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letter from the editor M

agazines have been a fascination of mine since childhood. The combination of compelling images with a written story is powerful and magnificent. Growing up, it was a goal of mine to be able to edit my own one day. To lead a talented group of journalists to produce volume 6, number 1 of The Local brings that childhood goal and dream to life. It has been an honor to bring this book to you. This publication was a team effort to bring you an authentic view of the Magic City and the people, causes and paths that fill it. Birmingham is historically rich, beautifully complicated and vibrantly alive. You could be a longtime lover of this city or new to the area. Either way, I hope reading this gives you an honest view of Birmingham. We broke the magazine up into three sections built on our mission statement: amplify voices, ignite conversation and encourage change. Each of our stories corresponds with one of those calls to action. Building on my childhood fascination, now I have my own - we have our own combination of compelling images and written stories to tell. I hope it impacts you and gives you a glimpse into the world that Birmingham is and is becoming. Thank you for bringing us along with you with The Local. Sincerely,

IN 12 WEEKS NEXT SUMMER, YOU CAN:

TA B L E O F CONTENTS

01 06 10 14 18 22

Letter from the Editor A Slower Roll Keeping the Ship Going Malls in Decline Chasing Simplicity A Requiem and a Revival

28 32 36 40

48 52 57 60 64

Reform Alabama Prisons Healing Horses It’s Never Just Been About Selling Shoes Memory Lane

Coffee with a Cause

Resource, Not Waste A Home for Learning

Top Ten Hikes Near Birmingham Meet the Staff

Spring ‘21 | 03

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A Slower Roll By Walker Frederick

In the heart of Mountain Brook lies a hidden world of community, tranquility, and art, all found in a local cigar shop

07 / The Local 07 / The Local

07 | The Local

he world of cigars is rooted in family, art and a vibrant community that has found its way to Mountain Brook. In a delicate and tedious hand making process, the real beauty of a cigar is found in the people who make them and enjoy them. Vitola Fine Cigars has captured the pleasures of what makes this art form from the past so amazing today. Jim Warlick, manager of Vitola Fine Cigars in Mountain Brook, describes the tobacco industry as “slow evolving.” “We never look too far ahead. We like to keep our expectations open, and focus on year to year growth,” he said. Vitola offers an in-house lounge area for people to relax, converse and explore different cigars. Many of Vitola’s frequent visitors enjoy long hours sitting in large leather chairs among the hazy smoke, telling stories of days long past. Warlick often sits himself among the regulars, learning about life, and hearing stories of wiser and longer lived men. “We have TV’s on in here, but most of the time no one is watching,” he said. The tranquility and ambiance of Vitola is felt when customers enter through the glass doors. Immediately, visitors are met with a wall of beautifully handcrafted cigar boxes that stacked to the ceiling, and the smell of tobacco filling their nostrils. For the regulars, it’s a smell that keeps them coming back. Vitola is one of the only in-house cigar lounges in Mountain Brook, and they make you feel like it’s home. I scanned the three layered shelves that lined the inside of their glass humidor, looking for one cigar that would catch my eye. It can be daunting, trying to pick just one amongst the hundreds that lie before you, especially when your previous knowledge of the subject is incredibly limited. I picked out a San Lotano Toro cigar and sat myself among the smoke cloud, taking in what it would be like to be an aficionado of such a niche thing. Robert Whitaker, a fiveyear regular of Vitola, was blind to what the world of cigars held in store. But after immersing himself in the community, he has found a new passion that has brought him peace he did not know before. “My grandfather was always a big cigar smoker, and he was the one who actually suggested I give Vitola a look, and ever since then I’ve been coming back. The people I’ve met and the conversations we’ve been able to have, it’s all just been wonderful,” said Whitaker With a rich and vibrant history, rooted in handcrafted labor, the world of cigars is still unknown to many people. Vitola provided a gateway for me, and through the staff and wonderful people who frequent the store, I have been able to discover and immerse myself in a brand new world and hobby that is evermore appealing the longer I am a part of it. “People will come and spend hours here, just sitting and listening. There’s no rush of coming and going,” said Whitaker. As life in the 21st century continuously moves faster, it can be nice to slow down every once in a while. 8 | Spring ‘21

Photos by Lilly Kate Hollis From Top: Cigar boxes stacked in store front window. Jim Warlick working behind the desk at Vitola. Hand crafted Lunatic cigars and box found at Vitola.

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Keeping the

Ship Going By Mary Virginia Stabler | Photography by Gracie Eddins 10 | The Local

etween having groceries shipped to your door, buying a whole new wardrobe with one click and having the latest New York Times bestseller downloaded straight to your phone, running errands no longer requires leaving the couch. In a world moving online, how can local bookstores stay afloat? I sat down with owners Jonathan Robinson of Little Professor and Jim Reed of Jim Reed Books to find out. By the time Robinson graduated from Samford University in 2007, Homewood had made such an impact on him and his wife that they decided to stay in the community. Enjoying the “rootedness” they found by entrenching themselves in the community, he and his wife made the leap to becoming business owners, taking over Little Professor in February 2020. With their revitalization of the 1973 bookstore, Little Professor became the oldest consistently operating indie bookstore in Alabama. Needing an escape from his career, Reed decided that surrounding himself with books guaranteed loyal coworkers. After placing ads offering to find out-of-print books for people, he developed a network of about 400 book-lovers from England to India who helped him find those rare books. When his wife complained of needing her dining room back, Reed realized it was time for him to move to a permanent location, and Jim Reed Books was born. By 1985, it was a full-fledged bookstore. In a world where so many people are buying things online -- whether it’s groceries, or clothes, or books -- why is it important for people to continue to visit their local bookstores? What are they missing by buying books online? ROBINSON: I think that Amazon has sort of created a utilitarian

experience with shopping and commerce. Initially, I think (Little Professor) was a place, as a parent, I thought would be really engaging and exciting to be able to take our kids and have them discover. I grew up going to the library and just loving spending hours combing through shelves and picking out six or seven books. Building a cart in person is a completely different experience than the utilitarian approach of shopping online. And so what is the experience for us? It’s getting to know your booksellers, offering personal recommendations, having events like story time; it’s going out for a walk on Saturday with your stroller and popping in and grabbing a coffee and a couple of books for your kids. It’s just a completely different kind of experience. REED: All of my life, I watched how my mother experienced life, and she was a very smart, touchy-feely kind of person. The way she experienced things was to see them, observe them, walk around them, touch them, smell them, feel the texture, feel the heft of them, all that stuff. That was part of the experience of her, you know, living in the world. In my store...I love for people to touch things; I allow them to examine them. That’s a real pleasure for me. A 500-year-old book, just let them hold it, let them see and feel the buzz from that book that you don’t get from any other book that’s printed just a mere hundred years ago or a year, a week ago. That makes me feel really good, to see that people are…in my store seeing books as actual living beings. Many small businesses were affected by the pandemic, but some personal interest stores ended up doing well as people searched for normalcy. Did business reflect that?

At left, Jim Reed flips through a book. At right, details of the Little Professor interior.

ROBINSON: We were closed (due to the) statemandated closure by mid-March. And then people were certainly reading more. We sell a lot of activity books for kids. We created these activity boxes, which were around specific themes, like a baseball box, a unicorn box, a gardening box.... I just think we tried to stay agile and nimble and keep coming up with ideas, but using technology to create new products and to let those be searchable and found by consumers was probably the most important piece. REED: I was picturing myself as the captain of the ship. The ship is sailing across the seas and the crew is sick and they’re down below deck afraid to come out of the rooms. The passengers are hiding out, not wanting to get sick. But I’m still keeping the ship going. I’m keeping it on course. With that metaphor in mind, I found that’s what I was doing. I kept the doors open... and slowly but surely, people started coming back. Do you think there is a pressure today to be “more than a bookstore” to bring people in? ROBINSON: I think that it’s actually the combination of those channels that is important. I think that in terms of being “more than a bookstore,” we’ve rolled things out like coffee and kids’ activities and puzzles or games. But people are attached to a bookstore. They don’t want their bookstore to necessarily become a toy store. We’re just a bookstore, but I think that it is important for us to fight for local institutions that pull people out of their homes. REED: You know, I feel the pressure. I don’t react... perhaps in the same way a lot of people do. I mean, that’s been going on for years when the internet started taking over and people buying their

books (online). A lot of stores started to put coffee shops and all kinds of sidelines to get people to come in. And I realized, I don’t think this is what I know how to do. I know how to sell books; how to write books. I just stuck to what I was doing. I want everyone to experience, once in their lives, a room full of books, surrounded by things that people love. I feel like it’s just wrong to interview a bookstore owner and not ask about your favorite book -- so what do you recommend absolutely everyone reads? ROBINSON: I immediately gravitate to something that I think every high school to mid-20-year-old should read, but really everybody should -- and that is “The Alchemist.” It was particularly impactful to me because it’s a narrative of someone awakening and discovering what the author calls “their own personal legend,” but it’s really your own personal story of what you bring to the world. And that’s something that never goes away. You could be 75 years old, but if you’re still vibrant and learning and discovering and meeting new people, there’s always this kind of undercurrent of what life is becoming and what our pursuits are. It’s powerful. REED: My favorite book of my life is “Dandelion Wine” by Ray Bradbury. I discovered it when I was 13 -- it’s Ray Bradbury’s life, but he’s led a magical life. It is kind of the ideal novel, because it’s true, but it’s a novel; you won’t know what I’m talking about until you try it, and then you will be hooked. You’ll be in a world of your own that you wish you could go back to. For these books and more, visit the Little Professor at 2844 18th St S, Homewood and Jim Reed Book at 2021 3rd Ave N, Birmingham.

