CREATIVE LOAFING • CLTAMPA.COM 2021 (VOL.34, NO.09)
$ FREE • MAR. 04 - 10,
ALL FOR
NOTHING? FLORIDA SUPREME COURT DELIVERS ‘DEVASTATING BLOW’ TO PRO-TRANSIT VOTERS, BUT THE FIGHT ISN’T OVER.
each or try all three
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cltampa.com | MARCH 04 - MARCH 10, 2021 | 3
PUBLISHER James Howard EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ray Roa DIGITAL EDITOR Colin Wolf FOOD and THEATER CRITIC Jon Palmer Claridge FILM & TV CRITIC John Allman
COURTESY
CONTRIBUTORS Jeffrey C. Billman, Alexandria Jones, Deb Kent, Joe Newton, Stephanie Powers, Cory Robinson, Dan Savage, McKenna Schueler, Jim Turner INTERNS We don’t have any this semester. Apply via rroa@cltampa.com
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DESIGN & PRODUCTION MANAGER Jack Spatafora
Those easily offended are in for a rough night.
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PHOTOGRAPHERS Chandler Culotta, Dave SeaWorld in February, animal rights Decker claiming the practice of keeping wild d dangerous. But SENIOR even though public ACCOUNT atmany SeaWorld animal rights EXECUTIVES don’t in seeFebruary, a parallel between the kind claiming the practice of keeping wildZepeda Anthony Scott k, and the practice of Carbone, displaying animals nd dangerous. evenOr though publicfor a asking for tooBut much? is it time MARKETING, PROMOTIONS AND d, many don’t see a parallel between the kind t” animals? EVENTS DIRECTOR
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‘Sesame Street’ meets ‘The Exorcist’ at Straz Center, p. 37.
ck and the practice of displaying animals Alexis Quinn Chamberlain s asking for too much? Or is it time for a ent” animals? MARKETING, PROMOTIONS AND EVENTS INTERN Claire White
GROUP 40 Music: TampaEUCLID Bay BluesMEDIA Fest ........................... CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Andrew Zelman
Music Week ................................................... 42 Music: Tampa Bay Blues Fest ........................... Concert review: Artic Monkeys .......................... 42 CHIEF OPERATING OFFICERS40
Chris Keating, Michael Wagner42 Music ................................................... The ListWeek .......................................................... 46
VP OF DIGITAL SERVICES Stacy Volhein DIGITAL OPERATIONS COORDINATOR
Concert review: Artic Monkeys .......................... 42 Movie reviews ..................................................... 63 TheWill List Astrology .......................................................... 46 Free ......................................... 64 Jaime Monzon
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euclidmediagroup.com cltampa.com cldeals.com Savage Love ...................................................... 69 clspace.com
Free Will Astrology......................................... 64 Savage Love ...................................................... 69 Puzzler ........................................................... 66
EDITORIAL POLICY — Creative Loafing Tampa is a weekly newspaper covering public issues, the arts and entertainment. In our pages appear views from across the political and social spectrum. They do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher.
A&E ����������������������������������� 35 MUSIC WEEK ����������������������41 SAVAGE LOVE �������������������� 45 CROSSWORD ��������������������� 47
Creative Loafing Tampa is published by Tampa Weekly, LLC, 204 E. Henderson Ave. Tampa, FL 33602. The newspaper is available free of charge at locations throughout Tampa Bay and online at cltampa.com. 2020, Tampa Weekly, LLC. The cltv Copyright How was your Date? newspaper is produced and printed on m/cltv cltampa.com/movies How was Date?to Tampa Indigenous landyour belonging Bay’scltampa.com/movies Tocobaga and Seminole tribes.
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That’s a no from us
Investigators want CL to share information about protesters, here’s why we won’t. By Ray Roa and Colin Wolf CL feels that it’s not our job to help the state prosecute someone who was present at a protest. When our reporters and photographers head out to cover protests, or any event for the matter, they’re there to capture what they see so CL can publish it for our readers and the community to assess. We don’t withhold photos based on how they make protesters, counterprotesters or the police look. In fact, we’ve been asked in the past about removing photos of certain individuals—a request we’ve denied every time. If something is happening in a public space, our photographers can be there to capture it, and CL is going to publish what the photographer turns in. Whether it’s photographing an event or interviewing a subject, an important component of
None of the outlets we contacted would comment on record. We’re telling you this because this newsroom believes in providing our readers with as much transparency as possible. We believe in this newsroom’s independence and its obligation to tell the story of the community, supported by as many facts as we can find. We want to reiterate we filed a motion for protective order because it’s this newsroom’s position that it should not participate in the state’s prosecution. In fact, reporting on a state prosecution of someone at a protest is more in line with our obligation to our readers, so this post is an effort to do just that. Our readers’ trust is one of the most important things to CL, and we hope this effort at transparency is a step towards retaining it.
“We don’t know how the motion for protective order will play out in court.”
DAVE DECKER
F
or 33 years, Creative Loafing Tampa Bay has served the Bay area, and its mission has always been the same: To further create a more informed public and contribute to the formation of a just community by offering a consistent and free medium that is critical, fair, and focused on highlighting underserved and underreported voices and opinions. In the past few weeks, the legal process has tested that mission. Last month, a freelance photographer told us they were getting a visit from the state attorney’s office who asked them to sign an affidavit regarding a photo they took, and CL posted, documenting Tampa Bay’s first weekend of George Floyd protests. Investigators wanted our photographer to certify what time and date a photo published in CL was taken, confirmation that they indeed took the photo and whether or not they know the subject in the photo. After consulting a handful of journalism organizations and Tampa lawyer Joshua Sheridan, it was CL’s opinion that our photographer was under no legal obligation to sign the affidavit, so they declined. CL then retained Sheridan—a past story source and subject who we’ll no longer write about to prevent a conflict of interest—to assist our photographer in their dealings with prosecutors. A couple weeks later the photographer received a subpoena to testify virtually on Feb. 25. In response, Sheridan filed a motion for protective order on behalf of our photographer. In part, the order asks a judge to allow them to withhold testimony regarding the authenticity of the photo. Furthermore, the order argues that the state’s subpoena presents both an actual and/or perceived conflict of interest for the publication and that the testimony sought would violate the public trust regarding the journalistic integrity of this publication. Plus, the photo is already published online with the dateline and the photo credit, which arguably means that it does not need to be authenticated by our photographer specifically. Sheridan advised the prosecution that CL’s photographer would not testify until we got a ruling on the protective order. On Feb. 25, the court rescheduled our photographer’s subpoenaed testimony to June 17. We don’t know how the motion for protective order will play out in court, but in non-legal terms,
our media outlet is acting as a trusted member of this community, and maintaining transparent relationships with the people and sources we cover. Participating in law enforcement investigations, is a clear breach of this trust. To gain some more insight on this topic, CL reached out to a handful of local news outlets— including the Tampa Bay Times, WTSP, WFLA, WFTS and Bay News 9—to ask about how their newsroom policy would direct them to act. Specifically, CL asked these news organizations: • Has your outlet been contacted about signing affidavits that would verify any information in photos and/or video you’ve published? • Has your outlet received any subpoenas to testify about information in photos and/or video you’ve published? • If your outlet has received affidavits or subpoenas, did your outlet comply? Why or why not?
6 | MARCH 04 - MARCH 10, 2021 | cltampa.com
NEVER FART: Being asked to participate in a state prosecution stinks.
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“The court overturned one solution, they didn’t overturn all of [them].” POLITICS
ISSUES
OPINION
Just a detour
All for Transportation ruling is a ‘devastating blow’ but the fight isn’t over. By Ray Roa
I
n a 4-1 decision posted on Feb. 25, the Florida Supreme Court struck down a voter-approved one-cent transportation tax for Hillsborough County. The “All For Transportation” tax went into effect on Jan. 1, 2019 and has collected more than $472 million. The funds have been in escrow, unused in the wake of a lawsuit challenging the tax and filed two years ago by Hillsborough County Commissioner Stacy White; the court’s 25-page opinion does not say what will happen to the money. The tax passed in November 2018 when 57% of Hillsborough County voters approved a plan that would send 45% of the revenue to Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (HART) which could use the money to boost services. The rest of the county—along with the municipalities of Tampa, Plant City and Temple Terrace— would split the rest. Hillsborough’s Metropolitan Planning Organization would use 1% of the revenue for planning and oversight. In an email to Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, a spokesperson for HART said that as of the end of January 2021, the surtax already collected/allocated to HART was at $214,092,920.21. The Tampa Bay Business Journal points out that “The surtax would have impacted every community in Hillsborough County by raising $15.8 billion over 30 years to fix roads and provide much-need local funding for major projects [like] …the TECO Line Streetcar system extension and modernization project, bus rapid transit projects, a Cross Bay Ferry connection to MacDill Air Force Base... “ But language in the charter put restrictions on how the county and aforementioned municipalities could use the money to address transportation-related issues, and White’s lawsuit argued that the charter was unconstitutional and took power away from the County Commission. A circuit judge upheld the tax in 2019, but White appealed, which led to last week’s decision where Justice Jorge Labarga was the lone dissenter. “Because it cannot reasonably be said that the voters would have approved the tax without the accompanying spending plan, we must strike the charter amendment in its entirety,” Justice Charles Canady wrote.
