The Contributor: May 24, 2023

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I L L U S T R AT I O N S B Y M I R K K A H I E T A N E N

A street paper looks at organizations that redistribute wealth

LOCALES - POLÍTICA - INMIGRACIÓN - TRABAJOS - SALUD - ESPECTÁCULOS - DEPORTES Y MÁ

I N T H E I S S2023 U ELa N

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GRATIS

Mayo/2

Contributor Board

Tom Wills, Chair Cathy Jennings, Christine Doeg, Demetria Kalodimos, Kerry Graham, Amber DuVentre, Jerome Moore, Drew Morris, w w w .Andy h i sShapiro p a n i c p a p e r. c o m

Newspaper Nashville

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Vendor Writing

"I try to make life funny.

They say, ‘you gotta make life funny to live?’ Yes — it ain’t fun to live if you’re gonna live in misery..”

Contributor vendors write in this issue about protectors, real estate, new beginnings, God and yo-yos part two.

WHAT WE DO $2 VENDOR SELLS PAPERS

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“DONDE OCURREN LOS HECHOS QUE IMPORTAN, SIEMPREThis PRIMERO...

ANTES” Contributors Issue

Año 21 - No. 372

Nashville

TNCEAL: 18La Importancia de Alianzas Comunitarias Contra COV

Linda Bailey • Amanda Haggard • Judith Tackett • Justin Wagner • Ridley Wills II • Kati Pietarinen • Mirkka Hietanen • Gail dijo Lipsitch, 1,00 En mi rol de D. • Lisa A. • Walter D. • Wendell J. •semana solo en los E presidente y June P. • James "Short" R. • Mr. MysterioComo • director ejecutivo puede verse, de la Cámara de COVID-19 aún no Joe Nolan • Yuri Cunza C o m e r c i o particularmente en minoritarias negra Hispana del Área debido a varios fac de Nashville, tados que han afec estoy profundadesproporcionada mente comproContributor Volunteers ciones. Estas comu metido, junto con Christine Doeg , Volunteer Coordinator enfrentado a dispari nuestra organi- Por Yuri Cunza de larga data que ha Editor in Chief zación, miembros Joe First • Andy Shapiro • Michael Reilly •impacto desigual de y socios, a pro- @LaNoticiaNews Ann Bourland • Laura Birdsall • Marissa Disparidades de salud mover la salud y el bienestar de nuesYoung • Matthew Murrow • Gisselly Las disparidades d tra comunidad. Ante la amenaza La Noticia, onedel of the The Belcourt Theatre’s COVID-19, los esfuerzos de vacuMazariegos • Tyler Samuel • IJ Quinn • Linda tentes, incluidas tas leading Spanish-language new 1973 series zoomsnación y concientización se han vuelafecciones de salud s Fuente:• La NoticiaHeldman Newspaper Eisele • Jamie Dore Russ newspapers in the nation, Debemos unirnos in on a great yeartoat primordiales. the diabetes, obesidad e The Importance of community alliances against COVID-19 and healthcare disparities para proteger a nuestros hecho que las perso brings Spanishseres content to movies, accordingcomo to Joe queridos, nuestros negocios y a La vacunación no es solo una elección manera efectiva, tanto en inglés panas sean más susc The Contributor.

Nolan, film critic. nosotros mismos. Nuestra organi- individual; es una responsabilidad como en español. Al capacitar a las medades graves y c Jennings capacita- COVID-19. El acces conocimiento, zación resplada los esfuerzos de TN colectiva que nos debemos unos a personas conCathy Executive nuestra Director comunidad para servicios de atenció CEAL, (Tennessee Community otros. Al vacunarnos, podemos ayu- mos a toda Engaged Alliance Against COVID- dar a frenar la propagación del virus, que tome decisiones informadas para tasas muy bajas de garantizar la seguridad de nuestros su salud y su seguridad. atención médica tam Tom Wills 19), una coalición amplia y diversa culizado los esfuerz Director of Vendor Operations enfocada en abordar el impacto y empleados y clientes y allanar el mejorar la comprensión de COVID- camino para una economía sólida y Marc Lipsitch, quien se desempeña prueba, tratamiento de epidemiología y 19 y otras amenazas a nuestra salud. vibrante. Reconocemos la importan- como profesor Carli Tharp cia de llegar a todos los miembros de director del Centro para la Dinámica A todo esto se sum SNAP Specialist nuestra comunidad, incluida la de Enfermedades en socioeconómicos. L TN CEAL trabaja en asociación con población hispana. Las barreras del Harvard T.H. ChanTransmisibles School of Public negras e hispanas ti organizaciones comunitarias como idioma y las diferencias culturales Health, dijo en un artículo reciente: Ree Cheers bilidades de enfr la nuestra, proveedores de atención nunca deben obstaculizar el acceso a “El número de muertos está dismi- socioeconómicos co Manager médica, investigadores y otras información crítica sobre salud. nuyendo ySOAR la capacidad de fun- viviendas superpob partes interesadas para garantizar la Gracias a TN CEAL, nosotros tam- cionamiento de la sociedad está mitado a una educa Andrew IV que no disponibilidad y el acceso a informa- bién estamos trabajando incansable- aumentando”, y Terry agregó empleo en trabajo Referral ción precisa y culturalmente apro- mente para brindar recursos, edu- existe SOAR una línea deSpecialist demarcación primera línea con m piada. El objetivo de TN CEAL es cación y apoyo a nuestra comunidad clara cuando una pandemia, un exposición. Estos fa promover la concientización, la edu- con respecto a la vacunación y la con- nuevo patógeno Rachelque Ternes causa enfer- cultado la implemen cación y la participación comuni- cientización sobre el COVID-19; medades generalizadas y muerte en das efectivas de Housing Navigator taria para reducir las disparidades colaborar con proveedores de aten- humanos— entra en la fase endémi- social y han aumen el sistema inmunitario de transmisión del viru en el acceso a la información, las ción médica locales, organizaciones ca, cuandoAndreos Chunaco es más capaz de hacer comunidades. (... pruebas, la vacunación y los servi- comunitarias y agencias guberna- las personas Housing Navigator mentales para garantizar que la frente al patógeno.

“Todavía hay cios de atención médica relacionados Envíenos sus sugere información precisa se distribuya de demasiadas muertes por COVID”, con el COVID-19. news@hispanicpaper.c Mary Margaret Weatherford Housing Navigator

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The Contributor is a nonprofit social enterprise that creates economic opportunity with dignity by investing in the lives of people experiencing homelessness and poverty.

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No revelar su situación migratoria Resources) was the natural expansion of our mission 6. No llevar documentación de otro país caso de ser arrestado, of removing obstacles to housing. We7. En now offer full mostrarla Tarjeta Miranda (llámenos si necesita una) Basados en la Quinta Enmienda de la case management, assistance with housing and rental Constitución, los derechos de guardar silencio y contar con un abogado fueron denominados Derechos Miranda luego de expenses, addiction recovery, healthSuprema insurance, food la decisión de la Corte de Justicia de Estados Unidos en el caso Miranda vs. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, de 1966. benefits, and SSI/SSDI assistance. We see the onepor stop-shop team approach radically transforming a vendor's image of self and their place in community.

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Jesse Call Operations Consultant Raven Nye Director of Housing Initiatives Justin Wagner Resource Coordinator & Reporter Barbara Womack Advertising Manager Amanda Haggard & Linda Bailey Co-Editors Chelsea Jackson Vendor Office Manager Andrew Krinks Editor Emeritus Will Connelly, Tasha F. Lemley, Steven Samra, and Tom Wills Contributor Co-Founders

Editorials and features in The Contributor are the perspectives of the authors. Submissions of news, opinion, fiction, art and poetry are welcomed.

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PAGE 2 | May 24 - June 7, 2023 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

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VENDOR SPOTLIGHT

PHOTO BY JUSTIN WAGNER

For Taz, everything is livable through laughter

BY JUSTIN WAGNER

Taz loves people. But that’s not what he tells everyone.

“Oh, I hate people,” said Charles “Taz” Rison, a grin lighting up his face. “But I love ‘em! But I hate ‘em. I love ‘em ‘cause they’re human. I hate their ways.”

Taz’s wry wit would have you believe he’s cynical — that he’s grown surly after decades in Nashville’s homeless community. But he’s quick to concede that seeing so much has inspired far more compassion than resentment.

“Well, OK. I tell everyone I hate people, but I actually love people, OK?” That and humor, of course — because even when life on the streets is at its most dire, Taz finds the best cure-all is to laugh it off.

“I try to make life funny. That’s livable,” Taz said. “They say, ‘you gotta make life funny to live?’ Yes — it ain’t fun to live if you’re gonna live in misery. I see a lot of ‘em out there, too, in their vehicles. They

don’t wave at you, don’t even smile, you can tell they’re livin’ in misery. But hey, people are gonna live the way they live.”

He’s found this to be the way of the city going on four decades now.

Taz has lived in Nashville for 35 years, and sold The Contributor on and off since the street paper first began. He watched Nashville bloom from a slipshod yet historic country city into a booming, trendy maw, hungry for tourists.

