The Contributor: July 31, 2024

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PHOTO BY HOLLY BOWMAN

Vo l u m e 1 8 | N u m b e r 16 | Ju l y 3 1 - A u g u s t 14 , 2 0 2 4

Contributor Board

Amber DuVentre, Chair • Christine Doeg, Secretary • Kerry Graham •

IN THE ISSUE 3

13

5

Cathy Jennings • Demetria Kalodimos • O. Wade Nelson, Jr. • Robin KimbroughHayes • Jim Shulman • Tom Wills • Drew Morris

19

Vendor Spotlight

History Corner

Vendor Writing

Moving Pictures

"I want to thank Nashville for their support, because everybody’s looked out for me."

In 1930, the Sterick Building opened in Memphis at the corner of Madison Avenue and North B.B.King Boulevard.

Contributor vendors write in this issue about their stories, selling the paper, and getting booted on the bus.

New Bob Marley biopic is an original and gritty tribute to the artist and activist. Stream it now on Prime.

Contributors This Issue Julie B. • Maurice B. • Norma B. • Linda Bailey • Holly Bowman • Yuri Cunza • Hannah Cron • Chris Scott Fieselman • Amanda Haggard • Daniel K. • Joe Nolan • Mr. Mysterio • Judith Tackett • Michael W. • Ridley Wills II

Contributor Volunteers Christine Doeg • Joe First • Andy Shapiro • Michael Reilly • Ann Bourland • Laura Birdsall • Matthew Murrow • Gisselly Mazariegos • Tyler Samuel • Jamie Dore • Russ Heldman Amanda Haggard & Linda Bailey Co-Editors Holly Bowman Director of Development Jesse Call Operations Consultant Ree Cheers SOAR Manager Will Connelly Executive Director

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Bri Givens Case Manager Evan Godt Certified Peer Recovery Specialist Cathy Jennings Director of Finance Andrew Krinks Editor Emeritus Caroline Lindner Case Manager Zero Mannino Housing Stability Guide Raven Nye Director of Housing Initiatives

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| The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

Gracie Rule SOAR Coordinator Andrew Terry IV SOAR Referral Specialist Carli Tharp SNAP Specialist Justin Wagner Resource Coordinator & Reporter Tom Wills Senior Advisor/ Data Manager Barbara Womack Advertising Manager 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. The Contributor reserves the right to edit any submissions. The Contributor cannot and will not endorse any political candidate.

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VENDOR SPOTLIGHT

PHOTO BY JUSTIN WAGNER

Carla B. wants to thank God and Nashville

BY JUSTIN WAGNER

Carla B. has been a Contributor vendor for years, and she’s lived in Nashville even longer. She’s endured lengthy bouts of homelessness and found herself at the intersection of mental health challenges, struggles with substance use, and a lack of program support that suits her needs.

Despite her difficulties finding a place to live comfortably, Carla’s never grown to resent the city around her. In fact, Carla loves Nashville.

“I want to thank Nashville for their support, because everybody’s looked out for me,” Carla said. “They always make sure I’m okay, and they give me money, and they’ve just always made me feel welcome.”

Living in the city since 2010, Carla’s become a fixture downtown and where she sells in Bellevue. Despite her continued troubles finding a stable place to live or even lay her head, given Tennessee’s larger policies about public camping, she’s shown incredible resilience and survived year after year.

Watching Nashville explode in population and undergo sprawling development has been surreal, but Carla’s confident the city’s sense of community has only been bolstered by those who have come to address issues like homelessness.

“I got here in the floods,” she said. “I’ve watched it expand and grow. It didn’t have half as much as what it has now … [it’s changed] for the better. There’s more outreach and there’s more for the homeless, and you don’t go hungry in this town.”

Selling The Contributor has helped Carla stay in touch with the community she loves, she said, and the occasional customer that surprises her with a generous tip or just a kind word goes a long way in keeping her motivated. She continues to sell in Bellevue because of the customers who recognize her and make the trip from downtown worth it.

While Carla has been in and out of housing over the last decade, it’s always been fleeting. She said “running into the wrong people” is always a concern when you’re

trying to stay sober, and living on the streets makes that nigh impossible.

“I’ve been in motels and stuff, and rented rooms, but something always happens,” she said. “The last time I had a room, it was with [a former partner], and we broke up.”

However, Carla was recently referred to a housing program through nonprofit Park Center wherein she receives case management and support getting back on her feet.

After living there for two months, she said she’s finally found a great fit.

“You got to meet the requirements, it’s sober living. You’ve got to be with your case coordinator twice a month, and you’ve gotta follow the rules. It’s been going good for me,” Carla explained. “I bought new potholders and a couch yesterday … it’s nice to be off the streets, it’s nice to know where I’m gonna lay my head every night, and it’s nice to know I’m not in the heat. It’s just security.”

Carla was eager to decorate her new space and have a place where she can get away from the chaos of downtown, she said.

July 31 - August 14, 2024 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 3

While the new lifestyle is invigorating, what Carla appreciates most about it is the peace and quiet. It’s given her a chance to stay in touch with her religious side and meditate on some experiences she’s had that have cemented her lifelong piety.

“I’m just staying sober and reaching out to God,” she said. “I met God when I got busted in 2005 and I ran to Florida on the run, and I went to the beach for the first time … and I said, ‘God, what do I do now?’ All of a sudden, I’d seen three steps walking my way and three steps walking out, and that was the first time I ever heard God’s voice.

He said, ‘Baby, it’s time for me to carry you.’”

“He was gonna teach me how to survive.

And he did.”

For those dealing with the same challenges Carla’s finally found respite from, she recommends persistence, both in commitment and in spirituality, as that’s what kept her going when things were at their bleakest.

“Just give it all to God and take it one day at a time and don’t lose your faith.”

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| The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

HISTORY CORNER

Sterick Building, Memphis, Tenn.

The Sterick Building and Its Successors

BY RIDLEY WILLS II

In 1930, the 29-story Sterick Building opened in downtown Memphis at the corner of Madison Avenue and North B.B.King Boulevard.

The white stone spire, topped with a green tile roof, was designed by Wyatt C .

Hedrick and Company. Its name is a contraction of the original owner’s names, R. E. Sterling and Wyatt Hedrick. It is a Gothic Tower that stands 365 feet tall and, when completed it was the tallest building in the South. Little boys, such as Pat Mann of Brownsville, Tennessee, must have been convinced that it was the tallest building in the country. It was the tallest building in Tennessee until 1957 when the sleek Life & Casualty Tower in Nashville was completed with 31 floors and succeeded the Sterick Building as the tallest building in the South.

The Sterick Building, once called the “Queen of Memphis,” featured a white stone spire topped by a green tile roof. Its first three floors were made of granite and limestone. Eight high-speed elevators ferried the building’s 2,000 workers and

guests to the upper floors, including the Regency Room Restaurant on the top A number of 30-to-45 story towers have been built in downtown Nashville since. The building also featured its own bank, pharmacy, barber shop,and beauty parlor. The Sterick Building architect lost money on the Sterick Building and in the 1960s, the building began to lose tenants as new, modern office buildings were built downtown. The Sterick Building became vacant in 1986 and remains so today.

In Nashville, the 31-story L&C Tower was topped slightly by the 31-story NLT Tower in 1970. In more recent years, a number of skyscrapers have been built in Nashville, including the 45 story 505 Tower built by Tony Garrantano on Church Street. He now has under construction a 60-story tower on Church Street next to the Nashville YMCA. In the smaller cities of Knoxville and Chattanooga, the tallest buildings are the 27-story First Tennessee Plaza in Knoxville and the 21-story Republic Centre in Chattanooga.

July 31 - August 14, 2024 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 5

LEARN MORE ABOUT

Learn More About the History of Strobel House

BY JUDITH TACKET T

Metro has officially opened the door of its first 90-unit Permanent Supportive Housing building in Downtown Nashville. This is a huge milestone that has been years in the making. (Read more about the opening on Pg. 10 and 11.)

Permanent supportive housing offers a solution to homelessness, especially for people who experience chronic homelessness*. It usually combines a housing subsidy with voluntary support services to help people maintain their own lease long-term.