The All for Transportation group has 15 days to file for a rehearing, but at a March 1 board meeting, HART lawyer David Smith said it was unlikely that HART would ask the Supreme Court to reconsider. Without an appeal, the court can start to work on issuing a mandate, which would make what’s going to happen to the collected funds a little more clear. Smith told the HART board that what happens to the money and Hillsborough’s 8.5% sales tax—the highest in the state—may end up being decided by a Hillsborough County Circuit Court judge. Last week, urban designer Joshua Frank told CL that the court’s decision is “a devastating blow to the residents of Hillsborough County, the City of Tampa, Plant City, and Temple Terrace’s public safety, transportation, and right to self-governance.” Tyler Hudson, co-chairman of the group that backed the tax, All for Transportation, called the court decision “an unprecedented act of judicial activism,” adding that the ruling “is an insult to Hillsborough County voters that will worsen our transportation crisis.” “HART’s mission is to take people to places that enhance their lives. Despite today’s ruling, that mission does not change. HART remains committed to providing transportation options to thousands of Hillsborough County residents daily—alleviating traffic and providing a more environmentally-friendly commute,” Carson Chambers, Director of Communications for HART, wrote in an email to CL last week. “HART’s challenge in our mission—funding—does not change. We continue to do more with less—as one of the most underfunded transit systems per capita in the country,” Chambers added. “One thing that is clear, Hillsborough County voters showed overwhelming support for alternative transportation solutions. We look forward to working with our community partners to continue HART’s mission and keep Hillsborough County moving.” Frank, who is the principal at the Wide Open Office firm, said the court’s decision is another example of how Tallahasse continues to “preempt and undo any attempt at collaborative, community Democracy and further illustrate their distance from understanding our local needs.”
“I call on all our local leaders and elected officials to once again shoulder the heavy burden of another attempt to make good on the promise made to those who voted for bringing transportation safety and greater connectivity to Hillsborough County and add the tax to the ballot in 2022,” Frank added. After the ruling, White called collection of the tax “reckless.” He also won't support any new referendum that comes before the commission. But leaders committed to finding transit solutions are soldiering on. “While the court overturned one solution, they didn’t overturn all of the solutions to this problem and they certainly didn’t overturn the problem itself,” Hudson told the HART board on Monday. All For Transportation noted the wide margin—58% of the vote and 77,000 petitions gathered—by which voters called for a tax increase in the name of improving
transit and said it agreed with Hudson, who added that, “Never before have the people who live here and the people who are elected here have been so aligned on what it’s going to take to fix our Transportation situation.” Tampa City Council chairman Luis Viera told the Tampa Bay Times the ruling was “a terrible blow for our community to be able to have self-determination involving transportation and mass transit.” He'll ask council to work with the commission to get a new referendum on the ballot. All For Transportation cofounder Christina Barker told the Times that the Supreme Court basically said “citizens cannot say how they want their tax dollars spent, that that is purely in the realm and power of the County Commission,” so her group is calling on the commission to “put back on, really, the exact same plan that voters voted on and passed in 2018.”
LOCAL NEWS
SEE YOU AT THE CROSSROADS: Pro-transit voices won’t let a recent Florida Supreme Court decision keep them from moving forward.
cltampa.com | MARCH 04 - MARCH 10, 2021 | 9
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DAVE DECKER
POWER SURGE: Police clash with protesters in Tampa, Florida on July 4, 2020.
Board game
New changes to Tampa’s Citizen Review Board will get first reading in May. By Ray Roa and McKenna Schueler
A
ctivists’ hopes for seeing any kind of real change for Tampa’s embattled Citizen Review Board (CRB) will have to wait for at least three more months. After hearing more than two hours of public comment on Feb. 25, and taking another two hours to workshop between themselves and the City of Tampa attorney’s office, Tampa City Councilman Bill Carlson fell on the sword and made a motion that City Attorney Gina Grimes and city council attorney Martin Shelby work together on a revised CRB ordinance to present to council for a first reading on May 20. Carlson’s motion passed without opposition. During the public comment, council heard from community members, and representatives of the local ACLU chapter, who advocated for changes to existing language within the contentious CRB ordinance. To recap, these changes concerned requests for: • The ability of the CRB to receive complaints about the Tampa Police Department
(TPD) directly, rather than having complaints filtered through the TPD • Reducing the number of appointments made to the board by the mayor • Giving the review board subpoena power to investigate officer-involved incidents (not subpoena individual officers) • Establishing an independent attorney for the CRB that is unaffiliated with the city government Advocates for a strong CRB hit on a number of talking points to appeal to the council, including enhanced community trust in policing, greater transparency, increased accountability, as well as potential savings for taxpayers. Tiffany Hilton, a local Stetson Law student who spoke to the council last Thursday, highlighted TPD’s track record in paying out millions of dollars in settlements regarding police misconduct—$3.8 million, specifically, between 2006 to 2011 according to a study of police settlements in 19 municipalities. Although this wasn’t the largest sum among the cities studied, Tampa did rank first for the number
LOCAL NEWS
of settlements paid out for violations of civil rights. In 2017, the Tampa Police Department paid out $85,000 to settle two claims for K-9 bite injuries. Across Tampa Bay, taxpayers shouldered a bill of nearly $2 million for accusations of the misuse of K-9s and civilians injured by accidental K-9 bites. City Council also heard from self-proclaimed community patriots who more or less parroted talking points from the local Police Benevolent Association (PBA) president who penned a Tampa Bay Times op-ed which said, in part, “...these proposals will actually do very little to improve the public’s trust and increase accountability and, instead, they will create a highly charged political bureaucracy aimed solely at second-guessing and undermining the credibility of the men and women in blue, who put their lives on the line every day to protect our communities.” Greater Tampa Chapter of the ACLU of Florida legal panel member Julius Adams penned a rebuttal op-ed, which said, in part, that “Everyone—police and residents of Tampa— benefits from a review board that has earned the respect of the community, and can be a real voice for the community.” For two hours after a lunch recess, council members gave impassioned testimony, but rarely came to a consensus on exactly how and exactly which changes to adopt. In the end, council members voted unanimously to:
• Allow anyone arrested for a misdemeanor to be appointed to serve the board, or continue serving on the board, as long as they took a leave of absence to resolve the charges • Ask Grimes and her team to start working on a 2022 amendment that would allow the CRB to hire an independent lawyer Subpoena power for the CRB When it came to one of the biggest asks—giving limited subpoena powers to the CRB—council members decided that voters should make that decision. In a post-workshop email to Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, attorney James Shaw Jr., an ACLU volunteer who worked countless hours with others to work on drafting proposed changes to the CRB, reiterated that the proposed changes would mean the CRB can issue subpoenas to civilians but not to officers. Boards in Miami, Miami-Dade County, Broward County, Orange County, and Key West can all issue subpoenas, just like anyone engaged in a civil suit. “Calling subpoenas ‘radical’ just isn’t honest. Subpoenas are available in every court case. If your doorbell camera records a car accident in front of your house and a lawsuit results, the plaintiff or defendant can subpoena your footage and show it to the jury even if there’s only $15 at stake,” Shaw wrote. continued on page 14
cltampa.com | MARCH 04 - MARCH 10, 2021 | 11
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continued from page 11 To him, public confidence in the courts’ conclusions is more important than any one person’s right to decide who gets to see a video of public concern. “People won’t trust the conclusion if important evidence goes unexamined,” Shaw added. Without the subpoena power, someone with footage of an officer committing a crime could hide it from the rest of the city if they misguidedly thinks they’re “supporting” the police by helping them get away with misconduct, or if they’re afraid they’ll get harassed by Back the Blue types, or if he’d just rather not get involved. Shaw cited the 1963 8mm color motion picture sequence shot by Abraham Zapruder, which showed John F. Kennedy being assassinated. “What if we had never seen the Zapruder film because Mr. Zapruder thought his right to do whatever he wants with his film was more important than the country’s right to know what happened in Dallas?,” Shaw asked. Shaw is unsure why the PBA is fighting so hard against subpoena power; he argues that the reformed CRB would be uniquely situated to assure the public that the results of an internal investigation were correct and trustworthy. But that can only happen if the CRB has the public’s trust. “It won’t have [that trust] if the public knows that there’s video footage that the CRB never got to review or eyewitness testimony that it never got to hear,” he wrote. Playing the long game The lack of clarity might be frustrating to some hoping to see council members take harder stances. During public comment, Kelly Benjamin, an activist with Tampa For Justice and occasional CL contributor said, “We’ve been going at this for nine months. We could have had a child by now. Let’s move forward.” But the move to ask for the May 20 reading signals that council is taking the changes suggested by the ACLU and activists seriously.
Pro-police speakers were all largely OK with the city proposal presented by Grimes’ team at the Feb. 25 meeting. Darla Portman, the city’s police union president, recently told the Times she’s “completely satisfied” with the city’s proposal... I’m like a kid in a toy store. If I get a few presents and they get a few presents. I’m good. I don’t need the whole toy store.” “Legislation is a slow process that burns a lot of energy for a little bit of change,” Shaw added in his email to CL. “Having a strong CRB that the public can respect is important, but it’s not the magical answer that solves centuries-old problems overnight.” At one point in the workshop, Councilman Orlando Gudes—a former cop—said real change won’t come until the police get the inside of the house in order. Shaw agreed. “Law-enforcement officers have tremendous power. They can ruin or even end other people’s lives without a moment’s forethought, and they enjoy pretty much de facto immunity from consequences,” Shaw said. No one else enjoys power like that, and Shaw believes that power needs checks and balances from the outside and from within. It’s no secret that there are some cops who abuse that power by using it for personal ends, by using force that isn’t necessary, by withholding the benefit of the doubt where it’s deserved or giving it where it isn’t. Some cops are untruthful when they know they’ll be believed, and others use their power to keep some people down and lift others up according to their personal biases. For Shaw, police who do that do so at the expense of the public’s trust in them. “They have to get to a place culturally where they hold one another accountable. A CRB helps that happen by holding accountable those who fail to hold others accountable. It’s a step in the right direction and a step better taken than not taken,” Shaw said. “But in the end, something more fundamental has to change. This was just a small step toward that.”
DAVE DECKER
WHO’S WATCHING THEM? Police observe protests in Tampa, Florida on May 31, 2020.
