TCB Aug. 26, 2021 — Why I changed my mind by Triad City Beat

AUG. 26-SEPT. 1, 2021

TRIAD-CITY-BEAT.COM

Vaccine-hesitant people share why they didn’t want to get the shot and what made them change their minds.

WHY I CHANGED MY MIND

PLUS! Common misconceptions about the COVID-19 vaccines and how to respond to them. BY SAYAKA MATSUOKA | PAGE 6

Triad Afghanis speak out PAGE 9

Totally SLow accelerates PAGE 16

Mr. Robinson’s neighborhood PAGE 14

AUG.26—SEPT.1, 2021

EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

The unvaccinated, live shows and the 86 list

ne by one our nation’s music clubs, entertainment venues, festivals and production companies are by Brian Clarey taking the stand: No entry without proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test. Live Nation, the country’s largest booking and production group, set the precedent last week, requiring the vax for all artists, crews and attendees, effective right now. The Ramkat has announced a similar policy, along with Merlefest. Doubtless there are more to come. This works for me; I got two pokes of Moderna in my left arm with room for at least one more. Plus I’ve been too careful for too long to catch COVID-19 from some dipshit who thinks wrestling is real but the virus isn’t, who insists upon enjoying the benefits of the vaccine without making the sacrifice. Some, I understand, are even going so far as to obtain fake vaccination cards. People used to set your car on fire for doing things like that. The ban is good because it rewards people for doing the right thing, and

increases the safety level for everyone. But it’s also a great way to keep shitty people out of the club. When I was working the bars, you had to wait for someone to do something before you threw them out. I tossed people for stealing tips off the bar, being too handsy, picking fights, breaking stuff, sleeping, messing with the regulars, vomiting on the floor, taking a dump in the urinal. Most bounces were for 24 hours, allowing patrons another shot after they had sobered up. But repeat offenses and more serious indiscretions could get you on the 86 list. In a restaurant, the 86 list has ingredients the kitchen is out of, as in, “Hey, 86 the redfish,” shouted from one server to another throughout the wait station. In a bar, the 86 list is a living document of people who can never come back. Ever. They 86-ed Painless Paul from Checkpoint Charlie’s back in like ’96 for stealing booze, I believe; at the Half Moon in the Irish Channel, they would take your Polaroid when you got 86-ed, then hang it on the wall. Which brings us back to those unvaccinated folks griping about missing Bonnaroo if they don’t get the jab. A lot of these folks, I’m sure, know exactly what an 86 list is, and this is not the first time they’ve been on one.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK I think the more that we can approach things as a human experience, the better.

—Alex Goldstein, pg. 6

1451 S. Elm-Eugene St. Box 24, Greensboro, NC 27406 Office: 336.256.9320 BUSINESS PUBLISHER/EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Brian Clarey brian@triad-city-beat.com

PUBLISHER EMERITUS

Allen Broach allen@triad-city-beat.com

KEY ACCOUNTS

SPECIAL SECTION EDITOR

CONTRIBUTORS

Michaela Ratliff michaela@triad-city-beat.com Nikki Miller-Ka niksnacksblog@gmail.com

EDITORIAL ADVISOR

OF COUNSEL

Jordan Green jordan@triad-city-beat.com

EDITORIAL MANAGING EDITOR

ART ART DIRECTOR

STAFF WRITER

SALES SALES EXECUTIVE

Jonathan Jones

Sayaka Matsuoka sayaka@triad-city-beat.com Nicole Zelniker nicole@triad-city-beat.com

CHIEF CONTRIBUTOR

Robert Paquette robert@triad-city-beat.com

Drew Dix drew@triad-city-beat.com

Chris Rudd chris@triad-city-beat.com Carolyn de Berry, James Douglas, Matt Jones, Jordan Howse, Jen Sorensen, Clay Jones

COVER

Cover by Robert Paquette

(As of Wednesday, Aug. 25)

AUG.26—SEPT.1, 2021

Coronavirus in the Triad: Documented COVID-19 diagnoses NC 1,172,571 (+41,328) Forsyth 41,724 (+1,324) Guilford County