“When I was a kid, this town was tiny.

Tiny, tiny. In the last 20 years, this town has switched up a lot… all these high rises, and all these Yankees,” he said, chortling.

“I’m married to a Yankee, that’s why I’d say that.”

And though he’s watched development whip up around him as the city has grown, he’s always had a more personal stake in the homeless encampments coming and going than skyscrapers and coffee shops. Wellversed in Nashville’s roughest corners, he’s

seen the city at its most human — and at its most fraught.

His first interaction with Nashville’s unhoused community was when he was 10 years old and saw a man outside flying a cardboard sign, asking for food. “[My dad] handed me $20, I said ‘here you go. God bless you.’ I handed it to him.

He said, ‘thank you, God bless you, you have a wonderful day.’ He went straight into Walmart and got himself some food.

My dad asked me, ‘now, why’d you go and do that?’ I said, ‘Dad, people ain’t all bad.’”

By the time he was a teenager, he was using what money he had to prepare meals for people at local encampments. Now, nearly four decades later, Taz still counts himself among Nashville’s unhoused community as a member and a steward.

He finds happiness the same way he’s always found it — in the people he meets.

But that’s grown to include a wife, a son, and five daughters.

May 24 - June 7, 2023 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 3

“They call me all the time. [My daughters] are in Louisville, Indiana, Ohio, New York, and one here in Nashville … two of ‘em’s about to graduate at the same time. I said ‘how am I gonna be in two different states?’”

Keeping in contact with so much family over the phone is as chaotic as it is worthwhile, Taz said.

“I hate these phones. But I gotta have it for my kids! If [we] had pagers, this’d be a lot better,” he said, laughing. “They love to bug the heck out of me. They bug me every week!”

Whether his family, other homeless Nashvillians, or strangers on the street when sells the paper in Old Hickory, Taz keeps going for the sake of the people he meets. Because even if he tells you hates people — he really loves them.

“I love talking to people. I love hearing their life stories… people are what keeps me goin’.”

EVENTS

THE CONTRIBUTOR CALENDAR Nashville’s Best Free Events Downtown

Whether you’ve lived in Nashville for years or you’re just in town for a few days, there’s always a way to get out and about without spending a ton. Every two weeks, The Contributor rounds up some of the best local fun to help you navigate all the city has to offer as well as volunteer opportunities and the occasional quick hot tips for the tourists from a vendor.

‘HOMESICK’ SCREENING May 25 | Christ Church Cathedral, 900 Broadway The short film “Homesick,” which looks at Tennessee's controversial "anti-camping" bill, is slated for a free public showing on May 25 at Christ Church Cathedral. In a description of the film, it's said to dive into “the implications public policy has on its most impacted community, people experiencing homelessness.” It will be presented by Dr. Terence Lester and Love Beyond Walls, which is a “movement focused on amplifying awareness of the realities and needs of those experiencing homelessness and extreme poverty.” Dr. Lester leads campaigns to bring awareness, educate and mobilize communities addressing homelessness and he brings an, “approach to eradicating systemic poverty [that] starts with challenging the public’s perception of the poor and equipping communities with the power of empathy to influence social change.” The screening is free in part thanks to Open Table Nashville, Christ Church Cathedral and Urban Bicycle Food Ministry.

MUSICIANS CORNER May 19-June 17 | Centennial Park, 2500 West End Ave. Musicians Corner, Nashville’s free concert series, will begin its five-week season on May 19 with performances from Alanna Royale, Lilly Hart, the Seratones and more. On May 20, Nikki Lane, Jackie Venson, Roanoke, Hobo cane and Luke Schneider will play. The multi-genre series will showcase a variety of performers at 12 concerts over the course of five weeks. Musicians Corner will take place every Friday from 5-9 p.m. and Saturday from noon to 6 p.m. from May 19 to June 17, with a special Sunday performance over Memorial Day Weekend with a special Thursday performance on June 8 by the Nashville Symphony.

THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING: A DISPLAY OF MAYORAL GIFTS Through July 30 | Metro Archives, 615 Church Street This exhibit at Metro Archives includes a display of items given to the Mayor’s Office over the years.

Among the various treasures are paper weights, jerseys, bottles of rare liquor, beautiful artwork and other “random ephemera.”

STATEHOOD DAY CELEBRATION June 1 | Tennessee State Museum, 1000 Rosa L Parks Blvd.

The Tennessee State Museum is celebrating Tennessee’s 227th Statehood Day with an all-day event on June 1.

All events are free, including activities for families, a keynote lecture, cupcakes, print shop demonstrations and more. The day will include storytime, cupcakes and free tours as well as a keynote lecture from Tennessee State Museum Chief Curator Richard White on "The Steps to Statehood Through Material Culture."

MOVIES IN THE PARK May 27-Aug. 26 | Church Street Park, 600 Church Street These free movie screenings will happen throughout the summer at Church Street Park across from the library. Attendees are welcome to bring their own food and drink and a blanket to watch a movie under the stars. Clifford The Big Red Dog will be shown May 27 and Lyle, Lyle Crocodile on June 24.

Food will be available for purchase.

PAGE 4 | May 24 - June 7, 2023 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

May 24 - June 7, 2023 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 5

NASHVILLE HISTORY CORNER

Map of the City of Nashville and vicinity (1879) TENNESSEE STATE LIBRARY & ARCHIVES

How Clifton Avenue got its name

BY RIDLEY WILLS II

Clifton Avenue runs west from Charlotte Avenue at 20th Avenue South. Did you ever wonder how the street got its name? It was not named for Clifton in Wayne County, Tennessee. Instead, it was named for another Clifton, a village on a high bluff on the south side of the Cumberland River in what is today West Nashville between Thirty-eighth and Forty-eighth Avenues North. A map of the town was recorded in the Davidson County Courthouse on April 13, 1858.

On the west, the town was bordered by the lands of Dr. J. R. Hudson; on the east by the acreages of Beal Bosley and Matthew Barrow; on the north by the Cumberland River and on the south by the land of Widow Ellen Robertson and the Charlotte Turnpike. The town probably got its name because it was on a high bluff.

On the town’s waterfront, there was a boat landing connected by Clifton Avenue to the Charlotte Pike. A dozen or more ever-lasting springs provided the townspeople with water. There was a burying ground on the southwest corner of the present 40th

Avenue North and Centennial Boulevard.

By the time New Town was founded in 1887, Clifton was a thriving village with churches, a one-room school and numerous families.

New Town became the town of West Nashville which absorbed Clifton. Lots in West Nashville came on sale in May 1887.

Among the prominent Davidson County citizens who purchased lots along Charlotte Pike were General William Hicks Jackson, Colonel E. W. Cole. Colonel A. S. Colyar, and Mr. T. D. Fite, secretary of the West Nashville Land Development Company. Perhaps the most prominent person to live in West Nashville was Methodist - Episcopal Church South Bishop Robert K. Hargrove, president of the Vanderbilt University Board of Trust.

He built a 16-room, three-story house on the southside of Charlotte Pike in 1888.

The residential and industrial town of West Nashville was annexed by the City of Nashville in 1906. A year later, a 10acre Richland Park was dedicated. Today, West Nashville is almost forgotten and its predecessor village of Clifton completely forgotten.

Ridley wrote a book!

Longtime writer for The Contributor Ridley Wills II has published a book cataloging all of his work writing History Corner articles for the paper from over the past decade. All proceeds from the book will be donated to The Contributor to continue its mission of providing low-barrier income opportunities for people experiencing homelessness so that they can find sustainable housing.

PAGE 6 | May 24 - June 7, 2023 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

LEARN MORE ABOUT

Point in Time Counts 2016-2023 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000

2,365 1,692

2,337 1,698

2,298 1,986 1,682

673

639

616

585

2016

2017

2018

2019

Total

Sheltered

2,129

1,916

1,539

1,432 1,107

1,401

500 0

2,016

1,282 634

584

2020

2021

2022

590

2023

Unsheltered

Learn More About the Point In Time Count 2023

BY JUDITH TACKET T

Homelessness in Nashville seems to be on the rise, and the latest Point In Time (PIT) numbers reflect that homelessness has increased by 11 percent since 2022.

What is the PIT count, and why does this year’s press release from Metro start with a long explanation about increase before it states all the facts?

To answer the first question, the PIT count is mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In layman’s terms, once every year, each community that receives certain federal funding to address homelessness is required to count people sleeping in shelters and on the streets during one night within the last 10 days of January. At the same time, a bed count is conducted to review how many transitional and permanent beds each community has. The count of people is called the Point In Time (PIT) count and the bed count is referred to as the Housing Inventory Count (HIC).

In my last column, I focused on the HIC, which is usually neglected in our local discussion on homelessness and not mentioned in press releases. In this column, I will focus on the results of the local PIT count, which were released by Metro earlier this month.

The total number of people experiencing homelessness who counted on the night starting on Jan. 26 was 2,129, which is 213 people more than in 2022.

Of those: • 1,539 stayed in shelters (257 more than in 2022), and • 590 were unsheltered (44 fewer than in 2022).

