Memphis Flyer 5/18//2023

WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE MPD?

The police reform movement takes the fight for Tyre Nichols’ legacy to City Hall.

SHARA CLARK

Editor

SAMUEL X. CICCI

Managing Editor

JACKSON BAKER, BRUCE VANWYNGARDEN

Senior Editors TOBY SELLS

Associate Editor

KAILYNN JOHNSON

News Reporter

CHRIS MCCOY

Film and TV Editor

ALEX GREENE

Music Editor

MICHAEL DONAHUE, JON W. SPARKS

Staff Writers

ABIGAIL MORICI

Arts and Culture Editor

GENE GARD, EMILY GUENTHER, COCO JUNE, MARY LOVELESS, FRANK MURTAUGH

Contributing Columnists

SHARON BROWN, AIMEE STIEGEMEYER

Grizzlies Reporters

ANDREA FENISE

Fashion Editor

KENNETH NEILL

Founding Publisher

CARRIE BEASLEY

Senior Art Director

CHRISTOPHER MYERS

Advertising Art Director

NEIL WILLIAMS

Graphic Designer

JERRY D. SWIFT

Advertising Director Emeritus

KELLI DEWITT, CHIP GOOGE

Senior Account Executives

CHET HASTINGS

Warehouse and Delivery Manager

JANICE GRISSOM ELLISON, KAREN MILAM, DON MYNATT, TAMMY NASH, RANDY ROTZ, LEWIS TAYLOR, WILLIAM WIDEMAN

Distribution

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OUR 1786TH ISSUE 05.18.23

I experienced my first deep loss at 5 years old — a great-aunt committed suicide. My young mind couldn’t make sense of it. We used to spend afternoons together, taking walks in the neighborhood. Most memories have faded now, but I do recall her smiling and laughing. I could never understand why she chose to end her life. After that day, every time I’d visit or pass that house, I’d envision her outside, wrestling with the idea, and ultimately pulling the trigger. It was a lot for a child’s brain to process.

In my early twenties, I lost three friends to suicide — by hanging and by gun. Later, a person very close to me slit her wrists. I remember receiving the phone call and rushing to the hospital, where she told me, essentially, that she’d failed that time, but I’d eventually have to let her go — she wasn’t meant for this world. In an unbelievable turn of events, after being medically treated, she was sent to jail. Not released to go home, to family, to be with friends for encouragement and support. We learned it’s illegal to attempt suicide, and she spent about a month in the county jail before being transferred to a mental health facility and eventually being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Why jail was ever a step in this situation always baffled me — what a place to be when you’re already in such a fragile state. (I’m grateful to report today, all these years later, that she is healthy, happily married, and living a full life.)

These losses and experiences have been on my mind of late, as May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Of course, mental health challenges don’t always lead to suicide or suicidal ideation. They can present in the form of emotional outbursts, isolation, mania, insomnia. Anxiety, depression, substance-abuse disorder, obsessive-compulsive behavior, and post-traumatic stress disorder are among the technical terms for such diagnoses. And many of us have either struggled with one or more of the aforementioned or know someone who has.

There is often a stigma surrounding mental health, which can make it difficult to address. How do you treat yourself if you’re experiencing overwhelming stress or incredibly low lows? Do you reach out to friends or family? Do you go to therapy? Do you consider discussing with a doctor? Do you hold it all in and wait for the storms to pass?

If a loved one expresses anxiety or depression and shares with you stories of their battles, do you lend a sympathetic ear? Or do you tell them in short to buck up, buttercup — “It’s all in your head. You can control that. Just use your willpower, honey. You’re stronger than this.” (Don’t do the latter, please.) Sometimes, a person needs only for you to sit with them in silence, be present alongside their sadness or stresses — not offering solutions, just your attention.

It’s never an easy path to navigate in either situation, whether it’s you or another person going through it. But it’s important to look for signs and symptoms, and address them as soon — and as gently — as possible.

Throughout the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, many people’s mental health took a hit. During the peak and aftermath of Covid, suicide and overdose rates swelled. This could be attributed to heightened instances of domestic violence as people were forced to stay home; loss of income due to society shutdown; increased anxiety and depression amid endless news reports and statistics, and confusion and fear of the virus. We experienced collective trauma, leading to loneliness and even cognitive and behavioral changes that some have yet to recover from. And while, in the grand scheme, the worst of that is behind us, many are still finding it difficult to engage in the same ways they did pre-pandemic.

We all handle life’s challenges differently. We carry our own traumas. No two brains function the same when it comes to confronting or working to overcome mental health crises.

NEWS & OPINION

THE FLY-BY - 4

POLITICS - 8

AT LARGE - 10

FINANCE - 11

COVER STORY

“WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE MPD?”

BY CHRIS MCCOY - 12

WE RECOMMEND - 16

MUSIC - 17

VIEWPOINT - 18

AFTER DARK - 19

CALENDAR - 21

NY TIMES CROSSWORD - 22

FOOD - 24

METAPHYSICAL CONNECTION - 25

NEWS OF THE WEIRD - 26

ASTROLOGY - 27

NOW PLAYING - 29

CLASSIFIEDS - 30

LAST WORD - 31

Think of your own internal landscapes, how they ebb and flow, and use this knowledge when interacting with others. You never know what weight someone’s carrying with them.

If you find yourself in a dark place today, remember that your success rate for making it through tough days so far is 100 percent. Hang on, hang in.

You are enough. You are worthy of love. You are never a burden. And there are many beautiful tomorrows — sunrises, sunsets, smiles, handshakes, hugs, hot meals, cool breezes, soft blankets, so many lovely things — waiting for you around this bend. Help is available 24/7 if you need it. Call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org.

Shara Clark shara@memphisflyer.com

THE fly-by

ernet

Memphis on the internet. JA, JA, JA

STATE WATCH

By Toby Sells

On Track

Questions, Answers + Attitude

Edited by Toby Sells

State o cials plan to connect Tennessee cities via passenger rail.

Imagine catching a train to Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga, or Little Rock.

Memphis sports fans shook their collective damn heads over the weekend. Grizzlies star Ja Morant ashed another gun in yet another online post, earning him yet another suspension from the NBA.

WES HEALTH

Making that a reality is now in the planning stages, and transportation experts say passenger rail is getting its biggest push in decades. In Tennessee, o cials have been working in the background to develop a plan to, maybe, connect the state’s largest cities: Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga. A federal grant program could help planners here to connect Tennessee to other states via rail as well.

In 2022, the Tennessee General Assembly asked the state-housed Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR) to begin studying “the potential for passenger rail service linking the major cities in each of the Grand Divisions of the state.”

Lawmakers wanted to know the condition of existing rail tracks here and who owns them. ey wanted to see what a network of rail lines between the cities would look like. How many state-sponsored rail projects have been done over the last decade? What are other states doing on passenger rail?

Church Health hopped on that Wes Anderson trend going around recently. A spot-on and funny Facebook Reel showed a perfectly framed employee getting on an elevator, admiring some art, and walking past, well, all kinds of things in true Anderson movie style.

LOST CAR

“Good a ernoon all!!” began the exclamation-pointlaced Nextdoor post by Lauren T. last week. “ is is incredibly embarrassing!!!! I seem to have misplaced my car on Monday [May 5th].”

e post perplexed neighbors, with many saying they could see the car sitting in the neighbor’s driveway.

What are the costs? How many people might ride it? Who would operate it? What kind of property would need to be acquired? Where would passenger stations be built? What kind of equipment — engines, train cars, and the rest — would need to be purchased?

tion of unfettered mobility and the modern constraints of transportation costs, congestion, negative environmental e ects, and public health concerns.”

While TACIR is still working on a state plan, a key federal deadline passed. Last May, the Biden Administration announced a $1.8 billion funding program to help states plan new passenger rail lines. is fund was approved by Congress in 2021’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Transportation for America, a transportation advocacy group, called the money a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to boost rail across the country.

Lawmakers gave TACIR more than a year to answer most, if not all, of those questions. Since then, the commission has logged many hours of hearings and studies. Its report on passenger rail in Tennessee is due in July.

TACIR’s research plan (the plan to plan the plan, if you will) said lawmakers “believe freedom of movement and an interconnected economy are important aspects of the quality of life for Tennesseans” and for economic opportunities.

“Sponsors assert that when people can move freely between urban areas in Tennessee, it expands access to entertainment, shopping, and business venues …,” reads the report. “Additionally, sponsors feel it is important to explore feasible options to promote public mobility services as an amenity to bridge the gap between the traditional expecta-

“If Amtrak, states, interstate compacts, regional passenger rail authorities, and localities play their cards right, these historic funding levels coming from the [Federal Railroad Administration — FRA] and the renewed national mandate for Amtrak can result in a much improved and expanded national network of passenger rail,” the group said in a February blog post.

Applications for project ideas were due to the feds in March, and Tennessee did not meet the deadline. However, the state may have an opportunity to apply again next year.

State o cials have another potential funding source to plan for rail. Last week, the FRA opened applications for a $5.8 million program to help states plan rail connections to other states. e deadline for this program is July 10th.

“Interstate rail compacts will advance passenger rail service such as between cities like Memphis and Little Rock and will provide the mechanism and technical assistance for greater cooperation between states in advancing passenger rail,” Rep. Steven Cohen (D-Memphis) said in a statement Wednesday.

PHOTO: ARIS | UNSPLASH

All aboard! Tennessee o cials are working on a project to connect Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga, and Knoxville via rail.

{CITY REPORTER

By Kailynn Johnson

Food Desert Fix

Aproject to bring a grocery and resource center to residents in North Memphis is underway.

Memphis City Council member Michalyn Easter- omas presented the North Memphis Grocery Project last week as a way to address the food desert in that area. She said the store is to be built on Chelsea Avenue at Tunica Street.

Food deserts are “communities that have poor access to healthy and a ordable foods,” according to a story in Memphis Law Magazine. “ ey are usually concentrated in low-income and historically marginalized areas throughout the country, with issues of longtime systemic racism, racial residential segregation, poor access to transportation, and economic inequality woven into the history of these barren food landscapes.”

Easter- omas believes all the Black and brown communities in Memphis are overlooked, and they are always at a disadvantage compared to neighborhoods that have what she called a more “wealthy in uence.”

“It’s interesting how it’s always the question of ‘do people deserve,’ or ‘do people need something,’ when their basic needs are at a disadvantage or [in a] looked-over community, but not a more a uent area,” said Easteromas. “We have to get out of that mindset to ensure that all of Memphis is as represented and as resourced as possible.”

Last week, Easter- omas presented the grocery store project to residents at a community meeting at Springdale Baptist Church.

“A grocery store is something that you all have said we needed,” she said to the gathering. “I would love for all of us to have access to be able to get something of quality and a ordability

in our own backyard.”

Easter- omas, who is a resident of the community, said it was public knowledge that there was a need to address the food desert there. She said that in her position as councilwoman, she wanted to advocate and get funding started for this project.

Cornelius Sanders, executive director of Promise Development Corp., explained to residents that the council passed a resolution from American Rescue Plan funds in October 2021 to get the project started. ey then entered a purchase agreement for 1993 Chelsea in April of 2022. e project owned 12 acres of land as of May 2023.

Easter- omas heavily emphasized the duality of the project as a place for groceries and resources, di erentiating it as a resource center and not a retail center.

“ e whole aspect is bringing muchneeded resources together with the collaboration of public and private and government and philanthropic dollars to ensure those resources are there,” she said. She explained that these resources will encompass aspects of dental, pharmacy, medical, and nancial. Easteromas said groceries will be the only retail component there.

She said this is intentional, because there are a lot of land-owning Black entrepreneurs in the area, and they want to support them, encourage them, and “allow them space to expand.”

“I don’t want to compete with them or make it hard for them to continue to thrive and progress in North Memphis,” she said. “It’s intentionally not including any retail so that those Black businesses can thrive with the upcoming of everything else in the project.”

PHOTO: GEMMA | UNSPLASH

Finding a food desert solution

A new project could bring grocers and new resources to North Memphis.

POLITICS By Jackson Baker

Commission Report

Each of the major legislative bodies operating in Shelby County presents challenges to its members, to the various publics that wish to in uence it, and to the matrices of other governmental bodies that it must coexist with.

Take the Shelby County Commission meeting of Monday, May 15th, a six-and-a-half-hour a air. e commission opened up its Monday session with an agenda of 21 “consent agenda” items and an additional nine “regular” items. In theory, the consent agenda items are matters whose import has been su ciently chewed over in committee as to be generally acceptable already, whereas the regular items must be tackled anew.

It doesn’t work out that way. On Monday, a clear majority of items on the commission’s consent agenda were singled out for additional discussion by one or more — a fact clearly indicating that consent had not been reached. Most of these items involved the approval of public grants to this or that person or body to achieve some public purpose.

Commissioner Britney ornton and, to a di erent degree, Commissioner Henri Brooks have chosen on a weekly basis to focus on the demographic distribution of these grants, wanting to know if a su cient number of minority rms were invited to participate in the bidding for these projects. ornton’s summing up of Monday’ results — “a at zero” of ultimate participation by minorities.

is is one leitmotif of a typical commission meeting. Another is the dependable insistence of Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr.that commissioners — the “electeds” of county government — must be vigilant in preventing the “appointeds” of Mayor Lee Harris’ administration from usurping commission prerogatives.

At one point, Ford asked a yes-orno question of administration budget director Michael ompson, insisting, “Do not give an essay answer. I will cut you o and bust you out.” Mick Wright, one of four Republican commissioners on the 13-member body, challenged

the decorum of that.