53,417 (1,565)

COVID-19 deaths NC

14,212 (+260)

Forsyth

443 (+6)

Guilford

736 (+5)

Documented recoveries NC

1,079,555 (+31,833)

Forsyth

*no data*

Guilford

49,772 (+1,145)

Current cases NC

78,804 (+9,235)

Forsyth

*no data*

Guilford

2,908 (+415)

Hospitalizations (right now) NC

3,503 (+573)

Forsyth

*no data*

Guilford

169 (+25)

Vaccinations NC First Dose

5,178,438 (+77,693)

Fully vaccinated

5,113,704 (53%, +73,477)

Forsyth First Dose

205,735 (+3,350)

Fully vaccinated

189,285 (50%, +2,819)

Guilford First dose

296,910 (+3,858)

Fully vaccinated

275,250 (51%, +3,720)

UP FRONT | AUG.26—SEPT.1, 2021

PARTICIPATE IN OUR RESEARCH with Dr. Blair Wisco at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro

WE’RE EXAMINING: emotional and physical reactions to memories of stressful or traumatic experiences. YOU MUST BE: •Age 18 or older •Able to read and write in English THE BASICS: •5 visits to our lab within 2 weeks •$150 total compensation

WHAT YOU’LL DO: •Interviews and questionnaires (3 hour visit) •Monitor your bodily reactions while you think of past experiences (2 hour visit) •Wear a cardiac monitor and answer questions on a tablet computer on 3 days (30 min set-up per day)

WANT TO SEE IF YOU’RE ELIGIBLE?

CITY LIFE AUG. 26-29 by Michaela Ratliff

Miss Johnnie Mae’s @ Cork and Grind (HP) 6 p.m.

Denim Upcycling: Paint Splatter & Artist Painted Techniques @ Mixxer (W-S) 6 p.m.

Head to Cork and Grind for a unique dining and wine tasting experience. Try French wines to pair with soul food from Miss Johnnie Mae’s food truck. Visit Cork and Grind’s Facebook page for more info.

Revamp that old denim that’s been sitting in your drawer. At Mixxer, you’ll learn techniques and tips to help you recreate your jeans! For more info and to purchase tickets, visit Mixxer’s website.

Pint Night @ Mac’s Speed Shop (GSO) 6 p.m.

Acoustic Fusion @ Plank Street Tavern (HP) 8:30 p.m.

THURSDAY Aug. 26

Billy “Crash” Craddock in Concert @ High Point Theatre (HP) 7:30 p.m.

You will be asked to complete screening questions online and over the phone. Email or call us to get more information and be directed to the online survey.

Greensboro native and country music superstar Billy “Crash” Craddock will be at High Point Theatre performing his hit singles you know and love. Visit highpointtheatre.com for more information and to purchase tickets. High Point residents and groups of ten or more can receive a discount of $5 per ticket. To take advantage of this deal, call the box office at 336.887.3001

Or, scan the QR code to take you straight there.

SUNDAY Aug. 29

Dr. Blair Wisco - UNCG

copelab@uncg.edu

Sycamore Brewing Co. is coming from Charlotte to Mac’s Speed Shop to bring you $4 pints of Mountain Candy, Stone Fruit, Southern Girl and Fantasy Land Hazy. Learn more about Sycamore Brewing at sycamorebrew.com.

Band Acoustic Fusion will be at Plank Street Tavern playing a variety of hits from the past six decades. Learn more about them by visiting their Facebook page.

House Party @ SECCA (W-S) 8:30 p.m.

Repticon @ Winston-Salem Fairgrounds (W-S) 9 a.m.

SATURDAY Aug. 28

Carolina Weddings Show @ Greensboro Coliseum (GSO) 12 p.m.

The Triad Bridal Association invites you to a day of wedding inspiration and ideas during the Carolina Weddings Show. Caterers, cakes, music and more will make up this wedding-influenced experience. Tickets are just $10 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

Diva Drag Brunch @ Joymongers Barrel Hall (W-S) 12 p.m.