The idea of developing a Metro-owned subsidized housing facility started during the Megan Barry Administration. For full disclosure, I was working at Metro at that time, and we had been floating the idea of a Housing First oriented building for a couple of years where people experiencing chronic homelessness could receive intensive support services that were offered on site.

Once the idea took shape, the initial conversations were led by the Mayor’s Office with Bloomberg Associates as advisors. Community providers were brought in early in the brainstorming phase, and feedback was sought from people with lived experience as well. I have always been and still am impressed with the Bloomberg Associates team, which works with cities around the globe to bring innovative approaches to complex, social issues such as homelessness.

The first site that we explored was the historic Morris Memorial Building, at 330 Dr. Martin L. King Jr. Blvd. If you recall, this building was in the news last year with locals trying to save it and urging Metro to purchase it.

The Morris Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was owned for more than a century by the National Baptist Convention. The building was completed in 1926 and was designed by McKissack & McKissack, which was founded by brothers Moses III and Calvin in 1905.

As a side note, the history of this firm is fascinating as the building and design tradition of the McKissack family dates back to Moses McKissack I, who was born in West Africa and sold into slavery to William McKissack of North Carolina, where he got his last name.

Back to the Morris Building. After an unsuccessful attempt for Metro to purchase it last year — with a symbolic resolution introduced by Councilwoman Suara Zulfat for Metro to explore all options, the building sold for $6 million in December 2023 (not to Metro) and was purchased shortly after for

$10 million by Imagine Hospitality.

Discussions for Metro to purchase and use the Morris Building to address chronic homelessness included a service center on the bottom with permanent housing on top. At one point, we even brainstormed what flexible space could look like to accommodate Metro’s cold weather sheltering because we had struggled for years to have a designated site to open emergency warming shelters during cold spells.

However, it was determined that the rehab would be cost-prohibitive.

Mayor David Briley, who had inherited the conversation, understood the urgent need to address chronic and outdoor homelessness, and a proposal emerged for a triangular parking lot adjacent to the Morris Building.

Discussion and planning for the new proposal started in 2018. The key to this development was based on a land swap with real estate entrepreneur Tony Giarratana, who was interested in acquiring Church Street Park, the little park across from the Downtown Library. The deal would have helped finance a large portion of operating costs of a new Service Center and PSH Building at 301 James Robertson Parkway.

This plan was similar to the vision for the Morris Building and started with a focus on creating access to public restrooms, showers, lockers, and possibly mailboxes as well as some meeting spaces and Metro offices on the ground floor. The goal was to build low-income, subsidized housing with support services (about 100 permanent supportive housing units) for people on the upper floors, including communal areas for people to meet and mingle (such as a common kitchen — even though each apartment would have its own cooking area). Eventually, the service center on the ground floor was scaled back compared to the initial vision due to space issues.

Again, there were meetings with provider agencies and people with lived experience and a lot of hope and support. In the end, however, the land swap deal with Church Street Park killed the proposal. Losing a downtown park that would also displace a spot where people experiencing homelessness were gathering resulted in a lot of outcry. The feeling was that the deal would in the end benefit a wealthy developer more than the city. Voices that spoke up against it argued that the city needs to find other funding mechanisms to build the PSH building on James Robertson Parkway. I attended a meeting before the Metro Parks Board that went sideways. After

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that meeting I was not surprised that the deal did not move forward. I also felt, the people speaking against the land swap did not fully realize that this would kill the PSH building proposal at that site. But, the administration recognized the need to move forward with the concept and was working to identify a new site and potential funding sources to make it happen.

And then we had another Administration change with Mayor John Cooper winning the 2019 election. At that point, the third site for Metro’s PSH building was announced at 505 2nd Avenue North, which was at the corner of 2nd Avenue and Gay Street, across from the Downtown jail. The plans for that site initially also included a service center on the ground f loor, but eventually focused on permanent supportive housing only. That was the preferred approach because mixing a service center with permanent supportive housing would require enough space to have clear separation of the programming. That site was so tight (no onsite parking would have been available) that it would have been difficult to accommodate everything that was discussed in the previous years.

The planning process moved forward and eventually the construction contract was awarded to Bell & Associates with a projected completion date in 2022. I recall we had discussions about how many units are possible on that site and the focus was on about 100 units. Sometime during the Cooper Administration — I left Metro during that time, the building site changed to the current location at 110 Jo Johnston Ave. The building was completed a few months ago, and Metro had hoped to open it this spring.

However, some hiccups with finding a contractor to provide support services ensued late last year.

In May, Metro Council approved a contract with Depaul USA to provide “property management services for the starting up of the 90-bed permanent supportive housing residence known as the Strobel Center. Depaul USA will also provide support services including case management services, mental health services, alcohol and substance abuse services, independent living skills, vocational services, health and medical services, peer support services, and social activities to tenants of the Strobel Center. The term of the grant agreement begins on May 28, 2024, and extends for four months, or when funds are depleted, whichever occurs first.” While this initial contract was only for four months, Metro has set aside American Rescue

| The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

Plan Act (ARPA) funding to extend it.

Strobel House is named after Father Charles Strobel, the founder of Room In The Inn, a champion for people who found themselves living on the streets. Many of us viewed Father Strobel, who passed away on Aug. 6, 2023, as the conscience of our city when it comes to serving people on the margins of society. He also served on the city’s Homelessness Commission (and the Homelessness Planning Council that replaced it) since inception of that body in 2005 to offer guidance to solutions to homelessness.

Per Metro’s press release, half of the units will be reserved for people experiencing chronic homelessness and the other half will house veterans, young adults, and LGBTQ+ individuals. After doing intensive research about the running of site-based permanent supportive housing buildings and talking to many PSH programs in other cities including some site visits, I know that it will be a challenge to serve all of these different populations under one roof.

Therefore, I predict that Metro will eventually learn and designate all 90 units to chronic homelessness.

However, I suspect — and this is an assumption based on my experience and based on messaging from the Office of Homeless Services this past few months — that Metro struggled to find the appropriate subsidies to pay for all 90 units and make them all available for people experiencing chronic homelessness. Consequently, it makes sense to mix voucher programs to ensure that all units are subsidized and ready to be filled.

In any case, it’s been a long time in coming. The original plan and bid called for a $25-million construction cost. But even when we selected the builder in 2020, it was clear to all of us that the final cost would likely increase. The change of the design and location, the years added to the project, which were marked by inflation, raised the final cost by 40 percent to $35 million.

Strobel House is needed. And it’s been a long time in the making. *The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) uses the term chronic homelessness to describe people who have experienced homelessness for at least one year and have a disabling condition such as a serious mental illness, substance use disorder, or physical disability — or they experienced three episodes of homelessness within the past four years with all episodes totaling one year, plus a disabling condition.

July 31 - August 14, 2024 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 7

A FEW QUESTIONS

Q&A with Alisha Haddock

BY JUDITH TACKET T

Alisha Haddock is the Senior Vice President and Director of Community and Economic Development at The Housing Fund, a CDFI (Community Development Financial Institution) private nonprofit that is dedicated to providing affordable housing options, financial education and resources to support homeownership and community development activities throughout Tennessee.

Specifically, The Housing Fund provides access to capital to for-profit and nonprofit developers who want to build affordable housing and offers programs to help individuals and families access affordable housing opportunities.

Haddock also serves as the co-pastor at Christian Journey Fellowship Church. She describes her ministry as being “centered around God’s people being a voice for the voiceless.”

“We focus on living out our ministry and our day-to-day lives,” Haddock said. “It really means we are not leaving anyone behind because of who God made them.

If her name sounds familiar, it may be because she has recently been in the news through her volunteer work as the chair of Metro’s Community Review Board where she strives to lead with integrity according to her beliefs.

You work as the Senior Vice President and Director of Community and Economic Development at The Housing Fund. In a nutshell, what does your day job entail?

I oversee a multi-million dollar commercial loan portfolio at The Housing Fund and essentially ensure that loans are booked appropriately and balanced monthly. I monitor loans for compliance and accuracy of documents.