Other overall data collected show: • 95 percent of the households count-

ed identified as single individuals or adult-only (1,765 households/1,841 people) — this compares to 96 percent of adult-only households in 2022; • 5 percent of households consisted of at least one adult and one child (95 households/287 people) — 4 percent in 2022; • 67 percent were men — 71 percent in 2022; • 45 percent were Black or African American (compared to 27 percent of the general Nashville population) — 42 percent in 2022; • 5 percent were Hispanic — 5 percent in 2022.

Taking a closer look at the unsheltered population who participated in a survey on the night of the PIT count, the Nashville data shows: • 79 percent individuals reported having a disability; • 62 percent individuals were experiencing chronic homelessness (52 percent reported chronic homelessness in 2022); • 50 percent reported a history of substance use (39 percent in 2022); • 48 percent said they had mental health needs (48 percent in 2022); • 20 percent reported having a pet (16 percent in 2022); and • 17 percent reported fleeing domestic violence (12 percent in 2022).

Finally, the data released stated, “Most unsheltered people (42%) were staying in encampments, followed by people staying on streets or sidewalks (21%).” The release, however, does not mention where the remaining 37 percent of unsheltered people were staying.

Once HUD releases its data set or all PIT counts in the nation, we will be able to access

the complete data online. Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency (MDHA) serves as the main agency responsible for the Point In Time Count, but in reality, the release is heavily monitored and influenced by the Mayor’s Office. Therefore, I use the all-encompassing term Metro when referring to the source of the press release.

Now to the second question I posed earlier about how Metro provided a detailed explanation at the beginning of the release as to why there was an increase before even giving facts about the findings. I find this worthy of mentioning. Metro’s second paragraph focused heavily on the explanation that due to low temperatures, Metro opened its cold weather shelter that night, which they explain “helps to account for the 11% increase from 2022, as more people experiencing homelessness seek out shelter and do not need to be located outdoors by partners and volunteers.”

I do not dispute that this is a good assumption, even though (and very likely) it may not be the only one. What has me stumped is that it was provided so early in the press release and felt like an excuse. This is coupled with the fact that typically this information is sent in an emailed press release, but was only found this year by searching for it online.

Hardly anyone knew (including this publication and others) that this information had been released at all. It feels like a buried release of necessary information. For political reasons, I can definitely see why. The Mayor’s Office spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a consultant contract (which started in February 2022) to reduce the numbers of homelessness, and a year later, the PIT count increased. In years prior there had been an

May 24 - June 7, 2023 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 7

albeit slow (far too slow) decline of 19 percent between 2016 and 2022.

No matter what explanations are delivered, the PIT count remains controversial among advocates, and even the federal government agrees that it does not show a full picture of homelessness in a community. Furthermore, in a 2021 release, the U.S. General Accountability Office (GAO) recommended that HUD provide communities with additional information on how to use local administrative data to improve the accuracy of their counts.

The PIT count is important, though, because HUD uses its data as a main source to report the state of homelessness to the U.S. Congress, but it should not be the main source to paint a picture of homelessness in a community.

Among other data sources that communities should use to evaluate homelessness are the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) on households experiencing literal homelessness (meaning they sleep in shelters, outdoors, in cars, and in other locations not meant for human habitation), and the Local Education Agency on school children (who in addition to living in literal homelessness situations also stay in doubled-up housing with family or friends, in motels, or couch surf). Metro has invested heavily into the community’s HMIS and continues to improve its data collection efforts and data quality through HMIS. Overall, no matter what the 2023 PIT count number says, as long as our community refrains from trying to implement quick fixes and truly focuses on an approach that implement permanent housing with wrap around support services to meet people’s needs (not just as a political rhetoric but by actually doing it), then the future PIT count trends will again decrease.

PAGE 8 | May 24 - June 7, 2023 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

COVER STORY

I L L U S T R AT I O N S B Y M I R K K A H I E T A N E N

THE RISE OF DIRECT AID

A street paper looks at organizations that redistribute wealth

BY K ATI PIE TARINEN “We could not believe that someone could just give us money! The kinds of amounts that our grandparents or grandfathers could not even dream of or ask for. Our relatives told us that it was true — that there are no strings attached,” says a seemingly old man, his voice rich with enthusiasm. A white-haired woman is sitting by his side, with palm trees as their backdrop. “The money is given with love.

Advice is given on how to use the money, but you can decide yourself if you take that advice or not.”

The couple are Rwandan farmers named Uwamariya and Iyamuremye, and a video of them has been filmed for the website of the Give Directly aid organisation.

There is a project underway in the couple’s village, through which money is distributed directly to the inhabitants without

any conditions attached to how it is spent.

Give Directly is perhaps the bestknown aid organization that, as its name suggests, gives money to people in poverty. According to the organization, it has handed out more than $550 million since 2009. The money has been paid to over 1.25 million families living in poverty in countries including Kenya, Rwanda, Liberia, Malawi, the United States and

May 24 - June 7, 2023 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 9

Yemen. The organization collects funds from private donors and companies operating in wealthier countries, and it also works in collaboration with researchers to find out how giving money directly affects people’s lives and how people use the money. Among these researchers are renowned universities and world-famous public figures, such as Nobel laureate Abhijit Bannerjee.

COVER STORY

At the center of all this is the idea that people living in poverty know best what to do with their money and how to improve their lives.

The amount of money given directly as aid has increased immensely over the last couple of decades. As long as a decade ago, a British development cooperation institution estimated that, on a global level, as many as one billion people receive money directly from various institutions and organisations. According to the World Bank, this number rose to 1.3 billion during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The practice of giving direct financial aid has increased in the Global South in recent years, and this is not limited to projects implemented by individual aid organizations. Money is being distributed on every continent. In South America, Namibia and Brazil, for example, state programs covering large swaths of the population have been developed. On the World Bank’s website, there are 672 projects listed that mention cash transfers. UNICEF has implemented or researched projects related to direct money transfers in dozens of countries; for example, during 2022, it planned to distribute money to 160,000 households in Afghanistan.

Some of the money is unconditional, such as child allowance payments in South Africa. Others come with conditions attached: In Brazil, for example, children are required to go to school. The government of West Bengal state in India pays money annually to all 13- to 18-year-old daughters of disadvantaged families who go to school and are unmarried. A bigger lump sum awaits those girls who are still unmarried at the age of 18 and are either studying or working. Thus far, money has been distributed to 7.8 million girls. The aim of giving

conditional money is the attainment of specific goals, but often the conditions are also used to guarantee political support for the projects.

Direct financial aid sounds both radical and yet so logical. And for anyone who grew up in a welfare state, it seems completely normal to receive student financial aid, unemployment benefits and parental allowance without anyone monitoring how these funds are used. So, is this idea ground-breaking or ancient? Both, says Liz Fouksman, assistant professor at King’s College London.

In welfare states in the Global North, money has been paid directly to recipients for a long time, but in the Global South, the phenomenon is more recent — particularly in the world of development cooperation funds. At the beginning, after the countries had gained independence, they focused on modernization and major projects such as dams and power plants.

When the projects were criticised for being corrupt and mainly benefitting Northern countries, a turn towards smaller projects began, with a focus on the development of government and on supporting civil society. These, in turn, were criticised for short-termism and the appropriation of state functions. Wells were built, but the wells were not maintained after the projects ended.

“A new turn of events began in the late 1980s, when there was an interest in engaging the local people and taking their needs into account,” Fouksman explains.

“This was criticised by [people] saying that it is great in itself, but whose voice do we hear when we listen to the local people?

Who decides what the locals need?” And then in the 1990s came the hype around microloans. “We now have clear evidence

that they do not work,” Fouksman continues. “Generally, they do not lift people out of poverty.”

The shift towards distributing cash took place in the 2000s. “It grew partially from the participatory tradition and the idea of trust,” Fouksman clarifies. “We trust that people are able to decide what to do with it.”

This enthusiasm was increased by a shift in the methodologies of empirical studies.

Researchers no longer trusted theoretical, mathematical modelling of the economy; instead, they wanted to test what really works. Money transfer projects were ideal for this because they were easy to track, and their outcomes were easy to measure.

At around the same time as enthusiasm for the distribution of money in the South began, a new interest in universal income projects also started growing in the Global North — possibly also as a result of the new projects in the South.

“Even though money had been given to citizens for a long time in many wealthier countries, this practice was restricted — at least in the United Kingdom and the United States – from the 1980s onwards,” Fouksman says. “The idea that people must make do primarily through work and the support of their family became dominant.

State aid was a last resort, and it was stigmatized. Those that were dependent on benefits were described as lazy.

“Compared to that, the revival of the discussion around universal income has been radical,” Fouksman continues. “In addition, when many people received a stimulus check in the post during the COVID-19 pandemic, it seemed really radical, because there are generally many — often very humiliating — conditions related to benefits.”

The provision of direct money does work. According to studies commissioned

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by Give Directly, people use the money on, for example, medicine, cows, goats and chickens, school fees, water, solar lights, tin roofs and motorcycles for providing taxi services, as well setting up businesses.