Queer Winston-Salem in partnership with Joymongers and Greensboro Stonewall Sports is excited to announce the Diva Drag Brunch! Naomi Dix will be hosting with performances by Jean Jacket, Stormie Dale and more. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the event page on Facebook. As part of its Screen Oddities series, SECCA is excited to announce a screening of the film House Party starring hip-hop duo Kid ‘n Play. A cash bar and snacks will be available for purchase. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit secca.org.

FRIDAY Aug. 27

Wonder Woman 1984 @ LeBauer Park (GSO) 5 p.m.

UNCG is ending Spartan Cinema 2021 with a free showing of the action-packed Wonder Woman 1984. Grab a blanket or lawn chair and make your way to the Great Lawn at LeBauer Park. Food and drinks will be available for purchase. Visit the event page on Facebook for more info.

Enjoy two days of reptiles, snakes and other exotic animals during Repticon. This traveling animal convention features pets and pet products available for purchase and learning opportunities with reptile experts. Purchase tickets at repticon.com/tickets/.

NC Festival of Psychedelia @ Monstercade (W-S) 3 p.m.

Monstercade is hosting the NC Festival of Psychedelia, featuring vendors, food and performances from bands the Mystery Plan, Pretty Odd and more. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at monstercade.bigcartel.com.

Greensboro Food Truck Festival (GSO) 3 p.m.

Greene Street, Market Street and Elm Street will be transformed to an outdoor dining experience as fifty food trucks, craft beer, live music and more make up the Greensboro Food Truck Festival. This is a free event! Just come ready to eat and have a good time. For more info, visit greensborofoodtruckfestivals.com.

Have an event in the Triad coming up? Send an E-mail to calendar@triad-city-beat.com

AUG.26—SEPT.1, 2021 | UP FRONT

NEWS | AUG.26—SEPT.1, 2021

NEWS

Vaccine-hesitant people share their reasons for avoiding the shot, and what helped change their minds by Sayaka Matsuoka

hanata McMillian-Shepard was ready to get the vaccine back in March. She scheduled her first shot as soon as she was able, so excited to finally be vaccinated that she cried. “It was overwhelming,” she said. “There were so many people dying.” However, around the same time, McMillian-Shepard lost her driver’s license. Her appointment required a picture ID, so she was forced to cancel her it. Getting a new license took weeks amid the pandemic. Then, complications with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine surfaced. McMillian-Shepard was now torn. She began thinking about how a vaccine might interact with her body. She has an autoimmune disorder called Hashimoto’s disease, in which her immune system attacks her thyroid. The condition leaves her fatigued, with bodily aches. “I was scared that it was going to exacerbate my symptoms,” she said. “And between me already feeling bad because of my autoimmune disease, and not being sure how the vaccine would affect me, I was thinking, How am I gonna be able to take care of my 6 and 14 year old?” At that point, McMillian-Shepard decided not to get the vaccine. As COVID-19 numbers continue to rise due to the proliferation of the Delta variant, anger and resentment from those who have been vaccinated towards those who are not is also swelling. More than 17 months into a global pandemic, many are weary, facing what some are calling, “COVID fatigue” and it’s contributing to a rift between those who are vaccinated and those who are not. This week, TCB spoke to six different individuals who were previously vaccinehesitant but then changed their minds. They explain why they felt wary of the vaccines, why they ultimately changed their minds and what helped them to do so. [Something ab0ut Pfizer FDA approval?]