I promote The Housing Fund’s commercial loan products to a diverse array of potential nonprofit and for profit borrowers, community key organizations and agencies that develop affordable housing, or have affordable units included in their projects, or want to build commercial spaces that serve low- to moderate-income individuals and families.

That’s pretty much what my day job entails. But I do also develop new initiatives and implementation of the Housing Fund’s development loan products and related policies.

Prior to working at The Housing Fund, you ran the McGruder Family Resource Center in North Nashville. What are the most urgent needs you saw when working with families and where do you still see gaps that our community needs to focus on?

The most pressing need I saw when working with families was the need for affordable housing.

The McGruder Center sits in the heart of a historically Black community, North Nashville, which has a rich culture and community. But it had been severely underdeveloped, and little resources were put into the community.

The McGruder Center serves as a beacon of hope. When clients and neighbors come to the McGruder Center, they feel a level of comfort that allows them to express not only how they feel about the issues that affected them such

as food insecurity, unemployment, lack of family support, adequate youth development, a safe place to go within the neighborhood, technology training, a lack of resources to start a small business — all of these issues we tried to address at the McGruder Center, and in my opinion, we addressed them.

But the issue of keeping people in their homes was probably the most challenging. We were hemorrhaging neighbors, we were seeing rampant displacement, skyrocketing rent, and purchase prices within the community were just soaring. So that's actually what led me to pursue affordable housing full time.

You were appointed to the Community Oversight Board (COB) in October 2022 and are now serving as the chair of the Community Review Board (CRB), which was created after the COB was dismantled in response to a recent state law. Can you describe the main duties of the CRB and how they differ from the COB? The main duties remain the same in terms of taking citizen complaints of allegations of police misconduct, making sure citizens’ voices are heard in matters of public safety, making policy recommendations to increase accountability and transparency within the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD), and really ensuring that Nashville is the fair and equitable place most of us want it to be.

The dismantling of the COB was a pretty hard blow as we investigated cases on the front end. As the CRB, we now review the investigations after MNPD has conducted its initial investigation of the complaints that we intake. We continue to receive complaints on a daily basis. That hasn't changed. But the fabric and the essence of our work remain the same.

The COB was birthed out of a 2018 referendum that was voted by 134,371 people.

That's close to 60 percent of Nashville voters who voted in that November election for Amendment I. The community said that they wanted the Community Oversight Board. Needless to say, we were pretty upset when we were preempted by the state legislature. But some of the things the state legislature could not take away from us are the vigor, passion, and purpose, that was the COB had and the CRB still has, we still take the charge that Nashville gave us very seriously. We want to make sure that we have the best police department in the country which respects the dignity of all people in Nashville. That's our goal.

And so as we recommend best practices and policies to the Police Department, which we hope that they implement, we will continue to strive to create this accountability and transparency model with the Police Department and the community. And the work isn't easy.

Since we became the CRB, we've had some serious issues obtaining completed case files from MNPD, which by law we should be receiving. We’re currently working through that clear conflict, but we have been steadfast in keeping the charge of the people who voted for the Community Oversight Board in 2018 and leading with integrity while we do it.

PAGE 8 | July 31 - August 14, 2024

As the CRB chair, what are your responsibilities?

I govern a seven-member board, including myself. We make recommendations on issues of police misconduct. One of my main jobs is to support the executive director in her position as she oversees the day-to-day operations of the office. I support her, I support other board members, and I really encourage community engagement because the people who are closest to issues of police misconduct bear the brunt of the actions of being over-policed and hold the solutions. The community's voice is top of mind to me and I consider and center their voice in the decisions that I make.

It does not matter what neighborhood you come from, it does not matter what your income is, you deserve to feel safe within Nashville. And so, we are champions and advocates for public safety and the administration of justice.

How can people approach the CRB when they feel they have a complaint about police misconduct?

You can get in touch with the CRB via our website – Nashville Community Review Board (https://www.nashville.gov/ departments/community-oversight/complaints-and-commendations) We are on all of the social channels, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. You can “dm” us. You can give our office a call (615-8801800 or on our 24-Hour Complaint Line, 615-880-1801).

We are trying to create a more equitable community through the Community Review Board. We want to hear from people. People can reach out and make sure that we hear what the issues are. It does not matter if you are housed, unhoused, or if you are an immigrant. We will ensure that your voice is heard no matter who you are or where you come from.

Biggest barrier right now to moving the CRB forward?

The biggest barrier is coming to an agreement on how the Community Review Board does its work and how we're supported legally. The new law stated we can not have any outside counsel unless the Metro Law Department deemed it a conflict. And the issue is the Metro Law Department represents the Nashville Community Review Board and the Nashville Police Department and members of the CRB and cannot provide impartial legal advice. We have very different interpretations of the law, and in many instances MNPD has been advised by the Metro Law Department not to give our Executive Director information that the law states she can have access to.

Mayor Freddie O'Connell recently presented the CRB with a proposal for independent counsel. We are currently working through it to come to an agreement we can all be satisfied with, even community members.

I think that's pretty important because we've had some high-profile cases. We just had a 61page whistleblower complaint. It was [from] a retired police officer, and it had about close to

| The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

40 allegations of police misconduct, one including that two high-ranking officials worked with state legislators to overturn the will of the people. That [action] is what led to the abolishment of the Community Oversight Board.

We have all of these issues that we're currently facing and actively dealing with and the support of the community is critical in how we move forward because if 60 percent of Nashville voters voted in favor of oversight that means that 60 percent of Nashville voters’ voices were silenced by the state law.

What we want to do is ensure not only that doesn't happen again, but that we could also get our voice back. The whole political climate has turned issues like police accountability on its head because we were making really good progress and then it was rolled back. And so, the struggle continues. But I do think it will take all of us to ensure that police accountability and transparency is one of the main goals in Nashville.

You are a staunch affordable housing advocate. When you look at recent news, especially with the announcement of a Unified Housing Strategy and the launch of the Catalyst Fund, do you think the city will be able to fill the affordable housing needs in the next few years? If not, what else is needed?

I think the Unified Housing Strategy and the Catalyst Fund are great initiatives and steps in the right direction as it pertains to increasing the affordable housing stock for Nashvillians, some of whom are the most vulnerable residents, some are our working class, and they help make the city the successful Nashville that we know and love.

There's always more that we can do though.

It will take local government, it will take the private sector, it will take the philanthropic community to solve a big problem like affordable housing.

Just think about it. It was predicted we need 55,000 new housing units by 2030, and 18,000 of those units need to be for people earning below 80 percent of the area median income, which currently equates to a family of four making around $85,000 or less. The Catalyst Fund is designed to currently help fund the preservation and creation of about 3,000 of those units over a 10-year span.

We definitely needed those resources. The Unified Housing Strategy can help keep us focused on the needs of the community, goals that need to be met, hopefully provide creative strategies, put best practice and policy recommendations before us that ensure safe, healthy, and affordable housing is available for all Nashvillians.

But what I hope is that we continue to build on the momentum we've gained in terms of big new projects in Nashville, including affordable housing units. Those affordable units will be critical in big projects like the East Bank development and other big projects that are coming along with private developers, ensuring that affordable units are included willingly within some of these projects that we know will make a huge impact in Nashville.

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.

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

Nashville, Tennessee

Historia de la NAACP en los Estados Unidos y Nashville

La Asociación Nacional para el Progreso de las Personas de Color (NAACP por sus siglas en inglés) ha desempeñado un papel fundamental en la lucha por los derechos civiles Por Yuri Cunza en los Estados Editor-In-Chief Unidos desde su @yuricunza fundación el 12 de febrero de 1909. Su creación fue una respuesta directa a la violencia racial y la discriminación sistémica que enfrentaban los afroamericanos en ese momento histórico.

La NAACP se estableció con el objetivo principal de asegurar los derechos civiles y políticos, y de eliminar las barreras raciales a través de la acción legal y la defensa activa.