Wright and Ford bumped heads again on Wright’s proposal to route $3.5 million into needed upgrades for Regional One. Ford successfully insisted the money be spread around among the 13 commission districts for members’ preferred projects.

Ford was also instrumental in deferring action on Mayor Harris’ proposal to raise the county wheel tax to nance work on Regional One as well as two new schools.

e bottom line is that work on an ambitious 2024 budget has been remanded into the future with a target date in mind of June 31st, the end of the current scal year.

With surprising unanimity, the commission approved a $3.39 tax rate, as well as a desire to establish a county civilian law-enforcement review board like those now operating in Memphis and Nashville city governments. e commission also gave conditional approval to the Election Commission’s wish to dispose of “useless” old voting machines, so long as signi cant information from them was retained.

Commissioners also approved a $2.7 million budget item providing medical backup resources for the county specialty courts dealing with veterans, mental health, and drug issues. And it readies for future voting a matching proposal to provide psychiatric rehabilitation for prisoners deemed incompetent for trial.

Overall, the import of Monday’s commission meeting was that a lot of cans got kicked down the road. More of this anon.

PHOTO: MARK H. LUTTRELL | FACEBOOK Election Commission head Mark Luttrell asked for permission to ditch old voting machines.

In six and a half hours, county lawmakers accomplished some things, le others hanging.

NO death, health-related, obit, cartoons, kids

AT LARGE By Bruce VanWyngarden

Who’s Zooming Who?

“25 Empire State Buildings Could Fit Into New York’s Empty O ce Space.” Now that’s a headline. e article, in the May 10th New York Times, was equally compelling, citing the high o ce-vacancy rates in the nation’s major cities and suggesting some creative possible solutions.

As many sociologists have pointed out, the physical layout of most large American cities is not set up to handle the work-from-home economy that was spurred by the pandemic. A er the onset of the high-rise o ce building, circa 1920s, American cities became increasingly segmented into geographic spaces for home, work, and play.

at 100-year-old urban game plan is no longer working. e national o cevacancy rate as of April 5th, according to an FDIntelligence report, was 18.5 percent. e rate in Memphis for the rst quarter, according to Cushman-Wakeeld, was 16.2 percent. From CushmanWake eld: “ e [Memphis] o ce market continues with lower than typical leasing activity though absorption remains positive. … Tenants continue to downsize into smaller spaces.”

e company I work for, Contemporary Media, Inc., is doing just that, moving from a lovely old Downtown building with brass elevators to a space that makes more sense economically. We learned during the pandemic that we are capable of putting out the Flyer and Memphis magazine and our other publications with our writers, editors, art sta , and sales sta working from home.

neighborhoods that bring libraries, o ces, movie theaters, grocery stores, schools, parks, restaurants, and bars closer together. We must recon gure the city into an experience worth leaving the house for.”

Is Downtown Memphis worth leaving the house for? Well, I can look out my soon-to-be-former o ce window and see the nascent construction of a new Memphis Brooks Museum, one that will cascade down the blu to the river. ere, it will overlook the spectacularly reimagined Tom Lee Park. A Downtown grocery store has sprung up on the south side, not far from a snazzy movie theater, which is adjacent to the city’s largest farmers market and the thriving South Main district.

e Cossitt Library has just been beautifully redone. New restaurants are coming on, and long-time favorites are still thriving. Old buildings are getting new life. FedExForum, home of the Grizzlies and Tigers and big-ticket touring concert acts, is getting a multi-million-dollar faceli , as is AutoZone Park, home to the AAA Redbirds and the 901 FC soccer team. And I can think of at least ve standalone breweries in the 38103. So yeah, I’d leave the house for some of that action — and do.

Empire State Building

I’m writing this column from my couch (along with my dog, Olive), and have the Flyer’s Slack app open on my laptop so as to be able monitor communication between my co-workers and chip in with editing help when needed — or when I feel like joining in the genial smack talk. It’s like a free- owing group text, only much more useful. We do have weekly in-person sta meetings, as well, so we can put on grown-up clothes, brainstorm, gossip, and remember what we look like. But it’s a far cry from the 40-hour-a-week o ce-and-cubicle farms we occupied for the rst 40 years of the company’s existence.

Back to the Times: “To create a city vibrant enough to compete with the convenience of the internet, [cities] need to create mixed-use, mixed-income

“We are witnessing the dawn of a new kind of urban area,” the Times concludes: “the Playground City.” at sounds nice, but it can go wrong. Consider, for example, how Downtown Nashville’s party wagons, mobile hot tubs, and cheesy honkytonks are choking the city’s urban center at night — and demonstrating how a “playground city” can chase locals away rather than attract them.

Memphis needs to be smarter. If we want more people to live Downtown, we need to keep the noise down a er a reasonable hour and restrict the more boisterous action to Beale Street and other designated areas. (Talkin’ to you, party wagons.) And Downtown needs to be closely monitored by police, with a presence that protects citizens and visitors without sti ing the Memphis vibe.

e truth is, our Downtown probably doesn’t even have one Empire State Building’s worth of vacant o ce. We’re fortunate that mid-size cities like Memphis are poised to recover and adapt to a post-pandemic economy much more quickly than mega-cities. Let’s not screw it up, Memphis.

PHOTO: NBOGDEV | DREAMSTIME.COM

NO death, health-related, obit, cartoons, kids

Inherited an IRA?

Do these five things now.

Inheriting an individual retirement account (IRA) can be a significant financial opportunity, but it can also present several financial considerations and potential tax implications. If you’ve recently inherited an IRA, it’s important to understand your options and make informed decisions in line with your overall financial plan and future goals. Take the following steps as soon as possible after inheriting an IRA.

1. Consult with your wealth manager. Inheriting an IRA can have significant financial and tax implications, which is why it’s important to seek professional guidance. Your wealth manager can help you understand how your inherited IRA may impact your financial plan and long-term objectives.

2. Consider your tax obligations. Inheriting an IRA can have significant tax implications. You may be subject to income taxes on any distributions you receive, and the tax treatment of the account can vary depending on the type of IRA, the age of the original owner, and your relationship with the owner. It’s important to work with a qualified tax advisor to understand your potential tax liabilities and develop a tax-efficient strategy for managing your inherited IRA.

3. Understand your distribution options. As the beneficiary of an IRA, your distribution options typically depend on the type of IRA you inherited, your relationship with the account holder, whether the account holder had begun taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) from the account, and when the account holder died. Typically, a beneficiary’s distribution options include the following.

• Lump-sum distribution — If you choose a lump-sum distribution of the entire account balance, you may face significant tax liabilities, as any assets withdrawn from a traditional IRA are subject to ordinary income tax rates during the year in which they are distributed.

• Spousal rollover — If you inherited an IRA from your spouse, you likely have the option to roll over the assets into your own IRA. This move allows you to treat the inherited IRA as your own and defer distributions until you reach age 73 (as of 2023).

• Stretch IRA — If you’re a non-spousal beneficiary and the original account holder passed away before December 31, 2019, you may have the option to “stretch” withdrawals from the account

over your life expectancy. This move can allow you to take smaller RMDs over a longer period of time, which can help maximize the tax-deferred growth of assets within the account.

• Five-year rule — If the original account holder passed away before beginning RMDs or if there is no beneficiary named on the account, you may be subject to the five-year rule, which requires you withdraw the entire IRA balance by the end of the fifth year following the account holder’s death.

• Ten-year rule (SECURE Act) — If the IRA account owner died on or after January 1, 2020, the non-spouse beneficiary must withdraw the entire account within 10 years. Currently it’s unclear whether RMDs are required each year under proposed regulations. Your wealth manager will be able to help you determine if and when you need to take withdrawals from your inherited IRA.

4. Update beneficiary designations. It’s important to update the beneficiary designations on your inherited IRA to reflect your own beneficiaries. This helps ensure any remaining IRA assets will be distributed to your designated beneficiaries upon your passing. Regularly review these beneficiary designations to help ensure they continue to align with your overall financial goals and legacy wishes.

5. Review and update your estate plan. Inheriting an IRA may trigger a need to review your own estate plan. If you have your own IRA, you may become aware of changes you wish to make to help ensure your retirement assets are distributed according to your wishes. If you don’t already have an estate plan in place, inheriting an IRA may be a good reminder of the importance of establishing one, as the inheritance process often highlights the need to ensure your assets are distributed according to your wishes while minimizing your heirs’ tax liabilities.

Gene Gard, CFA, CFP, CFT-I, is a Wealth Manager with Creative Planning, formerly Telarray. Creative Planning is one of the nation’s largest Registered Investment Advisory firms providing comprehensive wealth management services to ensure all elements of a client’s financial life are working together, including investments, taxes, estate planning and risk management. For more information or to request a free, no-obligation consultation, visit CreativePlanning.com.

NO cartoons or kids

WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE MPD?

If you commit a crime in Memphis, odds are you’re going to get away with it.

e “clearance rate” is a standard measure of police e ectiveness used by the FBI. It measures the ratio of crimes reported to arrests made. Crimes cleared by “exceptional means,” such as when the perpetrator is known to police but died before they could be arrested, are also included.

In 2021, the most recent year for which numbers are available from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Crime Statistics Unit, the Memphis Police Department’s clearance rate for all reported crimes was 22 percent — less than half the national average of 54 percent. For murder, the MPD’s clearance rate was 38 percent. For forcible rape, it was 17.8 percent. For the from motor vehicles, the rate was 3 percent.

“I think it’s important to point out that, compared to the national average, and compared to cities of comparable size, it is abysmal,” says Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy.

“ ey don’t clear cases,” says Josh Spickler, Executive Director of Just City, a nonpro t devoted to reforming Memphis’ criminal justice system. “ at’s the one thing we have to talk about — they don’t solve crime.”

As of press time, the Memphis Police Department did not respond to emailed questions about the department’s clearance rates.

Most police o cers, Spickler says, “do the best job they can, even though it’s an impossible job

we’ve asked them to do … is is not a critique of the individuals. ey’re not put in a position to solve crime. It’s just a disaster. No one is getting justice: Victims are not getting justice, you and I are not getting justice, the taxpayers who are paying for all this are not getting justice. I think something must be done. Something real, something big, something bold and courageous.”

Indeed, the three major national news stories from Memphis in the last year (which did not involve the Memphis Grizzlies) all contained elements of police failure.

e rst was the kidnapping and murder of Eliza Fletcher on September 2, 2022, which caused a national media frenzy. e alleged perpetrator,

Cleotha Abston-Henderson, was accused of rape in September 2021 by Alicia Franklin, who provided police with his name, phone number, and dating app pro le. She submitted to a rape kit examination, but could not conclusively identify Abston-Henderson from an old photo police showed her, and no arrest was made. e case remained one of the 273 uncleared rape reports from 2021 until the rape kit was nally processed in the wake of the Fletcher murder, and Abston-Henderson was charged for both crimes. Franklin sued the city for failing to properly investigate the rape, but the lawsuit was recently dismissed. “ ey had more than enough evidence that night when they interviewed me to get him o the streets, but they didn’t,” Franklin told ABC News.

e second crime was the mass shooting perpetrated by Ezekiel Kelly on September 7, 2022. Kelly killed his rst victim, Dewayne Tunstall, at 12:33 a.m. e murder was immediately reported, and rst responders arrived promptly. But Kelly remained at large for another 15 hours before killing his second victim, Richard Clark, at 4:35 p.m. It wasn’t until a er 6 p.m., when a 911 caller tipped police to the fact that Kelly was live-streaming his

The police reform movement takes the fight for Tyre Nichols’ legacy to City Hall.

PHOTO: COURTESY JOSH SPICKLER Josh Spickler

“I always remind people that most protests that happen are pretty peaceful. That’s how they go. They don’t get violent until the cops come.”

mobile murder spree on Facebook, that police knew Kelly had become a mass shooter. He was nally captured at 9:15 p.m. en came the police murder of Tyre Nichols.

Tyre’s Legacy

On January 7, 2023, Tyre Nichols was driving to have dinner at his parents’ house in Hickory Hill when he was stopped by two unmarked police cars. As Demetrius Haley and Emmet Martin III, plainclothes o cers from the MPD’s SCORPION unit, were pulling Nichols from his vehicle, a third unmarked police car, driven by Preston Hemphill, arrived at the scene. As seen on Hemphill’s body cam video, Nichols o ered no resistance, and tried to de-escalate the confrontation with o cers, who yelled con icting orders at him while they pinned him to the ground. One o cer attempted to pepper spray Nichols, but instead sprayed the other o cers, obscuring their vision. Seeing his chance to escape the assault, Nichols ran. When police caught up to him they took turns kicking and beating him as he cried out for his mother.

Before Nichols died in the hospital on January 10, 2023, photographs of his bruised and broken body were already circulating in Memphis. “When I saw those pictures of him, I was like, this is Emmett Till-level. is is someone beaten so viciously as to be completely unrecognizable. When you look at the picture of how he looked before that incident and a erwards in the hospital, it’s two totally di erent people,” says Amber Sherman, community organizer and activist behind e Law According to Amber podcast.

On January 27, 2023, the day the body cam and SkyCop videos of Nichols’ murder were released to the public, Sherman led the protests that shut down the I-55 bridge. ey demanded the SCORPION unit be immediately disbanded. As excerpts from the videos played on national television, Sherman spoke to Mayor Jim Strickland on the phone. “I know you have the sole

continued on page 14

“We have a proud tradition in Memphis, going back decades, of public protests on these issues that were non-violent.”