Shanata McMillian-Shepard (Black, female, 41)

‘I feel like I should have done it earlier.’ fter McMillian-Shepard decided not to get the vaccine, a few months passed. Then this summer, her older son, Chancelor, expressed

interest in playing high school football. themselves. For her, that meant getting And despite her hesitation with getvaccinated. ting the vaccine, McMillian-Shepard “Don’t wait,” she said. “If you can do had been consistently monitoring the it, do it, you know? It’s like it’s not getCOVID-19 numbers and tracking where ting any better and we need everybody outbreaks were happening the most. She to do it, because there are people who knew from her research that team sports can’t do it so those of us who can do it created a vulnerable situation for student just need to do it.” athletes, and that her son would need to Dawn Watlington get the vaccine if he wanted to play. (White, female, 41) “I knew we were all going to have to ‘If someone is anxious, get it and suck it up,” she said. “I said, it’s understandable.’ ‘If you play football, you have to get the hen Dawn Watlington finally vaccination,’ and we weren’t going to got the COVID-19 vaccine make him get anything that we weren’t in early July, it was the first going to get ourselves. vaccine of any kind she had gotten “That really is what changed my mind since 2008. Watlington says she suffers was my older son,” she continued. “Play from medical anxiety and that when the time is over. I guess it’s kind of like as a COVID-19 vaccines first came out, that mom, I didn’t worry about how it was she was very unsure about putting a new gonna affect me anymore. I wanted to vaccine in her body. make sure we were doing everything “Anything having to do with my health possible to ensure his safety.” causes me a great deal of anxiety,” she On July 17, McMillian-Shepard and said. “I’m not a great medicine taker as her family, including her son and her it is, so it was frightening because I didn’t husband, all got vaccinated with their know what the side effects were.” first dose of Pfizer. In doping so, they Still, Watlington had always vacdecreased the risk of passing the virus on cinated her children and both of her to Ar-jai, her 6-year-old son, who is not daughters had already gotten a COVID eligible to get the vaccine yet because of vaccine. The problem was more about his age. her own personal anxiety. Then, in In the end, she said, her family hardly April, Watlington got COexperienced any side efVID-19. She didn’t have to fects. She has no regrets. go to the hospital but she “I feel like I should have ‘I don’t believe a says she still suffered from done it earlier,” she said. “I Black woman is fatigue and was bedridden feel good. It’s a selfish act for days. That’s when it got really because you’re doing going to invent something that’s her thinking about how the it for you, but also for the community too, to keep going to kill us.’ virus might affect others. “I started thinking about everyone safe.” – Shanata McMillian-Shepard it then like, Man I’m a As a Black woman, 41-year-old woman; I’m very McMillian-Shepard said healthy and if I got as sick as I did, I can’t she was initially wary about taking a new imagine how it’s going to affect other people,” vaccine because of the country’s history she said. with medical racism and experimentaWhile she and her husband were tion on Black bodies, but then reasoned at the Fun Fourth Festival this year in with herself that one of the principal downtown Greensboro, they spotted a scientists who worked on the Moderna pop-up vaccine site and took the plunge. vaccine was a Black woman too — Dr. Ultimately, she said her decision was Kizzmekia Corbett. about making sure that she didn’t spread “I don’t believe a Black woman is goit to other, more vulnerable people. ing to invent something that’s going to “The anxiety of getting the shot was kill us,” she said. still there but I thought to myself, it can’t For those who are still hesitant to get be any worse than when I had COVID the vaccine, McMillian-Shepard said and, it can’t be worse than someone bepeople should reach out to doctors they ing on a ventilator,” she said. trust and make the best decision for

As for symptoms, Watlington said she didn’t feel well for a couple of days but said it was much better than she expected. Now that she’s gotten the COVID vaccine, she says that she’ll likely start getting the flu vaccine yearly too, something she hasn’t done since 2008. “The coronavirus vaccine was huge for me,” she said. “For the way that I struggle with anxiety it was really big for me to overcome that. I thought, If I can do this, I can get the flu shot every year.” Leading up to her decision, Watlington said she spoke a lot with her doctor, who has helped her deal with her medical anxiety. She also spoke with family members who had gotten the vaccine like her daughters. “If someone is anxious, it’s understandable, but having the support was really important to me; having other people meant a lot,” she said. In the end, she said she had to let empathy drive her decision. “I felt like did a good thing,” she said. “I really do feel like it takes a village to do so many things in my society. I felt like an asshole that it took me so long. I felt so selfish that I let my anxiety keep me from doing something I should have done a long time ago. Even if I don’t save anybody or if I keep like five or six people from getting it, I felt like it was my duty as a member of this society to do it.”

