellation card.

Pre-purchase tickets online at moshmemphis.com.

Matsuriza Taiko Buckman Arts Center at St. Mary’s School, 60 N. Perkins Ext., Friday, Jan. 28th, 8 p.m., $35 Under the talented leadership of Takemasa Ishikura since 1988, Matsuriza Taiko is an undisputed fan-favorite in the many countries where it has performed. With a commitment to traditional music as well as fresh, new compositions, the group has earned the coveted resident spot in Walt Disney World’s EPCOT Japan pavilion, where it performs weekly.

Live music at

PHOTO: TAD LAURITZEN WRIGHT

Repeating It Perfectly (Undone) Again 4, acrylic on canvas

Tangled

By Abigail Morici

At the onset of lockdown, Memphis artist Tad Lauritzen Wright began a series of single-line drawings about the political and social unrest that followed. “They were very narrative,” Wright says. “They were almost like documentary drawings.”

But after this collection of drawings, which was featured at the Brooks, Wright, like many, became exhausted with the inundation of bad news and problems to solve.

“The work I made, while I was making it, felt pretty poignant,” he says, “but then it started to feel like a scene in Groundhog Day, you know, where it just kept repeating itself over and over in so many ways. I went into the studio and I had no idea what I was going to do. And that was a good thing.”

And so he took a 6-foot-by-9-foot drop cloth and tacked it to the wall. “So I’m sitting in a chair staring at this big blank drop cloth and this [tangled 100-foot] extension cord is on the floor. I haven’t picked it up yet. And I started thinking about the possibilities of this thing and what it actually represented. And it was much more than the extension cord. It was this idea of problems that I could easily solve when I couldn’t solve any of the ones going on around me. It was going to take a little bit of time to figure it out and untangle this thing, and so I decided I would make a painting about that and I did.”

The subsequent paintings are now a part of his “Poetics of Gesture” show at David Lusk Gallery, where they will be on display through February 5th. The gallery is hosting an open house January 30th, where guests will be able to speak with the artist.

january 27th - 7:00pm Mario Monterosso

january 28th - 9:00pm

Album release party

Meet the Author: Randal Maurice Novel, 387 Perkins Ext., Saturday, Jan. 29th, 2 p.m.

Novel welcomes professor, documentary filmmaker, and awardwinning author in conversation with Charles McKinney to celebrate the publication of Letters to Martin: Meditations on Democracy in Black America. The book contains 12 meditations on contemporary political struggles for our oxygendeprived society — economic inequality, freedom of assembly, police brutality, ongoing social class conflicts, and geopolitics.

History That Doesn’t Suck: Live Podcast Bartlett Performing Arts and Conference Center, 3663 Appling, Saturday, Jan. 29th, 7:30 p.m.

Join Greg Jackson for a thrilling collection of American history stories that chronicle the unlikely uniting of a people to create a new nation and then grapple with the imperfect cracks in the union that lead to a devastating civil war. Sound effects, music, and lights bring these thrilling and seriously researched familiar and little-known real events and relatable characters to life!

Iris at the Brooks: An Afternoon of Music and Art Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, 1934 Poplar, Sunday, Jan. 30th, 3 p.m., $40 This concert not only features an hour of Schumann and Mozart piano trios with January’s guest conductor Jeffrey Kahane on piano but also includes a special look at the latest Memphis Brooks Museum of Art exhibitions, including the Mid-South Scholastic Exhibition, which features exemplary art by students in 7th through 12th grade.

featuring special guests

Joe Bonamassa

and

MonoNeon

railgarten.com 2 1 6 6 C e n t r a l Av e .

Memphis TN 38104

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Sirens, a doc about the Middle East’s first all-female metal band, kicks off the Sundance Film Festival in Memphis.

Film, p. 27

m e m p h i s f l y e r. c o m

“POETICS OF GESTURE” OPEN HOUSE, DAVID LUSK GALLERY, 97 TILLMAN, SATURDAY, JANUARY 30TH, NOON-3 P.M.

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MUSIC By Alex Greene

Fuzz and Grease Jeremy Scott’s Bear Grease toes the line between folk-pop and full-on rock-and-roll.

J

“ GEOFF TATE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF EMPIRE

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 6 • 7PM MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7 • 7PM

T. GRAHAM BROWN Wednesday

FEBRUARY 9 7PM

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CODY CANADA AND THE DEPARTED

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Thursday February 17 7 pm

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27 | 7 pm

eremy, are you okay?” I’m talking to my sometime bandmate Jeremy Scott about his solo album, Bear Grease, being released this week on Back to the Light Records. When I mention that the guitar solos are absolutely on fire, all I hear is maniacal laughter. I know he’s okay, though. In the mind of singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Scott, casual rage and absurdist humor often sit side by side.

For many months, back before the pandemic, Scott spoke of an acoustic album in the works with another multiinstrumentalist, Graham Burks. “Great!”