PHOTO: STEVE MULROY | FACEBOOK Steve Mulroy

PHOTO: BRANDON DILL Amber Sherman

authority as the mayor to shut this down,” she told him. “So if you don’t want to use that power, cool. We’ll stay on the bridge.”

The police presence at the protest was minimal. “Of course they weren’t gonna show up, because people are watching y’all literally beat somebody to death on TV right now,” Sherman says. “Within 12 hours of us doing that protest, they shut down the [SCORPION] unit.”

Violent rioting had been predicted by some media and law enforcement. “I expected folks to hit the streets and make those calls for justice,” says Sherman. “What we expected to happen, happened. I think there were folks being upset that there wasn’t a riot or something like that. I always remind people that most protests that happen are pretty peaceful. That’s how they go. They don’t get violent until the cops come.”

DA Mulroy says he was not expecting violence, either. Two days before the videos were released, he announced charges of second degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, official oppression, aggravated assault, and official misconduct against officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith, all of whom had beaten Nichols at the second crime scene. It was three weeks since the initial traffic stop, a remarkably short period in these matters. “That was always in my mind: Let’s get the video out as soon as possible. But then we started to realize the video is gonna be really incendiary and could provoke a violent response. So ideally, if we could announce charges before release of the video, that would go a long way towards calming everybody down,” he says.

“I think the primary reason we didn’t see unrest in Memphis — and really, because of that, around the world — was because the wheels of formal justice and accountability had already begun to spin with those indictments,” says Spickler.

Besides, Mulroy trusted the activists. “We have a proud tradition in Memphis, going back decades, of public protests on these issues that were non-violent. In 2016, they took over the bridge, no real violence. In 2020, the summer of George Floyd, there were all kinds of marches and sit-ins and protests. Memphis activists always kept the peace.”

Mulroy was elected in 2022 on a platform that promised reform of the criminal justice system. He says he prioritized transparency in the case not just out of a sense of fairness, but also practicality. “I had campaigned all along on the [premise that] the public lacked confidence in the fairness of our justice system, particularly in the Black community. We needed reform not only for reform’s sake — which is sufficient reason in and of itself — but also as a means to the end of restoring public confidence, so

that the community would start cooperating with law enforcement again in a way that they haven’t in recent years. That would be the key thing to bend the curve on violent crime.”

The Nichols killing was a prime example of why the community doesn’t trust the police, Mulroy says. “You had a specialized unit that was supposed to be, and was billed as, focusing on violent crime, that instead tried to get some easy collars and went to regular traffic stops to try to rack up some points. But they still took that violent crime warrior mentality with them, and it led to over-aggressive policing. I think probably the evidence will indicate that young Black males were targeted. As we’ve seen over and over again when we have these specialized units, they tend to be over aggressive. They tend to target young Black males. You had a culture develop — or maybe it had already been in in place, but was put on overdrive. You had a lack of supervision, inadequate training. That perfect storm led to that [incident]. I think we can surmise from the video that this wasn’t an isolated incident. It wasn’t just five bad apples. There is a cultural problem here that needs to be addressed.”

Mulroy declined to press charges against Preston Hemphill, the officer who had been at the initial traffic stop but couldn’t keep up with the fleeing Nichols and so never made it to the second scene where Nichols was fatally beaten. Hemphill is white, and the five officers who were charged were all Black. Mulroy says he concluded that the video evidence against Hemphill was too ambiguous to obtain a conviction. “It’s possible to act in a way that brings dishonor to the uniform and rightfully results in termination from the police department and rightfully results in revocation of the person’s eligibility to ever serve in

“The primary reason we didn’t see unrest in Memphis was because the wheels of formal justice and accountability had already begun to spin.”

the law-enforcement capacity — it’s possible to do all those things without actually violating the criminal statutes of Tennessee.”

Nichols’ family’s attorney Ben Crump supported the decision not to charge Hemphill, given that he is cooperating with the investigation. But Mulroy’s reasoning rings hollow to Sherman. “ e fact that those [charged] were all Black o cers, I think they wanted to remind them that, at the end of the day, you’re Black rst and we’re gonna treat you just like we treat other Black folks in the street when we overcharge them or when we target and prosecute them. We’re gonna treat you the same exact way. ey don’t get any special class or special privilege they thought that they would have as police o cers.”

The Community Rises

e o cers on the scene said they pulled Tyre Nichols over for reckless driving. On January 27th, as the videos of the stop and beating were being released, Police Chief C.J. Davis admitted there was no proof that Nichols had broken any laws. It was a pretextual tra c stop, says Chelsea Glass of Decarcerate Memphis. “A pretextual tra c stop is like a non-moving violation; for example, a brake light is out, your windshield is cracked, your bumper is missing. Another common one now is if you have drive-out tags. Even if your drive-out tags are totally legal, you’re at risk of being stopped because they’re trying to nd out if the car is stolen or not. at’s what they say because the whole thing about a pretextual tra c stop is, it’s a

pretext to look for other violations.”

Decarcerate Memphis’s 2022 report “Driving While BIPOC” analyzed data from 10 years of tra c stops. “We found that Black and brown communities were disproportionately overrepresented in the data. So while Memphis is a predominantly Black city, we still found that they were overrepresented out of proportion with their population.

“ is is something that we’ve been working on for years,” she continues. “We’ve talked to hundreds of people across Memphis. To be quite honest with you, the campaign itself took very little education. People know what the police are doing and why they’re doing it. I think the people who are less a ected by these issues are the ones that are a little bit more easily confused by what’s really at stake and what’s really happening.”

A er the initial burst of public protests, activists like Sherman, Glass, and West Tennessee Regional Organizing Director for the Equity Alliance LJ Abraham concentrated their e orts on the City Council. “I actually think the momentum is a lot higher right now, because we’ve been able to pass some of the ordinances through City Council,” Abraham says. “ at’s just a general basis of beginning actual police reform in Memphis, like ending pretextual stops, ending the use of unmarked police cars, doing data transparency, and just making sure that there is accountability on the side of police. … I think the situation around Tyre

Nichols has kind of catapulted the ght for actual reform a little bit higher based on the manner in which he was killed.”

e ght has been emotional and bruising for everyone. Sherman was banned from City Council meetings (illegally, she says). “ I don’t care if they like me,” she says. “I care about being e ective in getting policies put in place to keep people safer.

“I think we’ve changed public opinion on pretextual tra c stops,” Sherman continues. “I think public opinion around unmarked cars was always that they were not okay. A lot of folks are really appreciative of that, because they don’t agree with using unmarked cars for tra c enforcement.”

e pretextual tra c stop ordinance which passed the council is narrower than what Decarcerate Memphis wanted, says Glass. “It’s still considered a win, but it’s not entirely what we asked for. Ultimately, we’re pleased with the items that did pass.”

Can We Fix It?

e word that comes up over and over again when discussing police reform is “culture.” Many police, the argument goes, see the public as an enemy, and act like an army occupying a hostile land. “When I was younger, we got along with the cops,” says Abraham, who is 42. “I used to hang out with the cops, sit out on my porch and laugh and joke with them. But growing up and seeing the direction that policing has actually gone is probably one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever seen in my life. It can’t be this way. I think the police o cers we hire, they’re really terri ed; just scared for themselves,

PHOTO: COURTESY LJ ABRAHAM LJ Abraham

Live music

steppin’ out

We Recommend: Culture, News + Reviews

AAPI Art

By Abigail Morici

In 1992, May was o cially designated as Asian American and Paci c Islander Heritage Month (AAPI Heritage Month) by the George H. W. Bush administration, but more than 30 years later, this May marks the rst time Memphis celebrates AAPI Heritage Month in an o cial capacity, thanks to the work of SunAh M. Laybourn, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Memphis.

“I just didn’t want another AAPI Heritage Month to go by and for there to be nothing [in Memphis],” she says, especially a er last year. “I was feeling sensitive with the rise of and attention to anti-Asian hate, and with it being the one-year anniversary of the Atlanta spa shooting and then what happened with Tommy [Kha’s portrait being removed and reinstated] at the airport, it really just made me so upset. … Last year, I remember googling ‘AAPI Heritage Month list’ just to see if maybe I missed a news story, or maybe I missed some sort of celebration, but I couldn’t nd anything. I’m seeing national celebrations where my Asian-American friends in other cities are having this great month of events, and there’s nothing here in the city that I love, in the city that is my home. And so I said, ‘I’ll do it.’”

For this rst AAPI Heritage Month in May, Laybourn and community partners have planned a number of activities, including happy hours, screenings, book displays, and the upcoming “Asian American in the South” art exhibition, presented by Google. e exhibition will include artists Tommy Kha, Erin Kim Siao, Anna Cai, Shameka Carter, LiLi Nacht, Yidan Zeng, Sharon Havelka, Vivian Havelka, and Neena Wang.

e exhibition, throughout the planning of AAPI Heritage Month, was a priority for Laybourn, stemming from a conversation last year with Tommy Kha following the airport saga. “I was like, ‘We have to have an art show if nothing else.’ I felt like we needed more visibility of Asian-American artists — because it gives the opportunity for people to understand who Asian Americans are in the South.” A er all, the art featured in this exhibition re ects a gamut of experiences, o ering unique insights into the Asian-American community in the form of paintings, sculptures, videos, photography, and graphic illustrations. “O entimes we can have a limited view of other cultures and ethnicities,” Laybourn continues, “and, for me, when talking to the di erent artists, I said, ‘ e theme of the show is Asian Americans in the South, and you can interpret that in any way you want.’”

In addition to perusing art, the rst 100 guests will also enjoy a limited-edition, custom AAPI Heritage Month Phillip Ashley chocolate collection, and Inkwell will have themed cocktails available. Admission to the exhibition is free, but make sure to RSVP at aapiheritagemonthmemphis.com/events, where you can also nd more information on other upcoming events.

“ is is de nitely just the start of creating community, not just in May, but throughout the year,” Laybourn says. “And Asian American Paci c Islander Heritage Month — that’s not just for Asian Americans — it’s for everyone.”

VARIOUS DAYS & TIMES May 18th - 24th

All Of Us Bus

Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, ursday-Friday, May 18-19, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Memphis Public Libraries will host the National Institutes of Health’s

All of Us Journey, a traveling, hands-on exhibit that raises awareness about the All of Us Research Program, which aims to speed up health research and medical breakthroughs. e experience will allow interested visitors to join the program right on board, where they can answer surveys and give their physical measurements and blood and urine samples.

Features include a virtual reality experience, private rooms for physical measurement and bio sample collection, and an interactive station where participants can write a note to share with others about their inspiration for joining the program.

Pick Up for a Pint!

Memphis Made Brewing Company, Saturday, May 20, 12:30-1:30 p.m.

Memphis Made and the CooperYoung Community Association are continuing their series of litter pickups. Meet up at Memphis Made, where you’ll receive a trash bag; volunteers will disperse across the neighborhood to pick up trash and meet back at the brewery a er it opens at 1 p.m. to receive their free beer!

Clyde’s Circuit Playhouse, performances through June 4

In this new comedy, a truck-stop sandwich shop in Reading, PA, becomes a place of employment and redemption for the formerly incarcerated kitchen sta .

“Build a Heaven of My Own: African American Vernacular Art and the Blues”

Art Museum at the University of Memphis, on display through June 24 is group show explores how the musical and verbal tropes, meaning, and context of the blues not only share traits but have informed the visual culture of African-American artists from Memphis, Tennessee, and the surrounding region.

Organized in three parts, “Build a Heaven of My Own” considers cra and folk traditions, self-taught expressions, and modern re ections on the blues. It features more than 70 pieces by some two dozen artists and makers. ese include blues performers from the Delta and Mid-South who have made visual art, as well artists whose work has channeled the imagery and themes of the blues.

“ASIAN AMERICAN IN THE SOUTH,” MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & HISTORY, THURSDAY, MAY 18, 6-9 P.M., FREE WITH RSVP.

PHOTO: ABIGAIL MORICI

Art by Sharon Havelka

MUSIC By Alex Greene

Memphis’ Community Band

Devil Train is captured on vinyl at last, a er 18 years as a band.

There’s nothing like having a new record out, chock-full of originals, to prove that your group is not “just” a jam band. at’s how those well-known Memphis players in Devil Train see it, anyway. Certainly they can jam, and there’s nary a Midtowner who hasn’t kicked back a few drinks to one of their regular ursday night sets at B-Side Memphis or in other venues. Yet even at their most improvisatory, Devil Train has always felt grounded in roots music — that’s also grounded them in the art of song.

eir many covers of classic folk and blues tunes aside, they’ve amassed quite a catalog of originals between the six members, all of whom write songs. e group’s been around with largely the same personnel for 18 years, including banjo player Randal Morton, Clint Wagner on the ddle and guitar, mandolinist/guitarist Jonathan Ciaramitaro, and guitarist James Ray. Current bassist J.D. Westmoreland is a more recent recruit (barely), as is drummer and producer Graham Winchester, but the latter has played a large role in making the new LP, Eye Explain, a reality. As one third of Blast Habit Records’ head honchos, he was eager to get this group, who has soundtracked most Memphian’s lives over the decades, onto vinyl.

“I was sneaking in to see them play at e Buccaneer when I was still in my late high school/early college years,” says Winchester. “ en when I started playing with

them 14 years ago, I was the last person to join up with them, and it’s been the same six-person lineup ever since.”