Desde sus inicios, la NAACP ha protagonizado algunos de los casos legales más emblemáticos en la historia de los Estados Unidos en la lucha por la igualdad racial. Uno de los casos más destacados fue el histórico fallo de la Corte Suprema en el caso Brown vs. Junta de Educación de Topeka en 1954, que marcó el fin de la segregación racial en las escuelas públicas. Además, la NAACP jugó un papel crucial en la promulgación de la Ley de Derechos Electorales de 1965, que protege el derecho al voto de los ciudadanos afroamericanos y de otras minorías.

En Nashville, la NAACP ha tenido una presencia notable desde la década de 1920. La sección local de

A través de su trabajo continuo, la NAACP continúa siendo una voz poderosa para aquellos que enfrentan la injusticia racial y para aquellos que buscan construir un futuro más equitativo para las generaciones venideras.

Fotos: La Noticia Newspaper Nashville

NAACP Nashville Chapter members in 2015

la organización ha trabajado incansablemente para abordar la segregación y la discriminación racial tanto en la ciudad como en todo el estado de Tennessee. Ha liderado campañas para desafiar leyes discriminatorias y ha organizado protestas pacíficas para promover la igualdad y la justicia social.

El legado de la NAACP en Nashville y en los Estados Unidos continúa siendo relevante en la actualidad. La organización sigue comprometida con la defensa de los derechos civiles y la lucha contra la discriminación en todas sus formas.

Envíenos sus sugerencias por e-mail: news@hispanicpaper.com ó 615-582-3757

La NAACP de Nashville ha sido un defensor constante de los derechos civiles, utilizando la educación, la legislación y la movilización comunitaria como herramientas para el cambio.

Entre los logros de la NAACP se incluye el impulso de comunidades afroamericanas para registrarse y votar, lo cual ha sido fundamental para fortalecer la participación política de las minorías en todo el país. Además, la organización ha abogado por la igualdad en el acceso a la educación, el empleo y otros derechos fundamentales, contribuyendo así a un avance significativo hacia una sociedad más justa e inclusiva.

Fotos: La Noticia Newspaper Nashville

2015: Newly elected NAACP President Ludye Wallace with Tennessee State University President Dr. Glenda Glover, Pastor Enoch Fuzz, and Reverend Brian Fesler

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

En conclusión, la NAACP representa no solo una historia de resistencia y perseverancia, sino también un símbolo de esperanza y progreso en la lucha por los derechos civiles en los Estados Unidos. Su impacto en Nashville y en todo el país es un testimonio de su compromiso con la igualdad y la justicia, inspirando a generaciones de activistas a continuar trabajando hacia un futuro donde todos puedan vivir libres de discriminación y con dignidad plena.

juanese@gmail.com

July 31 - August 14, 2024 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 9

COVER STORY

Nashville’s first permanent supportive housing development for individuals experiencing homelessness opened after a ribbon cutting at the 2nd Avenue facility on July 18. PHOTO BY HANNAH CRON

Next Steps

Nashville opens its first permanent supportive housing development

N

ashville’s first permanent supportive housing development for individuals experiencing homelessness opened after a ribbon cutting at the Jo Johnston Avenue facility on July 18.

The Strobel House, named for the late Father Charles Strobel who died last year, has been years in the making.

Mayor Freddie O’Connell took to the stage before the ribbon cutting to offer a message of gratitude for those who made the Strobel House possible.

“We’ve worked now across four different mayoral administrations to ensure we got this right. And now we’re here, with new homes for people in desperate

BY HANNAH CRON need,” he said. “Mayor [Megan] Barry was right to begin the conversation, Mayor [David] Briley was right to continue it.

Mayor [John] Cooper was right to decide to name it for Charlie as he too continued it. And I am proud to be here today having worked with all of them on it, to help it get open and stay open.”

The $35-million complex features 90 fully furnished apartments, including some ADA compliant units, laundry facilities, onsite mailboxes and bike storage and a computer lab. Located off 2nd Avenue, the facility offers close proximity to public transit as well as views of the downtown skyline and the Cumberland River. Forty-five of the units will be

PAGE 10 | July 31 - August 14, 2024

dedicated to those experiencing chronic homelessness, with the other half left for use by unhoused veterans, young adults and LGBTQ+ individuals.

As of March, nearly 1,500 Nashvillians could be defined as experiencing chronic homelessness, defined by the National Alliance to End Homelessness homelessness sustained for a year or repeated homelessness experienced by a person with mental illness, substance abuse issues or a physical disability.

Chronically homeless folks make up roughly 41 percent of the city’s unhoused population, according to the city. The Strobel House will act as a permanent supportive housing development, which

| The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

means the facility must not impose a time limit on residence and services such as mental and physical health care must be provided.

The development is a collaborative effort of many government and outside organizations. Ground broke on the project in May of 2022 under the leadership of then-Mayor John Cooper. O’Connell has been an advocate for the project since its inception, and has been openly critical of the delays it has faced, even when he was a council member. O’Connell’s professed mission for his time in office included a “Housing First” initiative designed to get Nashvillians off the streets with longterm solutions.

COVER STORY

Inside the rooms at Stroble House. PHOTO BY HANNAH CRON

“Here at Strobel House, we say welcome home,” O’Connell said at the ribbon cutting.

Strobel spent his life in Nashville and beyond as an advocate for the unhoused and underserved — the roots of this development perhaps began with his strongest legacy: Room In The Inn, a nonprofit that has helped fill some gaps by inviting local churches to shelter the unhoused. What began in the 1980s as a simple offer from Strobel to stay the night has grown into one of Nashville’s most successful interfaith organizations. More than 100 congregations in the greater Nashville area have opened their doors to unhoused neighbors through RITI, and the organization’s home campus in Nashville offers day shelter and supportive services to those without permanent housing.

Room In The Inn’s Rachel Hester shared a letter with guests at the opening ceremony, written by Father Strobel about the new permanent supportive housing project before his passing.

“Affordable housing is a critical need of any city,” he wrote. “Nashville’s real estate market has driven rents to a level out of

reach for those who earn from 0 to 60 percent of the median income. This trend can cripple a city. This project reverses that trend. In a downtown area, the lack of workforce housing is astonishing. This project proposed as low-income housing for the homeless will create more workforce housing, especially in construction, housekeeping, and food services. Suddenly the homeless are no longer a problem, but now a solution.”

His letter outlines what providers and outreach workers know all over the city.

“When someone is experiencing homelessness, it can be a full time effort just to care for basic needs, much less to handle complex medical or mental health needs,” he wrote. “As a result, Strobel House is more than just a place to stay. It’s a place to heal and to rebuild. It’s an investment in the people likeliest to experience chronic homelessness, not just those who may be easier to house. We’re doing it with wraparound services, not just walls, to help everyone who will call Strobel House home enjoy a different kind of living in Nashville where they can be and achieve their healthiest selves.”

The Office of Homeless Services will act as the asset manager of Strobel House and will be responsible for referring residents for housing. The building will be staffed by Depaul USA, a national nonprofit organization supporting homelessness service initiatives. Depaul operates permanent supportive housing programs in five other cities including New Orleans, Philadelphia and St. Louis as well as day centers and transitional housing in other locations.

The Strobel House could be a promising step forward for Nashville’s homelessness crisis, but it isn’t a comprehensive solution: Ninety units is an important, but small, dent overall in the number of low-income units needed to sustain people in the city. It also only provides housing for individuals, not families. With a newly increased budget of $5 million set aside for a U.S. Housing and Urban Development grant, the Strobel House is a chapter in the book of how to wrap Nashville’s most underserved citizens in community.

As Strobel wrote in the letter shared at the event, “Surely our poorest neighbors deserve to share in the riches of our city.”

July 31 - August 14, 2024 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 11

“Strobel House is more than just a place to stay. It’s a place to heal and to rebuild.

It’s an investment in the people likeliest to experience chronic homelessness, not just those who may be easier to house.”

- Father Charles Strobel

VENDOR WRITING

Transportation Issues

BY NORMA B., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

Have you ever had your car booted perhaps for parking your car in a No Parking zone, parking on private property, or maybe you have outstanding traffic violations ie unpaid parking tickets.

Well on July 3, 2024 before traveling on an MTA Accessride van, the driver attached the wheelchair securement to my chair in order to transport me safely to my destination.