I thought. “This will showcase Jeremy’s kinder, gentler side.” Now that it’s finally coming out, though, the end product is a bit more in keeping with the maniacal laughter I hear over the phone.

Take the lead single, for example.

“Fred Neil Armstrong” isn’t exactly maniacal, but it is slightly touched in the head — charmingly so. If the first two titular words invoke the great folk/pop songwriter behind “Everybody’s Talkin,’” the song soon takes flight to the moon in honor of that other famous Neil and dances merrily around the lunatic fringe.

“That song had some of Fred Neil’s attitude,” says Scott, “although I don’t sing like him at all. It came out sounding more like Lovin’ Spoonful.”

Indeed, that evolution from acoustic folk intentions to rocked-up final product typifies much of the album, which is steeped in Scott’s love for the folk rock and psychedelia of the ’60s. Apparently, though he started with acoustic intentions, he couldn’t help but let his rock instincts take over. The guitar solos evoke The Electric Prunes at their best; the riffs jump and jangle; the beats stomp your blues away.

“I pretty much thought this would be an all acoustic record, sort of like Oar by Skip Spence,” Scott admits. “But I realized that wasn’t exactly in my wheelhouse.

Then, as I was writing, some of these songs got more electric. And as Graham and I worked on them, they’d get louder.

Of course, ‘Patron of the Arts’ was always intended to be more of a rock song.” He’s not lying — just listen to him scream, “I ain’t no fuckin’ patron of the arts!” with a vengeance. “And ‘Your Ice Cream’s Gonna Melt One Day’ came to me when I was listening to a lot of Paul Revere & the

Though he started with acoustic intentions, he couldn’t help but let his rock instincts take over.

Raiders. Although it came off sounding more like the Byrds, that’s kind of a rip off of ‘Cinderella Sunshine.’ The single version. The one with the fuzz.”

Ah yes, the one with the fuzz. In another instance of trivia-springing-to-life, Scott covers “What Am I Talking About” by the relatively unknown Kenn Kweder.

“Nobody outside of Philadelphia knows about Kenn Kweder, but he’s been around since the ’70s. He used to have a band called the Secret Kidds. That song is really catchy and funny as hell. ‘I went out last night, I got totally screwed up, I fell asleep on an awning’? [laughs] I mean, who hasn’t been there?”

It’s worth noting that Scott will soon celebrate his 20th year as a DJ on WEVL, where he leads listeners down the rabbit holes of power pop, folk rock, and alt-rock deep cuts with aplomb. Now, with Bear Grease, his mastery of music history minutiae translates into a performative mastery as well. He can digest decades of pop references in deft turns of phrase over undeni-

PHOTO: DAN BALL

Bear Grease is the product of Graham Burks and Jeremy Scott’s collaboration. ably catchy chord changes and arrangements. And yet the end result avoids being a glossy vanity project by Scott’s folksy singing and the casual ease with which Scott and Burks laid down the tracks.

“Graham, having been in Pezz, has an understanding of punk, so that helped things stay raw in a good way. It’s imperfect, and it should be. It was a really good, organic situation because Graham and I did 98 percent of that record ourselves in little three- or four-hour bursts in his backhouse. Most of the basic tracks are first, second, or third takes. We wanted it to sound organic, and I think being relatively unprepared worked in our favor.”

Jeremy Scott leads a full band in an album release show at 9 p.m. on Friday, January 28th, at B-Side Memphis. The Alicja-Pop band will open.

CALENDAR of EVENTS:

Jan. 27 - Feb. 2

Send the date, time, place, cost, info, phone number, a brief description, and photos — two weeks in advance — to calendar@memphisflyer.com or P.O. Box 1738, Memphis, TN 38101.

DUE TO SPACE LIMITATIONS, ONGOING WEEKLY EVENTS WILL APPEAR IN THE FLYER’S ONLINE CALENDAR ONLY.

ART AN D S P EC IA L E X H I B I TS

“Borders”

Exhibition of metal sculptures by Steinunn Thorarinsdottir. The sculptures are presented in pairs, one cast-iron and one aluminum, either standing or seated and often placed as if they are in a silent conversation. Thorarinsdottir’s figures are at once familiar and otherworldly, and their quiet aura invites viewers to contemplate the ways in which all humans are connected, despite our outward differences. Through April 23.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

“Color Personified!”

Display of art by Wanda Winsett. Through March 1.

FRATELLI’S

MAKE YOUR CLOSET HAPPY, MANE.

An exhibition of Passport Masks, carved in Africa. Through Jan. 29.

JAY ETKIN GALLERY

“I Remember Mayfair”

Virtual exhibition of work by Mary “Mayfair” Matthews. Tuesday, Feb. 1-Feb. 28.

WKNO.ORG

Master Metalsmith: Kim Cridler | Held

Exhibition of works on paper, large sculptures, vessels, and jewelry. Cridler’s forged and fabricated works incorporate unusual materials such as eggshells, horsehair, and butterfly wings alongside steel and silver. Inspired by the beauty of nature, her work captures moments of both quiet and disquiet that invite us to contemplate our relationship with the natural world. Through March 6.