Having joined the group at a relatively young age, the band is part of Winchester’s musical DNA. “It’s de nitely the gig where I cut my chops drumming on a lot of different styles,” he says. “I remember my rst gig with them. I was rushing into a song and they were like, ‘Hey, man, chill. ere’s something called playing behind the beat.’ ey taught me that Memphis drumming swagger that we all talk about.”

As the newcomer, Winchester was a bit puzzled that the band had never released any of their original songs. “It is kind of crazy to have an original band for 18 years with no released recordings,” he says. But having recently started Blast Habit with partners Lori and Jared McStay, he could now do something about it. “I was looking at it on paper and thinking, ‘ is doesn’t add up — there’s no record and there have been literally thousands of shows.’ So I said to the band, ‘Let’s change that, guys.’”

Appropriate to a band that brings an old-world vibe even to originals that could have sprung from the groovy ’70s, the album was cut straight to tape at the Bunker Studio with engineer Andrew McCalla. It also features two songs recorded elsewhere. “ ey were put on there as bonus tracks,” says Winchester. “One recorded with Boo Mitchell at Royal Studios many years ago, and the other one recorded recently with Crockett Hall at Sun Studio.”

Winchester’s quick to point out how the album’s credits perpetuate the name of a beloved local songwriter, long since departed, whom the drummer never even met. “ ere’s a song on the album called ‘Roll in Stink’ that was written by Craig Shindler,” notes Winchester. “He’s somebody I wanted to bring up because we play about seven or eight or nine of his songs, and Clint and Jonny were in Craig Schindler’s bands, Easy Way and Mash-O-Matic. At Devil Train shows, there is a segment of the crowd from those Mash-O-Matic and Easy Way days who know all the words to those songs. So they’re just part of the Devil Train catalog now. Clint and Jonny were dear friends of Craig Schindler and have done a great job of kind of preserving his music through Devil Train.”

Honoring Schindler is, for Winchester, just another sign of the greater collective spirit that has fueled Devil Train through all these years. “You know, it’s kind of a family band,” he says, “but it’s also a community band. We have a lot of people sit in and jam with us. And we’ve had a lot of loss in Memphis recently, and it’s like Devil Train’s weekly show is that familiar thing people can rely on. I feel like it means a lot to a lot of people, including myself.”

PHOTO: MOLLY KENNEDY Devil Train releases its debut record, Eye Explain, a er 18 years together.

By Mary Loveless

I Believe E. Jean Carroll: Here’s Why

This is a repurposed version of a speech I gave at the “Memphis Monologues” program, in which women tell real, personal stories to raise awareness of their experiences.

In light of writer E. Jean Carroll’s recent rape and defamation suit against Donald Trump, I felt my story had some currency. Seeing Trump lawyer Joseph Tacopina going a er Ms. Carroll with the same old “attack-the-victim” ploys we might have hoped had died out, I thought it time to dust it o .

I was raped in college. is event isn’t something that de ned me, and it’s not something that derailed my life or rewrote my story; it’s just a real thing that happened.

Growing up, I was the goody-goodiest of all goody-goodies, and to say that I was innocent doesn’t begin to cover it. I started college, wide-eyed and chaste, and immediately began dating an upperclassman. He was cute, he drove a cute car, he had cute friends, and his fraternity had great parties. It was fun to be liked, and I really liked him.

By the end of freshman year, we were ghting a lot — speci cally over sex. He wanted it. I didn’t. I always made sure we stopped short of my de nition (and Bill Clinton’s) of “having sex” — when a penis enters a vagina — and until you did that, you were a virgin. I was determined to remain that virgin until I was married. We went on like that through my sophomore year.

I was away for the summer a er my sophomore year, and when I returned home in August, I decided to break up with him — but rst, we had to go to Florida with a big group for a wedding.

One night, he dragged me out of a fun house party. He wanted to leave, I didn’t, and I was highly annoyed. Out in the driveway, he wanted to go somewhere so we could make out, but I was having none of it, so I turned to go back into the house. He grabbed my arm, spun me around, and slammed me against a car door. Whatever I said in response, it made him mad enough to hit me in the face.

at was it. One strike and you’re out. I told him we were done, went back inside, and drove home to Tennessee a er the wedding with my roommate, telling him to nd his own damn way home.

Over the next two weeks, he called, wrote, cried, and sent owers, but I stuck to my guns. I arrived back at college excited for the new year. Friends had already started setting me up with dates.

I don’t remember what he said that made me drive over to see him at the

o -campus house where he now lived, but I must’ve felt sorry for him, or needed to pick up some mementos or pictures. Or something. Anyway, I went.

I could go into a lot of detail here, but it’s not really necessary. And I don’t want to give him too much focus.

In his room, he begged me not to break up, but I told him it was too late. He pinned me down. I thought I heard someone else in the house, so I hollered for help and he hit me — again, to shut me up — and then he raped me. I struggled, got away, and le . In one fell swoop, he had taken from me what I’d refused to give him for two years.

But the bigger story, now, is not the rape itself , but how everyone in my life reacted to it.

First, how I reacted. It didn’t occur to me to report it — a er all, I had gone to his house, and we had dated for two years, so who’d ever believe me? Also, then everyone would know — horrors of all horrors — that I. Was. Not. A. Virgin. I reacted, like most women in my generation probably did, with a combination of silence and shame.

I did Olympics-caliber mental gymnastics to convince myself that it never really happened. I took this memory like a piece of chewed-up gum in a tinfoil wrapper and balled it up into the teeniest little morsel and then buried it deep in the back of my mind, rarely —if ever — even thinking about it, and NEVER breathing a word of it to another living soul.

en, in 2016, the odious Donald Trump slithered onto the national scene. Late that October, before the election, my wonderful husband Bill and I were talking about the Access Hollywood pussy-grabbing tape and the rst group of Trump sexual assault accusers who had come forward.

Bill — like most men— couldn’t understand why the women wouldn’t have sought justice all those years ago. “If something that horrible happens to you, you report it!” he declared.

I argued that of course those women would NOT have come forward, for any of a million reasons — fear of not being believed or being blamed, the need to protect a job, power disparity, being ashamed that it happened.

Suddenly, 42 years of tamping it down, keeping it secret, and even pretending it had never happened fell away, and I blurted out, “I believe the women because Scumbag Jones raped me in

college, and I’ve never told anybody!”

Bill was shocked. I told the story, and he started asking questions: “Why did you go over to his house?” “Why didn’t you report it or tell anybody?”

Let me tell you what one of my daughters said about this part of the story: “Usually, those questions would sound ignorant and would make me indignant. But because I know Dad, I kind of hear those questions as coming from the same desperate place as when you’re watching a horror movie — ‘Oh, God, why is she going in there?! Doesn’t she know there’s a monster in there?! Stop!’”

A er a lot of talk and healing, and newfound understanding on Bill’s part, we got past this bump in the road, and Bill came out of it much more supportive of me, and a much stronger ally for women.

Shortly therea er, I told my daughters, and while they were marvelously sympathetic and caring about it, they didn’t seem surprised. I’m not sure if rape is more common today or if it’s just less taboo, but they didn’t take it as earth-shaking news.

One daughter said: “My generation processes it with anger, while yours processed it with shame.” One thing’s for sure: ey do not blame the woman.

For a couple years, I rocked along with only my family knowing about this. Not that I was hiding it. It just never came up.

en came the Kavanaugh Supreme Court hearings, and the stunning and compelling testimony of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. I wondered, if my rapist had been nominated for high o ce, would I have the courage to come forward and speak out? Hmm.

He actually did become a lawyer. But the higher o ce thing never happened,

because at some point he was convicted of some kind of white-collar fraud and went to prison for awhile.

Karma’s a bitch, isn’t it?

Later that week, I was at lunch with a couple of friends, and one asked if we believed Dr. Blasey Ford. “Yes, absolutely!” I exclaimed. “Because I was raped in college and I never told anyone!” A er I told my story, another of the friends told us that she also had been raped and had never told anyone. A few months later, I told some college friends, and likewise, everyone had their stories — whether it was them, or a daughter, or another friend — everyone had them.

And the funny thing about telling a woman friend that you were raped in college and never said anything about it for 42 years — she doesn’t ask you a bunch of questions. She just reaches across the table, grabs your hand, and says, “I’m so, so sorry.”

Flash forward to the E. Jean Carroll trial, which ended last week with the jury nding Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming her. e things she’s been attacked for by Tacopina are infuriating. (Side note: Tacopina looks — and acts — more like a mob lawyer than most movie mob lawyers.)

How could a rape take place in a little dressing room? I’ve been in those dressing rooms at Bergdorf Goodman — indeed, Bill’s been in there with me when I looked for a formal dress — and they are huge.

Why didn’t she scream? Any of a number of reasons, and Carroll answered that on the stand — numerous times.

Why didn’t she report it? In a way, she did report it, since she told two women friends, when I never told a single soul for 42 years.

Why didn’t she report it to the police? See my reasons above, especially the one about power disparity. One of her friends actually told her not to report it because of Trump’s power and cadre of lawyers who would “bury” her.

It seems to me that E. Jean Carroll’s experience with Trump mirrors that of so many other women, and I’m in awe of her bravery for following through.

You go, Ms. Carroll. I believe you. Mary Loveless is a sexual-assault-surviving, gun-owning, Planned-Parenthood-patientescorting Southern debutante, and a former writer/editor for Memphis magazine.

VIEWPOINT

Hint: It rhymes with “I was vaped.”

PHOTO: COURTESY MARY LOVELESS e author as a college freshman

convicted prison that their

After Hours Sundays

NYCELYFE and friends will be hitting you with your favorite music all night long! 21+.

Sunday, May 21, 9 p.m.

JERRY LEE LEWIS’ CAFE & HONKY

TONK

Beat Battle on the Bluff Vol.11

Hosted by Leon.Stoner rm and more; music by DJ Space Age and others. $10-$15. Saturday, May 20, 7-11 p.m.

CAROLINA WATERSHED

Denver Massey

Friday, May 19, 6:30 p.m.; Saturday, May 20, 6:30 p.m.

TIN ROOF

Donna Padgett Bowers

Presents

Variety show of Memphis talent. Friday, May 19, 8:30 p.m.

WESTY’S

Doug MacLeod

Tuesday, May 23, 6-9 p.m.

CENTRAL BBQ

Eric Hughes Band

ursday, May 18, 7-11 p.m.

RUM BOOGIE CAFE

Frog Squad Special

Noise Album Release

Party

Free. Saturday, May 20, 8-10 p.m.

HIGH COTTON BREWING CO.

Gia Welch

ursday, May 18, 6:30 p.m.

CENTRAL STATION HOTEL

Indiana Watford

Wednesday, May 24, 8 p.m.

TIN ROOF

Marceaux Marceaux

Marceaux Marceaux is a Memphis-based, New Orleans-born DJ and producer. His style is an eclectic blend of electronic soundscapes and rave-friendly techno that feels right at home on a dark dance oor. Saturday, May 20, 9 p.m.

CENTRAL STATION HOTEL

Matt Bennett

Friday, May 19, 10 p.m.; Saturday, May 20, 7 p.m.

TIN ROOF

Peabody Rooftop Party:

Cruisin Heavy

$15. ursday, May 18, 6 p.m.

THE PEABODY HOTEL

River Series: Spider

Bags / Limes Tribute

$5-$10. Saturday, May 20, 4 p.m.

MARIA MONTESSORI SCHOOL

AMPHITHEATER

Robbie Bletscher on Piano

A singing waiter with talent.

Wednesday, May 24, 5:30-8 p.m.

WESTY’S

Rodell McCord

Sunday, May 21, 7 p.m.

TIN ROOF

AFTER DARK: Live Music Schedule May 18 - 24

Scratch and Snare

Every ursday night join Tin Roof for Scratch and Snare with DJ Stringbean and Matt the Drummer. ursday, May 18, 10 p.m.

TIN ROOF

Songwriter Night With Sara Jean Kelley, Sarah Spain, Byron Earnheart, and more!

Traveling musician Sarah Jean Kelley makes her South Main Sounds debut. Friday, May 19, 7-9 p.m.

SOUTH MAIN SOUNDS

Strangewaze Wednesdays

Free happy hour event series featuring live music, axe throwing, makers market, and free food and drinks. Wednesday, May 24, 5-7 p.m.

EDGE TRIANGLE

Trevor Berryhill

Saturday, May 20, noon-3 p.m.

TIN ROOF

Wendell Wells & The Big Americans

Free. ursday, May 18, 8:30 p.m.; Saturday, May 20, 8:30 p.m.

WESTY’S

Zechariah Lloyd ursday, May 18, 8 p.m.;

Saturday, May 20, 3:15 p.m.

TIN ROOF

901/ROX

Saturday, May 20, 7 p.m.

SIDECAR CAFE MEMPHIS

A Night Of R&B Vibez

Performances by Southern soul artist Cicely Wilborn, Diamonique Jackson, J’Renia, Vince, and many more. $35.

Saturday, May 20, 11 p.m.

THE BISTRO MEMPHIS

A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac

Don’t miss School of Rock Germantown’s tribute to Fleetwood Mac end-of-season performance! $10. Sunday, May 21, 3 p.m.

MEMPHIS MUSIC ROOM

A Tribute to Jam Bands Season Show

Presented by School of Rock Memphis. e term jam band describes bands who rely on heavily improvised musical sections as a key element to their live sound. Saturday, May 20, 3 p.m.

MEMPHIS MUSIC ROOM

British Invasion - Metal Edition Season Show

School of Rock Memphis takes a look at the heavier side of things from across the pond: Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Motorhead, and Led Zeppelin.

Saturday, May 20, 5 p.m.