“The distribution of the universal income type of money has been researched since the 1970s in various kinds of trials, and, interestingly, the conclusions are consistent: in general, people do not use the money they receive on things that we consider ‘bad’, such as drugs or alcohol,” Fouksman says. “Instead, the money is spent firstly on food, and then people invest in, say, a new roof or a small business, such as chicken or taxis. Some invest their money in education or use it to move to regions where there is work.

“Profitable operations increase, as does the probability that people find work,” Fouksman states. “When there is more money, it in turn increases demand. A positive cycle is born.”

There is also an increase in rates of school attendance, as families can afford schoolbooks and school lunches. Crime also decreases and health improves.

Let’s stop here for a moment. It is unsurprising that people living in poverty do better once they receive financial support compared with not getting support. But does direct money also work better than other types of aid projects, such as education or health projects?

In recent years, people have started to talk about the need to evaluate development projects systematically based on whether a project achieves more than the distribution of money directly to people. This kind of comparison was made in the Gikuriro program for decreasing malnutrition in children in Rwanda, but no clear winner — in terms of wider outcomes — was found.

COVER STORY

“The idea behind gift-giving is that a gift must be given in return,” he explains.

“By working, a person is doing something for their money and is taking part in mutual exchange rather than receiving handouts. In many situations this is important for keeping one’s dignity and selfappreciation. Charity easily leaves the recipient indebted.”

During the Gikuriro program, internal groups within the community were set up for saving and lending money, parents were educated on nutrition and farming, and wells were drilled. The program, which cost approximately $140 per participant, boosted families’ savings, but it did not improve nutrition, wealth, children’s physical development or cure anaemia within one year. On the other hand, distributing $570 directly to the families improved nutrition, decreased child mortality and also slightly improved the physical development of children. In their conclusions, the researchers who evaluated the project chose their words carefully; however, they estimated that as a result of the significant outcomes achieved, it could be worthwhile for financers to support the distribution of these kinds of larger sums of money to a smaller group. “If we want to argue that the program should use its resources for different things [than people themselves would], we should be able to justify why people themselves are wrong,” the researchers wrote.

Direct cash is obviously not the solution to every problem. If the cash amount is small, like the amounts distributed in

I L L U S T R A T I O N S B Y M I R K K A H I E TA N E N

South Africa, it is not enough to lift people out of poverty. Temporary schemes do not necessarily have a long-term impact on those receiving the cash.

Cash transfers do not improve weak schools, social services or healthcare either, writes Heath Henderson, associate professor of economics at Drake University. And they do not solve structural problems causing poverty, such as discrimination, weak governance or unfair structures within international trade.

Distributing cash may also bring new problems. Studies have shown that directing the free cash involves difficulties that can create disagreements within communities. Although the aim has been to support the poorest, Henderson cites a project where financial support has also been received by well-to-do families, due to the aid being distributed based on the average wealth of the villages targeted. At the same time, the poorest families in nearby areas have missed out.

“There is also the fear that especially large wealth transfer projects in the Global North could create inflation on products the poor use a lot, like on rents of housing

targeted at the poor. However, there is so far very little empirical knowledge of this,” says Liz Fouksman.

The local context is always different.

Although in various studies from the Global South, distributing free cash did not lead to price rises locally, in very poor villages in the countryside of the Philippines, giving money directly to the poorest raised the price of perishable foods in a way that significantly reduced the nourishment levels of children left without aid.

What conclusions, if any, can be drawn from this for traditional aid and development programs? Or for operations like nonprofits where earning possibilities are created for those who need them? Should aid programs be scrapped and the money used to produce the street magazine instead be given directly to the vendors or to some of the vendors? Who would the money be given to, and what would happen to the rest?

If we take this thinking a step further, begging is in its own way a schoolbook example of the direct distribution of cash – and it does not even involve administrative expenses, unlike direct aid programs.

Should street papers shut down production

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of their magazines and trust that people will receive money directly from passersby?

Would that work?

“I wonder if there have been any studies done on whether people are more likely to buy a magazine than to give money to someone on a street,” Liz Fouksman ponders. “I would think this [the preference for buying a magazine] is so, since the idea of begging being morally wrong has been embedded so deep into our culture."

An equally significant issue is the way the receiver of the money feels about the way the money comes to them. In several interviews, street paper vendors have spoken about the pride they feel when selling the magazine rather than to panhandle.

Many have also said at The Big Issue that they find begging the most humiliating way to earn money.

They are not alone: money received without working for it raises suspicion around the world. When Liz Fouksman interviewed long-term unemployed people in South Africa, she asked them for their thoughts about social security support being paid to unemployed or low-income groups.

COVER STORY

“Many of those I interviewed were very sceptical about social security payments,” she says. “They said people would become lazy or they would misuse the money. Many said that a person must work in order to get money.”

When I ask why this way of thinking is so universal, Fouksman responds by stating that she sees capitalism as an underlying factor.

“At first, it may have been linked to the Protestant work ethic; now it is linked to the capitalistic work ethic,” she says.

Begging was criminalized between the 11th and 12th centuries in Western Europe, and this legislation eventually spread across the world through colonization.

“Both puritan Christianity as well as the early workers’ movement shared the idea that work refines, while laziness is despicable,” says Matti Eräsaari,

ILLUS

a researcher in anthropology. “We have a very strong perception that a person must work.”

In addition to capitalism and global disapproval of vagrants, Eräsaari points to anthropologist Marcel Mauss’s theory of gift as the basis for the appreciation of work.

“The idea behind gift-giving is that a gift must be given in return,” he explains.

“By working, a person is doing something for their money and is taking part in mutual exchange rather than receiving handouts. In many situations this is important for keeping one’s dignity and self-appreciation. Charity easily leaves the recipient indebted.”

The way in which free money is talked about can strongly impact how people think about it.

Liz Fouksman noticed this during her research interviews in South Africa. Do

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we say that the transfer of funds is support for people in difficult circumstances or do we say that it is the sharing of mutual wealth that everyone has a right to?

She uses Alaska as an example, where dividends funded by oil revenues have been paid to all state residents since 1982.

Last year the yearly payment was $1,114.

“When I suggested in South Africa that revenue from mining could be shared between the population as monthly direct transfers, people said yes, of course,” Fouksman says. “They could use that money for anything because it wasn’t charity, it was their money.”

Fouksman feels that such transfers of funds to the Global South from the North, such as development cooperation, should be framed as reimbursements — for example, as reparations for colonialism or slavery — as a dividend of the world’s wealth.

N

The idea of reimbursement has also recently surfaced in the United States.

Activists and researchers there have suggested that reparations should be paid to Black citizens as compensation for slavery as well as for racially discriminatory laws and traditions that were in place for decades, such as segregation in the Southern states, mortgage denial and the overall discriminatory treatment meted out in other areas of life.

Economist Richard America describes slavery and segregation in terms of money being stolen from Black people and the white population getting rich at their expense. Compensation would be for suffering, but also an act of returning money stolen from Black families.

Attitudes toward this idea have been extremely reserved for decades. Finally, last year, President Joe Biden promised to establish a committee to look into reparations. However, this has not happened. In contrast, at a grassroots level, money has been moving. In the summer of 2020, in the middle of the pandemic and two days after the murder of George Floyd, Vermont state resident Moirha Smith sat on her sofa, angry, and decided to act. She felt that the demonstrations were not enough.

Smith is Black and has familiarized herself with the debate surrounding reparations, which governments have paid to victims of injustices. “I texted people I knew. I asked if it would be OK to create a list for reparations. Could I add their details on to it?” Moirha Smith explained in an interview on NPR (National Public Radio). “They asked, ‘what? Do you think this will work?’ I said ‘I don’t know. We’ll have to try and see.’ And they said, ‘OK.’” With her friend Jas Wheeler, Moirha Smith gathered a short list of Black Vermont residents they knew, along with their bank account details so that people could send money directly to them.

Wheeler’s wife Lucy, who is white, wrote a public letter to white people. The message was shared on social media.

In the letter Lucy wrote that sending just $50 would be OK, as the idea was just to seriously redistribute money. The amount would be suitable when giving it would feel uncomfortable and would have an impact on the economic stability of the giver.

To the surprise of Smith and Wheeler, the idea worked. Hundreds of Black people from Vermont joined the list and white people completely unknown to them paid approximately $65,000 into their accounts. Smith was able to pay a deposit on a car, Wheeler bought blinds, socks, underwear and big order from grocery store. It’s little compensation for generations of slavery and discrimination, but it’s still something.

Researcher Saana Hansen was also interviewed for this article.

Translated from Finnish via Translators without Borders Courtesy of Iso Numero / International Network of Street Papers

PAGE 12 | May 24 - June 7, 2023 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

VENDOR WRITING

What A Day

BY GAIL D., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

Easter Sunday is typically a happy time for most as they reflect on our savior Jesus Christ. Children too are equally giddy as their tummies are filled with all that yummy candy they’ve received.

However, this past Easter on my corner, was anything but typical.

Consider the following examples.

As I chatted with my friend Latricia, a young man approached. He didn’t say a word despite our multiple attempts to speak to him.