METAL MUSEUM

“Our Town”

Exhibition of paintings of local Memphis landmarks by artist J. M. Croy on display during the Theatre Memphis production of Our Town.

Through Jan. 30.

THEATRE MEMPHIS

“Poetics of Gesture”

Exhibition of oversized monochromatic abstract paintings by Tad Lauritzen Wright. Large, rough drop cloths are mounted and tangled, while continuous, single loops of rich color move across faded backgrounds of the corresponding colors.

Through Feb. 5.

DAVID LUSK GALLERY

“Savages and Princess: The Persistence of Native American Stereotypes” Exhibition that brings together 12 contemporary Native American visual artists who explore how to represent Native Americans authentically.

Friday, Jan. 28-March 16.

MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & HISTORY

“Selected Works: Hooks Bros.

Photographic Archives”

Exhibition of Hooks Bros. photos circa 1910 to 1950. Through Jan. 31.

BENJAMIN L. HOOKS CENTRAL LIBRARY

“Something for Everyone”

Virtual exhibition of photos by Becky Ross McRae. Through Jan. 31.

WKNO.ORG

“The 12 Months of Memphis”

Original oil paintings depicting one favorite Memphis landmark per month by local artist Jane M. Croy. Through March 2.

PLAYHOUSE ON THE SQUARE

“Waves of Change”

“Poetics of Gesture” Open House

Open house for exhibition of abstract paintings by Tad Lauritzen Wright. Sunday, Jan. 30, noon-3 p.m.

DAVID LUSK GALLERY

trapxart

Exhibition of fused glass by Christie Stratton Moody. Through April 2.

A one-night-only pop-up that showcases talented local artists and designers. Featuring a DJ, drinks, and a fashion show. $22. Saturday, Jan. 29, 10 p.m.-2 a.m.

BUCKMAN ARTS CENTER AT ST. MARY’S SCHOOL

HI TONE

ART HAPPE N I NGS

B O O K E V E N TS

Incognito Art Auction and Gala Presented by Banes Capital Group

Meet the Author: Randal Maurice

Exhibition of unsigned works by more than 100 of the Mid-South’s favorite artists. Online bidding is open. Through Jan. 28 MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

m e m p h i s f l y e r. c o m

View Mary “Mayfair” Matthews’ Girl in the Rain at WKNO’s virtual Gallery Ten Ninety-One during the month of February.

Novel welcomes professor, documentary filmmaker, and award-winning author in conversation with Charles McKinney to celebrate the publication of Letters to Martin: Meditations on Democracy in Black America. Saturday, Jan. 29, 2 p.m.

NOVEL

continued on page 22

VISIT US AT

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

“Flash of the Spirit”

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C A L E N DA R: JA N UA RY 2 7 - F E B R UA RY 2 continued from page 21

F I LM

C LAS S / W O R KS H O P

Crosstown Arthouse presents The Holy Mountain

5-Week Painting Series with Marilyn Wannamaker Drawing and painting classes for those with beginner skills through advanced levels of experience. $250, $290. Saturday, Jan. 29, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

Candle Making with Brooke Williamson Powered by Arrow

Create your own custom scents. $65. Friday, Jan. 28, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

ARROW CREATIVE

Kitchen Table Silversmithing: Earrings with BMB Designs Powered by Arrow

Create your own beautiful custom earrings. $85. Saturday, Jan. 29, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

ARROW CREATIVE

FAM I LY

Magic Carpet Ends with Taiko for Tots with Matsuriza

Spend Saturday morning with the kids at the Buckman. Free.

Saturday, Jan. 29, 10-11 a.m.

BUCKMAN ARTS CENTER AT ST. MARY’S SCHOOL

Stargazing on the Lawn

Celebrate the night sky with MoSH on the front lawn of the Pink Palace Mansion. $10.

Friday, Jan. 28, 5-7 p.m.

Writer/director Alejandro Jodorowsky’s flood of sacrilegious imagery and existential symbolism in The Holy Mountain is a spiritual quest for enlightenment, pitting illusion against truth. $5. Thursday, Jan. 27, 7:30-9:30 p.m.

MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & HISTORY

The Birds & the Seeds

A full day of activities for visitors, with a seed swap as well as seed giveaways, a “Birding from the Balcony” session, an herb and houseplant sale from the Lichterman Greenhouse, and more. Free. Saturday, Jan. 29, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

CROSSTOWN THEATER

Morris and Mollye Fogelman International Jewish Film Festival

The 10 featured films include a wide wide variety of award-winning national and international Jewish-themed films that represent a variety of genres. This year’s festival will be brought directly into viewers’ homes with the new virtual format. $10/individual tickets.

Thursday, Jan. 27-Feb. 28.

MEMPHIS JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER

Sundance Film Festival

Sundance Film Festival has selected Indie Memphis as an official satellite screen, bringing featured films and customized programming to the Crosstown Theater. $12/single tickets, $36/ four-ticket bundles. Friday, Jan. 28-Jan. 30.