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Malls in Decline As the economy changes, so do shopping malls throughout the United States By Katy Beth Boyers

ince the 1950s, malls have been places where people gathered to socialize, eat and shop. In the last few years, malls in the United States have seen fewer and fewer visitors. According to Statista, in the retail vacancy rates of malls in the United States during the summer and fall of 2020 was 6.2% What’s the main reason for that? Online shopping. According to a survey conducted by eMarketer, when it comes to shopping for financial services, TV and video devices and clothing, people prefer to shop for those types of things both in store and online or just online rather than in-person. Today, online shopping is becoming more popular than going to a shopping center or mall. Meredith Drennen, director of the Homewood

Chamber of Commerce, said that there has been an increase in internet sales recently, which can contribute to the decline in visitors in local malls such as Brookwood Village in Homewood, Alabama. “I think that you see a lot of internet sales taking away from local malls across the board, not just in Brookwood, but everywhere,” Drennen said. The Brookwood Village is located in Homewood near Shades Creek, and a few years ago, it was a lively, bustling area with multiple restaurants and both local and chain stores within the mall. However, that all changed around 2018. Rising rent prices, competing with other malls in the area and accessibility

issues are things Drennen said that Brookwood Village has faced in the last few years. “Overall, people want to shop out in an outdoor, easy in-and-out setting with some easier accessibility,” said Drennen. In the last few years, Belk, which was considered by Drennan an “anchored tenant” in Brookwood, became oversaturated in the Birmingham market, as there are multiple Belk stores in the Homewood and the Birmingham areas. As a result, Belk is no longer in Brookwood Village. According to Forbes, in February, Belk filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and then emerged from it within a couple days. As a result, Belk is still in operation with 290 stores nationally. Then, Drennen said, losses led to a snowball effect where other businesses didn’t renew their leases with Brookwood and the mall pivoted their focus on non-profit organizations and shorter leases with a rise in rent prices. “Once you lose that anchored tenant, it is really difficult to come back,” Drennen said. Today, it is often a ghost town, as the COVID-19 pandemic slowly shut down many popular and beloved stores. Currently, a total of nine stores remain open including Macy’s, with many store spaces vacant throughout the mall. Homewood locals have noticed this change and expressed their sadness for the mall. “I think it’s really sad,” a Brookwood Mall visitor said. “I can’t believe in this day and age that people shop online instead of in stores.” During the COVID-19 pandemic, locals noticed many restaurants and stores including Books-aMillion and Brio Tuscan Grill shutting down. “It needs to bring business back,” another Brookwood Mall visitor said. Those who walk the empty mall will no longer hear chatter or even music in the mall, but instead hear the AC unit running and the unnerving squeaking coming from the escalators. “It is like a hybrid of a regular mall and a strip mall,” a Yelp reviewer said. “The parking deck runs underneath and behind the stores. And despite the deck spots usually being full, there is a sense of this mall going downhill.” This “hybrid” model of stores, outdoor spaces and apartment complexes seems to be the model

Brookwood Mall over time has become a ghost town with few visitors.

Spring ‘21 | 15

Along with that, outdoor malls and outlets grew in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic. “You see at places like The Summit where you can stop at one store, you don’t have to go through the whole mall to get to the one place you’re trying to go. You can pop in and out really quickly,” Drennen said. “There’s been a little bit of a trend towards that in national malls.” Through public involvement meetings and helping landowners and business owners become successful, the Homewood Chamber of Commerce hopes to address those issues by working with businesses in Birmingham. “The retail in Homewood has been pretty strong in other areas,” Drennen said. “I think you just have to have the right mix to make sure it’s successful. A lot of it is going to be that accessibility.” There is hope for Brookwood Village being revived, as Brookwood Office Partners LLC announced their plans last year to make the mall a mixed-use development. Drennen said that many malls are changing to a new model of “mixed-use” spaces, as the national store chains recalibrate their own business models. “Look at a successful mall like The Summit,” Drennen said. “They’ve got apartments that are right there, so they have that market on those people that live there that wanna pop in and out of somewhere quick. That’s what you’ll see with the condos and the apartments they are looking at building there, and they’ll kind of create a 24hour market for their services.” Brookwood Village hopes to become a mixed-use model like The Summit. Nationally, outdoor malls and outlets

Only nine stores currently remain open in the vacant mall.

are becoming more popular, and Drennen thinks that looking ahead, this mixed-use model for outlets and malls will continue to grow in popularity. According to an article published by “Bham Now,” the new Brookwood Village plans include locally owned retail outlets, high-end apartments, up to 120 hotel rooms, restaurants and more. Hopefully this is not the end for Brookwood Village, but it may be the end for shopping malls as we know them. “Once that space is renovated, I do think it’s going to be utilized a lot better,” Drennen said.

Many malls and outlets are turning to mixed-use models with apartments, and Brookwood Mall hopes to also become a mixed-use space.

16 | The Local

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chasing

SIMPLICITY Karla Graves of Raka Home Design pursues the balance of whimsy, minimalism and practicality in design By Lilly Kate Hollis

estled in a quaint neighborhood modeled after charming cottages in England, a little red brick house with an arched front porch sits somewhat nondescript. It’s upon entry that the real eye-catching magic is found. Birmingham-based Raka Home Design, pronounced “Rah-kah” after the first names of its founding couple, specializes in getting as much as it can out of whatever space a client has to offer. Founded by Ray and Karla Graves, the company designed small spaces before it was cool. That drive for the tiny-design niché came after the couple moved back to Birmingham from Charleston, South Carolina with their kids. They lived in a 700-square-foot apartment in Liberty Park, where Karla had a careerchanging epiphany. After realizing cleaning her little apartment only took 30 minutes and that her kids were always around, a spark to pursue simplicity was lit. “We went on a quest to find the smallest house, the smallest floor plan… we found this little neighborhood and literally found the smallest floor plan that they could offer and (she points down smiling) it’s the house we still live in.”

“For us, our love of small spaces really began from a season where we just asked ourselves what we really wanted in life, what we wanted to focus on, what we wanted our day-to-day to be, but also what we wanted our future to be.” The trend towards tiny homes and living small has become a viral movement. Simplifying appeals to people as they are learning they can live with less just as effectively, if not more effectively than before. An embrace of tiny spaces comes with a sense of freedom and newfound philosophy to enjoy the simple pleasures. To Raka Home Design, the choice of focusing on small spaces is more than the space itself. The beauty in designing specifically small areas is in making the most of what is there and combining functional design with fun and imagination. Client Jessica Turner was drawn to Raka Home Design’s work by “their sense of innovation, practicality and aesthetic.” “We wanted to have a space for friends and family to come and enjoy themselves. They made this wish a reality,” Turner added. What was a small alcove in between two windows of Turner’s home became a beautiful reading nook filled with marigold, tufted velvet cushions. Raka’s design of the playful arched Spring ‘21 | 19

nook gave personality and fun back to what was a boring and tight space. The creative problem-solving that accompanies making a space both practical and whimsical is key for the Graveses, even when it came to designing their personal family home. With a white three-tier custom-built bunk bed that looks like it could be in The Flintstones, it’s clear that creativity in design comes with fun. Inside each bunk, each boy has shelves to make his space his own. From old Polaroids, to a Lego village, each bunk is unique. “You really have to get creative when you don’t have as much space and I found creativity, it’s almost like ‘how can we make this work?’ but not just work,” said Karla, “but be crazy fun and something that we don’t want to move out of. Something that our kids are even excited about sharing. “I think it was through that, where the different types of builds, finding nooks and making the most out of it came from. It’s like ‘this is what I have, what can I do to make the most out of it in the best possible way?’ That pursuit of timeless simplicity and drive to optimize spaces for both functionality and fun sets Raka Home Design apart. Now focusing on Airbnb renovation and management and custom interior design for clients, the Graveses are making names for themselves. Recently featured in a one-hour HGTV special competition Beach Cabana Royale, Karla is excited to keep working with clients and using Raka’s love of small spaces to impact others. “It’s been this sweet little thing for us, and I feel like a lot of people in big cities or overseas, where large spaces are not the norm, have this struggle of ‘No, this doesn’t work. It doesn’t work.’ I love encouraging people that it can.”

20 | The Local

Previous page, Karla sits on her couch. At left, a view through a side cutout of Karla’s son’s creativity with his bunk bed shelves. Above, the three-tier bunk beds in the boys’ room. Photos by Lilly Kate Hollis.

Spring ‘21 | 21

A Requiem and a Revival:

Gip’s Place Thanks to the heart and passion of a one-of-a-kind man, a music lover’s dream can be found in the most unlikely of places. By Aliza Baker

I sat on a church pew in Bessemer, Alabama, surrounded by strangers that aren’t really strangers at all. Despite different backgrounds, skin colors and ages, those gathered at a funeral in Hopewell Baptist Church on a chilly October afternoon in 2019 were all connected in one respect: to celebrate the life and legacy of a man whose motto had never rang truer than on that day, “No black. No white. Just the blues.”