MEMPHIS MUSIC ROOM

Flower Power

School of Rock Germantown’s Flower Power group presents its end-of-season performance. Sunday, May 21, 5 p.m.

MEMPHIS MUSIC ROOM

John Williams and the A440 Band

$10. ursday, May 18, 8 p.m.

NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM

Keepin It Memphis with Tinkahz Instinct & Art Bully

Each week this award-winning concert series brings original music from some of the hottest artists in this region as they collaborate with your favorite live band, “Da Mtown Band.”

$15. Wednesday, May 24, 7-10:30 p.m.

MEMPHIS MUSIC ROOM

Martin & Taylor

ursday, May 18, 6 p.m.

FOX RIDGE PIZZA

Opening Act - Tom Petty Season Show

School of Rock Memphis’

Opening Act group pays tribute to one of the best songwriters the world has ever known. Saturday, May 20, 1 p.m.

MEMPHIS MUSIC ROOM

Pop Punk School of Rock Germantown’s Pop Punk group presents its end-of-season performance.

Sunday, May 21, 7 p.m.

MEMPHIS MUSIC ROOM

PRIZM Benefit Concert with Basil Alter and Evan Solomon

Hailed by the Commercial Appeal as a “teenage virtuoso,” Basil Alter will present a concert to support music student scholarships! $30. Saturday, May 20, 7-8 p.m.

SHADY GROVE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Rock 101

School of Rock Wolfchase’s Rock 101 presents their spring season show. Sunday, May 21, noon.

MEMPHIS MUSIC ROOM

TiLt

Friday, May 19, 8 p.m.

MOONLIT TAVERN

Ally Venable

Monday, May 22, 7 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Aquanet

Saturday, May 20, 10 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Bailey Bigger Opening for Saddle Tramp

Saturday, May 20, 7:30 p.m.

THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS

Bawldy & Bassface

With Missy Midwest, Obiscuithead, and Trblkid. Friday, May 19, 8 p.m.

ZEN HOUSE

Bazookatooth with Anemoia, Kill Command, and Aversive Control

Friday, May 19, 7 p.m.

GROWLERS

Benton Parker + Jon

Hay

Opening for Saddle Tramp

ursday, May 18, 7:30 p.m.

THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS

Breeze Cayolle & New Orleans

Wednesday, May 24, 6 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Bugaloos

ursday, May 18, 7 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Cruisin’ Heavy Acoustic

Friday, May 19, 6 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Deep Roots

Sunday, May 21, 8 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Devil Train

ursday, May 18, 9:30 p.m.

B-SIDE

Doc. Henry with AcceptIt., Fearless Dave & the Tsunamis

$10. Sunday, May 21, 7 p.m.

GROWLERS

DreamFest Weekend

A weekend of events dedicated to promoting Memphis music and artist collaboration. Friday, May 19-May 21.

OVERTON PARK SHELL

Driver

Saturday, May 20, 6 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Electric 30

Saturday, May 20, 7-11 p.m.

THE COVE

En Attendant Ana, Optic Sink

Goner Records invites you to expand your mind with new music from En Attendant Ana and Optic Sink! Also spinning amazing records all night is DJ Dark Allie. Saturday, May 20, 9 p.m.

B-SIDE

Frog Squad’s Special Noise Listening Party

Hear Frog Squad’s new album. e music of Frog Squad is described as avant-garde/jazz/ experimental/punk/acid jazz/ whatever. Free. Friday, May 19, 6:30 p.m.

MEMPHIS LISTENING LAB

Glad I Didn’t Get My Stupid Wish, CHK!DSK, Window, Kavotan

Sunday, May 21, 8 p.m. HI TONE

Goatwhore with Autolith, Fleshbound, and Gorepig

Monday, May 22, 6:30 p.m.

GROWLERS

Groovehaven

Canadian Postal Strike opens the show at 6 p.m., followed by Groovehaven with special guests Ted and Tim Weirich.

Saturday, May 20, 6-10 p.m.

ROCKHOUSE LIVE MIDTOWN

Hope Clayburn’s Soul Scrimmage

Friday, May 19, 9 p.m.

BAR DKDC

Hummin Bird, Lipstick Stains, Opossums, Killbozby

Friday, May 19, 8 p.m. HI TONE

Joe Restivo 4

Saturday, May 20, 11 a.m. |

Sunday, May 21, 11 a.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

continued on page 20

PHOTO: GEOFFREY BRENT SHREWSBURY John Paul Keith

PHOTO: BRANDON DILL Joyce Cobb

continued from page 19

Jon Ridnell

Wednesday, May 24, 9 p.m.

B-SIDE

Kevin & Bethany Paige

Friday, May 19, 10 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Maggie May, The Gunpowder Plot, Chris Hamlett

Wednesday, May 24, 8 p.m.

HI TONE

Making Movies

ursday, May 18, 8-9 p.m.

RAILGARTEN

MIC DROP: The Ultimate Songwriting Competition

Calling all youth songwriters for a talent showcase with celebrity judges and prize packages to help you in your music career. Wednesday, May 24, 6-8 p.m.

THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS

Overton Square Music

Series: Bailey Bigger

Grab a chair or blanket and rock out under the stars on the courtyard stage, located on Trimble Place off Cooper Street. Free. Friday, May 19, 7 p.m.

OVERTON SQUARE

Overton Square Music Series: Jombi

Grab a chair or blanket and rock out under the stars on the courtyard stage, located on Trimble Place o Cooper Street. Free. Saturday, May 20, 7 p.m.

OVERTON SQUARE

Process of Suffocation

Friday, May 19, 9 p.m.

B-SIDE

Queen Ann Hines

Saturday, May 20, 8 p.m.

RAILGARTEN

Sanctuary of Shadows

Goth DJs

Join your favorite DJs and dance to some ’80s darkwave hits! Saturday, May 20, 10 p.m.

BAR DKDC

Scott Sudburry

Tuesday, May 23, 6 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Senses Fail

Wednesday, May 24, 6:30 p.m.

HI TONE

Shakermaker

Sunday, May 21, 8 p.m.

B-SIDE

Soul Rebels

Friday, May 19, 8 p.m.

RAILGARTEN

The John Paul Keith

Duo

Opening for Saddle Tramp

Friday, May 19, 7:30 p.m.

THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS

AFTER DARK: MAY 18 - 24

The New Pacemakers

Sunday, May 21, 3:30 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Turquoise Tiger, Spoonful, Bluff City Vice

Saturday, May 20, 9 p.m.

HI TONE

Whiskey South (Acoustic)

Saturday, May 20, 2 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Writers in the Round with Late Night Cardigan, Jeremiah Matthews, and Jason Cooper

Enjoy local original music in an intimate setting. Tuesday, May 23, 8 p.m.

LAMPLIGHTER LOUNGE

Dave Matthews Band

$49.50. Wednesday, May 24, 7:30 p.m.

BANKPLUS AMPHITHEATER

Grassfire Bluegrass Band

ursday, May 18, 6-9 p.m.

RANCHO GRANDE MEXICAN RESTAURANT

Happy Hour with the Waymores

$10. Friday, May 19, 6 p.m.

HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY

Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening

Jason Bonham, son of a rock legend John Bonham, presents an Evening of Led Zeppelin. $35. ursday, May 18, 8 p.m.

GRACELAND SOUNDSTAGE

Joe Stamm Band

$12, $15. ursday, May 18, 7 p.m.

HERNANDO’S HIDEAWAY

Little River Band

Through the ’70s and ’80s, LRB enjoyed huge chart success with multiplatinum albums and chart-topping hits. $44.50-$79.50. Friday, May 19, 8 p.m.

HORSESHOE CASINO TUNICA

TiLt

Saturday, May 20, 5-8 p.m.

MARSHALL STEAKHOUSE

Bluegrass on the Collierville Square

Bring a chair and have a picnic. Free family fun open to all spectators. Musicians

welcome. Acoustic only.

Friday, May 19, 7-10 p.m.

COLLIERVILLE TOWN SQUARE

Cable Collision

Saturday, May 20, 7-11 p.m.

TONY’S TROPHY ROOM & ALL

AMERICAN GRILL

Concerts in the Grove: Celebrating Joyce Cobb

ursday, May 18, 6-8 p.m.

GERMANTOWN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

Happy Hour in the Grove: Josh Threlkeld and Friends

Free. Friday, May 19, 5-8 p.m.

GERMANTOWN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

Lori Willis Band

Friday, May 19, 7 p.m.

TONY’S TROPHY ROOM & ALL

AMERICAN GRILL

Memphis Funk

Everything from rock, pop, country, R&B, and blues. Saturday, May 20, 8 p.m. THE HAYSTACK CAFE

Sunday Matinees at Saddle Creek

Enjoy free live music Sundays this spring at Saddle Creek! Sunday, May 21, 2-4 p.m. SADDLE CREEK NORTH

The Brian Johnson Band

Sunday, May 21, 5 p.m. HADLEY’S PUB

PHOTO: COURTESY ALLY VENABLE Ally Venable

CALENDAR of EVENTS: May 18 - 24

ART AND SPECIAL EXHIBITS

“Build a Heaven of My Own: African American Vernacular Art and the Blues”

This group show explores how the musical and verbal tropes, meaning, and context of the blues not only share traits but have informed the visual culture of African-American artists. Through June 24.

ART MUSEUM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS (AMUM)

“Celebration of Sarawak”

This exhibit, in honor of Memphis in May, showcases Sarawak’s rich ethnic and cultural heritage through intriguing artifacts from the Sarawak Museum. Through May 31.

MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & HISTORY

“Passenger Pigeons and Ecological Tipping Points”

Experience the powerful collage art of local artist Jennalyn Speer, exploring the extinction of the once most-numerous birds in North America.

Through July 8.

MORTON MUSEUM OF COLLIERVILLE

HISTORY

“Dolphland”

Attendees will experience historic moments in Young Dolph’s career while immersed in a sensory overload of everything Dolph. Through May 26.

AGRICENTER INTERNATIONAL

“Extending the Potential: The Art and Techniques of Bill Helwig”

This exhibit explores the breadth and mastery of Helwig’s techniques while detailing the processes behind the art. Through May 21.

METAL MUSEUM

“Harmonia Rosales: Master Narrative” Paintings by Harmonia Rosales, who challenges the concept of the master narrative. Through June 25.

MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART

“Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition”

Take a trip to the Vatican City without even packing a bag!

Through June 10.

RENASANT CONVENTION CENTER

“Rich Soil”

Created by American artist Kristine Mays, these 29 sculptures are inspired by the movements and gestures of Alvin Ailey’s dance composition “Revelations.” Through Oct. 1

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

“Southern Summers Exhibition”

Learn how early Memphians kept their cool during those dog days of summer. Through July 16.

WOODRUFF-FONTAINE HOUSE

MUSEUM

Spring 2023 Exhibitions at Crosstown Arts

Crosstown Arts announces its spring 2023 arts programming — with work by McLean Fahnestock, Khara Woods, Tangela Mathis, and Carl Fox.

Through Aug. 6.

CROSSTOWN ARTS AT THE CONCOURSE

“Susan Maakestad: The Expansive Moment”

Maakestad’s watercolors abstract the seemingly banal urban landscapes, removing any trace of human presence and transforming them into meditations on light and color.

Through July 9.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

“Waddell, Withers, & Smith: A Requiem for King”

Honoring the 55th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through the artwork of Memphis-based artists. Through Aug. 28.

NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM

“Zao Wou-Ki: Watercolors and Ceramics”

Exhibition of Chinese-French artist Zao Wou-Ki’s lyrical watercolors and designs for ceramics blending the dynamic energy of expressionism with the formal qualities of traditional Chinese calligraphy. Through July 16.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

ART HAPPENINGS

Asian American in the South Art Exhibition

This exhibition showcases the creativity of Asian-American artists with roots in or con-

nections to Memphis. Free.

Thursday, May 18, 6-9 p.m.

MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & HISTORY

Ceramic Chimes with Becky Zee

Becky Zee will teach you a few basic ceramic techniques so you can create your own full set of musical bells. Sunday, May 21, noon-2 p.m.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

Grind City Market

This market will highlight more than 20 local and regional vendors who specialize in vintage goods, handmade artisan crafts, art, and so much more! Saturday, May 20, noon.

GRIND CITY BREWING CO.

Hobby Kick-Start: Intro to Indigo Dye with Shawna White

Learn the fundamentals of how indigo dye is made, best practices, materials needed, and demonstrations on how to create surface designs. Thursday, May 18, 6-8 p.m.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

“Iterations” Open House + Artist Talk

John Salvest’s solo exhibition of articulate works developed out of obsessive collections of objects and a keen social awareness that has driven his practice for decades. Saturday, May 20, noon-3 p.m.

DAVID LUSK GALLERY

Nature Journaling

Spark your curiosity, channel your attention, and record your wonder in Overton Park. Bring your own notebook, coloring pencils, watercolors, and other materials. Wednesday, May 24, 8 a.m.

OVERTON PARK

Our Own Voice Open Workshops

Explore different themes in More Play with collaborative techniques, like image theater, building “machines,” and guided creative movement.

Saturday, May 20, 2-3:30 p.m.

SHADY

Send the date, time, place, cost, info, phone number, a brief description, and photos — two weeks in advance — to calendar@memphisflyer.com.