When my first customer stopped, Latricia ran the paper to them for me because I wasn’t sure I could get there before the light changed, and they in turn, gave me $5.

Still standing there, not saying a word, the young man watched as I put the money in my bag.

His attitude and demeanor was making me nervous so we moved to a different location to continue our conversation and keep an eye on him where I was still able to see both him and my chair clearly.

I reached out to Mallory to let her know what was going on. Living close by, she offered

to come up there if necessary even though it was a holiday. She also encouraged me to call the police if I felt threatened or if the situation escalated.

Meanwhile, Latricia took a picture of the man as he continued to move ever closer to the stuff I’d left behind at my original spot.

Latricia stayed with me until she had to be at work at 4 p.m.

The man eventually left the area but later returned AFTER Latricia had left, just as Angel whipped into the parking lot and asked if she could pray for me. I said, "Absolutely, after all you can NEVER get to many of those!"

She asked if there was anything specific I needed/wanted. I responded with the typical concerns: family, health, etc., but I also explained what had happened earlier that day and pointed out that the man had returned, and was now watching from the second floor of the strip mall. In her prayer she said in part, "Lord, put a hedge of protection around this woman and keep her safe from harm," and the man disappeared!

Later that same day, Roscoe stopped by

for a visit. He and his wife Leona are regular customers of mine.

As we were standing there talking, a different young man appeared walking along the road almost pacing back and forth, this one dragging a LONG metal pipe.

With eyes wide open in a state of disbelief as to what I was seeing, I looked at Roscoe and asked, "Who walks up and down the road with a metal pipe?"

He patted me on the shoulder and said, "It’s just an intimidation tactic." I said, "Well sir, IT’S WORKING!" He put his arm around me and asked if I trusted him. I said yes, and told him as I had before that he reminded me of my grandpa.

(There is no higher compliment.) He was a good ol’ country boy who was ALWAYS VERY protective of me!

Roscoe then told me not to worry, that he had pepper spray in the front pocket of his overalls. In an attempt to provide more reassurance, he told me he also had a knife, and if the guy was to try to do something and those don’t work, he ALWAYS carried a pistol!

You Have Been Unhoused

BY LISA A., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

So you have recently bought a house in Nashville. Or perhaps you own a few other properties around the country.

But if you were in the majority, you own just one home. Because we are each so focused on our individual and family goals, we often lose sight of what is happening in the bigger picture.

On Dec. 15, 2021, three brilliant journalists at The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists found that offshore investors and property managers were snapping up properties — average family homes — all over the nation.

Nashville was particularly hard hit.

The percentage of homes in Nashville owned by individuals shrunk to less than 60 percent, according to a recent Fox 17 investigation. Black and poor white neighborhoods were hard hit, resulting in close to zero homes available for first time buyers.

The not so hidden cost lies in outrageous rents set by offshore investors who created the crisis in the first place. People making $17 dollars an hour are paying up to 75 percent of their income on rent — yet they earn too much to qualify for food stamps or other government aid. Needless to mention that the “marketplace homes,” available to moderate income folks, are in short supply.

The next homeless person you

see may trigger a few judgments, such as: “They must be a drug addict or mentally ill.”

Let us put aside the question of why we can’t seem to house drug addicts and mentally ill people for a moment. There is the question of whether they had these problems before they were homeless. The answer is… usually not. Then there is the fact that many homeless people are neither addicts nor mentally ill.

They lack a strong or wealthy family support network. Really the best way to start understanding the homeless crisis is to get to know one of us. Why not start with your local Contributor vendor?

You might be in for a surprise.

Wouldn’t the homeless people be to blame for their situation?

They must not have worked “hard enough.” So, start listening and see what you learn.

Just as the millions of people who are living paycheck to paycheck to paycheck in an attempt to pay their now escalated rents, homeless people are struggling just to stay safe. Stay presentable. Be employable.

So, with so many people on the edge, how did the rents jump so high so quickly? The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists discovered that offshore investors have been snapping up our residential homes ever since 2008. A former Goldman Sachs executive had seen the housing crash coming (dare we say helped engineer it?), but defi-

nitely saw it coming, and snapped up a lot of properties that people had been in the midst of buying.

And by, “a lot of properties” I don’t mean what you or I would think of as a lot of properties, but tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of properties.

For anyone who has bought a home in Nashville, this reality should give them pause. What would it take to have your home removed from you suddenly? If your equity is low, it could be any number of things.

What if it were an offshore company that had its eye on your neighborhood? How secure is your home? What would happen to the quality of your neighborhood if your neighbors suddenly couldn’t afford to hang on to their homes? What happens to your home value when you are suddenly surrounded by renters who must choose between paying rent and maintaining their car? What happens to your home value when a property management company purposefully lets values slide so they can continue in the game of real estate short sells?

Should we allow predatory behaviors like this to continue to suck the juice out of our quality of life?

And is that low income or homeless person on the corner selling you a paper or a deeper perspective on how to fight back against the insecurity we all face, embodied in our homeless neighbors.

All the while he kept assuring me he wasn’t going to let ANYTHING happen to me because he and his wife loved me, he then asked, "Feel better now?" I nodded yes.

He continued on saying, "Now we’re just gonna stand here and have us a nice little chat like we always do until I’m sure he’s moved on, ok?"

That was fine with me! He stayed with me for another 30-45 minutes, maybe longer.

I tend to lose track of time talking to my customers.

Later after hearing what had went on that day at my corner, Daniel (a guest at at a hotel turned studio apartments nearby), gave me his phone number and said if I ever needed help to call and he was just around the corner — literally!

It’s SO nice to feel the love of those in the community I serve, and know that many of them have got my back no matter what!

It may sound crazy but it often feels as if they’ve been sent to watch over me!

After all this excitement, all I can say is: What a day!

Hello Again Dear Friends

BY WALTER D., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

First off, let me say that I am truly sorry that I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye and thank you all for helping me get on my feet. With your support, I was able to get around and hunt for a job!

I ended up getting a job at a motel in Goodlettsville Tenn., as a maintenance man. They gave me a room there to live in and paid me good every week, but after being there about six months things just didn’t seem right. One day the cops came in to question staff about what we knew about the front desk renting rooms out by the hour. The cops said that if they found out we had anything to do with it, we could get charged!

So, I told the police that I was quitting right now and going to my room to pack all my stuff, which I did! Sure, it was a good job and a place to lay my head instead of sleeping in my van, but I’d rather sleep in van instead of a jail cell.

I spent another couple of days here in Nashville thinking about what to do, and I know I could have gotten back with The Contributor.

Y’all know I am really from Columbia, S.C., so I called home and found out again about some family problems so I just up and took off back home.

I got there and helped out family and I got my old job back at a motel which I worked at for seven years previously. This time that job only lasted eight months because too

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much illegal stuff was going on and the boss knew about it and didn’t stop it even when people told him.

So here I am back in Nashville and back at The Contributor!

OK you might be wondering why I came back here instead of picking a different state to start over.

Please bear with me and let me try to explain, but please don’t laugh cause they say when a voice keeps talking to you take time to listen. I thought about it and for three days Nashville kept coming up and the true friends I left!

Since I’ve been back, I’ve been doing really good, plus I’ve gotten to see some old friends. I want to say thank you so much and just to be honest with y’all I am sleeping in my van, but instead of buying an air mattress every week, I broke down and found me a full-size mattress which I am sleeping on like a big old ugly baby. Haha!

Please feel free when you see me selling the paper to stop and ask me any questions you want because I will do my very best to answer them.

Even though I quit school in the 9th grade I tell people that I spoke to the Lord and he told me that they are not ready for me to join them up there because I am really too mean and too ugly.

Oh yeah, next month y’all can call me an old billy goat because I turn 67 years old. Guess it’s time to close and say I will see y’all on the corner. Love you all!

VENDOR WRITING

THEME: THE 1990S ACROSS 1. Deep cavity 6. Weasel-related onomatopoeia 9. Supernatural life force 13. French treat 14. Snake-like fish 15. Major Italian city 16. Ring around the sun, pl.

17. Pitcher's stat 18. Donated part 19. *Russian President 21. *"Nevermind" band 23. *"Walkin' on the ____" by Smash Mouth 24. Google search tool 25. Took the bait 28. Between larva and adult 30. Data input device 35. U in I.C.U. 37. Dems' opponents 39. One of Florida Keys 40. Be furious 41. *Canada/Mexico/U.S. trade agreement acronym 43. Agitate 44. Between free and freest 46. Molokai party 47. *Telephone Tammy or Sky Dancer 48. Unquestioning ones 50. Greek muse's strings 52. Slightly insane 53. Messy substances 55. Santa ____ winds, CA 57. *TV show with Central Perk 61. *Popular Disney movie with a genie 65. Caterpillar precursor 66. Accompanies wisdom?

68. *Pinky or The Brain 69. Architectural projection 70. CrËme de cassis plus wine 71. Un-written exams 72. ____pool or ____pit 73. One or some or all 74. Find new tenant

DOWN 1. *"____ Breaky Heart" by Billy Ray Cyrus 2. Highlands hillside 3. Raise the roof 4. Leopard marks 5. Bungle (2 words) 6. Part of a hammer 7. "____ the land of the free..."