14 | MARCH 04 - MARCH 10, 2021 | cltampa.com
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Right to work
Sarasota professor cited in argument for federal jobs guarantee. By McKenna Schueler
O
n Feb. 18, Congressional ‘squad’ member and House Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) unveiled a resolution calling for a federal jobs guarantee, which would guarantee employment to every adult in the United States as a legal right. “It’s time to establish a legal right to a job for all people in America,” Pressley shared during a Thursday press conference. “For years, we have legislated hate, harm and injustice in this country. It’s long past time to pursue bold, intentional policies that affirm equity and recognize the dignity and humanity of all people.” The resolution builds upon the advocacy of Civil Rights leaders like Corretta Scott King and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and cites the works of political economists like Dr. Mark Paul, an assistant professor at The New College in Sarasota, who has written extensively on why the United States needs a federal job guarantee. Essentially, the resolution proposes a public option for employment, whereby all adults in the United States would be guaranteed a job in the public sector with non-poverty wages— beginning at $15 an hour. Crucially, this could provide gainful employment for populations who, on average, experience higher jobless rates, including formerly incarcerated people, people with disabilities, and people of color. Pressley’s proposal comes as the U.S. faces ongoing economic precarity and elevated unemployment rates, spurred by the COVID-19 crisis. Earlier this month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a 6.3% unemployment rate, down 0.4% from the previous month but still above pre-pandemic levels. As of December of 2020, the preliminary unemployment rate in Tampa Bay, including Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater, was reported at 5.2%— or about 80,000 people. In the Tampa area and Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, jobless rates are about twice as high as they were in December of 2019. Pressley’s proposal complements full employment legislation filed by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Representatives Bonnie Watson-Coleman (D-NJ) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) in 2018 and 2019, which called for the development of federal job guarantee pilot programs in up to 15 local communities experiencing high unemployment. Both the resolution and legislation filed in recent years models a job guarantee pilot program proposed in 2018 by local New College
professor Dr. Mark Paul, Dr. William “Sandy” Darrity Jr., and Dr. Darrick Hamilton of the New School, who joined Pressley on Thursday to support her vision for a nation where everyone has access to a job that provides a living wage. Paul, who is currently on research leave to finish a book project entitled “Freedom Is Not Enough: Economic Rights for an Unequal World” under contract with the Chicago University Press, agreed to an interview with Creative Loafing Tampa Bay to explain the significance of a federal job guarantee and how the impact of a job guarantee could be seen locally. Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity. See highlights here and read all of it via cltampa.com/magazine.
Q&A
Pressley cited work by subject matter experts like yourself and Professor Darrick Hamilton. For those who are unfamiliar with this policy, can you briefly explain—in your own words—what a federal job guarantee is and its significance? So, a federal job guarantee is a relatively straightforward policy, where the federal government would directly employ workers to do socially necessary work at a living wage in order to eliminate unemployment and poverty level wages, once and for all. It’s an idea with a rich American history which has dated back to the New Deal, when President Roosevelt implemented multiple, what we call, direct employment programs. In other words, programs where the federal government took the unemployed workers off the streets and gave them dignified work at living wages, which you know, not only gave these people purpose but also ensured that they had money to take home to keep a roof over their family’s head and food on the table. And, you know, which provided massive benefits to the society as a whole, whether it be through building airports, schools, bridges, roads, creating public art, public education. At its core, the job guarantee is really this all-American idea that seeks to eliminate unemployment and provide true, guaranteed full employment for the American people as a basic human right.
“Locally, jobless rates are about twice as high as they were in December of 2019.”
Do you see any difference in the scope of support for a policy like this from, say, Roosevelt’s time to support for this policy today? Right now, the job guarantee is one of the most popular policies that I’ve ever seen polled.
GOOD IM-PRESSLY: Ayanna Pressley’s jobs guarantee would have a significantly large impact on Tampa Bay. Gallup ran a poll during the pandemic that asked likely voters whether or not they believed that the government should provide paid work opportunities over the next few years for people who are currently unemployed—93% of Americans support such a policy.
And the crazy thing here is that 87% of Republicans actually support a job guarantee, but it shouldn’t be that surprising. I mean, as a matter of fact, this country was founded on this Puritan work ethic that anybody who’s willing continued on page 19
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continued from page 17 to work, to be able to find a job, should not live within poverty. Yet we’re wracked with this economic crisis that leads to wide-scale unemployment and mass suffering that is purely avoidable if the government were to step in and employ these people. And what we find in the data shows that Democrats, Republicans, Independents, you name it, all support this policy and get that if somebody is unemployed, the government has a fundamental role to play to put them to work doing important things in the community, and make sure that that person doesn’t fall into severe poverty.
You know, I mean, Tampa is one of the most climate-prone cities in the country. And there’s just so much work to be done to make the city, more resilient to climate change, and also to decarbonize the city, which will not only save residents a tremendous amount of money through lower utility bills, but will also stop the city from contributing to greenhouse gas emissions which fuel climate change. So I think that there’s no shortage of work to be done. There is unfortunately no shortage
Do you have any idea what the impact of a federal job guarantee would look like locally, and can you explain that for readers? Locally, we know that Florida still has a significantly elevated unemployment rate, where well more than two times as many Floridians are currently counted officially as unemployed than prior to the crisis. However, the unemployment rate is a terrible measure to understand what’s actually happening on the ground for everyday people right now. What we know is that large swathes of Floridians have simply dropped out of the labor force because it’s unsafe to search for a job, or because of the fact that there just are very few jobs to be had in the first place. So if we actually look at the number of Floridians that are either unemployed officially or have left the labor market altogether since the crisis began, you know, we’re actually looking at an unemployment rate in Florida that’s well into the double digits still. So, you know, what does the job guarantee mean here in the Tampa region? Two things. One is it means that anybody who wants a job and non-poverty wages can find one. Imagine if, you know, all of your neighbors, your friends, your loved ones knew that they never have to worry about taking care of their family because the boss let them go. They’d be able to go find a job with the government, making enough money to make ends meet. I mean, it’s hard to overstate how transformative that would be. But, you know, on the other side, let’s also think about how it could transform the actual infrastructure of the Tampa Bay area. So, you know, I always challenge people to walk outside their front door, talk to their neighbors, stroll through their community and think about the important types of jobs that need to be done. And during the COVID crisis, maybe it’s grocery delivery, maybe it’s spending time talking with the elderly who live alone and are really struggling with mental health problems during this crisis. Maybe it’s engaging in climate mitigation and adaptation.
DR. MARK PAUL
“There’s no shortage of work to be done.”
According to The Prison Policy Initiative, formerly incarcerated people are unemployed at a rate of about 27%—higher than than the total U.S. unemployment rate during any historical period, including the Great Depression. Would a federal job guarantee policy open pathways for formerly incarcerated people to achieve gainful employment opportunities? Yeah, you know, unfortunately we have a labor market that discriminates against all sorts of people... The labor market discriminates against people for the color of their skin. The labor market discriminates against people for their gender. The labor market discrimi-
BETTER CALL PAUL: Pressley cited this Sarasota professor in calls for a federal jobs guarantee. of unemployed people, and the job guarantee brings those people and that work that needs to be done together, whereas the private market, you know [it fails] right now in doing that, largely because a lot of the work that needs to be done isn’t work that provides major private profits and instead it provides improvements in social wellbeing.
nates against people for previous acts such as criminal activity or bouts of incarceration. This is deeply problematic if we’re interested in building, you know, a just and equitable society. Most people earn a living through the labor market. Yet the labor market systematically denies fair opportunities to people that have either done nothing wrong, and
were simply born with a different shade of skin than somebody else, or have done their time. I mean, previously incarcerated individuals have served their time and should have fair and equitable opportunities in the economy. Yet we know from the data that that’s precisely not what happens. The job guarantee, you know, would be a transformative policy for groups that are traditionally stigmatized in the labor market, like previously incarcerated people. And one of the main reasons for recidivism is a lack of economic opportunity. You know, it’s really hard...for people to get out of jail, and to already know that they’re going to be ostracized from society...to know that they’re going to struggle to find a decent job and safe housing is just really an inhumane way to treat fellow Americans. And the job guarantee would be a pivotal policy to end continued discrimination and terrible treatment. What are the top misconceptions you hear or read about a federal job guarantee? What bad-faith talking points do you think Tampa Bay readers should be aware of in the federal job guarantee discourse? Yeah, great question. So you know that the biggest knock against policy, people claim that it’s a make-work policy. And, well, why don’t we just give folks a universal basic income? Why, you know, why do we need to force them to work? I fundamentally disagree with that for a couple of reasons. So, first of all, I think a policy like a job guarantee coupled with some form of income guarantee such as, let’s say, a negative-income tax makes the most sense to me. But a job guarantee is by no stretch of the imagination a make-work program. If you just go look at what...workers were able to accomplish under previous direct employment programs, whether it be the Works Progress Administration. during the New Deal or the Civilian Conservation Corps, it’s truly tremendous. But you know, as I mentioned earlier, you know, talk to your friends and loved ones and brainstorm one evening over what types of jobs can be done in your community that would improve not only your well-being, but also the, you know, the well being of your neighbors. There’s no shortage of work to be done. What there’s a shortage of is work to be done that creates massive profits for private employers. And that’s precisely the time where the government should step in with a job guarantee program, and put people to work doing socially-useful tasks, whether that’s care work, whether that’s, you know, climate mitigation work, whether that’s, you know, building our physical infrastructure. You know, there’s no shortage of really important things to be done that would improve our lives in deeply meaningful ways.
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Let it flow
GINNIE IN A BOTTLE: Nestle is projected to draw 400 million gallons of water a year from the Ginnie Springs area.