(In case you’re wondering, without such devices, the wheelchairs can roll or even tip over during transit. I’ve experienced this firsthand — ­ it DOES NOT feel good!)

When we reached our final destination, and he went to detach the apparatus from my chair, he was unable to get it off.

He made multiple attempts. First by hand, tugging and pulling in EVERY conceivable direction, then using various tools such as a hammer in an attempt to beat it off.

Despite his best efforts, NOTHING worked!

After 15-20 minutes he apologized, but he had to go, he had other pickups to make.

I didn’t go anywhere over the next two days. I’d forgotten to set up my transit in

advance and the following day was a holiday, July the 4th.

On Saturday July 6, my schedule was packed! When I got on the bus that morning for my first ride that day. When the driver, Jana, went to secure my chair she asked, “What the heck is going on here?”

Like the driver who had originally attached the contraption to my chair in the first place, she too tried to get it off but was unsuccessful, and she urged me to call in a complaint.

I told her I was hesitant to do that because it’s not like the driver did this on purpose.

Still, she persisted so I placed the call right then.

Throughout the day, on my multiple trips, each driver did as the others before and tried valiantly to remove the “extra” equipment from my chair. They were ALL unsuccessful!

Then, on Sunday July 7th, my driver Robert tried like the others before to remove the gear from my chair, and just like all the others before him, he too was unsuccessful — but he went a step further.

He called in to MTA, just as I had done

the day before.

He told MTA that this issue was a safety issue for me, which was true as I’d tripped and almost fallen twice over it.

He further advised them that they needed to pay to have me come to/from the MTA garage to have the rig removed, or send someone to my spot at OHB + Central Pike to remove the device since I was going to be there for a while that day, and most impressive of all — at least to me — is that he refused to leave until they agreed to do SOMETHING about it THAT DAY! In a very short time, someone from MTA DID in fact come to my spot and remove their equipment from my chair!

Like the others before him, he too tried various tools in his effort to get the securement off my chair, and like the others he too was unsuccessful.

So how did he finally get it off?

After taking a few pictures, so he could ‘instruct future drivers of what NOT to do’ when securing a wheelchair, he went back to his truck and got something that resembled a blow torch and cut it off!

I told him to PLEASE be careful, don’t go starting any fires or worse yet, set my

papers on fire!

When he was done, away he went, my chair was finally free of ANY unnecessary attachments!

So from the time this story began until its happy ending every time someone asked: ‘What’s up with your chair?’ My response was: ‘MTA booted my chair!’

Living in Survival Mode

BY MAURICE B., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

As a custom of existing around individuals between the ages of 8 to 88 I realize the way they live is all that they ever known. So, how does one turn off that awful mode?

Realistically, survival is the mainstream of living in this dog eat dog world, and it seems like there isn't any hidden switch. From the highest trusted person to the lowest scum of the earth we all are ran by that switch. There isn't a person that can't say that they haven't been used and or haven't used someone. The factor of being used makes an individual feel a certain type of way it has it's good and it has it's bad points, it's all up to that person to choose to be used and for how long.

Take the matter of a toxic relationship. Each individual teaches the other how they want to

be treated. One person has their own concept of how the other needs to be treated, but there is someone waiting for one to realize them from afar. The reproduction of toxic actions began and lasted for a year and a half and it only got worse. Matter of fact, it took both into detrimental stages as one had already known this in which kept it a secret. The other one was putting their all in all into making it work, but the actions of prolonging and excuses constantly came up. One day a care flight to the hospital came about that separated the two and gave the one in the hospital time to think and place pieces together. As pieces were connected the picture that was painted from the beginning was the same picture. The only thing was that the person

PAGE 12 | July 31 - August 14, 2024

in the hospital bed didn't examine the fullness of the picture. Whereas the teachings that was taught to the one in the bed was to accept the full package, but in accepting the fullness of the package first find out what all that is in the package and weigh out the intentions and compatibilities of both parties. After the stay in the hospital the return home came. There was no food and the electricity was off and another person was in the house.

That was enough for the one person to separate from those toxic actions, but it came the other person's time to end up in the hospital because of not properly taking care of themselves. Because that individual wanted things their way, it hung a black cloud over the other's

| The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

head because they moved in all of their belongings piece by piece until they were in illegally as if that's what the other one actually wanted.

Well after calling 911 and instructing them that the things were considered abandoned, the call to a moving company was made to come pick the belongings up. Paying the moving company removed the black cloud. A year later that one that was in the background asked how much longer was it going to take until you had enough of being used? Accepting self-responsibility and self-accountability to live life on life's terms helps any individual to realize when and if they want to be used and for how long, because the pain of remaining the same will not change until a person lets go of what has them in pain.

VENDOR WRITING

The Art of Self Care WRITTEN BY DANIEL K., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR Emotional control is a basic aspect of self care. By living in the moment, you gain the capacity to regulate your emotions. You live in the moment so you have the ability to control yourself. This helps you connect with your environment.

physical, spiritual and mental wellbeing.

Have a clean environment, grow plants, drink clean water, eat healthy, take vitamins, read more, workout, hydrate and have enough rest.

When you prioritize self-care, you wake up feeling rejuvenated and prepared to set new goals and continue improving.

Being present is a pleasure that allows you to feel grounded and in control.

The environment is made up of living and non living things. It is a pleasure to be in the moment than called to it. You know when to breathe and when you’ve had enough air.

A few steps at the park vitalizes your muscles and helps connect you with nature. This allows you breath freely so oxygen can flow through the blood.

You also have less time for irrelevant issues and drama after a good workout.

Self care is vital for our emotional,

Help The Help WRITTEN BY DANIEL K., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR In another plane, the sun shines from the sea.

Hot and red with vapor, up into the sky so all can see.

With strong rays it pierce through the atmosphere then back into the sea.

This is how I feel everyday.

Many faces to wear.

ARTWORK BY AARON S.

The emotions changing every way.

Life is about personal evolution A roller coaster up the hill.

My Story

BY JULIE B., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR This is my story. My name is Julie B. and I am homeless and have cancer in my brain.

I have PTSD and a disability and it is not easy for me. I struggle every day trying to stay alive. My body can not take it for much longer. If I don’t get a place soon, I will die out here. The housing people don’t get that I

have PTSD and the stress of being homeless takes its toll on you and sometimes you want to just give up and that is the point I’m at now. I just want to say that so if I give up because no one really cares about me or what I am going through. See, I am about to have brain surgery to take out a tumor in

my head that is cancerous and I could die on the table. But no one cares about that, no one cares if I live or die because I am just a homeless person that no one cares about and just a homeless person that doesn’t matter to anyone. Don’t even matter to my husband. He would be happy if I died. It

would make everyone happy, like I said no one really cares about me or the homeless.

I hope when I do die someone remembers me and my service dog, but with my luck no one will care to remember me as a vendor and someone that cares about everyone who comes across my path.

Take the Paper and Read It!

BY MICHAEL W., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

If someone doesn’t take the paper when I’m selling it and just try to give me money, it can feel like panhandling. Even if someone comes up and says, "I only have one dollar,” I’ll say, “ok no problem here’s a paper anyway.” You know, just for the fun of it. Then they take the paper anyway because I think it’s that important that they should read it. I don’t want to throw them away if they don’t sell. If I have any old papers, I’ll also keep them around for people who may have missed an issue and want to still read it.

I get up at 5 a.m. and leave my house no later than 7 a.m. to get out on my corner. I’ve been out in the same spot for years. Then, I leave around 12 and I’m so tired I go back home. I want the public to know that The Contributor

is also helping put people into housing. Also, where I go to church at, they are very helpful and get me things I need, and they want to make sure I can stay in my current apartment.

My counselors in school told me I’d never be able to live on my own or manage my own money because of my learning disabilities. But I’ve learned what I’ve had to learn when I was homeless and I can do the basic things around my apartment like dishes, laundry and grocery shopping. I got to do them because food stamps don’t last that long. You can get that much for $70 anymore. I just want the general people to understand that if you think you have it bad, I’m out here trying to maintain a house and things I need to do and I feel the pinch every

single day.