22 | The Local

he picture I just painted of the funeral seems extravagant and grand, but Gip’s Place is far from it. It isn’t much to look at from the outside. If you were to drive by during the day, you’d surely miss it. On Saturday nights however, in the backyard of 99-year-old Henry Gipson’s humble home in Bessemer, Alabama, Gip’s Place is pure magic. “There’s no other place like it,” former manager Diane Guyton said. “There was just a spirit over that place that you couldn’t describe. To me, he was the most kind, most gentle man I’ve ever met. It’s true that he loved everybody, and I miss it—miss him.” And I miss it, too. When I first moved to Birmingham in 2017, I didn’t expect to find a sense of belonging in a weatherworn tin-roofed garage filled with people of all ages, all races, all backgrounds— all brought together by one man through his love for people and, of course, the blues. Yet here I am, writing this story in 2021. Gipson passed away in 2019 at the age of 99, his guitar by his bedside and a song in his heart. After nearly 70 years of operation, Gip’s Place is currently not open to the public and the twinkling Christmas lights that once illuminated the small juke joint in vibrant technicolor have been dim since March of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and ownership conflict following Gipson’s death. However, there’s good news on the horizon for music lovers. According to a family friend of the Gipson’s, Gip’s Place is set to reopen sometime in late April or early May. Gip’s Place is one of those rare finds that seems to have been around forever and would continue to be around, its history and culture too rich to be forgotten or diminished. While the juke joint’s reopening comes as a sigh of relief to those familiar with its historical and cultural significance, it remains to be seen what Gip’s Place will be like without the presence of Henry Gipson. It’s difficult to grasp that I am among the last generation of people that had the opportunity to shake Gipson’s hand and hear him strum his beloved guitar up on that stage. But with the reopening of Gip’s Place under new ownership may perhaps come a rebirth, a new generation of people coming together to learn, listen and love the blues. After all, that’s how Gip’s Place was born in the first place. And as they say, history repeats itself.

HISTORY To understand the significance of Gip’s Place in the present, we first have to take a journey back to the past. According to “All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues,” juke joints emerged in the Southeast after emancipation, a result of Jim Crow laws prohibiting African Americans from entering white businesses. They were formed to serve as a place where plantation workers or sharecroppers could congregate to socialize, eat, drink and listen to music. Similarly, the blues genre came post-slavery and spread throughout the juke joints all across the South. African musical traditions and spirituals that were commonly used by enslaved people influenced musicians who were likely familiar with ragtime, jazz and country dance music. Although it is a widely held misconception that the blues comes from the perspective of those that are down on their luck, the reality is that the blues consists of lyrical stories about overcoming adversity and gaining freedom. “I love the blues,” Gipson said in a 2019 interview with “MusicBHAM” just two months before his death. “I came up under blues. And the reason I chose the blues was an awakening I had to do under the blues people.”

MR. GIP

Henry Gipson, lovingly referred to as “Mr. Gip” by friends, family and strangers alike, was born sometime between 1910 and 1920 on a plantation in Uniontown, Alabama. At some point, he settled with 1920 and stuck with it. The exact year is a bit hazy because, well, Mr. Gip couldn’t quite keep track himself. According to the claims of several locals, his 86th birthday was celebrated a few times too many. If you don’t believe them, take it from Mr. Gip himself.

“I don’t really know how old I am myself.” Gipson said, according to “MusicBHAM.” “And many more people don’t know how old we are. We have to go back to when I was a junior and from other people that was livin’ on plantations.

Spring ‘21 | 23

And when you’re livin’ on a plantation, you don’t have other people to go see about you and tell you your age and things. You had to wait. And you had mid-wives, and they had to come around and give you your age.” Gipson’s passion for music stemmed from his upbringing in church, where he lived and breathed southern gospel music. He learned to sing, play the piano, harmonica and the guitar before he discovered the blues in the 1930s. However, according to the documentary film entitled “Gip,” his parents would not allow him to “follow it.” His parents’ weariness was understandable given that the 1930s were a dangerous time for Black Americans traveling throughout the Deep South, but Gipson decided to follow the blues wherever it took him, despite the risk. Black musicians would often board a train from one town to the next in pursuit of popular juke joints where they could showcase their musical skills. Mr. Gip, however, relied on his feet. He walked through countless miles of woods along the outskirts of towns to search for opportunities to listen, learn, play and live the blues. In the 1950s, Gipson settled in Bessemer, Alabama, where he worked in the coal mines, steel plants and built train cars for the railroad before eventually taking ownership of a cemetery, where he worked as a gravedigger. In 1952, always one for building community, he set about creating a baseball field for the children in his neighborhood on a portion of his land where the yard levelled out into a pasture. However, the baseball field wasn’t quite the homerun that Gipson was expecting.

“He sat out on his porch and he played music, and the kids all wanted him to teach them to play guitar.” Guyton recalled. As it turns out, the children were substantially more interested in Gipson’s music than running around the bases. He began teaching the children about the blues and how to play the guitar, something that he would continue to do and cherish throughout his life. Due to popular demand, he put up a tent in his back yard, and on Saturday nights, music-lovers would gather together to celebrate the blues. And so in 1952, Gip’s Place was born.

24 | The Local

GIP’S PLACE “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,” It’s 8:30 p.m., and the crowd stands. If you have on a hat, you’d better take it off. If you have a drink, sit it down. Anyone who knew Mr. Gip knew that a night beginning without a bluesy rendition of the popular Christian hymn just wouldn’t be right. “Was blind, but now I see.” Heads bowed; eyes closed. Next, a prayer. A reverent hush falls over the juke joint, and the tranquility of the moment settles in harsh contrast to the electric energy coursing throughout the room. If you’re tempted to crack open an eye and take a peek, you’d see Mr. Gip sitting on a stool in the far-right corner of the stage. His eyes are half open, and he’s scanning the crowd, a lazy smile on his weathered face. Your eyes meet his, and you startle at being caught. But he just gives you a wink and a nod, and then the prayer is over. Now the show begins. Mr. Gip loved the old blues, the likes of John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Slim Harpo. Having always enjoyed teaching younger generations about the blues, Mr. Gip has a young artist performing tonight. He’s singing the classics, as well as some more modern hits for the few college students in the crowd. It’s Todd Simpson and Mojo Child tonight, and they’re a fan favorite here at Gip’s Place. Simpson isn’t just any up-and-coming musician. He plays with the spontaneity of Jimmy Hendrix and the bluesy inflection of B.B. King, but that alone isn’t what makes him special. Simpson has synesthesia, which means that two of his senses get crossed. As he plays the guitar, he sees colors, and these colors tell him exactly what notes he needs to play. Simpson has no concept of musical notes; he just feels the music. And someone with such ingenuity fits right in at Gip’s Place. “It’s a once in a lifetime place,” Simpson said. “I’ve known Mr. Gip since I was 8 years old. He took me right in, and I’ve been playing at Gip’s Place since I was a kid.” Much like Mr. Gip, Simpson knows how to make the crowd feel welcome. “We were pretty much a part of the band,” college student and frequenter of Gip’s Place Audrey Dworak said. “Todd, he’s persuasive without even trying. He just gave us a head nod to go up on stage, so we went. My friend and I, we made a horrible attempt at singing backup vocals for him. The coolest thing is that we were

just a part of it, and everyone was. I remember that we were just walking out that night with Todd, who performed, and that wasn’t limited to us—that’s everyone. You’re just there. There’s no performers or audience, there’s no separation. Everyone’s in it together.” And that’s the thing about Mr. Gip. He didn’t care who you were, where you were from or what you looked like. At Gip’s Place, you were family. “From day one, Gip introduced me to everyone he knew at the juke joint,” Gip’s Place regular Eric Napier said. “The folks at Gip’s were like my extended family, and they were always looking out for me.” As for me, the first time I met Mr. Gip, I didn’t have a clue who he was. I was still reeling from being swung around on the dance floor by complete strangers who seemed thrilled to have a newcomer in their midst. Suddenly I was standing face-to-face with an elderly man, a white fedora tipped slightly to the side atop his head, the kindness in his eyes softening the harsh signs of age on his face. He reached out and shook my hand, and I couldn’t help but take note of how his roughly calloused palms dwarfed mine. “Thank y’all for coming out here tonight,” he said. “You come back and visit us again.” And so I did, nearly every Saturday night between that first visit in 2017 until October 2019 when he passed. I met people from all over the world at Gip’s Place throughout those years, but none were more memorable than that man who quietly sat on a stool in the far-right corner of the stage, admiring what was to become his legacy: the togetherness of a community, complete equals in each other’s eyes. “I don’t separate no black and white nowhere,” Mr. Gip said in the documentary film “Gip.” “Everybody’s the same in the eyes of God, and when God’s coming, pigmentation isn’t going to keep you away from it. This is your house, his house, my house, her house and everybody that comes here.”

No black. No white. Just the blues. “Mr. Gip wanted to bring everybody together,” Guyton said. “He didn’t want anybody to see color, and he tried to show love. God watched over that place, and you could feel it. If the world could be more like Gip, we’d be in a better place.”

And at the end of the day, I believe that Mr. Gip would have been delighted to see the crowd of people at his celebration of life in October of 2019— black, white, the young and the young at heart. “Amazing Grace” begins to play, and as one, as if all in on a secret, the crowd smiles.

Mr. Gip

Gip’s Place

Just the blues!

Photos contributed by Todd Simpson and Diane Guyton.