CROSSTOWN THEATER

This weekend, catch the last few performances of The Goodbye Levee, written by Mike Solomonson.

MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & HISTORY

SHEN YUN 2022 in Memphis

Featuring one of the world’s most ancient and richest dance systems — classical Chinese dance.

Saturday, Jan. 29, 2 p.m. Second performance at 7 p.m.

S PO R TS

Memphis Grizzlies vs.

Utah Jazz Friday, Jan. 28, 7 p.m.

FEDEXFORUM

Memphis Grizzlies vs.

Washington Wizards

P E R F O R M I N G A R TS

CANNON CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

Big Dawg Entertainment Presents Amateur Night

S P E C IA L E V E N TS

FEDEXFORUM

History That Doesn’t Suck: Live Podcast

Memphis Tigers vs. East Carolina

A talent show of R&B to rap to comedy to dance — any form of talent. The format is that of the Apollo Theater with the audience as the judge. Three-hour show with 15 acts. Prize money to the winner! $20. Saturday, Jan. 29, 7:30 p.m.

THE HALLORAN CENTRE

Saturday, Jan. 29, 7 p.m.

A live storytelling spectacle based on the acclaimed and popular podcast. $30. Saturday, Jan. 29, 7:30 p.m.

BARTLETT PERFORMING ARTS AND CONFERENCE CENTER

Thursday, Jan. 27, 8 p.m.

FEDEXFORUM

T H EAT E R

May We All

Jenna Coates, a small-town girl whose big-city singing career is over before it even begins,

returns home to find a path to the future. Through Feb. 20.

PLAYHOUSE ON THE SQUARE

Our Town

Thornton Wilder’s immortal tale of love and marriage, death and daily life. Through Jan. 30.

THEATRE MEMPHIS

The Goodbye Levee

A devastating diagnosis compels Celeste Banks to invite the audience into her confidence as she hosts a “Goodbye Party.”

Through Jan. 30.

THEATRE WORKS

The Mountaintop

A gripping reimagination of events the night before the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Written by Katori Hall. $30. Through Feb. 13.

HATTILOO THEATRE

TO U R S

Winter Tree ID Walk

Join arborist Bo Kelley and Tree Team volunteer Linnea West for a walk along the trails. Participants will learn to identify native trees by examining buds, bark, and form. Clipboard or notebook suggested. Dress for the weather and wear comfortable shoes. Registration is required; class size is limited.

Free with garden admission.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

Savages & Princesses: The Persistence of Native American Stereotypes

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FOOD By Michael Donahue

THIS IS HOW WE LIVE.

Hot Potato Showtime Sheba creates unique loaded potatoes.

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ow many ways can you stuff a potato?

That’s a loaded question.

But Sheba “Showtime Sheba” Minter, owner of Hot Potato’z food truck, can tell you.

“Countless,” Minter says. “I don’t think I’ve even scratched the surface.”

Minter, 31, creates unique loaded potatoes. “If you see my potatoes, they are like no other potatoes.” People might wonder if there’s a potato there at all, she says. “You can’t see the potato at the bottom. You can just see the toppings.

“I have potatoes for every person in the family, whether you’re craving chicken, beef, steak. I also sell nachos and potato soup. All things potato.”

A native of Detroit, Michigan, Minter grew up in Dyer County, Tennessee. She moved to Memphis after she met her husband.

Her original dream was to be a singer.

“I just naturally know how to sing. From sixth grade up to 12th grade, I was in talent shows. I won some. Some I did horrible in.”

Under the stage name Showtime Sheba, Minter performed songs by Whitney Houston, Toni Braxton, and Gladys Knight.

“All the greats,” she says. She also danced in a group called Triple Threat.

Minter began selling potatoes from her home in 2017. “I was like, ‘What can I sell that everybody will want to buy?’”

With help from her husband, she began taking orders for delivery or pickup. She also started making potatoes for large groups, including Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital.

She stopped performing in 2019. “I had a contract that went bad, and that traumatized me. I said, ‘If I can’t do it, I can be close to it.’” Minter began putting on talent shows for mostly adults. “Sometimes I would only feature one child, and I would call them ‘The Star of Tomorrow.’”

She opened a food truck when Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) money became available for businesses after Covid hit.

Minter comes from a cooking background. “We always loved to cook,” she says. “Everyone in my family. It’s like a competition. And I know what food does.

I love to cook for people and feed people.

It gets people excited when they see food.

I get excited when I see food. It just makes me feel better about life.”

She tries to keep six potato creations —

she calls them “tatos” — on the menu at her food truck, which is at the intersection of Whitten Road and Macon Road.

Loaded Chicken and Shrimp Tato is her most popular. “[It’s] nacho cheese and chicken. I have onions and peppers cooked into the chicken, and different types of seasoning. Then you have your layer of broccoli, more cheese, bacon. And I top that with shrimp … and parsley, like a garnish. Then I run it all through a toaster, and it all fuses together. The onions and peppers really bring out the flavor in the chicken.”