Nestle allowed to continue bottling 1 million gallons a day of spring water for just $115. By Jim Turner/News Service of Florida
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estle Waters North America will be able to ramp up bottling to nearly 1 million gallons of water a day at a North Florida plant after a permit was approved on Feb. 23 over the objections of opponents who said it will continue degradation of the state’s natural springs and rivers. After hours of public comment, mostly opposed to the proposal, the Suwannee River Water Management District Governing Board approved a permit application from Seven Springs Water Co. that will help Nestle expand its bottled-water operations in Gilchrist County. Board members said the vote was taken under protest to keep open the ability to challenge an administrative law judge’s recommendation backing the permit. Yet a couple of board members said after the vote the issue has been vetted for nearly two years, and they weren’t ready to spend more on a challenge. “If we go back and spend thousands of dollars on appeal on a technicality, I’m not in favor of that,” board Member Larry Thompson said. Environmentalists, considering their own legal challenge, said approval of the application will lead to further degradation of springs and rivers that are already requiring millions of dollars in restoration efforts. They also contended
the permit, which had a $115 application fee, involves giving away natural resources without adequate compensation. “This is not something that will benefit in any way, shape or form this county and any other county,” professional mermaid Michelle Colson said. “Nestle already bottles water in five different springs to be exact, and they don’t need this water, putting our spring water in bottles that are then going to end up in the rivers and the oceans, in landfills. It’s just not a good use for our spring water that as we all know is already in danger.” Joe Little, an attorney representing Florida Defenders of the Environment and Our Santa Fe River, said his groups will discuss plans to legally challenge the permit for failing to provide a monetary benefit to the state as Nestle will pay Seven Springs to draw a projected 400 million gallons of water a year from the Ginnie Springs area. “If the district grants this permit without requiring it to be amended to provide for payment of substantial amounts of money to the state of Florida, it is not consistent with the public interest of Florida,” Little said. State Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, said the decision is a step backward in revitalizing state waters. “The fact that a private company with a small permit fee can be granted permission
FLORIDA NEWS
to pump upwards of a million gallons of water constantly is something that every Floridian should be upset by, no matter where you live in the state,” Eskamani said in an online news conference after the meeting. Doug Manson, an attorney representing Seven Springs, disagreed with people who contended the permit will result in negative environmental impacts. Manson said water flow issues were thoroughly reviewed by staff members of the water management district. “They found that there wouldn’t be environmental impacts, there was not going to be any issue with the pumpage and reductions in spring flow or the river,” Manson said. “So, those issues were looked at by staff before you got to the (administrative) proceeding.” Manson added, “We believe that after two years of going through this, an immense amount of money that it took from Seven Springs to be able to defend the permit, that at this point, there should be a finality to it.” Nestle factory employees, who expressed concerns about the future of the plant and their jobs, and the county government backed the permit. Gilchrist County Administrator Bobby Crosby said the bottling permit is tied to $545,783, or about 7%, of annual ad valorem and personal property taxes. “With around 35% of our citizens only paying (property) taxes, that 7% is a very large number to us,” Crosby said. Seven Springs applied to draw 984,000 gallons a day from the aquifer that serves as a source for the Ginnie Springs area and pipe it to the Nestle plant. Seven Springs, which is headed by owners of the private Ginnie Springs Outdoors park along the Santa Fe River, has
an expiring 20-year permit that allows 1.152 million gallons of water a day to be pumped. Until the new permit application was filed, top demand for water at the Seven Springs site reached 265,900 gallons a day. Nestle plans to expand output of the plant by updating one old production line and adding two new production lines over the next five years, the life of the permit. The water management district last year indicated it would not approve the permit, spurring Seven Springs to file a challenge in the state Division of Administrative Hearings. In part, the district pointed to the water being used by Nestle, while the permit would be held by Seven Springs. Last month, Administrative Law Judge G.W. Chisenhall issued a 44-page order recommending that the district approve the permit, writing Seven Springs, which has supplied water to the local bottling plant since 1998, has “provided reasonable assurances, supported by competent, substantial evidence during the final hearing” that the plant would be able to process the requested amount of water. “Seven Springs provided competent, substantial, and unrebutted evidence of the contractual obligation between it and Nestle, and of the obligation for all water to be used at the … bottling plant,” Chisenhall wrote. “Thus, the district now has reasonable assurances that all of the water withdrawn by Seven Springs will be utilized for a beneficial use, i.e., bottled water for personal consumption.” Under administrative law, Chisenhall’s recommended order had to go back to the water management district for final action.
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The magic number
Senate Dems represent 56.5% of the country. Mitch McConnell and Joe Manchin control their agenda. By Jeffrey C. Billman Senate election cycles—one-third of senators are elected every two years—Democrats have won the aggregated national vote 50–43. They currently represent 56.5% of Americans. But the Senate is split 50–50, and progressives find themselves at the mercy of their caucus’s most conservative members—specifically, Joe
BIDEN HIS TIME: Democrats must form broad, fragile coalitions to govern—but for how long? Manchin of West Virginia, whose state backed Trump by 39 points. The math is simple: Without Manchin, they can’t get 50 votes. Without 50 votes—and Vice President Kamala Harris as the Senate’s tiebreaker—they can’t do anything.
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so probably requires an unlikely 60 votes. A more straightforward option, former Obama aide Dan Pfeiffer advised, is for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to fire and replace the parliamentarian, as Republicans did in 2001. The White House immediately announced that it wasn’t interested. The left seethed, accusing Biden of hiding behind procedural minutia to abandon a core campaign promise. The anger is justified. Adjusted for inflation, the minimum wage is worth $4.30 per hour less than it was in 1968, and since 1978, while CEO salaries increased by 1,008%, workers’ paychecks jumped just 12%. Such inequality is unsustainable as well as reprehensible. But there’s no guarantee the demanded solution would produce the desired result. Again, there’s a math problem: The Byrd rule aside, Democrats don’t have 50 votes to raise the minimum wage, and the White House won’t risk the entire bill over one piece of it. There’s also a time crunch. Without the minimum wage, the American Rescue Plan has a clear runway to passage before federal COVID assistance runs out in two weeks. But if Democrats play parliamentary hardball or try putting the screws to the holdouts, the legislation could become a slog, bog down remaining Cabinet nominations, and force a confrontation with Manchin that Schumer wants to avoid just six weeks into the new administration. Remember, broad coalitions are fragile. Still, the White House can’t shrug off its promise indefinitely. Losing is one thing; not bothering to fight is another. Hiding behind parliamentary arcana is the weakest excuse of all. The silver lining: Assuming no last-minute fix materializes, this won’t be the last bite at the minimum-wage apple. Sen. Bernie Sanders is prepping an infrastructure bill for later this year that will also move via reconciliation, giving Democrats time to develop a Byrd-rule strategy and get Manchin and Sinema on board. Or they could stop worrying about antiquated norms and get on with the inevitable. The parliamentarian and the Byrd rule only matter because of the filibuster. So long as it exists, McConnell’s minority—which represents 43.5% of Americans—will control their agenda: the climate crisis, voting rights, LGBTQ protections, and anything else they can’t squeeze into reconciliation will die. And when Democrats don’t deliver, they’ll pay the price. That’s McConnell’s playbook. Sooner or later, Democrats—Manchin and Sinema included—will have to decide whether they want to govern or let Republicans hold them hostage. They can’t do both. Get Informed Dissent delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe today at billman. substack.com.
INFORMED DISSENT
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et’s stipulate something at the outset: There was no circumstance under which President Biden’s American Rescue Plan would get Republican support. Not if it came in under $1 trillion. Not if it was stripped of funding for the arts or Planned Parenthood. Not if no one whispered the words “minimum wage.” This was fated from the moment the second hand struck A-Democrat-Is-President o’clock, and Mitch McConnell dusted off his old playbook. Like Barack Obama, Joe Biden responded to a crisis he inherited by proposing a large stimulus that polls very well, even among Republicans. But as in 2009, Republicans see no upside to working with the new president. If the economy bounces back, they figure, Biden will get credit regardless. But by withholding their votes and making the bill partisan, they can take some bloom off the rose. After all, hadn’t Biden promised to unite the country? In 2009, this worked splendidly. Obama’s overtures to Republicans watered down the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act until it was too small and too loaded with inefficient tax cuts to quickly juice a languishing economy. Republican messaging about a convoluted process and out-of-control spending stuck, laying the groundwork for GOP gains in 2010. You’re watching what they hope will be the sequel. Biden learned from Obama’s experience. His $1.9 trillion bill is front loaded with tangible stuff, not abstruse “shovel-ready projects”: $1,400 stimulus checks, $400-a-week unemployment supplements, a $3,600-per-child allowance, billions for schools and vaccines. By year’s end, Biden wants the pandemic under control and the economy cranking, putting him in a stronger position than Obama was 11 years ago. For Republicans, replaying 2009 would seem like a risky move. Yet they feel no pressure to bend. No Republican supported the bill in the House on Friday; few if any are likely to in the Senate, either. The party can enforce this orthodoxy because—owing to our institutions’ rural bias—Republicans don’t need majorities to gain power. Senate Republicans haven’t represented a majority of Americans in 22 years, though they’ve controlled the Senate for twothirds of that time. Democrats, by contrast, must form broad, fragile coalitions to govern. Over the last three
That brings us to Thursday, when the Senate’s parliamentarian declared that the provision of the American Rescue Plan raising the minimum wage violated the “Byrd rule” governing budget reconciliation, the process Democrats are using to circumvent a filibuster and its impossible 60-vote threshold. The decision let Manchin off the hook. He’d opposed the hike on the ground that $15 an hour was too high for low-cost states. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, meanwhile, complained that the provision didn’t belong in a COVID relief bill, a convenient dodge.