Spring ‘21 | 25

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Furthermore, rather than rehabilitating inmates, a private prison’s goal is to make money off incarcerated individuals. By Moriah Mason

Imagine that you had committed three nonviolent property crimes. On the day of your trial, you walk into the courtroom and hope that you receive a light sentence. However, your hopes are soon demolished when the judge sentences you to life without parole. This scenario provides a glimpse into what Ronald McKeithan felt back in 1984. Fortunately, McKeithan was able to be released but he is just one of many inmates who have been sentenced to prison under a strict sentencing law. According to the Sentencing Project, beginning in the 1970s, stricter sentencing laws such as mandatory minimums, the Three Strikes law, cutbacks in parole release and other laws have caused more people to be sent to prison on longer sentences. These strict sentencing laws have not only impacted the lives of inmates but have also led to prison overcrowding. Because of this, states started to contract with private prisons. Private prisons are built and funded by private corporations. Samford sociology professor Dr. Theresa Davidson explained, “The point of private prisons is to contract with the state or a county to save money.” However, “the drawback of private prisons is that they save states and counties money by cutting services needed to successfully run a prison, such as staff training, facility security, educational and rehabilitation programming,” said Carla Crowder Executive Director of Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice.

28 | The Local

“From my understanding of talking to people in the business world, this is not a good model. This is not a function that should be monetized and based on profit,” said Crowder.

How Does this Pertain to Alabama? On Feb. 1, Gov. Kay Ivey signed two lease agreements with Government Real Estate Solutions of Central Alabama, LLC and Government Real Estate Solutions of South Alabama, LLC. Both are entities of Core Civic, a company that owns and manages private prisons. Crowder went on to discuss Ivey’s reasoning behind partnering with CoreCivic. “What Ivey is trying to do is what is called a public-private partnership and it is a lease option,” Crowder said. “The private prison companies would build the facilities based on how they built other facilities and they would maintain them as it pertains to security. But all the staffing (wardens, administrators and guards) would be state employees. “The reason this is problematic is that we already know that the Alabama Department of Corrections operates the worst prisons in the country, “said Crowder.“There are extraordinary levels of violence, corruption, mismanagement, understaffing and the highest death rates in the country. You have the worst of both worlds with this plan; you have for-profit companies who want to make money by charging the taxpayers of Alabama top-dollar to build and maintain these prisons. And then they will be operated by the most troubled department of corrections in the country.” Now, while Gov. Kay Ivey is not building a “private prison” per se, it still is troubling that the Alabama Department of Corrections will be in charge of these public-private prisons.

Solutions Alabama Students Against Prisons or (ASAP) is an student activist organization that was formed to fight against the state’s prison plan. ASAP board member Isabel Coleman said that the governor is building these public-private prisons to address the lawsuit that was filed against the state pertaining to prison conditions and the high amount of violence . However, according to Coleman, building more prisons is not going to help these issues. Coleman also discussed her organization’s solution to problems in Alabama’s prisons. She said, “Obviously, the state has put some resources towards trying to hire better correctional officers, however this will help in the short term but it will not help in the long term. So, what we’re pushing forward is sentencing reform. If the state could repeal Alabama’s Three Strikes law it could help Alabama’s over-incarceration problem. Another thing that would make a big difference is decriminalizing marijuana and applying it retroactively. We believe that by implementing these reforms it will help to decrease over incarceration and prison conditions. ” Cara McClure, Founder of Black Lives Matter Birmingham also offered another solution to overcrowding in Alabama’s prison crisis. “Instead of building more prisons, they could release elderly people who are there dying or are on life support or folks who are there for non-violent crimes. There are so many people on parole who should be released by now but haven’t been granted parole. There’s just so many things they could do and I just don’t believe that building new prisons is the answer” said McClure. Crowder also provided ways to keep people out of prison. “What Appleseed has been advocating for is investments in outside the wall services such as more drug courts, diversion programs and drug treatment to keep people from going to prison in the first place,” she said. “We have drug courts and diversion programs in the state but they are funded by participants. So, for example, if I’m struggling with addiction and end up in a drug court, I’m asked to show up once a week, take time off work, to pay thousands of dollars in order to complete the program and have the felony wiped off my record. It

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The Alabama prison system is broken. Private prisons won’t fix it. is not as effective as it could be if we were to fund these services instead of locking people up when they can’t scrape together thousands of dollars.”

From high incarceration rates to overcrowding, the system needs to be changed. Building more prisons and partnering with private prison companies such as Core Civic will not solve the problems that Alabama prisons face. Rather, there needs to be major investments in services to keep individuals out of prison. All photos courtesy of Cara McClure and Isabel Coleman. Spring ‘21 | 29

Photographs from the Dec. 28 ASAP protest in Birmingham, which sought to get Regions Bank to stop providing services to Core Civic. Private Prison Facts From 2000 to 2016 the number of people housed in U.S. private prisons increased five times faster than the total prison population. Over a similar timeframe, the proportion of people detained in private immigration facilities increased by 442 percent. (Sentencing Project) The private prison population reached a peak of 137,220 in 2012; it then declined to 126,272 in 2015, before rising again in 2016 to 128,063.6) (Sentencing Project) Twenty-one states with private prison contracts incarcerate more than 500 people in for-profit prisons. Texas, the first state to adopt private prisons in 1985, incarcerated the largest number of people under state authority, 12,516. (Sentencing Project) The United States has the world’s largest private prison population. (Equal Justice Initiative) The Justice Department inspector general found that private prisons reported higher rates of assault, more uses of force, and more contraband than facilities run by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. (Equal Justice Initiative) 30 | The Local

Core Civic In 2010, Core Civic mismanaged the Idaho Correctional Center so much so that it was nicknamed “Gladiator School.” According to a Washington Spokesman-Review news article, the rate of prisoner-on-prisoner assaults was four times more than all the other seven prisons in Idaho combined. Also, in the same facility, Core Civic had also given control to gangs as a way of saving money on employee wages. In a Nashville Tennessean news article, a female guard at the Silverdale Detention Center operated by Core Civic, said that she was constantly required to work alone with male inmates who sexually harassed her, groped her and attacked her. When the guard tried reporting the incidents, her supervisor told her to “grow a tougher skin.” Another instance took place in 2017 with a Core Civic-ran Metro-Davidson County Detention Facility. In this facility, an outbreak of scabies had taken place. Employees of the prison would later file a lawsuit and would allege that they would face retaliation if they spoke out about a problem. Vice versa, prisoners filed a lawsuit which shared that they would face the possibility of being placed in solitary confinement if they even discussed scabies.

We are glad you are here.

H e a l i n g H o r s e s Special Equestrians welcomes all riders to saddle up By Selah Vetter

s the sun begins to set over Pelham, Alabama, two riders play red light, green light on their horses in an open field at the farm.

“Back up, back up,” instructor Madison Pozzo yells. And the two riders guide their horses to take a few steps back because it is a yellow light, which allows the riders to practice leading their horses backwards. Finally, it’s a green light again, allowing the riders to lead their horses forward, and one rider crosses the finish line. Victorious shouts fill the air as the winner is declared. These two young riders are more skilled on top of a horse than most average people, but they are no average riders. Special Equestrians welcomes young riders with physical to cognitive or emotional disabilities and illnesses to saddle up and find therapy on top of a horse. It may be an unusual way to approach therapy for these riders, but the instructors have plenty of stories about just how freeing riding a horse can be for someone who is accustomed to boundaries in their lives. 32 | The Local

Founded in 1985 by horsewoman and former New Yorker Rita Mendel, Special Equestrians has served hundreds of riders in multiple locations in the greater Birmingham area for more than 35 years. The stables are now located at a farm in Shelby County, with open fields and an arena nestled between a pond and forest. The advanced riders love to ride their horses on the trails in the forest, letting them experience a place they might not be able to in a wheelchair or where they feel comfortable venturing out on their own two feet. “Special Equestrians has really given Becca the confidence that she was lacking because Zip enables her to do things that she cannot do on her own,” said Nicole Robertson, the mother of one rider. “It’s important for special kids to feel capable and successful. While she is riding Zip, Becca has the feeling of accomplishment.” The mission of Special Equestrians is not particularly about the riding, but it’s about the rider. The instructors at Special Equestrians may teach riding skills and horsemanship knowledge like any other riding lesson, but they use the techniques of the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International to invest in the rider more than the horse. If riding will help strengthen a rider’s core to keep them from using a wheelchair for a longer time, or if the 34 | The Local

movement of the horses will help stimulate their vocal cords so they may say their first word while riding, then that’s what the instructors work for. “Sometimes, that’s all we want from them,” Pozzo said. “As much as they’re willing to do and that we can provide these families with these types of moments.” Special Equestrians helps riders from various backgrounds through their three different riding programs: therapeutic riding, hippotherapy and horsemanship. For therapeutic riding, the instructors adapt basic riding skills to the rider’s needs. Hippotherapy, led by a therapist, helps the rider exercise, stimulate and strengthen certain muscles through the movement of the horse. For those who are unable to ride a horse due to physical disabilities, the farm offers horsemanship, which teaches the groundwork of taking care of a horse, such as leading a horse and grooming. “We’re providing the ability for someone with special needs and adapting our teaching and equipment to their needs. We teach all the same riding skills,” executive director Kathi Claybrook said. “Now, for someone who can’t follow through with certain things, those skills may look a lot different. For some, they close their hands and we get excited.”

Previous Page: (Left) Zip is one of the horses the riders love at the farm. (Right) Kari Balazs guides her horse through a riding exercise. (Right) Pozzo leads riders through the lesson. (Left) Helping Becca get on Zip for the lesson.

learn to trust the animals. “There has been a lot of that,” Claybrook said. “On the first day, [they] cried and [were] scared to death of getting on, then cry because they had to get off.”