DUE TO SPACE LIMITATIONS, ONGOING WEEKLY EVENTS WILL APPEAR IN THE FLYER’S ONLINE CALENDAR ONLY. FOR COMPREHENSIVE EVENT LISTINGS, VISIT EVENTS.MEMPHISFLYER.COM/CAL

Paint and Picnic at Overton Park

Bring a snack and follow along step-by-step with artist Terri Scott as you create a naturethemed masterpiece. Expertise not required and all art materials are included in the cost of registration. $15-$45.

Saturday, May 20, 2-4 p.m.

OVERTON PARK

Polaroid Transfer Workshop

Learn how to operate the polaroid camera to its fullest potential and take portraits and/ or still life and experiment with emulsion lift. Friday, May 19, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

ARROW CREATIVE

BOOK EVENTS

Bookhouse Book Club: The Woman in the Dunes

A cinema-themed book club meeting monthly. This month’s book is The Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe. A screening of the movie will follow.

Sunday, May 21, 5 p.m.

BLACK LODGE

Delta Authors on Tour

“Having OUR Say; Hear HER Voice; Read HER Story” will take you on a journey where sisters are encouraged to find their voice in every area of their lives. $10. Saturday, May 20, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH BROAD

Meet the Author: Adriane JohnsonWilliams Adriane Johnson-Williams

celebrates the release of her new book, Not Your Father’s Capitalism: What Race Equity Asks of U.S. Business Leaders Tuesday, May 23, 6 p.m. NOVEL

CLASS / WORKSHOP

Hollywood Feed University Presents Free, Online Course on CBD for Pets

Dr. Chris Brooks will discuss how CBD products can be used in a variety of situations, and he’ll address common concerns pet parents may have. Free. Thursday, May 18, 8 a.m.-6:30 p.m.

ONLINE

COMEDY

Chelsea Handler Chelsea Handler is a comedian, television host, New York Times best-selling author, and advocate whose humor and candor have established her as one of the most celebrated voices in entertainment.

Friday, May 19, 7:30 p.m.

THE SOUNDSTAGE AT GRACELAND

Don “DC” Curry DC earned the coveted title of “Comedian Of the Year” by winning the Bay Area Black Comedy Competition (for which he is now the perennial host), joining the ranks of famous alumni. $25-$75. Friday, May 19, 8 p.m. , 10:30 p.m.; Saturday, May 20, 8 p.m., 10:30 p.m.; Sunday, May 21, 6 p.m. CHUCKLES COMEDY HOUSE

continued on page 22

PHOTO: ZAO WOU-KI–PROLITTERIS | ANTOINE MERCIER Zao Wou-Ki, Untitled (Paris) , 2007; Watercolor on paper; Private collection, Switzerland

Kristine Mays’ wire sculptures are on display at the Memphis Botanic Garden through October 1st.

continued on page

COMMUNITY

All Of Us Bus

National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Journey, a traveling, hands-on exhibit, raises awareness about the All of Us Research Program and allows volunteers to be part of a research study.

Thursday, May 18, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Friday, May 19, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

BENJAMIN L. HOOKS CENTRAL LIBRARY

Blossom Within

A complimentary program for women who are newly diagnosed and currently undergoing cancer treatment to discover ways to complement their inner and outer beauty. Friday, May 19, 1-3 p.m.

BAPTIST MEMORIAL HOSPITAL FOR WOMEN

Pick Up for a Pint!

Volunteer to pick up trash with Memphis Made and receive a free beer. Saturday, May 20, 12:301:30 p.m.

MEMPHIS MADE BREWING COMPANY

South City MemFix

Local vendors, live entertainment, art, South City historians, delicious food, and more. Saturday, May 20, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL

CALENDAR: MAY 18 - 24

EXPO/SALES

50 Plus Health & Home Expo East

Memphis

Meet local businesses who serve seniors in East Memphis and the surrounding neighborhoods.

Tuesday, May 23, 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

COLONIAL PARK UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Macon Road Flea Market

Vintage collectibles, vinyl records, original art, and ’70s decor. Saturday, May 20, 8 a.m.-3 p.m.

THAT 70S SHOPPE

Memphis Orchid Society Annual Show and Sale

Hundreds of plants will be available. Friday, May 19, noon-5 p.m.; Saturday, May 20, 9 a.m.5 p.m.; Sunday, May 21, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

FAMILY

Kids to Parks Day: A National Day of Outdoor Play

Designed to help connect kids and families with their local parks, this event will include a variety of activities such as group games, inflatables, crafts, and more. Saturday, May 20, 9 a.m.-noon

W.J. FREEMAN PARK

Wild Walks

Take a walk on the wild side at MBG for a selfguided activity designed to get your kiddos out-

Crossword

side and exploring the great outdoors. Saturday, May 20, 9-11 a.m.

GARDEN

MEMPHIS BOTANIC

FESTIVAL

DreamFest Weekend

A weekend of events dedicated to promoting Memphis music and artist collaboration. Friday, May 19-May 21.

OVERTON PARK SHELL

Women in Blues Festival

With business seminars and music celebrating Women in the blues all day long. Thursday, May 18-May 20.

SHARED EXPERIENCES USA, CLARKSDALE, MS

World Championship Barbecue

Cooking Contest

The contest features championship pork categories of ribs, shoulder, and whole hog, as well as the ancillary competitions of hot wings, sauce, and “Anything But Pork.” Thursday, May 18-May 20.

FILM

Cocaine Bear

A 500-pound black bear consumes a significant amount of cocaine and embarks on a drug-fueled rampage. The screening will be accompanied by

Edited by Will Shortz No. 1221

powdered donuts and liquid cocaine (cocktail). Free. Saturday, May 20, 5 p.m.

BLACK LODGE

Family Movie Nights in The Grove at GPAC: Sing 2

Enjoy a family-friendly movie in a beautiful, park-like setting. $10. Saturday, May 20, 7-9 p.m.

THE GROVE AT GERMANTOWN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

Overton Square Movie Nights: Bride and Prejudice

Blankets, pets, and folding chairs welcome. Thursday, May 18, 8 p.m.

OVERTON SQUARE

Sci-Fi Screening: Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes

Highly rated and cleverly made on a low budget, the movie is about a cafe owner who discovers that the TV in his cafe suddenly shows images from the future, but only two minutes into the future. Free. Thursday, May 18, 10 p.m.

BLACK LODGE

Serial Mom

Serial Mom is a 1994 American black comedy written and directed by John Waters. Thursday, May 18, 7 p.m.

CROSSTOWN THEATER

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

An African-American woman becomes an unaware pioneer for medical breakthroughs. Thursday, May 18, 1:30-4 p.m.

BENJAMIN L. HOOKS CENTRAL LIBRARY

FOOD AND DRINK

Bike to Work Day Party in the Park

A lunchtime party to Celebrate Bike to Work Day with merch giveaways, Good Groceries Mobile food truck, dessert by Groovy Italian Ice, and music. Lunch vouchers will be given to the first 20 bikers. Friday, May 19, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

HEALTH SCIENCES PARK

Canoes + Cocktails

Rent a canoe or kayak, or bring your own boat and enjoy the best views of the Memphis sunset from Hyde Lake followed by snacks, cocktails provided by Old Dominick Distillery, yard games, and more. Friday, May 19, 7 p.m.

SHELBY FARMS PARK

HEALTH AND FITNESS

Bellydance Technique Pop-up Class

Learn the foundation of beginner to advance Middle Eastern dance movements in order to supplement your choreography classes and/ or workout needs. $20. Wednesday, May 24, 6-7 p.m.

THEATREWORKS AT EVERGREEN

Courage 5K

All proceeds benefit The Gina Hollenbeck Foundation for bio-marker testing at Baptist Cancer Center. $30. Saturday, May 20, 9 a.m.

SHELBY FARMS

Get Outside! Fitness Class: Cardio Line Dance

Get your feet moving to a mix of classic hits from hip-hop, R&B, pop, reggae, and more. Free. Wednesday, May 24, 6 p.m.

SHELBY FARMS PARK

MammothMarch Memphis

Conquer 20 miles of scenic trails through the beautiful Shelby Farms Park in eight hours. Saturday, May 20, 8:30 a.m.

SHELBY FARMS PARK

Memphis Jookin’ Class and Dance Demonstrations

Local Memphis Jookin’ legends invite you to join them for this weekly class and dance session open to all ages and abilities. Thursday, May 18, 5 p.m.

COSSITT LIBRARY

Reiki at the Shell with Healing Partner

Build new relationships and create a sense of community around the practice of reiki and meditation. Monday, May 22, 3-4 p.m.

OVERTON PARK SHELL

TOM LEE PARK

PUZZLE

PETER A. COLLINS

CALENDAR: MAY 18 - 24

Tai Chi in the Formal Gardens

Join instructor Marjean for free tai chi lessons featuring gentle moves that will strengthen and calm body, mind, and soul. Thursday, May 18, 7:15-8 a.m.; Tuesday, May 23, 7:15-8 a.m.

OVERTON PARK

Yoga

Strengthen your yoga practice and enjoy the health benefits of light exercise. Thursday, May 18, 6 p.m.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

Zumba in the Park with Crystal Gilcrest-Bryant

Shake up your Saturday with a free Zumba class led by Crystal Gilcrest-Bryant! Registration is required. Free.

Saturday, May 20, 10 a.m.

HEALTH SCIENCES PARK

PERFORMING ARTS

Atrocia Presents: VILLAINS

A night of drinks, drag, and debauchery brought to you by Atrocia, Memphis’ Goth punk drag collective and freakshow. Friday, May 19, 7 p.m.

BLACK LODGE

LollapaDRUSa Lipsync Smackdown

Do you have what it takes to deliver a lipsync SMACKDOWN? Are you brave enough to put you fate in the audience’s hands? Do you want $250 cash? Then step onto the

stage! Friday, May 19, 9 p.m.

DRU’S PLACE

Mayhem Cabaret

Featuring drag, burlesque, comedy, contortion, and live music.

Saturday, May 20, 9 p.m.

LAMPLIGHTER LOUNGE

Rainbow Rumble: Flowers for You

Rainbow Rumble is a oncea-month drag and performer competition hosted by Moth Moth Moth. Six contestants, one winner. $15. Saturday, May 20, 8 p.m.

BLACK LODGE

Saddle Tramp

Saddle Tramp, the newest dance work by choreographer

Neile Martin, is inspired by the music of country singer Marty Robbins. Each performance will be opened by Memphis musicians. Thursday, May 18May 20, 7:30-9 p.m.

THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS

The Boom Boom Effect

It’s the third Saturday in May and that means The Boom Boom Effect with Aubrey Ombre! Saturday, May 20, 10 p.m.

DRU’S PLACE

SPECIAL EVENTS

Celestial Sound Bath

Matt Petty, a certified sound therapist, will lead a meditative sound experience using crystal singing bowls, gongs, chimes, and multiple instruments. $20.

Monday, May 22, 6:30-8 p.m.

THE BROOM CLOSET

Collierville Cruise Night

Enjoy an evening with friends and family to check out the best rides the Mid-South has to offer.

Wednesday, May 24, 5-9 p.m.

RIVER INN OF HARBOR TOWN

Nerd Nite

Featuring talks about trees and strings and ceiling wax and other fancy things! Friday, May 19, 7-9 p.m.

MEMPHIS CHESS CLUB

SPORTS

Memphis Redbirds vs. Gwinnett Stripers

Thursday, May 18, 11:05 a.m.;

Friday, May 19, 7:05 p.m.;

Saturday, May 20, 6:35 p.m.;

Sunday, May 21, 2:05 p.m.

AUTOZONE PARK

Memphis Redbirds vs. Norfolk Sounds

Tuesday, May 23, 6:45 p.m.;

Wednesday, May 24, 12:05 p.m.

AUTOZONE PARK

Pittsburgh Maulers vs. Memphis Showboats

Saturday, May 20, 11:30 a.m.

SIMMONS BANK LIBERTY STADIUM

THEATER

Clyde’s

A truck-stop sandwich shop in Reading, PA, becomes a place of employment and redemption for the formerly incarcerated kitchen staff.

Through June 4.

CIRCUIT PLAYHOUSE

Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812

A fragment of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace transformed

TOURS

Haunted Pub Crawl

Visit three local bars for ghost stories, dark history, and tales of the paranormal. Friday, May 19, 7:30-10 p.m.

THE BROOM CLOSET

Memphis Music Tour of Elmwood Cemetery

Led by Memphis musician, historian, filmmaker, and author Willy Bearden, this tour will surely resonate with you. $20. Friday, May 19, 5:30-7 p.m.

ELMWOOD CEMETERY

Nature 101 Walks

Get

into a magical musical, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 enchants audiences with this timeless classic.

Through May 21.

PLAYHOUSE ON THE SQUARE

Small Mouth Sounds

In the overwhelming quiet of the woods, six runaways from city life embark on a silent retreat. Friday, May 19, 8 p.m.; Saturday, May 20, 8 p.m.; Sunday, May 21, 2 p.m.

THEATREWORKS

These guided group walks in the Old Forest in Overton Park will help beginners identify the wildlife and plants living in the heart of Memphis. Saturday, May 20, 8 a.m.-noon.

OVERTON PARK

Pawing Through

History: Animal Symbols in the Stones

Animal symbols at Elmwood Cemetery, now on tour. $20. Saturday, May 20, 10:30 a.m.-noon.

ELMWOOD CEMETERY

Wolf River Conservancy: Paddle the Greenway

Join Blues City Kayaks and discover the joys of paddling a kayak or canoe with the Wolf River Conservancy. Registration required. Free. Sunday, May 21, 9 a.m.