But as progressives pointed out, the parliamentarian doesn’t have the final word. That belongs to Harris, who, as the Senate’s presiding officer, can disregard the parliamentarian. The Senate can try to overrule her, but the Congressional Research Office has said doing
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Shit Happened TUESDAY 23
TUESDAY 02
Tripadvisor releases its annual “World’s Best Beaches for 2021” list, and St. Pete Beach takes the top spot in the U.S., and fifth globally. Nearby, Madeira Beach is ranked ninth, Treasure Island Beach is 16th and Clearwater Beach comes in at 18th. Looks like the “Floribama Shore” “puke and rally campaign” really paid off.
WFLA runs a story headlined “South Tampa residents concerned local food pantry is doing more harm than good.” Bill Carlson tells the station that Tampa City Council has received two complaints about it and is looking into the matter. The Gandy Civic Center says it’s adding security to keep people from hanging out there, but pretty cool that one angry resident quoted in the piece gets to go on the news and make an effort to feed the hungry look problematic.
More to love in the heart of s a fe t y h a r b o r
Attorney, minimum-wage hike activist and billboard mainstay John Morgan shows up on Twitter wearing a meat sweatsuit gifted to him from fast-food chain Arby’s. The stunt was an apology after Morgan posited that Arby’s parking lots are by and large empty, and wondered colorfully about their business model, adding “How the fuck do they stay in business?” By owning you and settling the beef on social media, John, that’s how.
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WEDNESDAY 24
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CL contributors Dave Decker and McKenna Schueler cover CPAC for our sibling publication Orlando Weekly. Predictably, they run into Proud Boys, neo-Nazis and often-maskless conservatives praising their Trump Lord and complaining about getting “canceled.” We’re recommending Dave and McKenna get tested for COVID-19.
Until March 14, St. Pete Beach’s Boulevard Burgers and Tap House is giving anyone named Karen a free burger. The offer is in exchange for all the meme-driven vitriol Karens endure these days. Ironically, it’s been people not-named-Karen who were triggered by the promotion. More shit to fill your eyeholes, daily at cltampa. com/news.
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OPENINGS & CLOSINGS RESTAURANTS
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Poetry on a plate
Spam, and Ron expects the menu to evolve over time. 325. N Florida Ave., Tampa. hyatt.com
Downtown Tampa’s new Izakaya-style concept leads a new round of restaurant updates. By Alexandria Jones and Stephanie Powers
Now open Haiku The Instagrammable space, filled with lush greenery and neon, is located on the bottom floor of downtown Tampa’s Element apartments. Inside, Chef David Reyes created a creative menu focusing on Izakaya-style food (Izakaya is a “type of informal Japanese bar that serves alcoholic drinks and small plates” according to a press release—think Japanese tapas). It’s a no-brainer that shareables are the star of the Asian-fusion menu: duck bao buns, hamachi crudo, and tebasaki wings. But there are plenty of entrees for anyone who’s bad at sharing, like pork belly fried rice and umami glazed salmon. Plus various wood fired Yakitori, sushi and market price toro. There’s an impressive bar menu, too, with a lychee smoked old fashioned and a stacked sake list. Legit. Devoted foodies might remember that the space was supposed to open as a different Asian fusion and cocktail bar called Shibui, which was part of a partnership between Nocturnal Hospitality Group and celebrity chef Fabio Viviani’s Viviani Hospitality Group. But then all that Nocturnal Hospitality Group bullshit happened, leading Viviani to the pull out of the partnership and related projects. A rep for Haiku told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that Haiku has no affiliation or ownership ties with Nocturnal group. “[Haiku] was bought by new owners: Asad Yusupov and Kevin Stowe, Phoenix Hospitality Group,” the rep wrote in an email. “They’re also the new owners of Eden (formerly Franklin Manor) that will be opening at the end of March. Chef Fabio is not involved either.” 808 N Franklin St., Tampa. haikutampa.com Hyatt House and Hyatt Place It’s two hotel concepts under one roof, and it’s now open in downtown Tampa across from City Hall. For now, the hotel’s drinking and dining option is
the lobby-level Corazon Bar and Restaurant which offers “regionally inspired lunch and dinner” items like a Cuban sandwich, fish tacos, and crispy yucca with avocado crema. Guests can also hit the H Market for grab-and-go snacks and groceries 24/7, but buried in the grand opening news was the announcement of a Junmai Station, a new concept from the owners of Seminole Heights’ Ebisu Sushi Shack.
COURTESY
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ew Japanese spot. Now open on Franklin Street. Sounds pretty damn good. Read about Haiku—plus more local foodie news about hotels, St. Petersburg food halls, coffee, mead and groceris—below, and make sure to bookmark cltampa.com/food to get these updates in real time.
Coming soon 22 South The Historic Manhattan Casino is bringing a full-service food hall concept to South St. Petersburg’s Deuces neighborhood. St. Pete Rising says 22 South Food Hall will consist of six concepts serving sushi, Cajun, Jamaican, American, and barbecue. Chef Melly from popular food truck Three Generations Food Truck is confirmed as a vendor. Space for private dining, an extensive wine list with wines from around the world, and a sangria bar will also be inside. The only other eatery that used a full-service menu in a food hall setting was The
STAY GOLDEN: Uramaki at Haiku, with tenderloin, shiitake, asparagus, red pepper, Hollandaise and gold flake. In a phone call with CL, Ron Simmons said his wife Akemi, who is from Kobe, Japan, wanted to open a more traditional Japanese concept less focused on sushi (although Junmai will have some sushi bowl options). The spot will open on the Kennedy Boulevard side of the double Hyatt and feature onigiri—aka stuffed rice balls—as its signature dish. Onigiri is a staple food in Japan, and Junmai’s versions will lean more western-style suffings like tuna mayo or
Hall on Franklin, which was located beneath CL’s Tampa Heights office until it closed late last year. Although an exact opening date on 22 South is TBA, the Historic Manhattan Casino is scheduled to open mid-March. 642 22nd St. S, St. Petersburg. @22southfoodhall on Facebook Buddy Brew In early January, after Union by Commune + Co. announced its closure at Armature Works, CL asked PR reps at Buddy Brew to confirm a rumor that the locally-owned
chain would open a new location at the Tampa Heights food hall. “I spoke with the Wards, and no, they cannot confirm this,” the rep told CL. But on Monday Buddy Brew—which has locations on Bay to Bay and in Hyde Park Village, Oxford Exchange, Tampa International Airport and downtown Sarasota—announced plans to move into the food hall, with co-founder Dave Ward writing, “Armature Works is a special place that has so much architectural and cultural history, and it was a perfect fit for Buddy Brew’s latest expansion.” The space, which PR reps said will indeed live in the former Union by Commune + Co. stall, will serve coffee products as well as “a full breakfast and lunch menu, including Buddy Brew’s signature avocado toast with poached eggs.” Tampa Bay Business Journal reported Monday’s news ahead of the press release and said wife-and-husband team Susan and Dave Ward have a relationship with Armature Works co-founder Chas Bruck, whose company SoHo Capital owns Buddy Brew’s Bay to Bay cafe and its production facility on West Cass Street. Dave Ward did not disclose costs for opening the 450 square-foot Armature location—which could open as soon as the end of this month—but did tell TBBJ that “It was a very fortuitous deal... From a sales per square foot perspective, [the new location] should be the best performer by far.” 1910 N Ola Ave., Tampa. buddybrew.com— Ray Roa Pye Road Meadworks Owned by husband and wife Matt and Debbie McDonough, the Pye Road wants to open this month and will operate at a little over half-capacity inside (outdoor seating is available, too). Located in the Hillsborough sector of Odessa, Pye Road also offers craft beer for those not interested in drinking mead. “Our focus will be on both the big, fruited sweet meads and lighter, carbonated, lower ABV meads suited for a hot summer day in Florida,” Matt McDonough told CL. 8533 Gunn Hwy., Odessa. pyeroad.com Whole Foods St. Petersburg’s Suncoast Fitness has shared plans to move out this summer and make room for its landlord to build a Whole Foods. The location, close to the Old Northeast neighborhood, would be the first Whole Foods for St. Petersburg, and would live just a few blocks from the corner where two Publix markets are across the street from each other and just a mile from Fresh Market and Trader Joes. 203 38th Ave. N, St. Petersburg. wholefoodsmarket.com
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That’s cool
The St. Pete Free Fridge is now open. By Stephanie Powers
S
t. Pete Free Fridge has opened its com“It’s not a dump site,” Moore said, “We know munity refrigerator outside of Bandit people have good intentions, but be mindful of Coffee in the Grand Central District of what you bring.” St. Petersburg. And as much as you think the world needs Last summer in Tampa, the Free Fridge to taste your bolognese, St. Pete Free Fridge is was only up for two days before a cop called in not looking for homemade items. Other no-nos code enforcement who shut the include: raw meat and anything project down. The fridge, which that is easily spoiled or expired. was unplugged and out of use at Nothing opened is allowed, and the time, was not great at keepthere’s absolutely no alcohol. ing things cold. The Fridge, will, however, This time around, organizers got a new fridge take fresh produce, eggs, oils, spices, drinks and moved it to a spot covered in shade at the coffee and pantry items for the shelf nearby. shop, located at 2662 N. Central Ave. Volunteers Free Fridge volunteers are also in need of worked for three others to help weekends buildwith upkeep by ing an insulated getting in the shelter, which is habit of stopalso hurricane ping by before proof. or after work. The project Helping is easy is one of many and includes things like local mutual aid tidying up the efforts which pantry and give Tampa Bay throwing out organizations and individuals expired food. more chances to The fridge improve the lives is open roughly of their neighfrom dusk until bors. Recently, dawn. There are mutual aid has no set times— become repopvolunteers do ularized as a the openings form of supportand closings. ing one another Ideally, Moore through sharwould like it to ing goods and stay open until physical labor 10 p.m. every with people in night . our communities Moore, who in order to build NO BOLOGNESE: Despite your good intentions, works as a suba better world homemade goods don’t go in the free fridge. stitute teacher together. From while going to disaster relief during and after the west coast school at St. Petersburg College, hopes people wildfires, to hurricane relief and feeding the connect with each other about the project the houseless in Tampa Bay, mutual aid stretches same way folks who garden fruits and veggies across America, and across connect. the world. But far from being The Free Fridge has only a recently developed practice, been open about a month now, and Moore is hoping mutual aid is a time tested form of people’s communal they will last longer with determination to better their living conditions this new set up. and the political situation of their communities. You can sign up to volunteer via linktr.ee/ In a chat with Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, stpetefreefridge or by visiting @stpetefreefridge co-organizer Avery Moore reminded do-gooders on Instagram. donating food to not just clean out their own Reporting from Justin Garcia appears in fridges when looking for items to donate. this article.