One rider, confined to a wheelchair, was able to experience places and feelings through horse riding that his siblings could experience daily, Claybrook said. The epiphany that he was able to venture out and live experiences, normally deemed impossible due to his disabilities, motivated the rider to start his own business visiting schools to help people with disabilities build confidence and navigate college life from a wheelchair.

As it did everyone else, the pandemic affected Special Equestrians. After shutting down completely for two months, they began to slowly open back up in June 2020, starting with their most advanced riders. However, one good thing came out of the pandemic: the integration of family members in the riding lessons. Before the pandemic, volunteers would walk alongside the riders to help keep them safe and guide them through the lesson. Due to social distancing rules, those volunteers are now replaced with family members. “They’re getting to see what their participant really does in the lesson, and we, as instructors, are learning so much more about our riders who need side walkers,” Pozzo said. “We are learning their learning style and things that their parents know, and may not be able to tell us outside the arena.”

“How can you not have a good day when you hear that type of story?”

While some riders may not be comfortable around people all the time, they are able to form bonds with the horses that establish intermediaries between them and the instructors. The older, tamed horses at the farm do not expect anything from them, allowing the riders to let go of their boundaries and be themselves.

Terrified of animals, one rider came to Special Equestrians hesitant to even look at the faces of animals, Pozzo said. Lesson by lesson, she became comfortable with being in the presence of the animals and was able to ride her horse without anyone leading her. From being willing to hold a barn cat to feeding a horse a treat out of her hand, she was able to let go of her fear and was able to

The lessons also help the rider feel closer to their family. One boy was finally able to compete with his brother, Claybrook said. After being awarded a trophy at the spring horse show hosted by Special Equestrians, he moved his brother’s trophies on a shelf over to the side and put his hard-earned trophy front row and center. “How can you not have a good day when you hear that type of story?” Claybrook said. And that question sums up all the stories you hear about Special Equestrians. Because at the end of the day, when the riders are in the saddle, there are no limits to what they may or may not be able to do, but, instead, they are able to just ride. Spring ‘21 | 35

IT ’S NEVER JUST B ABOUT SELLIN G S Boutique Apparel & Footware making a difference in Five Points South.

BEEN HOES

By Gracie Eddins

lchemy, according to Ace Graham, is a code word for transmuting humans into gold, it’s about turning our base qualities of fear, ignorance, hatred, and shame into love and fulfillment.”

For Graham, opening a storefront in the heart of Five Points South was never just about selling shoes. “Alchemy is a store… it’s one thing but it’s really a lifestyle business of footwear and apparel of mixing demographics and breaking down barriers,”Graham explained. Graham grew up as a military kid and relocated every 12-18 months. “I don’t remember anyone from before I was 15,” he recalled. That constant state of transition gave him a nuanced understanding of different cultures and the ability to empathize with different kinds of people. Graham’s military roots landed him in Europe for the beginning of his adult life when he started work as a brand consultant and advised distributors of premium goods, on ways to sell to American customers. He brought his talents to the US and opened Alchemy as a creative boutique in 2015 in the heart of Five Points. His passion for high-end streetwear created an avenue to challenge social barriers. He opened Alchemy as a space to start those conversations. Graham said the premium goods and specialty brands that they work with give them the credibility to welcome all kinds of people into their space. “We want people to be able to come into this space and be able to interact with each other, and learn something about each other because at the end of the day I think there are a lot of issues in our society because we don’t understand each other,” he explained. Seeing the needs in Birmingham and having the resources that come with brand partners, including Nike, Adidas and Puma, gave Graham the idea to take community outreach to a new level. Graham started meeting these needs on a wide-scale level with Alchemy Cares, the non-profit organization of which he is the co-founder . They focus on fashion, art and music and are a platform for up-and-coming artists to help them develop brands, get product placement and create business platforms. Graham explained, “Me sitting down with Puma, I’m gonna say, ‘Sure we are gonna sell goods and exchange cash and products but what are you gonna do to help me support my community?’ Our work through Alchemy Spring ‘21 | 37

Cares is directly connected to our retail partners and it is about giving back to the community as best as we can.” The windows of Alchemy are full of display shoes that are often never sold. Graham and the team at Alchemy could have turned these shoes in for compensation, but instead, they decided to check in on their neighbors. They all hopped in the back of a pickup truck one day after work with 50 pairs of shoes and just drove around downtown looking for people who needed some new ones. “Yo, what kinda shoes do you wear... Okay well take those off here is a new pair of shoes” Graham said they shouted from the back of the pickup. That was a gesture from us just because we wanted to put shoes on people. This wasn’t just a one-time thing.” Alchemy’s brand partners got wind of this gesture and wanted to be involved. This year, Graham and his team are on track to give away 100 pairs of shoes. Graham makes it a point to get to know everyone on his block. He develops relationships with each of them. One specific relationship was the caveat for “The Alchemy Experience.” Graham told The Local about this relationship. “We met Roy, who is a gentleman who fell on some hard times during the COVID-19 pandemic and was a little bit discouraged. We felt like we could help with that. Graham and the team got Roy a hotel room at The Homewood Inn and Suites. They got him some fresh clothes, shot some photos with him, stocked the fridge and went out for a team dinner. “We just wanted to make him feel welcome and connected to us,” Graham said. “We all had a good experience.” Since that day, Graham and Roy have a growing relationship. They got Roy a cellphone and talk wit him a few times a week and are in the process of getting him an apartment. “It seems like this ‘Alchemy Experience’ or this one-time thing but it’s more than that. It is just our relationships. It is just a way for us to stay connected to our community and help people as much as we possibly can,” Graham said. “What’s the difference between me, a 35-year-old business owner, and a 62-year-old guy on the street… a couple of bad decisions. I see them in that light and I understand that I’m no different than anybody else, I’m trying to figure out how to be myself just like anybody else.”

38 | The Local

Roy let me take the above photo on a sunny Friday in March. In the bottom photo a doctor grabs lunch and walks back to work. Photos By Gracie Eddins

45 CHURCH ST CRESTLINE VILLAGE MOUNTAIN BROOK Right next to Piggly Wiggly

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ALPHA OMICRON PI ARTHRITIS FOUNDATION Follow us: @samfordaoii

Memory Lane Once a loved one can no longer recall the memories that their souls hold dear, it can take a toll not only on that person, but their family members too.

By Camille Womack Photo by Gracie Eddins 41

| The Local

he completely forgot who I was. She didn’t recognize me or any of my family members by the time she passed. That was really difficult. She changed all around as a person,” said Kylie Garrett, student at Samford University. Her great-grandmother was the first person in her family to develop Alzheimer’s disease. Memory is usually the first thing to be affected in individuals with Alzheimer’s among other brain functions. It kills more people than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Alabama has the highest death rate from Alzheimer’s in the nation. There are more than 96,000 Alabamians living with Alzheimer’s with that number expected to increase by 14.6 percent by 2025 bringing the total to more than 110,000. More than 306,000 people in Alabama are caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s. These numbers amount to more than 349 million hours of unpaid care with the total value of unpaid care at more than $4 billion. “Caregivers a lot of the time are unpaid, and they have to take care of someone who is typically a parent and a child,” said Mathew Banker, marketing and outreach chair for the Young Professionals Board of the Alzheimer’s Association of Alabama. That could be the experience for young people. Parents tend to be 20 to 30 years older than their children which puts them in the age range of their 40s and 50s. That also is the age where symptoms of dementia, which develops into Alzheimer’s start to show. Carter Harrison, member of Alabama chapter of Alzheimer’s Association said that although Alzheimer’s tends to affect an older population, its rippling effects reach far and wide. “Nobody is far removed from this and nobody should ever know Alzheimer’s,” Harrison said Garrett agreed. “Young adults can have the disease. You have to be willing to do what is best for your health early. Signs and symptoms usually start as a young adult.” Her great-grandmother had the disease her whole life. It didn’t start to alter her life until she got older. She would have moments when she thought. She was in a different time period. The hardest one for Garrett to witness was her great-grandmother’s Alzheimer’s induced hallucinations.