WOLF RIVER GREENWAY EPPING WAY

SECTION

FOOD By Michael Donahue

Off the Beaten BBQ Path

A few stops at barbecue restaurants you might not know about.

Visiting the amazing number of barbecue restaurants in Memphis is like visiting the plethora of Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest (WCBCC) booths; there’s variety in the barbecue taste, as well as the atmosphere.

It recently hit me how many Memphisarea barbecue places I’ve never been to. I usually go to the same ones.

I was astounded at the number of them on Google. So, I set out to visit some unfamiliar places.

Ty’s Smokehouse, located at 7174 Stage Road #101 in Bartlett, was rst. It was packed. Shiny trophies — a good sign — glistened on the wall.

“We opened July 1st, 2013,” says owner Tim eisen. “We used to have a team, TNT Smokers. We used to do mostly the KCBS (Kansas City Barbecue Society) circuit.”

eisen helped out during Memphis in May’s barbecue contest, but he didn’t participate. He couldn’t a ord to take a week o from work. “I worked in construction at the time.”

ey visited barbecue places on their last trip. “I think we tried ve and we kept coming back to this one,” Barber says.

Next, I traveled to 1023 Jackson Avenue to try barbecue at Smoky City BBQ Grill & Diner. Nate Strong Jr., who owns the place with his dad, Nate Strong, tells me they opened in 2016.

I loved this barbecue, which reminds me of classic barbecue sandwiches I ate growing up in the 1950s. Strong says the mixture of wood and charcoal is one reason it tastes so good.

He let me sample a dry and a wet rib. “ ey come o the bone,” he says. “And they love our dry rub.”

Mike Hollis walks in the restaurant, looks at me, and says, “Steven Spielberg. What’s up, bro?” (I usually get “Howard Stern” or “Einstein.”) Hollis is a Smoky City fan. “I’ve never had a bad experience,” he says.

He orders a cat sh plate, one of the many items besides barbecue sold at Smoky City.

BallHoggerz BBQ at 1404 Airways Boulevard was my next stop. Owner Merritt Bailey, a longtime friend, is the son of Adrienne and the late judge D’Army Bailey. I forgot Merritt owned a restaurant.

ey also have a great dry rub and a popular “mild, tangy sauce.”

Merritt obviously loves his job. “We’re grillin’ and we’re partyin’.” And, he adds, “If you’re not having fun, you’re doing the wrong thing.”

A big picture of D’Army hangs near the front door, but Merritt says his dad didn’t teach him how to cook barbecue. “He wasn’t really a grill guy.” Merritt learned by “trial and error.”

But his dad did give him advice about owning the restaurant. “He said it wasn’t going to be easy, but stick to it.’”

Finally, I have to preface Fat Larry’s BBQ at 7537 Highway 70 in Bartlett as a place I visited several times years ago.

in the Kansas City circuit. “ ey both had bellies,” she says. “ ey called themselves ‘Two Fat Larrys.’”

And Mayes was the hog cook on a team with John Maki called Custom Cookers. eir awards include rst place in whole hog at the 1999 WCBCC, she says.

Larry’s entire family cooked. “His brother owned a barbecue restaurant.”

I ordered a fabulous pulled pork sandwich from the restaurant. Great smoky taste.

Kevin Barber, Derek Davison, and Cleitis Blackwell joined me at my table.

ey’re with Tower King II working on a project.

Barber, who lives in Dallas, Texas, hadn’t been to Ty’s since they did some work in Memphis back in March of 2018.

Between 2014 and 2017, Merritt was on a WCBCC team that went by the same name as his restaurant. ey won awards every year, including rst place in the chicken, shoulder, and turkey legs categories, and second place in ribs, in 2017. Hence the name. “We hog the trophies,” he says.

Merritt used to “move place to place” selling barbecue from his truck with the grill in the bed. He opened the restaurant six years ago.

His tantalizing barbecue sandwich with a couple of dill pickles on top of the bun was delicious. It’s the “long and tedious smoking process to get the meat tender.”

Owner Larry Mayes died since I was last there. But even though Mayes is gone, the barbecue is “still made with the same amount of love, the same amount of passion,” says Dan Dippery, a Fat Larry’s fan.

e succulent barbecue was slathered with sweet sauce. It brought back a lot of memories.

Fat Larry’s sells more than barbecue.

e brown sugar pork chop on the menu caught my eye. And the server told me about their homemade coconut cake.

Larry’s wife, Ginny Mayes, tells me the name “Fat Larry” came about when her husband and Larry Ohrberg had a barbecue cooking team that participated

Fat Larry’s restaurant opened in February 2008. Larry died on Halloween 2020 in New Mexico, Ginny says. “Our cook and our servers, everybody just carried on.”

Ginny and their daughter, Hallie McIlvain, decided to keep the restaurant going. “I couldn’t see putting an end to all of Larry’s hard work.”

ey also wanted their employees to keep working. “We kind of feel like this is Larry’s legacy. We feel like we need to keep cooking.”

Larry believed in making his customers feel like family, Ginny says. “Make people feel at home. at’s just the way he was. No pretension. It is what it is.”

As her husband used to say, “I’m fat and I love to cook. And I love to watch people eat.”

It recently hit me how many Memphis area barbecue places I’ve never been to.

PHOTO: MICHAEL DONAHUE Nate Strong Jr. at Smoky City BBQ Grill & Diner

By Emily Guenther

Empress Vibes

is card in tarot reminds you to play as hard as you work.

Technically summer doesn’t begin until June 21st, but May o en makes us feel like summer — and all of its festivities — has arrived. May can be a wonderful time of year, with great weather, outdoor events, and riotous owers in bloom. It can also be a season of work, especially when spring was as stormy as ours was.

In my mind, May can be compared to the art and meaning of e Empress tarot card. e Empress represents the Earth Mother in tarot — the goddess and divine feminine personi ed. She is nature, around us but also within us, the ever-unfolding source of life-giving power.

e card typically shows a woman surrounded by abundant nature; sometimes she is shown as the Earth itself. e green earth, the owing water, and the owers that may be on her card remind us that

work. She is a mother and understands what it takes to raise a child or the energy it takes to work, the time it takes to build something. e card represents that period in our lives when we must nurture something so it can grow enough to survive on its own.

But why do we work so hard? Why do we su er the grind if there is no payo ? Remember all the abundant nature and beautiful scenery of e Empress card? at is why we grit and grind. e Empress doesn’t only stand for hard work, but also the abundance and success of a job well done and a life well lived. She also represents luxurious abundance of all kinds. She o ers a cornucopia of delights, especially those of the senses — food, pleasure, and beauty. She can suggest material reward, but only with the understanding that riches go with a generous and open spirit. e Empress is the loving mother of tarot a er all.

If you are getting a tarot reading and e Empress appears in regard to your love life, she has good news for you there, too. In a love question, it can herald a serious, committed relationship. e prospective partner represented by the card will likely be loving, nurturing, and caring; have nancial security; and/or be a lover of ne material things. If e Empress shows up in a reading about your career, expect work to be more pleasurable for a while. Typically, e Empress means that you are being supported at work, and perhaps your career is getting a boost. Harness your creative talents at work when she appears and let her grow your future.

she rules over material wealth. e fact that the card is associated with the planet Venus tells us that e Empress also rules over love and families. e Emperor card in tarot, e Empress’ counterpart, deals with law and order, discipline, and the goals of the empire. You might say e Empress rules over the emotional aspect of the empire, focusing on relationships, families, and security.

Memphis is the city of grit and grind. We work hard, we play hard, and e Empress is here to support us in our work and play. She can appreciate those of us who are motivated, who work smart and hard to make a good life for our loved ones.

e Empress acknowledges our

is can also be a good time to put on your creative hat and begin planning for the future you want. Schools will be letting out for summer, seniors will be graduating, and family vacations need planning. Everyone has been working hard, and the energies of May invite us to play and enjoy ourselves.

As a representative of the lighthearted vibes of the month, let e Empress into your life. Let her show you how to harness your energies so you play as hard as you work, and so you enjoy the fruits of your labors. ere is no point in running the rat race if we do not get o the wheel and enjoy the things we’ve worked for.

Emily Guenther is a co-owner of e Broom Closet metaphysical shop. She is a Memphis native, professional tarot reader, ordained Pagan clergy, and dog mom.

PHOTO: EMILY GUENTHER e Empress in the Ancestral Path Tarot (le ) and Light Seer’s Tarot (right)

NEWS OF THE WEIRD

By the editors at Andrews McMeel Syndication

Recent Alarming Headline

KOKH-TV reported that on March 12, a woman in Dickson, Oklahoma, was attacked by her neighbor’s pet monkey, Jack, resulting in her ear being ripped “almost completely off my head,” the victim, Brittany Parker, said. “He started grabbing handfuls of my hair and just ripped it out,” she added. Dickson police were called, and as they looked for the monkey, two shots were fired. “The shots came from the area of the victim’s residence. Officers went back to the house and found that a family member of the victim shot and killed the primate,” police said. Parker said she will need plastic surgery to fix her ear. P.J. Carter, Jack’s owner, is distraught: “I lost my best friend and pet due to it all,” he said. “He was my super monkey. I feel sorry for [Parker] and her injury. My friend and pet Jack lost his life over a massive misunderstanding and the lack of knowledge and education with an exotic animal,” Carter added. The district attorney has declined to file charges. [KOKH, 3/17/2023]

Creme de la Weird

The Mondaiji Con Cafe Daku (loosely translated: Problem Child Concept Cafe) in Sapporo, Japan, was forced to fire one of its waitresses in April after she was discovered to be adding her own blood to cocktails, the Daily Mail reported. The cafe owner called her actions “absolutely not acceptable” and said the establishment would close while every drinking glass was replaced. “We will hire a contractor to clean the store, change glasses, and dispose of alcoholic beverages that may have been contaminated,” he said. He called her actions “part-time job terrorism.” A local doctor said anyone who had patronized the cafe should visit a doctor and have a blood test.

[Daily Mail, 4/13/2023]

It’s a Mystery

Over the last several months, Don Powell and his wife, Nancy, have been puzzling over uninvited inhabitants of their fancy mailbox in Orchard Lake, Michigan. USA Today reported that in August 2022, two small dolls, a miniature couch, and a small table appeared in the mailbox, which is custom-built to resemble the Powells’ home, with windows and a solar-powered interior

light that comes on at night. The dolls were accompanied by a note: “We’ve decided to live here. Mary and Shelley.” Powell thought a neighbor might be spoofing him, but after exhaustive investigatory work, he’s no closer to knowing the source of the figures. Over time, the home gained a fourposter bed, a dog, a rug, and art for the wall. “The whole thing got rather whimsical,” Powell said. At Halloween, Mary and Shelley were replaced by two skeleton dolls dressed in black, and at Christmas, tiny, wrapped gifts appeared. Now, Powell is thinking of writing a children’s book about the mailbox mystery. “I think it creates a novel story,” he said. [USA Today, 4/13/2023]

The Continuing Crisis

Angel Footman, 23, a teacher at Griffin Middle School in Tallahassee, Florida, was arrested on April 7 and charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, the New York Post reported. The charges came after school administrators learned Footman was allegedly hosting violent brawls between students in her classroom. Naturally, she set down rules: no recordings, and no pulling hair. No screaming (draws attention). Fights must be limited to 30 seconds each. However, several sixthgrade girls alerted administrators, and video turned up showing Footman at her desk while students fought each other. She’s scheduled for arraignment in May. [NY Post, 4/10/2023]

Bright Idea

Drivers along Interstate 5 near Eugene, Oregon, were startled on April 11 to see $100 bills floating through the air, Fox News reported. In fact, many cars stopped along the highway to grab the loot. When the Oregon State Police tracked down the source, it was Colin Davis McCarthy, who told them he’d been throwing the money out of his car to “bless others.” He said he thought he’d dispersed around $200,000. The OSP later revealed that McCarthy’s family had been in touch; he had depleted a shared family bank account for his Robin Hood moment. [Fox News, 4/14/2023]

NEWS OF THE WEIRD

© 2023 Andrews McMeel Syndication. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