8. Heathrow craft 9. Type of missile, accr.

10. Aquarium organism 11. Indian bread 12. "____ Kerenina" by Tolstoy 15. Breadcrumb, e.g.

20. Contain the ashes 22. Pen juice 24. Amount in one's lap, pl.

25. *The Vampire Slayer 26. Accustom 27. *"A ____ to Kill" and "Nick of ____" 29. Bell sound

31. Front or back one 32. Factual evidence 33. Quick and nimble 34. *First cloned mammal's name 36. Swarm like bees 38. Don't go 42. Pertaining to the ear 45. Pertaining to reign 49. Motion of assent 51. Bewitch 54. Port city in Japan 56. *Christian Dior's "J'____" 57. Mass of particles 58. Of low density 59. Pupil controller 60. December 24 and 31 61. Bald eagle's nest 62. Two-fold 63. Same as island 64. *TV show "Empty ____" 67. *"____ and Juice" by Snoop Dogg

Harrison Kidd works for the Vanderbilt Project for Unity and Democracy. He supports the TN Innocence Project. He also has a YouTube channel that discusses myesteries and documentaries. CHARCOAL AND PENCIL ART BY CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR WENDELL J.

When You Come to God B Y J U N E P. , C O N T R I B U T O R V E N D O R

When you come to God with your head hung low, he lifts your chin, looks warmly into your eyes, and whispers tender words of compassion that reach the deepest place in your heart.

I know he did me.

You all have a bless and safe day.

Come see me and get a paper.

Yo-Yo II

BY JAME S "SHOR T Y " R., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR Like I’ve said, the Earth and the yo-yo have a lot in common. They’re made in special ways.

Let’s lift our heads up no matter how difficult it is, keep faith, it will come when you roll it out.

Like friends you meet along your journey, PAGE 14 | May 24 - June 7, 2023 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

your friends and a yo-yo are so special to you and only you. With the string attached to the yo-yo, there is a “special bond” people have in common, so enjoy both, and never forget who your friends are.

FUN

HOBOSCOPES GEMINI

Did you check the expiration date on that, Gemini? I mean, milk usually lasts a week or so. Yogurt can go for two or three. Butter should be alright for a couple months. But passports don’t expire for 10 years. And my membership in the Alf fan club, as I understand it, is valid for the entirety of my natural life. How long do you need this to last, Gemini? If you’re afraid you waited too long, don’t worry.

Milk is still easy to find. Whatever you need, there’s a next step to take. Today you just need to check the date.

CANCER

Help! Somebody told me that radishes were easy to grow, so I planted a whole lot of radishes. The problem is, somebody was right! Now I have more radishes than my meager desire for radishes can appropriately facilitate. Do you want any? This reminds me, Cancer, that when people say “you reap what you sow,” I always take it very metaphysically.

Like, obviously you reap what you sow on the spiritual plane, but who could have seen this radish thing coming?

Sow kindness this week, Cancer, especially if you find a big bag of radishes on your doorstep.

SCORPIO

I don’t know the names of the weeds in my garden, Scorpio. I think of them as “the viney one” and “the leafy one” and “the spindly flowery one” and “the tall tough one.” I pull them out to make room for my radishes, but they always come back. I wonder what they call me? I guess someday all of this will end, Scorpio. There will be no more weeds and no more radishes and no more me and no more names. And could it be that I would be better off knowing something about these little adversaries, if only so I can properly greet them before the digging and pulling start again? Whose name don’t you know, Scorpio? Who could you ask?

SAGITTA R IUS

LEO

It’s still light out, Leo. There’s still time to get one more thing done. What’s harder lately, is to stop. To wind-down before the sun does. To put it all away until tomorrow. This is a good night for it. It’s not too hot and it’s not raining yet. Put all that work away and step outside for a few minutes. When you step back inside, all the work is already put away. Like magic, Leo. And you did it yourself. Take the rest of the night off.

VIRGO

You want to make a burrito, Virgo? Don’t worry. In this recipe I won’t be wasting your time with stories about the light in autumn and my grandmother’s homegrown-fig jam (though it was wonderful). I’ll just stick to the ingredients. Get some tortillas, some cheese, a can of black beans, and a scoop of cumin (tomatoes if you’re fancy). Mix the cumin into the beans. Think about how cumin beans are special. They’re all so unique. If one falls on the floor while you’re mixing, pick it up, rinse it off, and put it back in the bowl. Every cumin bean is valuable. Every cumin bean deserves to be loved. Think about your own inherent worthiness, Virgo.

What makes you feel cared for? Heat, wrap and enjoy.

LIBRA

not too heavy and the content on the phone is not particularly interesting. So what keeps our hero so transfixed and immobilized? If I were there, in the car with this particular heroic individual, Libra, I might say it’s a great time to pivot. Drive to the lake and go for a lazy swim til sunset. Walk slowly on the trail behind the Walgreens.

Go home and read political philosophy. There are more options than the two presenting themselves in this parking lot. Turn the key.

We find our hero, once again, in the parking lot of the gym, scrolling on their phone, seemingly unable to open the car door and go inside. We know for a fact, Libra, that the car door is

Are you still reading, Sagittarius? Sorry, that was an automated response that generates when you don’t interact with the text for too long. I get it, though. Sometimes I’m watching something or reading or in a conversation and I feel that layer of smog descend down and envelope my brain and I realize I have no idea how long it’s been since I knew what anybody was talking about.

And sometimes there’s value to pushing through, Sagittarius, to shaking yourself back to attention and powering forward. But this seems like a circumstance where you might just walk away. Put it down and find something to do that engages your body and mind. Or just take a nap. And while you’re…hey, wait, Sagittarius, I wasn’t finished. I didn’t mean you should…ah, nevermind. I think you got it worked out.

AQUA RIUS

The baby birds are getting bigger and they’re so awkward now. They seem fullsized, and they can fly pretty good, but they haven’t learned to look for food yet. Like, they flutter down with their parent-bird to get the bagel crumbs off my porch. The crumbs are right there, but they don’t know how to bend over and pick them up, so parent-bird is picking up crumbs one at a time and feeding them to these grown-up-looking babies.

You might run into somebody who needs a little more help than you think they ought to, Aquarius.

And you might think it seems silly. But remember when you needed help. And remember who fed you.

It may not be your problem to fix. But it’s always OK to lend a beak.

PISCES

Due to a recent administrative change in the zodiac, we’re asking all Pisces to reapply for astrological services by visiting our main office one mile beneath The Quito Observatory in Ecuador and filling out form PISC988. If you’re unable to visit the office in person during normal business hours (Tuesday through Thursday, 8 p.m. to midnight.), you can register remotely by picking a star in the sky that you like and whispering to it “Hey. Remember me? I’m a Pisces.” Sometimes the simpler option is better, Pisces.

Maybe you’ve already done enough.

ARIES

What was your locker combination in high school, Aries? What was your second class of the morning? What was that kid’s name who was never in school because his dad bought a cabin by a ski resort but his dad was a doctor so they’d go skiing and he’d get a doctor’s note that said he was sick? I can’t remember any of that anymore, Aries, but it all seemed really important back then. I wonder what we’re dealing with this week that won’t even be a memory in the future.

(Wait, it was Nick! That kid was named Nick. He always had brand-name Lunchables for breakfast.)

CAPRICORN

I used to only write horoscopes in those long yellow legal pads. I liked them because they were different from the chart-paper from amateur-astrology school and not like the star-journal my aunt got me for graduation. I didn’t feel like there were rules I had to stick with. I didn’t have to be too careful so I could sit at the edge of the water and write all afternoon. I could just write half a page and call it done or go all the way to the bottom. And there was lots of margin space for doodling. What brings out your best, Capricorn? When you start making something and don’t stop till you’re finished, what were your tools? Were they the same as your tools today? Could they be?

TAURUS

You might be on mute, Taurus. Try hitting the button in the corner of the screen.

Everybody on this call is telling you to be yourself. I’ve even said it a few times. But it’s trickier than everybody makes it sound. Because if you’re going to go out and be yourself, first you have to know yourself. And who is that, anyway? While you’re trying to sort that out, Taurus, you might hear some voices from your past who tell you that you’re subpar or difficult or wrong. And why would you want to be that self? See if you can put those on mute. See if there’s a quieter voice inside you that knows you better than that. Toggle the Bluetooth on and off.

Mr. Mysterio is not a licensed astrologer, a certified expiration monitor, or a trained chef.

Listen to the Mr. Mysterio podcast at mrmysterio.com Or just give him a call at 707-VHS-TAN1

May 24 - June 7, 2023 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 15

The New Christian Year Selected by Charles Williams

Charles Walter Stansby Williams (1886–1945), the editor of the following selections, is today probably the third most famous of the famous Inklings literary group of Oxford, England, which existed in the middle of the 20th century, and which included among its ranks the better-known and longer-lived Oxford Dons J.R.R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis—but he was arguably the most precocious and well-read of this eminent and intellectually fertile group. He was also known to have influenced Dorothy Sayers, T. S. Eliot and W. H. Auden.