I have COPD and I probably have emphysema because it runs in my family. Try putting tennis shoes or boots on and you’re just trying to be able to breathe. It hurts so much just to walk. I just want the general public to realize what it takes to be a Contributor vendor when they see someone out there selling the paper and maybe that will encourage them to buy the paper.

I hope everyone who buys the paper reads it. How will you know what the community is doing for the homeless without reading about it? Years ago, downtown wanted all the homeless off the streets. They don’t want us sitting around doing nothing, but they also

July 31 - August 14, 2024 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 13

don’t want to help. So, what can you do when you see things like that? I just like to let people know they should take the paper and read some articles in it. You might get educated! We used to have a kids page in the back so there was something for everyone. I think we can find more stuff to help people read the paper more and more.

I have a friend who does a bicycle ministry and she told me it takes her almost two weeks just to read the paper. She buys one from me at church when she sees me. Her daughter is going to Kentucky University. When she goes, I’m going to tell her how to read the paper online so she can tell people about what Nashville is doing.

PIECES OF POETRY - 30

Don’t Chase the Wind

THEME: THE 1910S ACROSS 1. UPS competitor 5. Banking convenience 8. Shape with an axe 11. Arctic floater 12. Court bargain 13. Dashboard window 15. *Claude Monet's "Water Lilies," e.g.

16. Petri dish gel 17. Noble gas 18. *Post-1919 drinking establishment 20. Not hit 21. More than a scuffle 22. "That is to say" 23. Jewish village 26. One's full DNA sequence, pl.

30. Interesting person, acr.

31. Cord made from animal intestines 34. Type of tide 35. No such thing as a free one?

37. Credit card rate 38. Boatload 39. St. Louis' Gateway, e.g.

40. Cast-off skin 42. U.N. working-conditions agcy.

43. *"Unsinkable"?

45. Violent protester 47. Golfer's goal 48. Puts behind bars 50. Samoan money 52. *Armed conflict (3 words) 56. *Famous Bolshevik 57. Storm centers 58. Bob ____ of boxing world 59. Neural transmitters 60. High school breakout 61. Speech defect 62. 1968 hit "Harper Valley ____"

63. Grassland 64. Trousers

24. Alluring maiden 25. Add a touch of color 26. Spiritual leader 27. *Boy Scout's ____ badge DOWN 28. Two under par on a hole 1. They're often described as 29. Animal trail disc-shaped 32. After-bath powder 2. Freudian error 33. General Post Office 3. *Roald Amundsen's 36. *"Little Tramp" porsouthern destination trayer 4. The Muppets' street 38. Chef Julia ____ 5. Lake scum 40. Address for a man 6. Razz 41. Salmon at a certain stage 7. *____ Pickford, "Amer44. Indian breads ica's Sweetheart" of silent 46. Lee Harvey ____ film era 48. *"A Portrait of the Artist 8. Comforting gestures as a Young Man" author 9. Prima donna problems James ____ 10. Skin cyst 49. Circus venue 12. Saffron-flavored rice 50. Modern message dish 51. Dwarf buffalo 13. Street urchin 52. Lash mark 14. *48th State 53. *"Dulcin e!" of Massen19. Sailing vessel with two et's "Don Quichotte," e.g. masts 54. Dry biscuit 22. Animal doctor, for short 55. Mischievous sprites 23. Water balloon sound 56. Spot for luxury?

PAGE 14 | July 31 - August 14, 2024

Dream Wings

WRITTEN BY CHRIS SCOTT FIESELMAN

WRITTEN BY CHRIS SCOTT FIESELMAN

You can’t do what you want to do,

Life spent with no accomplishments,

When others need and depend on you.

Not really life at all.

Struggle just to make ends meet.

Afraid to fly, so you never try.

A place to live and food to eat.

Never have to fall.

You’re the one that they count on.

You were meant for bigger things,

The person that always must be strong.

Then a cage of security.

You can’t walk away and you can’t give in,

Take a chance - Spread your wings.

Or get the chance to Chase the Wind...

Learn what it means to be free...

Don’t Chase the Wind - Time and again,

Let your Dreams be your Wings,

Like the kid you were back then.

Carry you to better things.

Dreams were big and worries small,

Be courageous and be strong,

And you thought you knew it all.

When the whole world,

Don’t Chase the Wind - That’s what they say.

Says “You’re Wrong”

So, you give in living each day,

Take to flight - Know you’re right,

Watching your dreams,

What you do.

Just fade away and that’s o.k.

And let your Dreams be the Wings,

Don’t Chase the Wind...

That carry you...

Now, you may dream of bigger things,

Don’t be bound feet on the ground,

Fame and Fortune and what it brings.

Destined for a whole lot more.

But it’s just a game of chance.

The answers will be found,

Go for broke or keep your hand.

Where none have gone before.

Make a wish upon a star,

Make the most of the life you live.

But be content right where you are.

Don’t settle for anything less.

Another day that’s been well spent,

Show the world what you’ve got to give.

Is one not spent Chasing the Wind...

Be better than all the rest...

Don’t Chase the Wind - Time and again,

Let your Dreams be your Wings,

Like the kid you were back then.

Carry you to better things.

Dreams were big and worries small,

Be courageous and be strong,

And you thought you knew it all.

When the whole world,

Don’t Chase the Wind - That’s what they say.

Says “You’re Wrong”

So, you give in living each day,

Take to flight - Know you’re right,

Watching your dreams,

What you do.

Just fade away and that’s o.k.

And let your Dreams be the Wings,

Don’t Chase the Wind...

That carry you...

I met a man named Rip Van Winkle,

Believe it will come to be.

In the park one sunny day.

Persevere other’s point of view.

He disappeared for fifteen years.

Rise above mere-mediocrity.

That’s a long time to be away.

Reach new heights and see it through.

The family he’d never known,

An ocean of excuses.

Had found him and he was going home.

A thousand reasons why.

Been missing them,

Let go of them,

While they’d been missing him,

And be one who chooses to,

While time went by Chasing the Wind...

Spread your wings and fly - High...

Don’t Chase the Wind - Time and again,

Let your Dreams be your Wings,

Like the kid you were back then.

Carry you to better things.

Dreams were big and worries small,

Be courageous and be strong,

And you thought you knew it all.

When the whole world,

Don’t Chase the Wind - That’s what they say.

Says “You’re Wrong”

So, you give in living each day,

Take to flight - Know you’re right,

Watching your dreams,

What you do.

Just fade away and that’s o.k.

And let your Dreams be the Wings,

Don’t Chase the Wind...

That carry you...

| The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

FUN

HOBOSCOPES LEO

In these final days before the most crucial event of our lifetime, Leo, can we count on your support as we work to build a coalition of like-minded Leo’s to help us meet our most pressing goals of stopping [insert the worst thing you can imagine] from happening and promoting [a slightly better outcome]?

If you want to unsubscribe from these fundraising horoscopes, just say STOP into the sky now…Wait, what do you mean you want to unsubscribe, Leo? Did you do that on purpose? If you did that on purpose just say STOP right now and we’ll…oh, that was quick, Leo. You really don’t want to be on this list anymore. Well it’s probably a good week to trim some unnecessary distractions out of your life anyway. What else can you stop?

VIRGO

I’ve got so much to do today, Virgo, but before I get started I need to get dressed.

Before I get dressed I need to take a shower.

Before I take a shower I need to clean the little moldy spots off the bathroom ceiling. And before I do that I’m gonna need to find that old sponge under the kitchen sink. But before I do that I need to put away the grocery bags I left on the floor yesterday so I can open the cabinet. And before I do that I need to make space in the cabinet. Tell you what Virgo, this might not be the day you can get everything done. Maybe just knock out the three most important things.

LIBRA

Did you see that video where somebody is brushing a capybara with a garden rake and the capybara is just squinting and sighing and making that weird, smooshy relaxed face? That’s what I wanted life to be like for you, Libra. I hoped everyday would just be a long brush & scratch session with an awkward yard utensil. But we are not capybaras, Libra, and what’s more, we may never be. So today you’ll just have to face the world unraked. In spite of this disappointing news, Libra, you can still take a few moments to close your eyes, center yourself in this moment and try to make that weird, smooshy relaxed face.