WILL ASTROLOGY By Rob Brezsny

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries dramatist Samuel Beckett, winner of the prestigious Nobel Prize for Literature, wrote 22 plays. The shortest was Breath It has no dialogue or actors and lasts less than a minute. It begins and ends with a recording of the cry of a newborn baby. In between there are the sounds of someone breathing and variations in the lighting. I recommend you draw inspiration from Breath in the coming weeks, Aries. Be succinct and pithy. Call on the powers of graceful efficiency and no-nonsense effectiveness. Relish the joys of shrewd simplicity.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): How much do you believe in your power to become the person you want to be? Ninety percent? Fifty-five? Twenty? Whatever it is, you can increase it in the coming weeks. Life will conspire with you to raise your confidence as you seek new ways to fulfill your soul’s purpose. Surges of grace will come your way as you strive with intense focus to live your most meaningful destiny. To take maximum advantage of this opportunity, I suggest you enjoy extra amounts of quiet, meditative time. Request help from the deepest core of your intelligence.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Early in the 19th century, cultural researchers Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm gathered an array of old folk stories and published a collection of what we now call fairy tales. Because the two brothers wanted to earn money, they edited out some graphic elements of the original narratives. For example, in the Grimms’ revised version, we don’t get the juicy details of the princess fornicating with the frog prince once he has reverted to his handsome human form. In the earlier but not published stories of Rumpelstiltskin, the imp gets so frustrated when he’s tricked by the queen that he rips himself apart. I hope you will do the opposite of the Brothers Grimm in the coming weeks, Cancerian. It’s crucial that you reveal and expose and celebrate raw, unvarnished truths.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Is there a job you would love to have as your primary passion, but it’s different from the job you’re doing? Is there a calling you would delight in embracing, but you’re too consumed by the daily routine? Do you have a hobby you’d like to turn into a professional pursuit? If you said even a partial yes to my questions, Leo, here’s good news: In the coming months, you will have an enhanced ability to make these things happen. And now is an excellent time to get underway.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Virgo-born Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) was a versatile virtuoso. He excelled as an essayist, biographer, playwright, editor, poet, and

lexicographer. How did he get so much done? Here’s one clue. He took his own advice, summed up in the following quote: “It is common to overlook what is near by keeping the eye fixed on something remote. Present opportunities are neglected and attainable good is slighted by minds busied in extensive ranges and intent upon future advantages.” Johnson’s counsel is perfect for you right now, Virgo. Forget about the future and be focused on the present. Dive into the interesting work and play that’s right in front of you.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): I would love you to go searching for treasure, and I hope you launch your quest soon. As you gather clues, I will be cheering you on. Before you embark, though, I want to make sure you are clear about the nature of the treasure you will be looking for. Please envision it in glorious detail. Write down a description of it and keep it with you for the next seven weeks. I also suggest you carry out a fun ritual to formally mark your entry into the treasure-hunting chapter of your life.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In the coming weeks, you’ll be guided by your deep intelligence as you explore and converse with the darkness. You will derive key revelations and helpful signs as you wander around inside the mysteries. Be poised and lucid, dear Scorpio. Trust your ability to sense what’s important and what’s not. Be confident that you can thrive amidst uncertainty as you remain loyal to your core truths. No matter how murky this challenge may seem, it will ultimately be a blessing. You will emerge both smarter and wiser.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): If you take the Bible’s teachings seriously, you give generously to the poor and you welcome immigrants. You regard the suffering of others as being worthy of your compassionate attention, and you express love not just for people who agree with you and share your cultural traditions, but for everyone. Numerous Biblical verses, including many attributed to Jesus Christ, make it clear that living according to these principles is essential to being a good human. Even if you are not Jewish or Christian, Sagittarius, I recommend this approach to you. Now is an excellent time to hone your generosity of spirit and expand your urge to care for others.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In 1982, Capricorn actor Ben Kingsley won an Oscar for his role in the film Gandhi Then his career declined. In an animated movie in 1992, he voiced the role of an immortal frog named F.R.O.7. who worked as a James Bond-like secret agent. It was a critical and financial disaster. But Kingsley’s fortunes rebounded, and he was nominated for Academy Awards in

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):

In the coming weeks, you Bulls must brook no bullies or bullying. Likewise, you should tolerate no bullshit from people trying to manipulate or fool you. Be a bulwark of integrity as you refuse to lower your standards. Bulk up the self-protective part of your psyche so you will be invincibly immune to careless and insensitive spoilers. Your word of power is BUILD. You will align yourself with cosmic rhythms as you work to create situations that will keep you strong and stable during the next 12 months.

2002 and 2003. Then his trajectory dipped again. He was nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor for four separate films between 2005 and 2008. Now, at age 79, he’s rich and famous and mostly remembered for the great things he has done. I suggest we make him your role model for the coming months. May he inspire you to emphasize your hits and downplay your misses.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): I’m devoted to cultivating the art of relaxation. But I live in a world dominated by stress addicts and frenzied overachievers. Here’s another problem: I aspire to be curious, innocent, and open-minded, but the civilization I’m embedded in highly values know-it-all experts who are very sure they are in command of life’s secrets. One further snag: I’m an ultra-sensitive creator who is nourished by original thinking and original feeling. And yet I constantly encounter formulaic literalists who thrive on clichés. Now here’s the good news: I am a successful person! I do what I love and enjoy an interesting life. Here’s even more good news, Aquarius: In the next 12 months, you will have a knack for creating rhythms that bring you closer than ever before to doing what you love and enjoying an interesting life.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Most of us suffer from at least one absurd, irrational fear. I have a daft fear of heights, even when I’m perfectly safe, and a manic fear of mosquitoes dive-bombing me as I sleep, an event that has only happened four times in my life. My anxiety about running out of money is more rational, though, as is my dread of getting sick. Those worries help motivate me to work hard to earn a living and take superb care of my health. What about you, Pisces? Do you know which of your fears are preposterous and which make at least some sense? The coming weeks will be a favorable time to get a good handle on this question. Ask yourself: “Which of my fears are misdirected or exaggerated, and which are realistic and worthy of my attention?”

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and not scared for anything else. But how can you take that job where you’re supposed to exhibit some level of bravery?”

The so-called “elite” units, like the SCORPION unit Chief Davis founded with a promise to “take the gloves off,” are a product of the “warrior cop” mindset. “I do believe there are people that we need to take care of us, to guard us, to protect us,” says Spickler. “That’s the mission of a police officer. It is not [to be] out there to wage war, not to battle, fight, and all these words we use when we talk about crime. But that’s what it’s become.

“We were told we’re gonna do whatever it takes to make sure there’s no repeats,” he continues. “But then, we had this battle at City Council where the community was very organized and very clear on what it wanted in these ordinances about traffic stops. The mayor’s administration comes in and says, ‘We can’t do that. Here’s the reason why.’ That’s as clear evidence as you need that they’re not serious. They’re not ready to do the things that need to be done.”

Crime and policing has become the central issue in this year’s mayoral election. Defenders of the status quo maintain that insufficient incarceration is what is driving the city’s crime rate. Cleotha Abston-Henderson served 20 years of a 24-year sentence for kidnapping. Ezekiel Kelly was convicted of aggravated assault when he was 16, and tried as an adult. He was released from prison early during the pandemic. On May 12th, Mayor Jim Strickland, who is not up for re-election because of term limits, led his weekly email newsletter with the image of a Monopoly “get out of jail free” card. “Someone is

giving these out,” the newsletter read. “It’s not the Memphis City Government. It is not the Memphis Police Department or the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department. It appears that it is multiple people within the criminal court system at 201 Poplar and the Juvenile Court. And what’s worse — the bad guys know it, and they are encouraged to keep committing crimes.”

DA Mulroy says, “The narrative you hear from critics of reform is, one, the cops are doing a great job bringing everybody in, but two, the liberal DA and judges are letting them right back out. Three, they immediately re-offend, and four, that’s why we’re having a high crime rate. Every one of those assertions, one through four, is false. The clearance rates indicate that they’re not bringing them in. The DA doesn’t set bail. The supposedly liberal judges are not letting them out the way the public thinks. Although I may have disagreed with some of the individual, controversial bail decisions, nonetheless, the narrative that it is just a revolving door is false. They are not re-offending when they do get out. Less

than one in four re-offend at all while they’re on bail — and less than 4 percent re-offend violently. And then finally, that’s not what’s driving crime. Because if you added up all the cases in which people who were let out on bail re-offended while they were out on bail, it would be less than one eighth of the total crimes in any given year. Even if we decided to violate the constitution and deny everyone bail, we would still have an unacceptably high crime rate. So we are focused on the wrong thing.”

Simply hiring more police to enact the same policies won’t work, says Spickler. “It’s the old hammer and nail metaphor. When you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Sometimes you need a hammer. Sometimes that’s the right tool for the job — but not all the time.”

“The tough-on-crime approach is not working,” says Glass. “If it did work, we would see the fruits of that labor. We need a leader that is interested in investing in the communities and healing the city. People are really suffering in Memphis, suffering from trauma, suffering from poverty. There are real issues that need to be addressed, and by addressing some of those issues, like education or the housing crisis or low-wage jobs, naturally the outcome is that crime will be addressed. As long as we are able and capable of meeting people’s needs, the other stuff takes care of itself. Nobody believes that there are communities of people that are inherently bad or inherently violent. There are communities that are oppressed, and that oppression, it’s like an illness, the trauma, the sickness. Let’s start treating poverty like a public health crisis instead of treating communities like they’re just irredeemable and only worthy of punishment and punitive measures.”

“We need a leader that is interested in investing in the communities and healing the city. People are really suffering in Memphis, suffering from trauma, from poverty.”

Our critic picks the best films in theaters.

Fast X

The tenth Fast & Furious film rolls into theaters bigger and faster than ever. Vin Diesel protects his biggest family ever — Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Jason Statham, Ludacris, John Cena, Helen Mirren, Jason Momoa, Brie Larson, and many others — from Charlize freakin’ Theron as “Cipher,” a “cyberterrorist.” With a budget of $340 million freakin’ dollars, expect the explosions to be extremely large.

National Theater Live: Best of Enemies

Memphis director Robert Gordon’s documentary (co-directed by Morgan Neville) about the series of debates between Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley that were televised by ABC during the 1968 Demo-

cratic National Convention in Chicago was adapted for the stage by English writer James Graham. A filmed version of the acclaimed production starring Zachary Quinto and David Harewood, which originally ran in London’s West End, will get a screening at 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 21st, at the Malco Paradiso.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 James Gunn leads his crack cast of StarLord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldaña), Drax (Dave Bautista), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), and Groot (Vin Diesel, again!) on their final adventure before he jets off to run the DCU. The origin of ultraviolent antihero Rocket Racoon (Bradley Cooper) takes center stage in what Flyer writer Samuel X. Cicci called the best Marvel film in years.

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Rogue Cops

Stop hiring and rehiring people who are not good at their jobs.

General advice given to young people is to do their work well, lest they be red from their job. Being red holds a negative stigma and of course, for most people, can a ect the likelihood of future employment, especially in the same industry.

Yet this does not hold true for police o cers, it seems. Time and again we see police o cers engage in misconduct of all sorts yet remain on the force. Even ofcers who have lost their jobs are o en reinstated due to powerful police unions that negotiate pro-cop contracts. Worse yet, o cers who have lost their jobs have been hired by other police agencies as if they did nothing wrong. Most recently, Louisville, Kentucky, O cer Myles Cosgrove, who was red in 2021 for the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor, was hired by a neighboring county. Cosgrove red 16 rounds a er o cers entered Taylor’s apartment for a narcotics raid on March 13, 2020. Her boyfriend, not knowing they were o cers, red back with his lawful rearm and o cers returned the re, killing Taylor in the hallway.

Neither Cosgrove nor the other o cer whose bullet struck Taylor were charged. Because, sure, this makes sense — killing someone and failing to utilize the required body camera during a raid on her apartment should de nitely guarantee one future employment as an o cer. Ugh. But that is exactly what the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council voted in November 2022 to reinstate Cosgrove’s license. e problem of o cers remaining on the job or being rehired a er engaging in terrible work-related misconduct is remarkably common. In August 2021, Wisconsin Public Radio reported that some 200 o cers who had been red or resigned amidst misconduct investigations were still in the state’s employ. is is seemingly terrible decision-making on the part of the hiring agency, as studies, including one published in the Yale Law Journal found that cops who were red previously are more likely to be red again or to receive complaints of “moral character violations.” In another example, Timothy Loehmann, the o cer who fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland in 2014, had previously resigned from a suburban police force before being red for numerous issues. e Cleveland Police Department evidently did not check his personnel le.

Eddie Boyd III resigned from his job as an o cer in St. Louis, Missouri, a er he pistol-whipped a 12-year-old girl in the face, then a year later hit another child in the face with either his gun or handcu s and then falsi ed the report. No worries, Boyd was soon hired by a police department in St. Ann, Missouri, before moving on to — wait for it — Ferguson, Missouri.

Never to be outdone, Florida’s German Bosque, o en called “Florida’s Worst Cop,” was red for various misconduct than re-hired seven times. e last time Bosque was caught on body camera coaching a subordinate how to conceal the truth about a crime scene. Other allegations were for excessive use of force, misuse of police rearms, and stealing from suspects.

How is this possible?

First, there is no national database of o cers who have been red or who resign during misconduct cases, although it is clear in the case of Cosgrove that Robert Miller, chief deputy in Carroll County, was well aware of the o cer’s past when he hired the man. In other cases, perhaps the hiring agency did a poor job of conducting a background check, however absurd that sounds when hiring for a position that involves the use of lethal force.

Additionally, as Ben Grunwald, a Duke University law school professor, noted, sometimes hiring agencies actually want someone with a “cowboy cop” reputation. For example, in 2020 in Brevard County, Florida, there was an advertisement seeking to hire rogue o cers, with the local chapter of the Fraternal Order of the Police posting on Facebook speci cally to the “Bu alo 57” and “Atlanta 6” that it was hiring. e Bu alo 57 were 57 o cers who resigned following the suspension of two of their colleagues for pushing a 75-year-old protestor to the ground, and the Atlanta 6 were booked on felony charges for assaulting two college students who were Black Lives Matter protesters.

It is no wonder that community trust in police has been declining for years. A Post-ABC poll found in early 2023 that only 39 percent of those surveyed were con dent that police are adequately trained to avoid using excessive force, the lowest level since polling of its sort began in 2014. Likewise, a 2022 Gallup poll found only 45 percent of surveyed Americans were generally con dent in police, even lower than in the a ermath of the 2020 murder of George Floyd.

While there is much to be done to address the many problems with policing in the U.S., the x here seems quite simple: Stop hiring and rehiring people who are not good at their jobs.

Laura Finley, Ph.D.,

syndicated by PeaceVoice, teaches in the Barry University Department of Sociology & Criminology and is the author of several academic texts in her discipline.

PHOTO: JAROMÃR CHALABALA | DREAMSTIME.COM Stop rewarding incompetence.