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“I felt an obligation to do something from behind the chair.” MOVIES
THEATER
ART
CULTURE
Gaining an edge
through struggle, finds the secret to become the richest, most powerful man the world has ever known.” While the Barbershop Book Club may not make Antonio Brown the richest man the world has ever known—he estimates that the program has increased business by about 3%—he
Antonio Brown continues to push youth towards excellence.
B
lack barber shops play a powerful role in their communities as safe havens for conversation about politics, sports, relationships and juicy gossip. They’ve served as hubs for social justice, sound advice, and even health checks. Thanks to St. Petersburg’s Antonio Brown, there’s yet another influential role barbershops can play: promoting kids reading with an innovative program called the Barbershop Book Club. Brown’s concept is simple. On Wednesdays from 4 p.m.-6 p.m., by appointment: Kid selects a book from dozens of carefully curated titles at the shop, reads it aloud while getting a haircut, gets to keep the book all for the price of zero dollars. Brown has had a lifelong passion for reading, and says he was the kind of child who always raised his hand to read aloud in class. “I was kind of a show-off,” he told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. “I was always excited about reading.” His favorites growing up were Jet and Ebony magazines, the autobiography of Malcolm X and anything about sports or entrepreneurship. Most of all, “I enjoyed reading about people who looked like me,” he said. A graduate of The Boca Ciega High School, Brown went to St. Petersburg College then switched to Pinellas Technical College (P-Tech) to study plumbing, lost interest and became a barber instead. Chatting with his young customers, Brown could tell that some kids weren’t as excited about reading as he had been. He remembers the precise moment inspiration struck. “It was maybe five years ago. I was cutting a child’s hair, talking about his report card, favorite subjects. His grades weren’t that good. I asked him about reading and he said he didn’t like to read,” Brown explained. “He said it was boring. Once I heard that I felt an obligation to do something from behind the chair to encourage kids, give them books, inspire them to read.” The idea didn’t gain real traction until the pandemic hit and Brown would hear parents talking about their struggles with homeschooling. That’s when The Barbershop Book Club materialized; Brown decided he would provide free books to kids willing to read aloud in his chair. “With lots of parents having trouble with
getting kids to read, I wanted to encourage kids from behind the barber chair, try to reinforce what was already there from another environment on a consistent basis.” Book selection is critical. Targeting kids from pre-K all the way through high school, Brown said “I’m looking for books about financial literacy, culture, Black history, the things they normally wouldn’t see in school. I want kids to read about people who look like them.” Identity-affirming titles include “Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History” by Vashti Harrison, “Skin Like Mine” by Latashia M. Perry, “39 Lessons for Black Boys and Girls” by Kevin Bivins, and “I’m a Brilliant Little Black Boy” by Joshua B. Drummond and Betty K. Bynum. Brown buys his books from Cultured Books, a children’s bookstore in St. Petersburg whose mission, according to its website, is to “first foster a love of self by showing positive images and sharing great stories about people of color.” Sometimes Brown will read along with the children or gently help sound out a word if they get stuck. Mostly he wants to create an environment where it’s safe and fun to read. With the support of nonprofits like the Shirley Proctor Puller Foundation and St. Pete’s Junior League, Brown attracted other Pinellas barbers, including Against the Grain on 16th Street S and Headquarters Barbershop on Central Avenue to join in the effort; Brown’s ultimate goal is to get 500 Florida barber shops on board. The book club also caught the eye of Florida House Speaker Chris Sprowls who stopped by Brown’s shop to hear more about it and talk about House Bill 3, a childhood literacy program unveiled in January that includes free books for academically challenged kids. More recently, the Gulfport Kiwanis Club launched a social media book drive to support the Barbershop Book Club, distributing to potential donors Brown’s wish list of titles available through Cultured Books. Running a busy barbershop while expanding the book club across Florida has meant that Brown usually listens to his books these days. At the moment he’s listening to “The Baron Son,” described as an “allegorical tale about . . . a young boy who loses everything, and
BOOKS
BARBERSHOPBOOKCLUB/FACEBOOK
By Deb Kent
understands the power he holds as a barber. “This is the place where people come for generations throughout their lives. People have loyalty to the particular shop they’re raised in. We have an obligation, whether we know it or not, to offer as much positive influence to our clients as we can.”
FUNDAMENTAL AND FREE: Books and a haircut are free as part of the ‘Barbershop Book Club.’
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Carnal cravings
‘Hand to God’ announces in capital letters that we are in deep shit. By Jon Palmer Claridge with construction by Suzanne Cooper Morris are inspired. Jessica’s Jolene puppet appears at first to be a sweet “girl next door” companion for the mild-mannered Tyrone, but as he gradually morphs, Jolene makes a surprise appearance that leaves no doubt as to her carnal puppet desires. After seeing the slightly demented look in Tony-nominated Stephen Boyer’s gaze on Broadway, I was waiting for the bedroom scene dialogue between Jason and Tyrone, where the demon puppet first becomes conscious. It demands emotional athleticism from the actor portraying the competing wants and desires from what are essentially two different brains. Askins builds upon the long history of the divided self in literature (e.g. Jekyll
THEATER
JOBSITE THEATER
O
ne of the keys to drama, Hamlet advises the players, is “to hold, as ‘twere, the mirror up to nature...” If this is true, Jobsite’s “Hand to God” announces in capital letters that we are in deep shit. Hats off to the Straz Center, though, for making the return to live theatre as safe as possible. The fact that the Jaeb has geometrically more cubic feet of space than the Shimberg Playhouse is a real plus. The tables are wellspaced; you can’t enter without passing a health survey, and there’s plenty of masked staff to enforce temperature checks and one-way traffic. The off-limits water fountains along with some restroom sinks, sport unmissable bands of bright red tape to remind you how to stay healthy. But as you enter the theater, one look at Brian Smallheer’s church basement set is instantly transporting. The cinder block construction and industrial green doors and trim conjure every stereotype. The chairs have tennis balls on their legs for protection and there are stuffed cubbyholes, giant bean bag sacks, religious education posters, and a bulletin board proclaiming “Jesus Loves You.” This I know. It’s here that “Sesame Street meets The Exorcist.” The recently widowed Margery, embodied with great gusto by the gingerhaired Katrina Stevenson, all Texas drawl and sexually-repressed sweetness, leads a trio of teens creating a Christian puppet ministry. Her meek, grieving son Jason (Nick Hoop) has a crush on chipper Jessica (an appealing Kara Sotakoun). Black clad slacker—bad boy— school bully Timothy (Evan Fineout drooling teen hormones), imagines Margery as his own Mrs. Robinson. The besotted Pastor Greg (a hilariously foolish Brian Shea) can’t wait to “minister” to the mourning Margery by taking her hands and intoning, only to awkwardly offer that “I’ve got empty arms and ears” as his failed pickup line. Director/sound designer David M. Jenkins’ heavy metal pre-show score hints of the neoNietzsche tone yet to come and then amps up to full bore head-banging transitions between scenes as the “Christketeers” efforts go awry. Tensions build as Jason’s puppet Tyrone becomes more and more profane until all HELL breaks loose and lighting designer Jo AverillSnell gives us a glimpse of Dante’s Inferno. Tyrone’s hellfire yarn hair and safety pin jaws are a not so subtle signal of what’s to come. The Act 2 Tyrone sports a Mohawk and studded black punk arms as things turn decidedly Satanic. The puppet designs by Linda Roethke
and Hyde) and has been quoted that mono- breath or retching into your mask. The show theism is anxiety. “When you’re down to one is uproariously funny, and Jenkins is adept at God, you’ve either got right or wrong.” Nick keeping his cast buoyant as the actors surf the Hoop’s boyish innocence is a far more angelic tidal waves of laughter pouring forth from the countenance than Boyers, which makes the live audience. demonic transformation of Tyrone riveting as I haven’t seen the written text, but my it walks the knife’s edge between humor and recollection of the denouement on Broadway gasp-inducing horror. is one of surprise with Fans of “South Satan triumphant. Park” will be in their Jenkins’ choice here element, but those easis more human and ‘Hand to God’ ily offended are in for a psychological, with a by Robert Askins rough night. philosophical puppet Jobsite Theater Margery didn’t bar“deus ex machina.” In Jaeb Theater at The David A. Straz Center for the Performing Arts. 1010 N. W.C. MacInnes Place, gain for blasphemous any case, religion still Tampa. Tickets: $35.50 - $99.50 per table (four sock puppet domination stumbles, parenting people). Through March 14. 813-229-7827, jobsitetheater.org or the sexual tenis hard, grief is dission that leads to Jack orienting, desire is Daniels. Askins’ script is both moving and pro- complicated and this production features the fane. To say any more, would be to deprive you most hilarious and exuberant puppet porn of the unforeseen turns. Suffice it to say that the Kama Sutra imaginable. Just have your adult play is filled with offensive, in-your-face belly pod quartet grab their masks and come to laugh laughs that will either leave you gasping for your asses off.
HAND IT TO JOBSITE: L-R: Kara Sotakoun (Jessica/Jolene) and Nick Hoop (Jason/Tyrone) in ‘Hand to God.’