SCORPIO

SAGITTA R IUS

There’s an old story about a Sagittarius who had suffered a terrible loss. The pain was so deep and the grief went on for so long they thought it would never end. So they went to the village sage and said, “Please, how can I overcome this grief?”

The sage knew immediately, “First, you must bring me salt from the house of someone who has never known sorrow.” After a week, the Sagittarius returned and said, “I knocked on every door in the village. Everywhere I went people told me of their sorrows and I told them of mine. We wept and we laughed but nowhere could I find someone fit to give me salt.” The sage said, “This is your salt, Sagittarius. Go back to your new friends and keep sharing your losses and joys until the load feels lighter.”

CAPRICORN

Some folks are telling me it’s never been this bad before. They read me the worst headlines and misquote a podcast they heard about the collapse of human goodness and they tell me there’s only one way out of this mess and it is, shockingly, their way.

I’m still not convinced, Capricorn. My neighbor helped me start my car this morning. Then I gave him a ride to his brother’s store and he bought me a Gatorade. Introduce yourself to the people you see everyday, Capricorn. Talk until you start to see how you might help each other. There’s always some bad out there. But there’s always the potential for good right here in the neighborhood.

AQUA RIUS

I like to imagine Adam and Eve leaving that garden in a spirit of accomplishment — as though Eden was an escape room that they’d found the way out of. I like to think that as the years passed they got really into games and puzzles and riddles. They’d go back and forth on a book of logic-problems. “Can you turn the snake into an angel by just moving three matchsticks?” They’d remember fondly the time they solved that moral maze just by picking the right piece of fruit. There’s always a way out of the spot you feel stuck in, Aquarius.

You may just need to talk it through with a friend.

PISCES

The dryer stopped working, Scorpio. I mean the drum still rotates. It just doesn’t heatup anymore. So while I’m waiting for my landlord to come take a look, I’m just staring through the little round window at these forever-wet clothes as they’re tossed and whirled in their soggy ballet and it makes me think of you, Scorpio. You’ve been spun around plenty and you’re still soaked. It feels like nothing can change.

But if you can just pop out of that tumble and spend some time drying on the line – I think that’s when the real revolution starts.

Remember when you and your roomate built that pyramid out of pizza boxes in your apartment? At first it was really funny but then every time I came over it was bigger and more complicated and you were spending more time on it and ordering special lights and adhesives. Then you had rules about how to show respect to the pyramid and what not to say in front of the pyramid. Then you formed a council of elders and demanded a pizza box offering from every guest who came over. Honestly, Pisces, it got kinda weird.

I’m glad you got through that, Pisces. Maybe take a breath before you join up with the next big group project.

ARIES

Okay, Aries, so that’s one waff le, one pecan waffle, one chocolate chip waffle, one strawberry waffle, and one peanut butter waffle. Are you gonna need a to-go box with those? Or are you just doing that thing where you couldn’t make up your mind so you’re gonna take one bite of each one and then leave just as unsure and dissatisfied as when you walked in? I think today you need to pick just one waffle. It doesn’t have to be the right one. Just pick one and eat it and don’t wonder about the other five until tomorrow.

TAURUS

Before we get started with your horoscope, Taurus, I’ve got a question. What do you think is really going on down there in the deepest parts of the ocean? I’ve heard it gets pretty dark down there. Too dark for plants. So it must be too dark for things that eat plants. Which would mean it’s too dark for things that eat things that eat plants.

So what do you think is down there? It’s funny how when you imagine a dark, heavy, mysterious place you can’t help but picture yourself there. But you’re still up here, Taurus, on well-lit dry land. I know the weight sometimes feels crushing, but if you can imagine being up and out, well then you are.

GEMINI

I found a video about how to fix this broken dryer! He says we just need a screwdriver, a drill and some golf clubs. First you unscrew all the screws on the top. Done! Then you unscrew the screws on the back. Done! Then — oh wow — I think that loud crashing sound is normal. The video says next we should drill a hole in the top and … now the guy in the video is just hitting the dryer with a golf club and saying the pledge of allegiance. I think I have once again mistaken performance art for instruction, Gemini.

Make sure you watch the video all the way to the end before you start following the instructions. And you can probably put away the golf clubs.

CANCER

Can I borrow your phone charger, Cancer?

My battery’s down to 30 percent and I’ve still got so much to do this afternoon! Oh, I forgot, you like to keep your phone plugged in all the time just in case. I’ve got to say, Cancer, your commitment to keeping that thing at 100 percent might be slowing you down. Staying attached to a wall outlet all day while you could be outside making new connections and seeing new sites is understandable, you don’t want to lose all that energy, but I think if you get out and move around you’ll find that you have plenty of time to recharge before tomorrow.

Mr. Mysterio is not a licensed astrologer, a trained theologian, or a compatible phone charger. Listen to the Mr. Mysterio podcast at mrmysterio.com Or just give him a call at 707-VHS-TAN1

July 31 - August 14, 2024 | 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

10th Wednesday after Trinity

11th Monday after Trinity

THE impurity of ignorance is in none so manifest as in the devout; for they act on their ignorance and fill themselves and others with miserable scruples and hard thoughts of God, and are as apt to call good evil as other men are to call evil good.

Patmore: The Rod, the Root and the Flower.

WHOSO goes seeking God and seeking aught with God does not find God; but he who seeks God by himself in truth does not find God alone: all God affords he finds as well as God. Art thou looking for God, seeking God with a view to personal good, thy personal profit? Then in truth thou art not seeking God. Eckhart: Sermons and Collations.

HOLY indignation is a proof that we should do the same thing ourselves, and easy tears are a certain sign of a hard heart.

Patmore: The Rod, the Root and the Flower.

10th Thursday after Trinity EVIL locutions are occasionally hard to distinguish, for, though they dry up the love of God in the will, and incline men to vanity, self-esteem, false humility and fervent affection of the will founded on self-love, which requires for its detection great spirituality of mind.

St John of the Cross: Ascent of Mount Carmel.

BEWARE of the mid-day fiend that feigneth light as if it came from Jerusalem but does not so . . . I believe that if true darkness has gone before, the false light never comes.

Walter Hylton: Scale of Perfection.

10th Friday after Trinity GOD needs no image and has no image: without image, likeness or means does God work in the soul, aye, in her ground whereinto no image did ever get but only himself with his own essence.

Eckhart: Sermons and Collations.

A DEVOUT man grounds his devotion chiefly on the invisible; he requires but few images, and uses but few.

St John of the Cross: Ascent of Mount Carmel.

10th Saturday after Trinity WE run carelessly to the precipice, after we have put something before us to prevent us seeing it.

Pascal: Pensées.

BLESSED is the man who beareth temptation with thanksgiving.

The Paradise of the Fathers.

MANY men have attained to a great height of piety to be very abundant and rich therein. But all their's is but a cistern, not a fountain of grace: only God's goodness hath a spring of itself in itself.

Thomas Fuller: Good Thoughts in Bad Times.

Tenth Sunday after Trinity TOO late came I to love thee, O thou Beauty both so ancient and so fresh, yea too late came I to love thee. And behold, thou wert within me, and I out of myself, where I made search for thee: I ugly rushed headlong upon those beautiful wings thou hast made. Thou indeed wert with me; but I was not with thee: these beauties kept me far enough from thee: even those, which unless they were in thee, should not be at all. Thou calledst and criedst unto me, yea thou even breakedst open my deafness: thou discoveredst thy beams and shinedst unto me, and didst cast away my blindness: thou didst most fragrantly blow upon me, and I drew in my breath and I panted after thee; I tasted thee, and now do hunger and thirst after thee; thou didst touch me, and I ever burn again to enjoy thy peace.

St Augustine: Confessions.

THIS one thing I know, that woe is me except in thee; not only without myself, but within myself: yea, all other plenty besides my God, is mere beggary unto me.

St Augustine: Confessions.

I BELIEVE what the Church believes; I intend what the Church intends; I desire what the Church desires.

Unknown.