Other potatoes included the Taco Tato, Philly Tato, and the Potato Tato, which includes French fries as a topping. “Hey, I’m a Pisces,” Minter says. “We’re known for our creativity.”

PHOTO: TRAVIS MINTER

Sheba “Showtime Sheba” Minter Of course, some people just order a baked potato with butter.

“I don’t make changes very often. But I’m really thinking about doing a couple of potatoes during Black History Month, like the Rosa Parks Tato. I’ll do a little bit of research and see what she likes and incorporate something about that in the potato.”

Minter stopped doing talent shows last November because her potato business took up so much time, but she still takes voice lessons to build up her voice.

In 2020, she recorded a single, “Beautiful Inside and Out,” which was written by Antonio Ferguson. She also performed in the video.

More Showtime Sheba talent shows may be on the horizon. “I can’t go anywhere without someone saying, ‘When’s the next show?’ I’ve got to get back to it.”

Follow Hot Potato’z on Instagram or Facebook @hotpotatozmemphis.

S P I R ITS By Richard Murff

Brown Water Weather The chill in the air means it’s whiskey weather season. profile, a favorite that I’ve written about before is Old Dominick’s Bourbon Whiskey at $39. What gets me excited is the high rye content, which gives it wonderful spice pepper notes. For a whiskey to be legally called bourbon, it must have at least 51 percent corn — so there is that round sweetness from the corn, but at 44 percent rye, the sweet is balanced with spice.

Everything That’s True — Selected Writing from the Memphis Flyer and Memphis magazine is a great read — and a great gift.

PHOTO: RICHARD MURFF

If you were carousing at a Bobby Burns dinner last week, you might be thinking that you want to give Scotch whiskey a whirl. (Do it for me!) If nothing else, it will wash the taste of haggis out of your mouth. A word of caution — if you love those peaty Islay whiskeys, sadly, you are just going to have to pay up. Going cheap here is awful. If you are looking for a solid drinkable Scotch, stick to Speyside and Highland whiskeys. Without all the peat and smoke, there is a lot less to go horribly wrong. Besides, there is also less to freak the seasoned bourbon drinker out.

Tomatin has a 12-year-old single malt finished in a cherry cask that will cost only $39. It’s a Highland Scotch, but light enough to where I’d initially thought it was Speyside. It is soft, with some notes of crème brûlée, and if you are looking for a single malt under $40 these days, this is about the best you are going to get.

At any rate, cheer up: Warm weather is around the corner, and they just might raise your credit limit.

m e m p h i s f l y e r. c o m

Whiskey, a neat way to keep warm

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

I

t’s still cold and wet, and you’re still broke. The romantics and better halves may call it “snuggle weather,” but you and I know better. You’re possibly on the end of a Dry January, but now those bills are starting to show up and, well, you need a bracer. This, my friend, is “whiskey weather.”

When is it not? We are living in a golden age of bourbon: Distillers have elevated America’s spirit from rotgut to an art form, and they should be proud of themselves.

And to look at the price point of some of these artisan products, they really are. To wit: Here are some exceptional whiskeys for the enthusiast whose credit limit isn’t quite what it was on Black Friday: Old Forester’s flagship bourbon retails for about $19 and is not rotgut, but it is your grandfather’s bourbon. When my friend Tom Morris became master distiller (he started working for the former master distiller in high school), he wanted to up the brand’s game.

And he has. Old Forester has several expressions in the $55 to $65 range, and some higher. Every bottle I’ve ever had has been worth the money (assuming that you have it). Hidden among these boozy gems is Old Forester Signature — which will cost you about $26. A friend of mine and I had a side by side with Old Forester’s Signature and the coveted Birthday expression, which was about $55 at the time. We both agreed that the Birthday was the better whiskey, but was it twice as good? What we decided was that Signature was one of the best bourbons for the price.

If you are angling for a local favorite, Blue Note has a couple of expressions that won’t break the bank: Juke Joint comes in at $29. Like Old Forester, Blue Note has some bourbons at a higher price point, and they’ve been worth the money. While Juke Joint has a touch of heat, it really is a great value. Blue Note’s Crossroads comes in at $39, is finished in French oak barrels, and, at 100 proof, I don’t guess you need that much to forget your problems. Either will warm your cockles when you start getting miserly about the thermostat.

If you want to try something a little outside that classic bourbon taste

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FILM By Chris McCoy

Sundance in Memphis The prestigious film festival partners with Indie Memphis to bring movies to Crosstown.

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Help us change that.

Learn more at community.mifa.org

Sundance’s 2022 line-up ranges from Sirens (above), a documentary about the Middle East’s first all-female metal band, to Honk for Jesus, Save Your Soul (below), a comedy starring Regina Hall and Sterling K. Brown. singular,” says Indie Memphis programmer Kayla Myers.