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“Smith’s storytelling ruthlessly probes the different classes, professions, genders, and races.”
STAR SHINE: Andresia Moseley masters a plethora of cadences and accents in ‘Twilight.’
Riot stories
‘Twilight’ is entertaining as hell, and hard to watch in the best way. By Jon Palmer Claridge
“T
wilight: Los Angeles, 1992” is entertaining with only a $500 fine. These two events prompted as hell and hard to watch. It captures the a week of riots where over 50 people were killed. ongoing pain of our inability to deal with Jobsite Director David M. Jenkins makes sure that racism that’s just as searingly palpable now as we never lose the narrative thread where L.A.’s in was then. Does the watchcry, “No Justice, No somewhat uncomfortable pluralism is edited into Peace” ring a bell? a coherent whole. Jobsite—which originally ran the production Smith’s storytelling ruthlessly probes the difon four dates in November and December—has ferent classes, professions, genders, and races, done Anna Deavere Smith’s riveting script justice all of whom are smartly identified on screen, as in this live capture from last fall’s production in Jenkins’ hip-hop score bursts forth. The stage the Jaeb at the Straz Center. lights dim and set designer Actually, there’s a benefit Brian Smallheer’s upstage that this multi-camera shoot flats are struck with slashes Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 affords. We’re able to view the of light by Jo Averill-Snell that Jobsite Theatre “Live Capture” 27 characters portrayed by the capture the jolt of an electrical Streaming through March 9. $14.99 versatile Andresia Moseley arc, which is an apt metaphor strazhome.uscreen.io pouring out their souls in clofor the explosive emotional seup. Smith interviewed 300 people on all sides of environment surrounding the events. “Twilight: the riots that followed the controversial Rodney Los Angeles, 1992” lays bare the devastating King verdict to create “verbatim theatre.” The words human, political, and economic toll on this most all come directly from recordings that she edited multicultural of cities. and sequenced to tell a multi-faceted story revealThe range of characters is kaleidoscopic—a ing the diversity and tension of a city in turmoil. disabled Korean man, LAPD chief Daryl Gates, a It’s hard for me to realize as a baby boomer, white male Hollywood talent agent, beaten truck that the story of these riots is unfamiliar to much driver Reginald Denny, a Panamanian immigrant of the potential audience. Rodney King was shown mother, actor Charlton Heston, a teenage Black on national television being clubbed by four police gang member, opera star Jesse Norman, a macho officers who were eventually cleared of any guilt. Mexican-American artist, Rodney King’s chainThis was quickly followed by a 15-year-old Black smoking aunt, and Rep. Maxine Waters; you get girl shot dead by a Korean shop owner who escaped the idea.
THEATER
C/O STRAZ CENTER
It’s a high-octane series of performances, even if Moseley portrays characters whereas Smith was a unique mimic. Interspersed with the monologues, Jenkins intercuts video of baton-wielding police, surveillance footage of the Korean store owner killing the Black girl, and an unruly mob pulling a white truck driver from his cab as a news helicopter hovers above. All three, of course, invoke a visceral response. Musical aficionados know that “South Pacific” admonished in 1949 that “you’ve got to be taught to hate and fear,” but what pops in my head is “Pippin”: Everything has its season/ Everything has its time/Show me a reason and I’ll soon show you a rhyme.” In the monologues, there’s plenty of blame to spread around “The Mexicans were looting, not the Blacks.” A police officer laments the ban on upper body control holds and excuses the baton strikes as poor technique, so we’ve “got to find some options.” It’s always someone else’s fault. “If it doesn’t come up in court, it shouldn’t come up at the breakfast table.” Then there’s an amazing bit comparing the psychology of a jury to that of an AA meeting. “Why should we be spending so much time on a guy like that?” And what prompts some to help a stranger while others look away? Smith shows people struggling to make coherent sense of their rage and pain, but she knows what’s funny, ironic or even grotesque about her characters. Moseley gets to strut her stuff helped immensely by Katrina Stevenson’s costumes, which build upon a simple sleeveless black blouse and pants. Along with a few well chosen props, the costume pieces act as signifiers that complete the character—a combo
of glasses, cigarettes, hats, scarves, blazers, a vest and a kente cloth. Moseley masters a plethora of cadences and accents: Valley girl, Spanish and Korean, with multiple registers, stutters, rhythms and silent moments when language fails. This is 1992, but it could just as easily be the L.A. Watts riots from 1965, or torn from the headlines following George Floyd’s murder. The cultural complexity, social inequality and explosive anger of the time mirror events which launched the BLM protests. It reminds me of reading “A Little History of the World” by E. H. Gombrich recommended by journalist Fareed Zakaria. It’s a quick read aimed at his grandkids, synthesizing and reducing all of world history into a few hundred pages. It’s so reductionist that Shakespeare doesn’t make the cut, and the American Revolution is one sentence. What you come away with is that all we do is fight and conquer. Our entire history is fear of the other. As I write, the hearings on Capitol Hill are discussing the insurrection on January 6. How do you fix a culture when we beat police officers with blue lives matter flags? Why are we as a people, who are more alike than we are different, so angry about our differences? At its core, “Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992” asks more questions than it has answers. It leaves us in the limbo of twilight. Can we as an audience rise to the occasion to model antiracism in our own lives? Is it naive to think that in another 20-plus years, the cries of “no justice, no peace” can truly be an historical footnote? Watch this with your friends and children and answer the call to action.
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THU MARCH 04 – WED MARCH 10
C
Designated Safe And Sound Venue
According to state data analyzed by the Tampa Bay Times, Florida added 7,179 coronavirus cases and 140 deaths on Tuesday. Locally, Tampa Bay reported 1,217 cases and 51 deaths Tuesday, and about 19% of hospital beds and 20% of adult ICU beds were open. It’s important to do life responsibly, but the local concert scene is finding ways to try and stay on its feet. We’ve marked the gigs at venues that have joined a Tampa-based and city-recognized “Safe & Sound” initiative that pledges to strictly enforce limited capacity, mask wearing and social distancing—and tried our best to explain COVID-19 protocols at venues that not able to join Tampa’s “Safe & Sound” program.
FRI 05
C Hip Hop Explored: DJ Qeys w/G’on Git/Chael Blinya/Perception/YZM The lineup at Healthy Phoenix’s “Safe & Sound” Friday showcase is solid—especially since it features lyricist Perception continuing to support his outstanding 2020 album Genesis—but visual artists Crazy Indy and ArtystaLuLu will also showcase as Flavor Deluxx slings his Best of the Bay winning tacos. Only 100 people are allowed in for the show, so G’on Git yourself a ticket before it sells out. Masks are required, and temperatures will be checked upon entry. (Crowbar, Ybor City.) Keller Williams Keller Williams is basically a one-person jam band who’s entertained devout followers since the early ‘90s. He’s toured with fellow jammers The Stringcheese Incident and Yonder Mountain String Band and is a festival favorite including past stops at South Florida’s Langerado and Bonnaroo. Case in point: after his St. Petersburg show, Williams headlines Spring Fling in Live Oak—a socially-distanced, weekend-long golf cart drive-in concert happening at Spirit of Suwannee Music Park March 18-20. Williams’ pretty much sold-out Jannus is a seatedevent with tickets being sold by table. Masks are required when not sitting, and at noon on March 2—just as this issue headed to the printer—the venue released 60 individual balcony tickets. According to the Jannus’ website there are no floor tickets available, but you know there’s always someone selling a ticket at their hemp jewelry stand in front of a jam show. Godspeed. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg) C TTRL Riverwalk & Chill: Lights On Tampa Edition w/ Mwiza Simfukwe/ Claire Vandiver/NDO/Mike Mass/ Peception/The Ruckus Tampa Total Request Live hosts Roxanne Gallo and Zachary Hines take their Best of the Bay winning virtual show into the real world for
this gig celebrating the weekend’s Lights on Tampa event. Since 2006, Lights on Tampa has been a self-guided public art tour which incorporates light-based art as well as dance and music pop-ups (the festival happens 6 p.m.-9 p.m. March 5-6). This socially-distanced TTRL show brings out singers Mwiza Simfukwe, Claire Vandiver and pop-soul singer NDO. Local emcees Mike Mass and Perception will also be backed by the jazz trio The Ruckus, which includes harpist Seth Adam Lynn. Table service is provided, so you really can Riverwalk and Chill. Tickets are first come, first served, but for me, the question of the night is how fabulous is Gallo’s outfit going to be? Straz follows an applaudable COVID-19 protocol, which can be seen at strazcenter.org. (Riverwalk Stage at David A. Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Tampa)
Blaque Dynamite
SAT 06
"Communion After Dark" 13-year anniversary: Mark Paradise w/Bryant Griffin/ Maus/Tom Gold Internet radio show "Communion After Dark" is celebrating its 13-year anniversary with a free Twitch stream featuring Mark Paradise, Bryant Griffin, Maus and Tom Gold who’re all maestros of the vibe when there’s actually people dancing at Ybor City mainstay The Castle (damn you, COVID19!). The two-hour set will be focusing on the usual darker stuff that usually fills The Castle’s dancefloor—EBM, dark electro, synth pop, goth and power noise. communionafterdark.com Darrell Scott w/Josh Reilly Nashville’s Darrell Scott plays an outdoor and sociallydistanced show—and the Safety Harbor Art and Music Center gig will pique the interests of Robert Plant and Zac Brown Band fans since Scott toured with both acts. The songwriter even received a Best Country Song Grammy Nomination for writing the bluegrass-inspired “Long Time Gone” performed by The Chicks (he also wrote The Chicks’ part in Beyonce’s remix of “Daddy Lessons,” so yeah, he worked with Queen Bey, NDB). You’re right if you think Scott writes more music for himself than other people, but his 2020 live album Jaroso will give you a taste of what he’s bringing to Safety Harbor. Tampa Bay’s own Josua Reilly—who runs a stellar songwriter night at Crooked Thumb Brewery down the road—opens the show. (Safety Harbor Art and Music Center, Safety Harbor) Hearts of Black: Johnny Cash Tribute w/Bad Katz/Frenzied Passions/Circus City Psychos Rockabilly surf-rock band The Bad Katz is joined by Frenzied Passions and Circus City Psychos to pay musical tribute to the Man in Black at St. Pete’s VFW Post 39, which, like other VFWs, took a beating because of COVID-19 regulations. The venue was even forced to take down a GoFundMe when a state commander said the fundraiser violated VFW regulations. But now that