Aly Jones

(White, female, 37)

‘I just wanted to learn more.’ hese days, Aly Jones hears a lot of the same arguments that kept her from getting the vaccine. That it feels experimental. That the side effects are unclear. That the longterm side effects could be dangerous. Jones, who worked as a teacher for 13 years, said that she never got a vaccine during that time. And while her parents and her in-laws had decided to get the vaccine, Jones was still unsure. “I felt like,Why am I going to take this experimental vaccine that’s a crapshoot? That doesn’t seem worth it,” she said. But as time went on, Jones did her research. She found out about how long the mRNA technology had been in development, and monitored how vaccine rollouts were going in European coun-

medical community has not cared for me in the past? And have I given it a fair chance?... Because I understand being afraid, but it’s hard when we let fear be our controlling factor.”

Bobby Johnson (Black, male, 43)

“They shouldn’t release information too soon,” he said. “I understand the need to inform the public, but looking at it from a Black perspective, I think our antennas are up for BS. If the government says one thing and someone else says something else, we’re already jaded…. As a minority, we’re not going to be guinea pigs when history has proven that it doesn’t work out for us.” In the end, he said he had to think about the safety of his family when considering the vaccine. “We don’t know what the long-terms effects are going to be, but the short-term problems are going to be if you contract it, you may be fine, but is it worth spreading it to your loved ones when you can avoid it?,” he said. “It’s not worth it. Not taking it, the risk is too high at this point.”

‘We’re not going to be guinea pigs...’ obby Johnson has a healthy distrust of authority. As a Black man who grew up in this country, he knows the history of medical racism and experimentation that have been enacted upon Black and Brown bodies throughout American history. “My feelings are compounded by the fact that I’m Black,” he said. “They’ve treated us in the past like lab rats. I think Black people are a lot more hesitant because it feels like it’s something that we’re being experimented on.” Johnson, who lives in Greensboro, said Gonzalo Leal Alegría that he was a healthy child and that he (Latinx, male, 47) hasn’t gotten vaccines since 2007. He ‘Not anyone who wants the vaccine also said that the expedited appearance can get it anywhere.’ of the COVID-19 vaccines made him onzalo Leal Alegría got his sechesitant at first. ond dose of the Pfizer vaccine “I feel like if we have so much chronic in July. Before then, he had been learning about the vaccine by watchillness and different problems, how come ing CNN in Spanish but hadn’t been we can’t come up with a solution in unconvinced yet. der a year, but all of a sudden a world“It was so new and we were basically wide pandemic gets solved in under a not sure of what is it and is it really year?” he wondered. “It just seemed a going to work,” Alegría said. “I think little iffy from a production perspective.” now we’re still understanding how it’s Still, many in his family, like his older working.” aunts, got the vaccine when it came out. But in February, his sister in Mexico His wife, who is white, also got it when got sick and died after complications she was eligible. from COVID-19. She had been hospitalJohnson said the thing that really ized for two weeks and was released, but changed his mind was thinking about the by the time she got home, her lungs were future and having conversations with his weakened and she regressed. Some time wife about traveling. later, Alegría also got sick “We were talking about and got his own COVID-19 how we probably wouldn’t ‘It’s hard when test but the results came back be able to catch a plane you when we negative. That’s when he and things like that,” he decided to get vaccinated. said. “And I don’t like let fear be our “I keep seeing people restrictions so that’s one of controlling who are sick around us,” the reasons why I yielded.” Alegría said. “I feel more safe Earlier this summer, John- factor.’ – Aly Jones because we haven’t gotten son got vaccinated with sick. I just learned about a either Moderna or Pfizer, family from a friend who all got sick with he doesn’t remember which. And despite COVID and I asked them if they were his hesitations, he said he felt fine after vaccinated and they hadn’t been. So this his shots and that his arm was sore for a makes me feel like we are doing what we while, which is a common side effect, but need to do to be safe.” that was pretty much it. Alegría also considers the fact that Even after getting the vaccine, Johnson back in his home country of Mexico, the remains distrustful of government entivaccine is not as readily available. ties and corporations. “I know that in Mexico it wasn’t until He said that a more unified message recently that people have been able to towards the beginning of the pandemic be vaccinated,” he said. “But in my would have assuaged some of his conexperience once I was able to make up cerns.