At 2 p.m. is Free Chol Soo Lee. The documentary is about a 20-year-old Korean immigrant who, in 1973, was wrongly accused of murder in San Francisco, and the investigative reporter who fought to clear his name. At 6 p.m. is La Guerra Civil, a documentary by actor-turned-director Eva Longoria Bastón, about the 1996 boxing match between Oscar De La Hoya and Julio César Chávez, which divided the Mexican community on both sides of the border. Then, at 9 p.m., is Emergency. The dramedy by director Carey Williams and screenwriter K.D. Dávila follows a pair of uptight Black college friends whose let-your-hair-down night of partying is thrown into crisis by the addition of an overdosed white girl, and they race to get her help while trying to avoid a confrontation with the cops. continued on page 28

m e m p h i s f l y e r. c o m

The weekend of film at Crosstown Theater kicks off on Friday, January 28th, at 6 p.m. with Sirens.

In this documentary, director Rita Baghdadi profiles Slave to Sirens, the Middle East’s only all-female thrash-metal band. It is both a portrait of a pioneering cultural and musical force, and a personal, street-level look at the impact decades of political dysfunction and war have had on the oncevibrant city of Beirut.

On Saturday, January 29th, a full day of programming starts at 11 a.m. with two shorts and a feature. Every Day in Kaimuki is a product of the increasingly vibrant indie film scene in Hawaii. Director Alika Tengan tells the story of Naz, a native Hawaiian who has spent his life longing to leave for places with more opportunity. But once it looks like he’ll get his wish and move to New York with his girlfriend, he starts to feel some doubts.

One of the two shorts screening at 11 is “What Travelers Are Saying About Jornada del Muerto” by director Hope Tucker. The experimental documentary travels to New Mexico, near where the first atomic bomb was tested, to get advice on making “the journey of the dead.” Tucker is a former Memphian who now teaches at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. She will be on hand for a Q&A after the film. “It’s particularly exciting to be able to have a specific local connection to these films, which will make these experiences more

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

S

undance, the largest and most prestigious film festival in the United States, was not immune to the effects of the Covid pandemic. Last year, the festival went to a hybrid model, which included both screenings online and adopting a number of satellite screening locations all over the country. Indie Memphis was one of the regional festivals that partnered with Sundance to bring the independent films produced outside of the Hollywood system, which the festival specializes in, to local audiences. The satellite screening partnerships were so successful that Sundance decided to make it a permanent part of their program, even before the Omicron variant put a damper on the usual festivities in Park City, Utah.

In a time when the film business is in a state of flux, and the fates of Sundance’s up-and-coming filmmakers looks more uncertain than ever, these partnerships represent a great opportunity for both the festivals and the audience. Indie Memphis will be one of only seven places in the United States where you can watch Sundance 2022 films in person. “We are honored to keep the theatrical element alive at Sundance this year with these Indie Memphis screenings at Crosstown, especially the screenings with Memphians involved and present,” says Indie Memphis Artistic Director Miriam Bale.

27

FILM By Chris McCoy continued from page 27

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Available wherever you stream your podcasts!

On Sunday, Marte Um (Mars One) begins the program at 1 p.m. A film from Brazilian collective Filmes de Plástico, it dives deep into the lives of a Brazilian family on the eve of the election of right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro. At 5 p.m. is Honk for Jesus, Save Your Soul, a mockumentary with some serious star power. Regina Hall and Sterling K. Brown star as pastors from an Atlanta megachurch who fell from grace following a scandal and try to return to their former glory,

despite having only a handful of congregants left. The final film of the evening is Alice, a film by Krystin Ver Linden, in which an enslaved person escapes in the antebellum South, only to find that, in the world beyond the plantation, it’s actually 1973.

Memphian Kenneth Farmer, who acts in the film, will be on hand for a postscreening Q&A. You can purchase tickets for Sundance in Memphis at the Indie Memphis website. Admission is $12 per film, $10 for members, and there are discounted ticket packages available.

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REAL ESTATE • EMPLOYMENT • SERVICES LEGAL NOTICES LEGAL NOTICES PERSONAL PROPERTY PUBLIC NOTICE As required by Tennessee Code Annotated Section 67-5-903, the Shelby County Assessor will be mailing Tangible Personal Property Schedules to all active businesses within Shelby County on Friday, January 14, 2022. The filing deadline is Tuesday March 1, 2022. Please call The Shelby County Assessor’s office at 901222-7002 if you need assistance.

ENGINEERING

J a n u a r y 2 7 - Fe b r u a r y 2 , 2 0 2 2

ENTERPRISE DATA ENGINEER (Memphis, TN): Responsible for establishing, expanding and optimizing our Enterprise Analytical Data Platform and associated data pipeline architecture, as well as optimizing data flow for cross-functional analytical teams. Requires a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems or related field and 5 years of work experience in IT-software development and engineering or related position.

Employer will accept alternatively a three-year Bachelor’s degree.