11th Tuesday after Trinity BY the fall of our first father we have lost our first glorious bodies, that eternal, celestial flesh and blood which had as truly the nature of paradise and Heaven in it as our present bodies have the nature, mortality and corruption of this world in them: if, therefore, we are to be redeemed there is an absolute necessity that our souls be clothed again with this first paradisaical or heavenly flesh and blood, or we can never enter into the kingdom of God. Now this is the reason why the scriptures speak so particularly, so frequently, and so emphatically of the powerful blood of Christ, of the great benefit it is to us, of its redeeming, quickening, life-giving virtue; it is because our first life or heavenly flesh and blood is born again in us, or derived again into us from this blood of Christ.

William Law: An Appeal.

11th Wednesday after Trinity I CAN find no simile more appropriate than water by which to explain spiritual things, as I am very ignorant and have poor wits to help me. Besides I love this element so much that I have studied it more attentively than other things.

God, Who is so great, so wise, has doubtless hidden secrets in all things He created, which we should greatly benefit by knowing, as those say who understand such matters.

St Teresa: The Interior Castle.

11th Thursday after Trinity LIGHT is all things, and no thing. It is no thing because it is supernatural; it is all things because every good power and perfection of everything is from it. No joy or rejoicing in any creature but from the power and joy of light. No meekness, benevolence, or goodness, in angel, man, or any creature, but where light is the lord of its life. Life itself begins no sooner, rises no higher, has no other glory than as the light begins it and leads it on. Sounds have no softness, flowers and gums have no sweetness, plants and fruits have no growth but as the mystery of light opens itself in them.

Whatever is delightful and ravishing, sublime and glorious, in spirits, minds, or bodies, either in heaven or on earth, is from the power of the supernatural light opening its endless wonders in them.

William Law: The Spirit of Love.

11th Friday after Trinity READING is good, hearing is good, conversation and meditation are good; but then, they are only good at times and occasions, in a certain degree, and must be used and governed with such caution as we eat and drink and refresh ourselves, or they will bring forth in us the fruits of intemperance. But the spirit of prayer is for all times and all occasions, it is a lamp that is to be always burning, a light to be ever shining; everything calls for it, everything is to be done in it and governed by it, because it is and means and wills noting else but the whole totality of the soul, not doing this

PAGE 16 | July 31 - August 14, 2024

or that, but wholly incessantly given up to God to be where and what and how He pleases.

William Law: Letters.

FOR all other creatures and their works—yea, and the works of God himself—may a man through grace have fullness of knowing, and well can he think of them; but of God himself can no man think. And therefore I would leave all that thing that I can think, and choose to my love that thing I cannot think. For why, he may well be loved but not thought. By love may he be gotten and holden; but by thought never.

The Cloud of Unknowing.

ALTHOUGH it be good to think upon the kindness of God, and to love him and praise him for it: yet it is far better to think upon the naked being of him, and to love him and praise him for himself.

The Cloud of Unknowing.

Eleventh Sunday after Trinity EVERY thing that works in nature and creature, except sin, is the working of God in nature and creature. The creature has nothing else in its power but the free use of its will; and its free will has no other power but that of concurring with or resisting the working of God in nature. The creature with its free will can bring nothing into being nor make any alteration in the working of nature, it can only change its own state or place in the working of nature, and so feel and find something in its state that it did not feel or find before.

William Law: The Spirit of Love.

12th Monday after Trinity VIRTUE is nought else but an ordered and a measured affection, plainly directed unto God for himself. For why, he in himself is the clean cause of all virtues: insomuch, that if any man be stirred to any virtue by any other cause mingled with him—yea, though he be the chief—yet that virtue is then imperfect. As thus for example, may be seen in one virtue or two instead of all the other; and well may these two virtues be meekness and charity. For whoso might get these two clearly, he needeth no more: for why, he hath all.

The Cloud of Unknowing.

12th Tuesday after Trinity EVEN one unruly desire, though not a mortal sin, sullies and deforms the soul, and indisposes it for the perfect union with God, until it be cast away.

St John of the Cross: Ascent of Mount Carmel.

OUR souls may lose their peace and even disturb other people's if we are always criticising trivial actions which often are not real defects at all, but we construe them wrongly through ignorance of their motives.

St Teresa: The Interior Castle.

12th Wednesday after Trinity ABBA Agathon used to say to himself, whensoever he saw any act or anything which his thought wished to judge or condemn, "Do not commit the thing thyself," and in this manner he quieted his mind, and held his peace.

The Paradise of the Fathers.

VEX not yourselves with trivialities; ye were not made for things, and the glory of the world is but a travesty of truth, only a heresy of happiness.

Eckhart: Sayings.

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MOVING PICTURES

Pop Culture Consciousness NEW BOB MARLEY BIOPIC IS AN ORIGINAL AND GRITTY TRIBUTE TO THE ARTIST AND ACTIVIST

BY JOE NOLAN, FILM CRITIC As a Jamaican music fan, I was skeptical of the new Bob Marley: One Love biopic, but I knew I’d want to see it either way. And although it features bad wigs and clunky exposition, there's also a charismatic central performance from Kingsley Ben-Adir as Bob Marley, and the film’s structure avoids many of the origin story cliches we’ve come to expect from movies about musical artists.

If a singer-songwriter is famous enough to have a film of their life made, their looks, personality and even their story are probably already a part of pop culture consciousness, and it can be immensely challenging to tell a compelling unique story about a global superstar like Bob Marley. And it’s a pleasant surprise to find a gem like Bob Marley: One Love delivering a cinematic story worthy of its world-changing subject.

The movie opens with Marley as a child waiting with his mother at a bus stop. The scene cuts between images of Marley sleeping on the bus with his head on his mother’s shoulder and an intertitle prologue explaining that baby Bob was born in the countryside in St. Ann Parish before moving to the hard streets of Kingston’s Trench Town neighborhood where he grew up.

The intro illuminates the combustible political atmosphere in Jamaica in its first decades of independence before the movie begins in earnest in the last chapters of Marley’s life, career and activism.

I was caught off guard when I realized Bob Marley: One Love wasn’t going to focus on the more seemingly-predictable story of young Bob discovering music and meeting the Wailers, and becoming a dedicated Rastafarian. Instead this movie delivers gunfights and mil-

itarized checkpoints, concerts on the brink of riot, political corruption and spiritual searching. It’s a tumultuous film about a tumultuous time in Marley’s life in the days surrounding his 1976 Smile Jamaica concert. The show was billed as a peace event during a time when battling political factions threatened to sink Jamaica into civil war just 14 years after the country gained its independence from Britain in 1962. This period informed the songwriting and production of the album Exodus, the LP that made Marley an international star. Green fills-in the more-expected biographical bits with flashbacks. It’s not exactly a unique technique, but the f lashbacks are condensed into single scenes and stylized with dreamy light. The overall effect feels poetic and fitting for a movie that’s at its best when it’s focused

on creative people collaborating.

Ben-Adir and Lashana Lynch — as Marley’s wife and bandmate, Rita Marley — both bring natural, grounded acted to the film, and the musical performances, and the scenes of Marley working on songs are thoroughly believable.

Ben-Adir took guitar lessons and his singing in the film is a mix of his own voice Marley’s recorded vocals. Lots of films about musicians don’t get these kinds of scenes correct with a room full of actors pretending to play instruments, pretending to be wellknown musicians. Bob Marley was only five feet, six inches tall. Ben Adir is 6’2 with a muscular build compared to the diminutive singer’s small frame. But there isn’t a moment in this movie when you don’t accept him as Marley. The scenes between Bob and Rita are well written, and the script is great

July 31 - August 14, 2024 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 19

at giving Rita credit for her contributions to Bob and their music, without losing focus on its subject.

The film played theaters back in February and the picture is now streaming on Amazon Prime.

When Bob Marley: One Love opened back in February it’s $14 million first day receipts broke the record for a film opening in the middle of Valentines Day week.

It also had the biggest opening day for any film ever in Jamaica.

Bob Marley: One Love is streaming on Prime

--Joe Nolan is a critic, columnist and performing singer/songwriter based in East Nashville.

Find out more about his projects at www. joenolan.com.