“The earlier you start to think about these things the better off you will be when you are older,” Garrett urged. Young adults also tend to be heavily impacted by witnessing their loved ones with Alzheimer’s become a shell of themselves. “We found out two years ago, my papaw also has the disease. Watching him deteriorate has been worse that watching my great-grandmother,” Kylie expressed. The disease becomes powerful over time. Due to her family’s experience with the disease, they take precautions to keep their brains healthy. “At the end of the day, I think it comes to your perspective. Yes, older people usually have the disease, but that’s when the disease has progressed to a usually untreatable point. The earlier you start to think about these things the better off you will be when you are older,” Garrett ended. Hart Byers, young professionals board member at the Alabama Alzheimer’s Association realized how grave the disease was when his wife’s grandfather would recognize him over her. It even got to the point where he no longer remembered her. When his wife’s grandfather passed away, doctors found the most likely cause of his development of Alzheimer’s was from his time spent playing football back when protective athletic gear wasn’t advanced as it is today. “They said his brain was like oatmeal by the time he passed away,” Byers explained. Due to the state of his brain, it was probable that he developed early onset Dementia in his late 20s or early 30s. Byers spoke about how expensive of a disease Alzheimer’s is and that young people put themselves at a huge disadvantage by not saving that emergency money. “A lot people our age and younger don’t do financial planning and if they do, a long-term care policy is on the backburner,” Byers said. Seven months into Byer’s insurance career, he had a colleague sell a long-term care policy to a male in his late 20s. A few years later, the client was in a grave car accident and suffered a damaging brain injury which caused him to develop early on set dementia in his early 30s. “If he hadn’t had that long term care policy, it would’ve cost him millions of dollars without it. The cost of care is high, the average monthly long term care facility in Birmingham, Alabama is $8,000 to $10,000 a month,” Byers said. “Is the likelihood that this would happen to young 41

| The Local

person high? Probably not, but understanding that it could, things happen to us every day that we don’t expect. It’s better to be prepared,” Hart said. “I think having the freedom to work your way out of a financial hole is a huge deal, but some people aren’t that fortunate," Byers continued. “Even when considering taking care of your parents, the older your parents get the more expensive insurance it’s going to be.” He expressed how difficult it is to change a young person’s mindset on how important it is to save money. He knew someone who works in a white-collar job that had to cash out their entire retirement savings in order to provide care for his parents who developed Alzheimer’s. Byers biggest point is that if young people can financially plan around the “what ifs” and not be hasty “to buy the next iPhone,” they will be better prepared. Kate Webb’s grandfather David was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s when she was 10 years old. He had been living with it for over 12 years. Growing up, the relationship she shared with her grandfather was very close and tight knit. When the disease began to take a toll on his mental health, he became a shell of himself. Webb, who now works as a marketing and communications, public policy and programs intern at the Alabama chapter of Alzheimer’s Association told a story that not only affected her grandfather but herself as a caretaker. “My grandfather was a Missionary Baptist preacher. He loved the Psalms. His name is David after King David, and he loved to preach on David. He also, being a Missionary Baptist preacher loved his hymns, and those were the last things that went. He couldn’t remember his name, children or grandchildren, but he remembered the harmonies to “Rock of Ages Cleft for Me.” It was his favorite. I began writing him letters a couple years ago that the primary caretakers in my family would read to him.I would always give him a Bible verse. When coronavirus happened, I could no longer visit my grandfather. It’s been over a year and a half since I’ve seen him in person. I started Facetiming him and it’s a little bit different because I can’t get in his face and be kind of aggressive with him in the ways that I am when I see him in person in order to keep his attention. We always feed him ice cream when we go ‘cause it always wakes him up. 42

| The Local

Kate Webb and her grandfather David in a photo taken in 2019.

I sort of devised a five to seven minute plan for every phone call and it always includes reading a Psalm of David and praying with my Papa. The Papa who used to pray over me, prayed over me when he baptized me and singing a hymn. Even though that look of recognition was no longer on his face when I answered the phone. There were moments where I knew that he was in there and I knew that he was looking at me and that even though his brain couldn’t compute and send the right signals to say sing along to those hymns, I knew that his soul was singing and that’s why we do, that’s why we continue. Even after Papa doesn’t know his own name anymore and doesn’t know yours, their soul is still in there. You still fight for that soul and that’s one of the reasons I work for the Alzheimer’s Association. I fight for his soul every day because he fought for mine.”

Kate Webb (left) and her younger sister (right) with her grandfather on the day of their baptism in 2008. Photos courtesy of Kate Webb.

"I fight for his soul every day because he fought for mine.” - Kate Webb

ENCOU CHANG

RAGE E

Coffee with a Cause

Three cafés making a difference in Birmingham By Elizabeth Pridgeon

ith the relaxing hum of voices and the rich aroma of roasted brews in the air, coffee shops have become a preferred way to enjoy one’s favorite caffeinated beverage. Menus are filled with endless combinations of coffee-based drinks with the umber liquid combined with cream, sugar or trendy plant-based milks. In the Birmingham metro area alone, there are dozens of local coffee shops. 48 | The Local

However, consumers are increasingly expecting more from businesses than just delivering a quality product, with corporate sustainability and corporate social responsibility becoming pressing issues. Several coffee shops in Birmingham are positively impacting their communities by creating places for people to gather and pouring into causes close to their hearts.

Reuben Parsons, roastmaster for Baba Java, prepares individual coffee bags.

Baba Java

hoover, alabama

Baba Java Coffee is a café and roaster located in Hoover, Alabama. Originally founded as a coffee roaster in 2018, couple Wendi and Nathan Parvin expanded Baba Java to a café in March 2019. Both the owners and staff members greeted regulars by name as conversations ebbed and flowed in the Middle Eastern-inspired café. Baba is an affectionate Arabic term for “father” while Java is an informal English word for coffee. By trade, Wendi Parvin is a nurse and Nathan Parvin is an optometrist who currently practices in rural Alabama. They spent around five years overseas working in community development and mobile medical clinics. Their son Joshua gave them the idea to start a coffee roastery after an overseas internship in Oman with Brad Haynes, Baba Java’s vice president of operations, who exposed him to the coffee industry. “We were only going to roast coffee and do subscription, online, wholesale … but we live on this side of town and we recognized that there weren’t any good coffee shops,” Wendi Parvin said. “We definitely see the café as a community builder.” She further discussed how COVID-19 revealed the impact of Baba Java on their customers. “I think [COVID-19] made us know how important the café was to the community,’’ Wendi Parvin said. “And a lot of times [regular people] would come because they still

Address: 4730 Chace Circle, Suite 124 Hoover, AL 35244 Hours: Monday through Friday, 6:30 a.m. - 6 p.m., Saturday: 8 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sunday, Closed* *Open for private events on Sundays. Website: https://www.babajavacoffee.com

wanted to see the faces of the people who worked here. They wanted to still have that community.” Baba Java’s mission of excellence from “Farm to Cup” has pushed the organization to form direct partnerships with farmers and mills overseas. “The more middlemen you have between you and the farmers, the less money they get,” Reuben Parsons said, roastmaster for Baba Java. Quality and quantity were other important factors in deciding to use smaller coffee buyers. “We used a bigger coffee importer initially … but then the coffees weren’t consistent from them as far as taste and quality,” Haynes stated. He further explained that smaller coffee buyers allowed them to buy smaller amounts which ensured products remained fresh. “We want to make excellent coffee, but also educate the customer on not just what a specific drink type is but helping them understand what happens on the farm side to when it gets in their cup,” he said. Currently, Baba Java has three direct partnerships: Rayyan Mill in Yemen, Yunnan Coffee Traders in China and a farm in Honduras owned by Brenda Ramirez. Baba Java hopes to one day have all of its coffee sourced from direct partnerships. Baba Java’s goal for this year is to continue to build its subscription base and expand its mobile coffee truck’s operation to five or six days a week. Spring ‘21 | 49

Filter Coffee Parlor five points south, alabama

Opened in January 2019 in Five Points South by James Little and Jill Marlar, a husband-and-wife-duo, Filter Coffee Parlor has become a regular spot for downtown residents, businesspeople, University of Alabama at Birmingham hospital staff and UAB students. The coffee parlor is a spacious two-level building with plenty of socially distanced tables. Little, who originally worked at REV Birmingham, a non-profit economic development agency, has over two decades of experience with coffee and coffee shops. The opening of Filter took several years in the making to become reality with a focus on community. “It’s not about the space or the products we are serving, it is about creating an environment where any and all are welcome,” Little said. The connections and relationships of people you would not usually meet are his favorite part of the coffee shop. “In Five Points, a town within the city [of Birmingham], a coffee shop should be the heartbeat of the city,” he stated. “You feel like you’re in an area where the student to the CEO of a company is in line or at a table.” Little selects the coffee featured in his parlor and establishes partnerships with local bakeries and local vendors. “Filter is a coffee mercantile that features coffee across the South, you can taste without the travel,” Little said. Filter uses Prevail Union, a coffee roaster from Montgomery, Alabama and Amavida Coffee Roasters, based in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida.

“We focus on being local and sustainable,” he stated. “We think more locally by utilizing ingredients … at the shop to working with local bakeries and local vendors.” Beside using local ingredients, Filter also uses sustainable coffee cups and lids. Marlar focuses on the community events side of the coffee parlor by handpicking which artists will be displayed within Filter and by planning events for children and adults, often featuring local artists and musicians. However, due to COVID-19, most events were canceled, transformed into virtual events or held in a limited capacity. One day in the future, hopefully, inperson events can resume. While supporting local businesses and artists, Filter also ensures they are giving back to the local community by partnering with Food For Our Journey, a Birmingham nonprofit organization that provides food for the hungry through mobile “Food Truck” distribution. “They have so generously been partnering with us for many months, donating coffee, hot chocolate with all the creams, sugars, cups, stir-sticks, etc. and have even included breakfast muffins and cinnamon rolls,” Kelly Greene stated, founder and executive director of Food For Our Journey. “They have also been donating hot soup and soup cups to us weekly during the winter months!” Filter’s goal for this year is to continue to remain flexible in the upcoming months. “We are recreating and innovating as failure is not an option,” Little said.

A customer places an order while owner James Little works behind the counter.

50 | The Local

Address: 1927 11th Ave South Birmingham, AL 35205 Hours: Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. - 4 p.m., Saturday through Sunday, 7 a.m. - 4 p.m. Website: https//www.filtercoffeeparlor.com

Gatos and Beans avondale, alabama

Gatos and Beans is a cat café located in Avondale, Alabama. The cat café is the first of its kind in the state. It was opened in July 2019 by Kelli Steward and her husband Stephen Steward after placing second in REV Birmingham’s “Big Pitch,” a competition similar to Shark Tank.

A feline resident of Gatos and Beans relaxes in the cat room.