Apply via website: https://careers.firsthorizon.com.

No calls. Reference Job #: LM0231 SENIOR DATA SCIENTIST needed at Terminix International Company, L.P. in Memphis, TN. Must have bach in Stats, Analytics, Engr, or related & 5 yrs’ pricing exp, including: Building Machine Learning Models using SAS, R & Python; Scripting in Base SAS, advanced SAS Enterprise Guide, SAS Viya, R & Python; Building Dashboards in Power BI and/or Tableau& data visualization using SAS, MATLAB, SciPy, & Pandas; Salesforce exp & performing UAT in Salesforce; Creating associated ETL Data pipelines for Datawarehouse purposes; Using SQL & Salesforce Workbench (SOQL & SOSL) in order to analyze the structured data; Using Google Analytics to track all site traffic, e-com transactions, custom variables form that traffic, user interaction events & more. Develop and implement competitive pricing strategies to gain market share & achieve revenue goals.

Remote work is an option. Employer will also accept master’s & 3 yrs’ exp in lieu of the bach plus 5.Email resumes to applications@terminix.com. EOE

BUY, SELL, TRADE

SENIOR DATA REPORTING ANALYSTS needed at Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation in Memphis, TN. Must have Bach in Comp Sci, Info Sys, Stats, or related and 3 yrs’ exp,including: SQL queries, coding, programming, & development; Utilizing SSIS,VBA,SAP; Data Mining; Data Profiling; Segmentation; Find & perform analysis on data trends; Forecasting; Dashboard design; Microsoft SQL Service Management Studio; SAP Crystal Reports andBusiness objects; Microsoft Power BI; SAP Universe Design; Must be eligible for Epic certification. Email resumes to Vernita.Thornton@BMHCC. org. EOE.

NOTICE OF SALE THESE ABANDONED VEHICLES WILL BE SOLD ON 1/27/2022.

Move Over Towing, 992 Stage Ave., Memphis, TN 38127.

2002 Ford f350 VIN: 1FTWW33P75EB60373.

WANTED: OLD WINDUP Victrolas & old 45 & 78 records.

Call Paul 901-734-6111.

WE BUY JUNK CARS! Call 901-870-6238.

PET SERVICES

SHARED HOUSING FURNISHED ROOMS Airways/Lamar, Bellevue/McLemore, Jackson/Watkins. W/D, Cable TV/Phone. 901-485-0897 MIDTOWN: ROOM FOR RENT furnished, w/fridge, microwave, wifi, utilities, bus line. Safe, clean. $135/wk + dep. 901-498-3599 SOUTH MEMPHIS 1 furnished room for mature lady in Christian home. Nice area on bus line, near expressway. Non smoker. $450/ mo, includes utilities, cooking/laundry privileges.

901-405-5755 or 901-518-2198.

PUPPIES FOR SALE 2 CKC registered purebreed male pugs. Born October 19th. Up to date on shots and de-wormer.

Contact: darrellschmitz@gmail. com 731-734-9111

SEND BUSINESS SEND YOUR YOUR BUSINESS SKY WITH SKY HIGH HIGH WITH

CLASSIFIEDS

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T H E L A S T W O R D B y Pa t r i c i a L o c k h a r t

A Nostalgic Date Night

1 10 Watkins (n.) — a popular MATA route in Frayser 2 Dixie Homes (n.) — one of the Memphis Public Housing communities, 1938-2006 3 projects (n.) — a term given to Memphis Public Housing areas 4 Orange Mound (n.) — first African-American neighborhood built by and for African Americans, located in Southeast Memphis A & J’s Food Delivery: 901-849-3981; IG @ajsfooddelivery901 Beale Street Brewing Co.: IG @bealestbrewingco Patricia Lockhart is a native Memphian who loves to read, write, cook, and eat. Her days are filled with laughter with her four kids and charming husband. By day, she’s a school librarian and a writer, but by night … she’s asleep. @realworkwife @memphisismyboyfriend

THE LAST WORD

Every date night with Memphis can’t be out in those streets. Especially with Covid lurking around. So I decided to bring Memphis home and just chill. In order to make this date night pop, ya girl gotta get the right eats.

When you think of Memphis, I bet you think about barbecue, Beale Street, and Elvis. That’s all good and everything, but I’m a native Memphian, not a touristy one. Yes, there’s a difference. (Just ask 10 native Memphians if they’ve ever been to Graceland and I’m sure nine will tell you, “Naw, mane! I’m from Memphis.”) When I think of Memphis, I think of tamales, hot wings, burgers, and Beale Street. Yeah, I love me some Beale Street. Issa whole vibe.

For this date night, I wanted to take a walk down memory lane.

As a little girl, we would ride the MATA bus everywhere. We would always start off by taking the 10 Watkins1 and connecting to wherever we needed to go. In those days, it could be minutes or hours before you could get a connecting transit.