PRESS PHOTO
By Stephanie Powers
bars are open again, the venue can go back to hosting shows plus its Tuesday karaoke nights. Masks are required when not sitting, and the event page states “all Covid 19 protocols will be in place for the show as required by the venue.” (VFW Post 39, St. Petersburg) Samantha Fish Kansas City continues to churn out great young musicians like blueguitarist and songwriter Samantha Fish, who represents the midwestern city right. (Side note: Let us not forget one of the greatest frontmen that Tampa has ever seen who came out of Kansas City—we miss you Ernie Locke). Fish—no stranger to local blues festivals—got major accolades over her years; Variety even said, “there are few more encouraging sights to see than a badass, slide-guitar-wielding female from Kansas City lobbing some blues wailing rock and roll.” The 32-year-old hits St. Petersburg for this seated, lower-capacity performance, with tickets available for tables of four or eight. Masks are required when not seated. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg)
SUN 07
Blaque Dynamite Trio Ownership at The Bricks won’t talk to CL on the record about the details behind a COVID-19 scare that temporarily shut down the Ybor City favorite last year, but the restaurant is hosting live music again. Promoter FWDthinkers—who, back in November told CL, “We cannot really comment on [the shutdown] as it was a Bricks operations matter…”—brings a trio led by Grammynominated hip-hop and jazz drummer Mike Mitchell (aka Blaque Dynamite) to the historic district, with quite the resume in tow. Mitchell has collabed with Willow Smith and Talib Kweli and even sat in with Thundercat and Michael McDonald at Camp Flog Gnaw 2019 (warning: McDonald is beardless in the YouTube video, which is like when your dad shaved that one time when you were little and you still haven’t recovered). An absolutely stacked local lineup— Katara Trio, Gat$, Psych Montano and Shella Siddiq—plays support, and if you’re a huge music nerd, Mitchell will lead a 90-minute masterclass ahead of the gig. (The Bricks, Ybor City)
cltampa.com | MARCH 04 - MARCH 10, 2021 | 41
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Devastation I am at a loss. I am devastated. I just found out my husband has been sexting with another woman. As if that wasn’t not bad enough, this woman is his first cousin! And this has been going on for years! I’ll give you a moment to recover from that jaw drop. OK, now the background. We’ve been married for almost 30 years. Our relationship is not all wine and roses but we had counseling years ago and decided we wanted to grow old together. We have similar interests, we love spending time together, and it’s just not the same when one of us is gone. Our sex life was never “off the charts” and, yes, this was one of our main problems. He wanted a lot of sex and I was content with very little. I came to believe he was content, too, and that he long ago accepted that spending his life with me meant this would be how it was. And I truly believed that our marriage was monogamous. Now I know that only I was monogamous. If it was any other woman than his cousin I might be able to deal with this! I wish it was someone else! I feel trapped! I feel like I can’t talk to anyone! All I can think of is how disgusting and disappointed my children, who are in their 20s, and his family would be if they found out. This cousin has had many ups and downs. And years ago when my children were small I noticed some flirtatious behavior between her and my husband. I confronted him and demanded to know what the hell was going on! I thought that was the end of it! I was wrong! I was on my husband’s iPad when I found their explicit chats along with requests for “visuals.” I went to my husband and asked if they had ever gotten together physically. He told me no. A few days later we were on our way to a big family event and this cousin was supposed to be there. With me standing next to him he called her and left a message disinviting her. She called him back and he answered on speaker and I said hello and then asked her if she was fucking my husband. She sounded surprised and caught off guard but she said no. We are about to move to a new place to retire! Now what?!?—Insane News: Cousins Erotic Sexting Trouble!
states. They’re also legal and legally recognized in Canada, Mexico, the U.K., the EU, Russia, and on and on. And since people are expected to fuck the people they marry, INCEST, it would seem that cousin couples—even first cousin couples—aren’t legally considered incestuous. Mark Antony, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein all married first cousins. The actress Greta Scacchi married her first cousin. Your husband’s cousin says she isn’t fucking your husband. Seems to me that this is one of those cases where, even if you suspect you’re being lied to, you should take what you’ve been told at face value and avoid looking for evidence that might contradict it. Your marriage is still monogamous… if you define cheating narrowly. I happen to think everyone should define cheating narrowly, INCEST, because the more narrowly a couple defines cheating, i.e. the fewer things that “count” as cheating, the likelier that couple is to remain successfully monogamous as the decades grind on. Conversely, the more things a couple defines as cheating, INCEST, the less likely it becomes that their marriage will remain monogamous over the years. So… if you would still like to regard your marriage as monogamous… don’t define sexting as cheating and you’re in the clear. Your husband was always the more sexual one in the marriage and obviously still is. He made his peace with having less sex than he might’ve liked over the last three decades because he loves you and wants to be with you. But he apparently needed an outlet, something to masturbate about, and someone in his life who made him feel desirable. And if he was going to swap indecent sexts with someone to meet those needs, maybe… just maybe… it was better he did it with this woman than with someone else. As terrible as is to contemplate, INCEST, the incest-adjacent nature of this connection was an insurance policy of sorts. Since going public with this relationship would have estranged your husband from his children and outraged his extended family, he was never tempted to go public with it. While she wasn’t an ideal choice, and while a cousin wouldn’t be my choice, she wasn’t someone your husband would or could ever leave you for, right? Your children would probably be disgusted to learn their father was swapping sexts with anyone, INCEST, and they would doubtless be even more disgusted to learn their father was swapping sexts with his cousin. So don’t tell them. Your husband isn’t going anywhere. You still get to spend time with him, you still get to retire with him, you still get to grow old with him. And
SAVAGE LOVE
Your husband didn’t fuck his cousin—or so he says—but even if he did fuck his cousin, INCEST, that’s not incest. Don’t get me wrong: most people are thoroughly squicked out at the thought of cousins fucking. And cousin fucking is, in fact, incest-adjacent enough that most people can’t distinguish it from actual incest. But you know what does make a distinction between incest and cousin fucking? The law. First-cousin marriages aren’t legal in all U.S. states but they’re legally recognized in almost all
JOE NEWTON
By Dan Savage
you know how you didn’t used to think about what he was jacking off about? Back before you stumbled over those explicit chats? Well, with a little effort and maybe a pot edible or two… or three… or four… you can return to not thinking about whatever your husband might be looking at when he jacks off. And finally… your family shouldn’t be getting together for “big events” in the middle of a pandemic—unless you don’t want to live long enough to retire. Personally I’ve never cared who my husband swaps dirty texts with, but right now I don’t want him swapping virus-y aerosol droplets with anyone, INCEST, and you shouldn’t be swapping droplets with your extended family members either. So if you wanna avoid this cousin for the time being without having to tell your adult children or the rest of the family what’s been going on, cancel all family gatherings, big and small, until everyone is vaccinated. My younger brother is a 34-year-old gay man who got out of a really awful relationship about six months ago. Less than a month after that, he met a lovely new guy who is 26 years old, and things seemed to be really great, they just spent Valentine’s Day together, posted cute photos on social media, etc. Ten days after that, the guy dumps my brother. He’s incredibly mature about it, says he thinks they’re best friends but something is missing and he doesn’t want to string my brother along. My brother is beyond devastated and at 34 it’s the first time he has ever been dumped when he was this in love. I’m trying to be supportive and help guide him through the pain, but he’s truly a wreck about it. I sympathize, but to be completely honest I felt this kind of pain for the first time when I was around 15 or 16, and I’ve been with my current partner for 14 years. Do you think there’s anything different about how you walk someone through their first heartbreak in their 30s vs. their teens?—Helping A Brother In Turmoil
Your brother got into a rebound relationship and got dumped—it sucks and it’s awful and it hurts, HABIT, but it happens all the time and people get over it. Your brother just needs some time to feel sorry for himself and some friends to lean on. Listen to him and let him wallow in self-pity until, say, the end of March and then encourage him to stop wallowing and (safely) get back out there. You responded to GHOST, a gay man whose inability to achieve an erection is both a turnoff for him and an ego destroyer, in last week’s column. I wanted to add my perspective to your excellent reply. A lack of a hard-on does NOT mean GHOST needs be relegated to only servicing guys! He can ejaculate if stimulated sufficiently! I have Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure (both under remediation from attending to my health better) and I was on a host of meds for my bipolar disorder until recently which both killed my erections and my libido. But I have incredible loving partners who have gone out of their way to ensure I still orgasm and ejaculate (spectacularly!) despite being either flaccid or only slightly firm. Very fulfilling orgasms are entirely possible like this, Dan! Actually a friend who had his prostate removed chimed in on this topic to say it was so for him too! And as I’ve worked on both my mental and physical health, my erections are returning along with my libido. Perhaps that’s something GHOST could work on as well? And I want him to know that at age 57 I’m having some of the best sex of my life despite not being hard enough to penetrate anyone right now. But who knows? Perhaps by age 60 I will again be rock hard again!—No Need To Be Hard To Come! Thanks for sharing, NNTBHTC! Contact mail@savagelove.net, follow @ FakeDanSavage on Twitter and bookmark savagelovecast.com.
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