While she understood the animal side of the business, her colleague’s husband, Mark Blumenthal, trained her in brewing coffee. Blumenthal, a professional barista and fellow cat lover, worked at Crestwood Coffee Company before coming to Gatos and Beans. The cat café uses coffee and espresso from Red Bike Coffee. “It’s a delicious indie roaster here in Irondale right up the street,” Blumenthal said.

The cat café is separated into a coffee shop in the front and a separate cat room the back where the adoptable cats reside. “It was a used tire store,” Kelli Steward said. “It’s come a long way, but it sang to me so to speak as far as the space that was available.”

The main draw to Gatos and Beans is the calming atmosphere. “I think people come here, in general, is even if you have your own cats, the experience inside the cat room lends it to be relaxing,” Steward stated. “It’s fun; it’s peaceful.”

Guests of all ages seem to enjoy interacting with cats in the cat room while the staff points out the distinct personalities of the feline residents. The room is a cat’s paradise with a copious number of toys, cosy alcoves for napping and climbable perches for privacy.

The cats also benefit from the human interaction as the socialization helps them get adopted. The furry guests are all from Kitty Kat Haven & Rescue, a non-profit in Hoover. As of late March 2021, 133 cats have been adopted.

For guests who would rather appreciate cats from afar, they can enjoy a cup of coffee while watching the cats through the large viewing windows. Cat yoga classes are also offered.

Kelli Steward’s favorite part of her job is finding homes for the cats, which helps her stay motivated. “It’s more important to my heart where I feel like I am really, really contributing and giving back to the cat community and the people community, the cat people community,” Steward said.

Steward, who worked at Alford Avenue Veterinary Hospital for 23 years and still works there part-time, said that starting a cat café was unexpected. “I didn’t mull it over for like three years or anything like that,” Steward said. “It just happened. And that is fantastic. I am not that mull-over-for-three-years person.”

Address: 4348 3rd Court South, Birmingham, AL 35222 Hours: Sunday, 12 p.m. - 6 p.m., Monday, 4 p.m. - 7 p.m., (Cat Yoga 6 p.m. - 7 p.m.), Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. Website: https://gatosandbeans.com

Spring ‘21 | 51

Resource,

Not Waste Composting makes its debut in Birmingham Story, Photos and Art By Claire Pool

ome might argue going green and being more environmentally conscious became a more mainstream idea in the last five years. As issues like the “save the turtles” initiative and metal straws became trendy, many people started to really think about what kind of impact they have on the Earth.

take North America by storm. Being more sustainable through acts as simple as conserving water by taking shorter showers or by buying your vegetables from local farmers can help our earth in so many ways. But one of the main ways we’ve learned to help the environment is by composting and keeping certain items out of landfills.

In more recent years, the act of composting, buying bulk soaps and detergent, and changing from single-use plastic and paper to more green options has begun to

When food scraps go into landfills, they generate methane, a greenhouse gas with a global warming potential 84 times greater than carbon dioxide. Because the food

52 | The Local

scraps sit in piles around the landfills, they aren’t being moved and aerated to prevent methane from building up in pockets. Greenhouse gases cause climate change by trapping heat in the atmosphere, but also contribute to respiratory diseases from smog and air pollution. So by choosing to compost over tossing out food scraps to go to a landfill, you’re helping to create a greener place to live. But what exactly is composting? Composting is the aerobic decomposition of organic materials by microorganisms. Matthew Nesbitt, the founder of Field Culture Compost in Birmingham, further explains the science behind composting and why it works. “Most homes that compost have a barrel type composting holder,” Nesbitt said. “This is where you’ll store everything. You need a mix of nitrogen compounds, air and water. These have to be balanced.” Nesbitt went on to describe the necessity of balancing the ratios of carbon to nitrogen during this process. “It’s 3:1 carbon to nitrogen by volume. Wood chips, fall leaves, natural sawdust will help create the carbon. It also has to be aerated, meaning you have to turn the compost so it doesn’t create pockets of methane and it will continue to decompose,” Nesbitt explained. Most people are turned off by composting because of the smell - rotting food isn’t exactly the most welcoming scent. “Well-made compost doesn’t smell. If it does, then add more carbon,” Nesbitt said. “If it’s dry, add more water. If it’s not breaking down, add more nitrogen, (a.k.a food scraps).” Field Culture Compost is Birmingham’s first composting facility, having appeared in late 2020 and flourishing since. The company’s subscription service for picking up compost from homes includes a 3.5 or 5-gallon container for customers to store food scraps. Then, their team comes either weekly or bi-weekly to collect compost. They use the food scraps to make compost, which is eventually used by farmers, gardeners and landscapers to improve their soils, which then returns valuable nutrients back to the land. This soil comes from a circular economy model, arguably one of the most exciting parts of what composting does. By taking food people can’t or don’t consume and turning it into compost, the company then creates nutrient-rich soil, which they sell back to the community of farmers, gardeners and landscapers to begin growing more crops.

Field Culture Compost also offers its subscription services to commercial businesses, with restaurants being one of its biggest customers. Weston Stitt, the sustainability manager at Bottega in Birmingham, Alabama talked about why composting became an option for their restaurants when he had to look for other ways to deal with the food scraps.

Composting in four easy steps

“Our farms in Harpersville, Alabama are where we keep our chickens, and we would supplement the chickens with old food scraps from the restaurant. Sometimes the chickens weren’t interested in the food or the food was toxic to them, so there was always a process of dividing the food, removing the toxic pieces, taking off stickers and it was all very time-consuming.” Stitt began seeking out another option to reduce food waste that wasn’t as time-consuming as sorting their scraps for the chickens. “We had a contact at the Alabama Environmental Council who directed us to an article about Field Culture Compost, and we immediately saw they could fill the void we needed,” Stitt said. Visions started to align, contracts were made and suddenly Bottega was one of Field Culture Compost’s initial commercial clients. Field Culture Compost spent a lot of time educating Bottega’s staff on the importance of composting for the Earth. They also provided explanations and lessons on how to get them started quickly. The elements of the program, like the education, the environmental impact and the financial benefit, made it worthwhile to Bottega. So why should other businesses switch to composting? Stitt said it has benefited not only the environment but also his family’s company. “One thing I think of when I think of composting is that it attaches to three pillars: social, financial and environmental. You have a great opportunity to connect with your staff, see what they think and hear their opinions. You also end up saving money by not needed solid waste management as often. Lastly, you see the impact you’re able to make on the environment through this service.” Seeing each side of Field Culture Compost and the impact they are making on the Birmingham environment is eye-opening. The relationship shows not only homeowners, but also commercial businesses, that they can take one small step toward a greener planet through composting. It serves as a powerful model for other local businesses that value a more sustainable Birmingham. Spring ‘21 | 55

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Principal Mike Wilson looks over the construction site of the future school.

Magic City Acceptance Academy Opens its Affirming Doors By: Meg Van Dyk

“Don’t say gay.” “Homosexuality is a choice.” These phrases are commonplace slang in the LGBTQ+ community, used to reference states which have laws prohibiting positive affirming representation of LGBTQ+ identities in K-12 schools. Alabama is one of them. Today there are only five states remaining that have yet to repeal such laws, despite numerous attempts to do so. Alabama State Code § 16-40A-2(c)(8) stipulates teacher “must emphasize, in a factual manner and from a public health perspective, that homosexuality is not a lifestyle acceptable to the general public and that homosexual conduct is a criminal offense under the laws of the state.” But it is not state code, or the acknowledgment of the state being “don’t say gay,” that encouraged the founders of Magic Center Acceptance Academy, the state’s first LGBTQ+ affirming school, to open its doors. Seven years ago Birmingham AIDS Outreach, Alabama’s first AIDS service organization, began seeing an uptick in student-aged youth seeking counsel in a safe, affirming environment which led to the creation of the Magic City Acceptance Center. The center provides LGBTQ+ youth a space to gather with alike students.

It also provides necessary resources such as counselors, medical services, social workers and most importantly, adults who could be seen as allies. In the past five years the center has aided more than 1,500 children and teenagers and is now seeing more than 200 kids a month, engaging students from across the state. But despite their best efforts the center could only do so much and its students were still facing the reality of what it’s like to be different in schools that are often not equipped to help. “Through the center we began to see students with high levels of anxiety,” future principal of Magic City Acceptance Academy Michael Wilson said. “In discussions we were repeatedly hearing students share how they felt school was not a safe space for them, we listened to stories of bullying in the classroom and the fear that comes with the absence of an adult ally.” More than 70% of students reported receiving some form of verbal harassment, 78% reported their schools for having discriminatory policies or practices at their school, and only 4% attended a school with a comprehensive anti-bullying/harassment policy that included specific protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity/expression In 2019 GLSEN, formerly known as the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, released their findings from a state-wide survey detailing the school Spring ‘21 | 57

climate for LGBTQ+ students in Alabama.

between staff and students.

The opening line revealed “Alabama schools were not safe for most lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) secondary school students. In addition, many LGBTQ students in Alabama did not have access to important school resources, such as Gender and Sexuality Alliances/Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) or similar student clubs, and were not protected by supportive and inclusive school policies.”

“This is not about putting them (students) out of school, rather it is about keeping them in,” Wilson shared on why these initiatives are so imperative to the school. “Studies have shown that on average students encounter some kind of disparaging bullying at least once a day, and that bullying is trauma and should be treated as such. LGBTQ students are four times more likely to commit sucide than their counterparts, which is why this training is crucial to the success of our school.”