Lacking a proper degree unlike his fellow Inklings, this genius Cockney-speaking author, editor, critic, and playwright was eminently well-versed in both philosophical and theological writings of the remote past as of the present day (the mid-20th century) and used this familiarity to good effect in his poetry, supernatural fiction and his lesser-known devotional selections designed for the spiritual benefit of the faithful in the Church of England. This series of profound quotations, encompassing all walks of life, follows the sequence of the themes and Bible readings anciently appointed for contemplation throughout the church's year, beginning with Advent (i.e., December) and ending in November, and reaches far beyond the pale of the philosophical and theological discussions of his day. It was under his hand, for instance, that some of the first translations of Kierkegaard were made available to the wider public. It is hoped that the readings reproduced here will prove beneficial for any who read them, whatever their place in life's journey. — Matthew Carver

THE Work is not of persuasive eloquence, but Christianity is a thing of might whenever it is hated by the world.

St Ignatius: Epistle to the Romans.

HE loves Himself and every creature by the Holy Ghost, inasmuch as the Holy Ghost proceeds as the love of the primal goodness whereby the Father loves Himself and every creature.

Aquinas: Summa Theologica.

NOT only do we know God by Jesus Christ alone, but we know ourselves only by Jesus Christ. We know life and death only through Jesus Christ. Apart from Jesus Christ, we do no know what is our life, nor our death, nor God, nor ourselves.

Pascal: Pensées.

A GIFT is properly an unreturnable giving . . . hence it is manifest that love has the nature of a first gift, through which all free gifts are given. So since the Holy Ghost proceeds as Love, He proceeds as the first gift. Gift . . . is the proper name of the Holy Ghost.

Aquinas: Summa Theologica.

I THOUGHT I should have thee, O God, as a help in loving men. Thou didst understand it differently, Thou didst use men against me to help me to love Thee.

Kierkegaard.

Whitsun-Week Monday

Wednesday after Ascension Day

Thursday after Ascension Day TWO things make our delight pure. One is turning of sensuality to the skill [intelligence]; for when any is turning to delight of his five wits [senses], all soon uncleanness enters into his soul. Another is, that the skill meekly be used in ghostly things, as in meditations and orisons, and looking in holy books. Therefore the delight that was naught of unordained stirring, and meekly has stirring in Christ, and in which sensuality is turned to skill, all set and used to God, makes a man's soul in rest and secureness and aye to dwell in good hope, and to be paid with all God's gifts, without grumbling or heaviness of thought.

Richard Rolle: Desire and Delight.

2nd Friday after Ascension Day LET me love Thee so that the honour, riches and pleasures of the world may seem unworthy even of hatred,— may be not even encumbrances.

Patmore: Life.

THE righteous man has already done in heaven and in earth all that he has willed to do and therein he is like God. Eckhart: The Book of Benedictus.

2nd Saturday after Ascension Day IF we are to have the nature of Christ regenerated in us, as the life of Adam is born in us; if we are to be like Him in nature as we are like Adam in nature; if we are to be the heavenly sons of the one as we are the earthly sons of the other, then there is an absolute necessity that that which was done and born in the Virgin Mary be also by the same power of the Holy Ghost done and born in us, by a seed of life derived into us from Christ our regenerator.

William Law: Answer to Dr Trapp.

Whit-Sunday; Day of Pentecost UNITY is in the Father, equality in the Son, and in the Holy Ghost is the concord of equality and unity.

St Augustine: De Doctrina Christiana.

THE Holy Ghost is He whereby the Begotten is loved by the One begetting and love His Begetter.

St Augustine: De Trinitate.

NEITHER is that city, the heavenly Jerusalem, watered by the channel of any earthly river, but that Holy Spirit, proceeding from the Fount of Life, with but a short drought of Whom we are satiated, seems to flow more abundantly among those celestial Thrones, Dominions, and Powers, Angels and Archangels, rushing in the full course of the seven virtues of the Spirit. For if a river rising above its banks overflows, how much more does the Spirit, rising above every creature, when He touches the as it were low-lying fields of our minds, makes glad that heavenly nature of the creatures with the larger fertility of His sanctification.

St Ambrose: On the Holy Spirit.

Whitsun-Week Saturday IT is the knowledge of the All of God that makes cherubim and seraphim to be flames of divine love. For where this All of God is truly known and felt in any creature, there its whole breath and spirit is a fire of love, nothing but a pure disinterested love can arise up in it or come from it, a love that begins and ends in God. And where this love is born in any creature, there a seraphic life is born along with it. For this pure love introduces the creature into the All of God; all that is in God is opened in the creature, it is united with God and has the life of God manifested in it.

William Law: The Spirit of Prayer.

LOVE knoweth not how to keep a storehouse full of possessions.

The Paradise of the Fathers.

Trinity Sunday WE confess neither a solitary nor a diverse God. St Hillary: Of the Trinity.

THE Father was pleased to breathe into his body [of man] in the creation; the Son was pleased to assume this body in the redemption; the Holy Ghost is pleased to consecrate this body by his sanctification. The consultation of the whole Trinity is exercised upon the dignifying of man's body.

Donne: Sermons.

IT is this eternal, unbeginning Trinity in unity of fire, light, and spirit, that constitutes eternal nature, the Kingdom of Heaven, the heavenly Jerusalem, the divine life, beatific visibility, the majestic glory and presence of God. Through this Kingdom of Heaven, or eternal nature, is the invisible God, the incomprehensible Trinity eternally breaking forth, and manifesting itself in a boundless height and depth of blissful wonders, opening and displaying itself to all its creatures as in an infinite variation and endless multiplicity of its powers, beauties, joys and glories.

William Law: An Appeal.

Whitsun-Week Tuesday

1st Monday after Trinity

GOD begins in the soul, his Word, and the soul conceiving it passes it on to her powers in varied guise, now as desire, now as good intent, now as charity, now as gratitude, or as it may take thee: It is his, not thine at all.

What is thus wrought by God take thou as his and not thine own, as it is written, "The Holy Ghost asketh in us with unutterable yearnings." He prays in us, not we ourselves. St. Paul says, "No one is able to say, Lord Jesus Christ, except in the Holy Ghost."

Eckhart: Sermons and Collations.

Whitsun-Week Wednesday THE grace of the Holy Ghost is not bound to any law.

St Gregory the Great: Dialogues.

NATURE makes man from the child and the hen from the egg, but God makes the man before the child and the hen before the egg. God gives the Holy Ghost before he gives the gifts of the Holy Ghost.

Eckhart: The Book of Benedictus.

Whitsun-Week Thursday WHEN a man here on earth is illuminated by the Holy Spirit from the spring of Jesus Christ . . . there comes into his heart and his veins such joy that the whole body triumphs, as though it were in the Holy Trinity, which they alone understand who have been its guests.

Boehme: Aurora.

THE doctrine of the Holy Trinity is wholly practical; it is revealed to us, to discover our high original and the greatness of our fall, to show us the deep and profound operation of the triune God in the recovery of the divine life in our souls; that by the means of this mystery thus discovered, our piety may be rightly directed, our faith and prayer have their proper objects, that the workings and aspiring of our own hearts may cooperate and correspond with that triune life in the Deity, which is always desiring to manifest itself in us.

William Law: An Appeal.

1st Tuesday after Trinity THERE appeared to me, in the profound and clear substance of that great light three Circles, of three colours and of one magnitude; and One seemed reflected from the Other as rainbow from rainbow, and the Third as it were a fire equally breathed from Either . . . and that Circling which seemed to reflected light, after my eyes had gazed some time, appeared in its own colour to be painted with our (human) likeness . . . Power failed from the high vision; but already my desire and my will revolved—like a wheel moving equally—in the Love that moves the sun and the other stars.

Dante: Paradise.

Sponsored by Matthew Carver, publisher

PAGE 16 | May 24 - June 7, 2023 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

MOVING PICTURES

New Hollywood THE BELCOURT THEATRE’S NEW 1973 SERIES ZOOMSIN ON A GREAT YEAR AT THE MOVIES

BY JOE NOLAN, FILM CRITIC American cinema of the late-1960s and 1970s gives audiences some of the best films ever made, and the New Hollywood years as a whole represent the greatest era at the movies.

From Bonnie and Clyde (1967) to Heaven’s Gate (1980), the “film school generation” translated youth culture aesthetics to the big screen with unprecedented creative license following the fall of the Hollywood studio system after the rise of popular television programming. Filmmakers like Peter Bogdanovich, Sidney Lumet, and Martin Scorsese brought auteurial stylistics to gritty stories about anti-heroes, deploying imaginative visuals, sounds and music while bucking traditional narrative structures, genre conventions and subject matter. The Belcourt’s new 1973 series focuses on one particularly great year in American movies, but also features a few international selections that are worthy of inclusion.

Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets is a must-see cornerstone of New Hollywood. This is the movie that announced Scorsese as a poet of crime cinema, established Robert DeNiro and Harvey Keitel as two of the great actors of their generation, and brought audiences a vision of Italian-Catholic New York City that echoes through the director’s filmography in movies as diverse as the boxing masterpiece, Raging Bull; the musical, New York, New York; and the documentary, Italianamerican.

The Harder They Come is a Jamaican production that helped win reggae music an international audience and made its star Jimmy Cliff a global sensation.

Perry Henzell’s film about an up-and-coming reggae singer turned drug dealer reminds me of Mean Streets with its grimy depictions of Kingston, Jamaica, and its focus on the grind of small-time crime. This movie is one part musical and one part revenge fantasy. Come for the incredibly groovy soundtrack.

Stay for the climactic shootout.

Hal Ashby’s off-kilter filmography reads like a New Hollywood greatest hits list. Between 1971 and 1979 the director’s remarkably prolific run included quirky classics like Harold and Maude; Bound for Glory; Coming Home and Being There. Ashby’s 1973 film, The Last Detail came out the year the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam, but this movie about a couple of Navy lifers escorting a young 18-yearold seaman to a prison in Maine isn’t about the conf lict or the anti-war culture it inspired. The Last Detail is a road movie featuring a small ensemble of notable actors. Ashby blasted-away at the war with the searing Coming Home, but here the director and legendary screenwriter Robert Towne blasts away at authority in general in the form of the stultifying bureaucracy of the Navy which sentences an 18-year-old to eight years behind bars for stealing $40, and which requires good men to do bad things in

the name of obeying orders. Jack Nicholson, Otis Young and a baby-faced Randy Quaid all shine here, and watch out for a tiny cameo from Gilda Radner in her first screen role.

Bruce Lee’s breakthrough film Enter the Dragon was the first martial arts action movie produced by a Hollywood studio. Bruce Lee famously passed away before Dragon’s debut and smash success, and for all of this film’s humor, visuals and unforgettable fight sequences, it will

always be a bittersweet reminder of what Lee might have been able to accomplish as an established star and filmmaker. Enter the Dragon finds Lee attending a martial arts tournament on a remote island owned by an infamous narcotics dealer named Han who is connected to the death of Lee’s sister. Han’s secret fortress gives-off the cheesiest James Bond vibes, but Bruce Lee is electric every time he moves, and the iconic stand-off in a roomful of mirrors deserves its

May 24 - June 7, 2023 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 17

place on the big screen.

The Belcourt Theatre’s 1973 series runs from May 19-June 8. Go to www.belcourt.org for dates, times and tickets, including discount passes for the whole 18-film program

Joe Nolan is a critic, columnist and performing singer/songwriter based in East Nashville. Find out more about his projects at www.joenolan.com.

LA NOTICIA “The Contributor” está trabajando con uno de los principales periódicos en español La Noticia para llevar contenido a más lectores en Middle Tennessee. Nuestros vendedores de periódicos han pedido durante mucho tiempo que nuestra publicación incluya contenido que apele al interés de residentes de habla hispana en nuestra comunidad.

“The Contributor” is working with one of the leading Spanish-language newspapers La Noticia to bring content to more readers in Middle Tennessee. Our newspaper vendors have long requested that our publication include content that appeals to the interest of Spanish-speaking residents in our community.

LOCALES - POLÍTICA - INMIGRACIÓN - TRABAJOS - SALUD - ESPECTÁCULOS - DEPORTES Y MÁS...

2023

L a N ticia

Año 21 - No. 372

“DONDE OCURREN LOS HECHOS QUE IMPORTAN, SIEMPRE PRIMERO... ANTES”

GRATIS

Mayo/2

Newspaper Nashville

Escanee esta imagen para ver La Noticia newspaper edición bilingüe digital

w w w. h i s p a n i c p a p e r. c o m

Nashville, Tennessee

TNCEAL: La Importancia de Alianzas Comunitarias Contra COVID-19

En mi rol de

presidente y director ejecutivo de la Cámara de C o m e r c i o Hispana del Área de Nashville, estoy profundamente comprometido, junto con nuestra organi- Por Yuri Cunza Editor in Chief zación, miembros y socios, a pro- @LaNoticiaNews mover la salud y el bienestar de nuestra comunidad. Ante la amenaza del COVID-19, los esfuerzos de vacunación y concientización se han vuelto primordiales. Debemos unirnos como para proteger a nuestros seres queridos, nuestros negocios y a nosotros mismos. Nuestra organización resplada los esfuerzos de TN CEAL, (Tennessee Community Engaged Alliance Against COVID19), una coalición amplia y diversa enfocada en abordar el impacto y mejorar la comprensión de COVID19 y otras amenazas a nuestra salud.

TN CEAL trabaja en asociación con organizaciones comunitarias como la nuestra, proveedores de atención médica, investigadores y otras partes interesadas para garantizar la disponibilidad y el acceso a información precisa y culturalmente apropiada. El objetivo de TN CEAL es promover la concientización, la educación y la participación comunitaria para reducir las disparidades en el acceso a la información, las pruebas, la vacunación y los servicios de atención médica relacionados con el COVID-19.

dijo Lipsitch, 1,000 muertos cada semana solo en los EE.UU. Como puede verse, el impacto de COVID-19 aún no ha terminado, particularmente en las comunidades minoritarias negras e hispanas, debido a varios factores interconectados que han afectado de manera desproporcionada a estas poblaciones. Estas comunidades se han enfrentado a disparidades sistémicas de larga data que han contribuido al impacto desigual de la pandemia.

Fuente: La Noticia Newspaper

The Importance of community alliances against COVID-19 and healthcare disparities

La vacunación no es solo una elección individual; es una responsabilidad colectiva que nos debemos unos a otros. Al vacunarnos, podemos ayudar a frenar la propagación del virus, garantizar la seguridad de nuestros empleados y clientes y allanar el camino para una economía sólida y vibrante. Reconocemos la importancia de llegar a todos los miembros de nuestra comunidad, incluida la población hispana. Las barreras del idioma y las diferencias culturales nunca deben obstaculizar el acceso a información crítica sobre salud.

Gracias a TN CEAL, nosotros también estamos trabajando incansablemente para brindar recursos, educación y apoyo a nuestra comunidad con respecto a la vacunación y la concientización sobre el COVID-19; colaborar con proveedores de atención médica locales, organizaciones comunitarias y agencias gubernamentales para garantizar que la información precisa se distribuya de

manera efectiva, tanto en inglés como en español. Al capacitar a las personas con conocimiento, capacitamos a toda nuestra comunidad para que tome decisiones informadas para su salud y su seguridad.

Marc Lipsitch, quien se desempeña como profesor de epidemiología y director del Centro para la Dinámica de Enfermedades Transmisibles en Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, dijo en un artículo reciente: “El número de muertos está disminuyendo y la capacidad de funcionamiento de la sociedad está aumentando”, y agregó que no existe una línea de demarcación clara cuando una pandemia, un nuevo patógeno que causa enfermedades generalizadas y muerte en humanos— entra en la fase endémica, cuando el sistema inmunitario de las personas es más capaz de hacer frente al patógeno. “Todavía hay demasiadas muertes por COVID”,

Conoce tus derechos: ¿Que hacer en caso de una redada?

1. Mantenerse callado 2. Sólo dar nombre y apellido 3. No mentir 4. Nunca acepte/lleve documentos falsos 5. No revelar su situación migratoria 6. No llevar documentación de otro país 7. En caso de ser arrestado, mostrarla Tarjeta Miranda (llámenos si necesita una)

Basados en la Quinta Enmienda de la Constitución, los derechos de guardar silencio y contar con un abogado fueron denominados Derechos Miranda luego de la decisión de la Suprema Corte de Justicia de Estados Unidos en el caso Miranda vs. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, de 1966.

por www.juanese.com juanese@usa.com

PAGE 18 | May 24 - June 7, 2023 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

Disparidades de salud Las disparidades de salud preexistentes, incluidas tasas más altas de afecciones de salud subyacentes como diabetes, obesidad e hipertensión, han hecho que las personas negras e hispanas sean más susceptibles a enfermedades graves y complicaciones de COVID-19. El acceso limitado a los servicios de atención médica y las tasas muy bajas de utilización de la atención médica también han obstaculizado los esfuerzos oportunos de prueba, tratamiento y vacunación.

A todo esto se suman los factores socioeconómicos. Las comunidades negras e hispanas tienen más probabilidades de enfrentar desafíos socioeconómicos como la pobreza, viviendas superpobladas, acceso limitado a una educación de calidad y empleo en trabajos esenciales de primera línea con mayores riesgos de exposición. Estos factores han dificultado la implementación de medidas efectivas de distanciamiento social y han aumentado el riesgo de transmisión del virus dentro de estas comunidades. (...CONTINUARÁ) Envíenos sus sugerencias por e-mail: news@hispanicpaper.com ó 615-567-3569

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ABBY R. RUBENFELD Attorney at Law

arubenfeldlaw.com

202 South Eleventh Street Nashville, Tennessee 37206 Telephone: (615) 386-9077 Facsimile: (615) 386-3897

May 24 - June 7, 2023 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 19