So my mom, brothers, and I would shave off the time by going to Dyer’s Burgers on Watkins. Those burgers were, and still are, amazing — greasy, seasoned, and flavorful. I recall watching the cook fry up the burger in the grease and watching the burger patty float a little.

Finding a burger like Dyer’s within my “delivery area” was unheard of. Until I ran across James Michael Fisher, also known as Chef JBless, of A & J’s Food Delivery. It’s apparent that taste and flavor is a high priority for this Black-owned business. I initially hit him up on Instagram (@ajsfooddelivery901) for his wings. I was pleasantly surprised to find that his cost of wings hasn’t PHOTO: PAMELA MCADAMS | DREAMSTIME.COM tripled like everyone else’s. So for my first time, I ordered some honey-gold wings and a burger and had it delivered to work. Y’all! That meal made my whole day! While the wings were on point, in price and in flavor, the burger took me back to my childhood days on Watkins. The burgers are well-seasoned, moist, and oh-so flavorful! So before leaving the house, I placed an order for wings, burgers, and fries.

Sidenote: Seriously, why are chicken wings so high? Chicken thigh prices haven’t doubled, and wings and thighs both come from the same chicken! Somebody make it make sense!

I first decided to get some tamales. Now, Mexican tamales are different from Black people’s tamales. As a very young child, before my days on Watkins, we stayed in Dixie Homes2. Across the street from our projects3, there was this man who sold tamales from a cart on the corner. I wasn’t too much taller than the cart itself, but as my mom and I approached the cart, I could smell the spices and flavor. My mom would pass me my tamales and I would grab the wrapping and gently unroll my delicious tamale. Y’all. Blessed!

There’s only one place that I know where I can get a tamale from my childhood. So with my audiobook on full blast, I drove to Orange Mound4. Pop’s Tamales are amazing and remind me so much of the man on the corner with the tamale cart. Sometimes I wonder if it’s the same man. There, I bought seven tamales for $14: two for me to eat in the car, two to eat at home, and three for my hubby.

Now, I only had one more place to stop before heading home to meet Chef JBless. Buster’s! I have been a patron of Buster’s since my old college days back in ’03. But on this day, I wasn’t looking for liquor. I was looking for a very special beer, a beer with a name close to my Memphis heart. A beer that is just like how I like my men — dark and full of body. After much anticipation, Beale Street Brewing Co. released a peanut and banana porter, and it is available at Buster’s. I strolled in like a boss and headed straight back for the beer cooler. I grabbed my four-pack, blew Kahlúa a kiss, and checked out. I was in and out in under 15 minutes.

I had just pulled back in my driveway when I received a text from Chef JBless that my order had an ETA of 5 minutes. I cleared the coffee table, poured the beer like a pro, unwrapped my tamales, and welcomed in the hot wings, burgers, and fries. With the food and drinks ready to be devoured, there was only one last thing to do. We sat on the couch, streamed a little HBO Max, and exhaled before we inhaled.

Gotta love it, mane!

m e m p h i s f l y e r. c o m

Memphis is My Boyfriend: Episode 3: In which childhood is revisited, tamales are tasted, and the price of chicken wings is considered.

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New/Used LPs, 45s & CDs.

2152 Young Ave - 901-722-0095 goner-records.com Voted Flyer’s Best of Memphis Since 2004 We Open at Noon.

We Buy Records!

Coco & Lola’s Midtown Lingerie

New Valentine’s Styles at

CocoandLolas.com

IG/FB/TW @CocoandLolas YOUNGAVENUEDELI.COM 2119 Young Ave • 278-0034

Inside Dining Now Open Following Strict Safety Guidelines Full Menu - Beer - Wine - Booze ToGo Takeout & Curbside Pickup Available.

Call 901-278-0034 - Support Local

Memphis’ Top Lingerie Shop

710 S. Cox | Mon-Sat 11:30-7:00

ANTIQUES & COLLECTIBLES 21,000 sq ft. 100 + booths • 5855 Summer Ave. (corner of Summer and Sycamore View ) exit 12 off I-40 | 901.213.9343 Mon-Sat 10a-6p | Sun 1p-6p

ALL ABOUT FEET $35-$55

Mobile foot care service, traveling to you for men & women, ages 50+. Over 25 years of experience. Traveling hours M-F, 9a-6p.

Call now 901-270-6060

ESTATE Vintage Home Decor China, Crystal, Glasses, Art, Plates, Pottery, Leather, Furniture, Beds, Tables, Baskets, Orgonite, Heirlooms. Much more!

2830 Airways (S.of Democrat) Call (901) 907.3214 Wed-Sun, 10-4 for appts.

Tune into the Memphis Flyer Radio podcast!

A weekly podcast from the pages and people of the Memphis Flyer.

Available wherever you stream your podcasts!

anchor.fm/memphis-flyer

BLACKSMITH

Midtown manufacturer of hand-crafted lighting fixtures is seeking a disciplined and creative individual to work in our blacksmith department.

Starting at $16 per hour /401k/insurance available.

Email resume to info@FourteenthColonyLighting.com

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