“We realized so many kids had been bullied and what they really needed was a diverse community that was affirming to everyone,” Wilson said. “So we sought out to create a new school education concept focused on providing an affirming environment for LGBTQ students and their allies.” School organizers submitted their first application in January of 2020. It was denied by the Alabama Public Charter School Commision, as was the subsequent appeal, which was also heard by the committee but differed due to outside counsel. Six months later a second submission was denied in absentia when four of the eight members chose not to vote, effectively killing the initiative.

Since opening up their online application in late 2020, the school has nearly reached its original goal of 250 students with several months to go. Anticipation is that a lottery system will need to be used to determine who gets to be a part of this unique and inclusive learning environment. With new applications pouring in each day comments from both parents and students reaffirm the need for the school, sharing stories of contemplated suicide, or dropping out, but MCAC provides something these children and teens may have not yet had in an academic setting - hope.

On November 4, 2020 Magic City Acceptance Center was given approval to open its doors to more than 250 students in Homewood, Ala beginning in August of 2021. Commissioners voted 7-2 in support of the appeal.

“I keep hearing that we are giving parents and students alike hope,” Wilson said. “That is our only goal, to show kids they have a place in society, a role to play and they ultimately belong.

Homewood City Councilman Carlos Aleman, who oversees the part of town the school will be located in, described the school as a welcome opportunity to be able “to serve people from all over the region.”

The University of California, Los Angeles’ School of Law Williams Institute released their annual data on race and sexual orientation in 2020, which was then compiled by the nonprofit Movement Advancement Project. Alabama received the lowest LGBTQ equality profile, achieving a -5.5 tally out of a possible 38.5 points.

MCAC purchased a building across Green Springs Highway on the west side of Homewood where they recently began renovations to turn the building into a full fledged school that can accommodate upwards of 600 students. “Homewood is an inclusive and diverse city,” Aleman said. “The school further demonstrates and reflects the (city’s) commitment to welcome folks from different backgrounds.” Unlike other schools, Magic City Acceptance Academy will provide resources beyond those commonly found in an academic setting, including social workers, physicians and counselors. Most importantly all staff will receive training on social and restorative justice and trauma-informed interaction 58 | The Local

But there is still a long way to go.

Wilson and his staff recognize this overarching issue and the historic systems and laws which need to be dismantled, but perhaps the school can be a jumping off point to great change. “I don’t want to be a politician, but maybe the school can be an example of how we can all get along and support one another,” Wilson said. “It is my hope and dream to have the wider community see our culture, see what it can be and have it become a talking point for how we as Alabamians, Americans and humans alike can be better.”

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Top Ten Hikes Near Birmingham Fall Creek Falls State Park Spencer, Tennessee

Located in rural Spencer, Tenn., Fall Creek Falls State Park is home of two beautiful waterfalls. At 256-feet, Fall Creek Falls is one of the largest waterfalls in the Eastern United States. Samford sophomore, Riley Lackey, shared her experience at the state park by saying, “As a Texas resident, I didn’t grow up around waterfalls, but Fall Creek Falls was one of the most incredible waterfalls I have ever seen.” Fall Creek Falls is just over three and a half hours away from Birmingham making it preferable for a two-day trip. 60 | The Local

Lula Lake Land Trust’s beautiful 120 foot waterfall located in Lookout Mountain, Georgia

By Cole Shiflet

Stephens Gap Callahan Cave Preserve Woodville, Alabama

Home one of the best kept secrets in Ala., Stephens Gap Cave boasts a 150-foot waterfall inside of one of the largest caves in the state. For the typical Birmingham resident, Stephens Gap Cave presents an opportunity to escape the hustle and bustle of a city and spend a day exploring. Brian Woods, an avid hiker from Johnson City, Tennessee, said, “The trail is rated ‘moderate’ because it becomes a bit technical as one advances up the gap. The preserve itself is pristine and the terrain is interesting.” Brian described the experience as “simply magnificent!”

Lula Lake Land Trust Lookout Mountain, Georgia

On top of the beautiful Lookout Mountain stands one of the most exclusive hiking spots in the South, Lula Lake Land Trust. With online reservations and limited capacity, spots at Lula Lake fill up nearly two months in advance. Home of two gorgeous waterfalls and a stunning creek, Lula Lake is an incredible place to meet avid hikers from across the country. Courtney Fish, a Texas native, described Lula Lake as “one of the best hiking spots in the state.” Fish went on to say that she enjoyed the park enough to purchase an annual pass and visits regularly.

Foster Falls Recreation Area Sequatchie, Tennessee

Located just outside of Chattanooga, Tenn., Foster Falls is a part of the South Cumberland State park which stretches across the Cumberland plateau in Southeastern Tenn.. Along with the 60-foot waterfall, Foster Falls has unique spots for climbing, repelling, swimming and hiking along the creek that flows from the deep pool at the base of the waterfall. Illinois resident, Elena Joy Sasieta, described Foster Falls as, “absolutely gorgeous.” The creek is full of a beautiful boulder field, caves, and smaller waterfalls that will provide a sense of adventure.

Filled with incredible boulders and pools, Rock Creek flows through Lula Land Land Trust’s property.

Walls of Jericho Estillfork, Alabama

Near the Tennessee-Alabama border stands the Walls of Jericho. Caleb Shillingburg, former Birmingham resident, river rafting guide and outdoors enthusiast said that the hike at the Walls of Jericho was one of the most physically demanding hikes in the state. Full of elevation changes, waterfalls and caves, the Walls of Jericho are the perfect spot for hikers looking for a challenge.

Desoto Falls State Park Mentone, Alabama

In Mentone, Ala., Desoto Falls stands as a favorite for Alabamians. At 107-feet, Desoto Falls is home to one of the most visited waterfalls in the state. During the warm summer months, the beautiful pool is filled with children and teenagers swimming beneath the massive waterfall. Whitney Seals, a student from Talladega, Alabama, said “Eating lunch by the waterfall was so cool and if it had been warmer, it would have been a great swimming hole,” after visiting the falls in February. Spring ‘21 | 61

Cheaha State Park Delta, Alabama

At the very highest point in the state stands Cheaha State Park, home of two beautiful lookout spots. From the well-paved path to Bald Rock or the more rugged trail to Pulpit Rock, Cheaha State Park is filled with short, family-friendly hikes to some of the most beautiful views in Ala.. Cheyney Statham, an online reviewer said that Cheaha was “worth the few dollars to get into the park.” Statham went on to say that she “would love to go back in the spring or fall.”

Tallulah Gorge State Park Tallulah Falls, Georgia

Water rushes through a creek near Oak Mountain’s Peavine Falls.

Oak Mountain State Park Pelham, Alabama

Located just outside of the suburbs of Birmingham, Oak Mountain is a fan favorite for Birmingham residents. At 9,940 acres, Oak Mountain is the largest state park in Ala.. With kayaking, basketball, hiking, swimming and lake sports available, Oak Mountain presents the perfect day trip for those looking for a local spot to frequent. Bessemer resident, Thomas Bracker, said he hiked Peavine Falls at Oak Mountain State Park, with his five year old. He described the hike as, “fairly simple on the way in, climbing down to falls was a little steep, but nothing over the top.”

Cheaha State Park features the heighest point in the state of Alabama.

62 | The Local

Home of one of the most beautiful canyons and suspension bridges in the Eastern United States, the North Georgia hiking spot is nearly always filled with hikers eager to see the peaceful river banks. Recent Samford graduate and Atlanta native, John Pawlik, said, “The view over the gorge is my favorite part, but the massive staircase is a must see.”

Caney Creek Falls Double Springs, Alabama

Hidden in the backwoods of the Bankhead National Forest, Caney Creek Falls is one of the many waterfalls nestled in the Sipsey Wilderness. With unmarked trails and poor cell service, Caney Creek is for the most experienced hikers. Despite the difficulty, Andrea Lowery, a hiker and online reviewer on AllTrails said, “The waterfall is always beautiful and worth it.” During the winter months, Caney Creek freezes over and is home to a beautiful winter wonderland.

volume six number one

mission statement:

Lilly Kate Hollis editor in chief

Gracie Eddins managing editor

Mary Virginia Stabler Katy Beth Boyers director of advertising digital editor & promotion

The Local is a community of young storytellers who capture and illuminate authentic views of Birmingham’s people, places and stories. Through digital and print media, we amplify voices, ignite conversation and encourage change.

amplify voices Dr. Clay Carey publisher

Camille Womack visual team

Claire Pool digital team

Elizabeth Pridgeon advertising & promotion team

Divider photo shows pampas grass at Karla Graves home. Photo by Lilly Kate Hollis.

ignite conversation

Med Van Dyk digital team

Walker Frederick advertising & promotion team

Aliza Baker visual team

Moriah Mason digital team

details:

Cole Shiflett visual team

Selah Vetter digital team

Cover photo shows Karla Graves’ studio office in her home, the hub for Raka Home Design. Photo by Lilly Kate Hollis.

Divider photo shows 5 Points South in Birmingham. Photo by Gracie Eddins.

encourage change Divider photo shows Pulpit Rock at Cheaha State Park. Photo by Lilly Kate Hollis.

The Local is an annual magazine published by students at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. The stories and photographs that appear in The Local are produced by students in Samford University’s print and online journalism practicum programs. The views expressed in The Local do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff or of Samford University. Samford University is an Equal Opportunity Insititution and welcomes applications for employment regardless of race, color, age, sex, disability, or national or ethnic origin.

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