my mind, I was able to get an appointment so fast. And even with COVID tests, here they’re free, but sometimes in other countries, like Mexico, you have to pay for it out of pocket. Here we have those benefits where in our countries of origin they may not have them. Not anyone who wants the vaccine can get it anywhere.” Now that his entire family is vaccinated, Alegría says he’s trying to talk his friends who are still holding out to get vaccinated too. He believes that eventually, it’s going to be mandated. “Either way you’re going to have to get it,” he said.

AUG.26—SEPT.1, 2021 | NEWS

tries. She found out that an mRNA vaccine has nothing to do with injecting an inert virus, and that long-term side effects were highly unlikely. She found out that even if side effects do occur, they would manifest in the first couple of weeks or months afterwards, not years. And that’s been true virtually for all vaccines in history. Given that information, Jones said she felt much more confident getting the vaccines. She scheduled her shot in March and had her second dose by the end of April. One of the biggest things that helped her change her mind in addition to learning more about the vaccine was learning how detrimental COVID-19 can be for immunocompromised individuals for whom vaccines aren’t as effective or are not possible to get. “I have become much more aware of how my vaccine status affects immunocompromised people, and how my medical decisions affect people in my community,” Jones said. “That had a big impact on me, that really hit me hard. That I can help other people by doing this thing that is just a week and a half of discomfort; that’s in general been a huge shift for me.” Now that’s she gotten the vaccine, Jones said that knowing all of the information ahead of time would have played a huge role in making her feel more comfortable with getting vaccinated. “If other people in my life were educated about the things I was concerned about and had been able to talk to me about those things, I think it would have made a difference,” she said. “I just wanted to learn more. If someone had had that information to educate me on, that would have made a difference, but everyone in my life was operating on gut feelings.” And even though she was vaccinehesitant, she says she understands the frustration many feel against those who haven’t gotten the vaccine. But she says the best thing to do is to be patient. “Not everybody who oppose this vaccine is necessarily anti-vaccine,” she says. It’s the newness that seems to be freaking people out…. For people who are frustrated with others take a step back and try to empathize and see and ask. That asking piece is just so important; try to understand why they are not getting vaccinated.” And for those that are still hesitant, Jones recommends the same thing. “I urge them to also take a deep breath and take a step back and ask yourself what is stopping me?,” she said. “Is it because it is new? Is it because the

Alex Goldstein (White, male, 53)

‘It’s about people always meeting everyone’s needs in the moment.’ lex Goldstein thinks a lot about the choices he makes for his life. So when the vaccine first came out earlier this year, he took a long time to think about whether he wanted to get it and what the possible outcomes might look like. He also searched for information from reputable sources and talked to his parents — he trusts about their opinions on the vaccine too. As someone who is on the autism spectrum, Goldstein said that gathering information and understanding different perspectives is important to him. “There’s this aspect of wanting to be thinking critically and thoughtfully,” he said. And because Goldstein says he has a mixed relationship with authority, it took him a long time to come to the decision to get vaccinated. In June, he got the Johnson & Johnson one-dose vaccine. He said that he didn’t really have a reaction to the shot, and the crowd at the mall where he got the vaccine caused him much more stress. But now they he has gotten it, he says he feels safer. “I’d rather be on the safer side of things,” he said. “I feel a little bit safer because I feel more protected, but I don’t want to take anything for granted. There’s some peace of mind but I don’t want to let my guard down either.” Now, as someone who was vaccine hesitant and then changed their minds, Goldstein wants more people to be empathetic and understanding of those who may still be wary. “I think the more that we can approach things as a human experience, the better,” he said. “It can be hard because of what people have been around as far as political, but I think

NEWS | AUG.26—SEPT.1, 2021

the more we can just approach from a thoughtful place and relate in a way that makes people feel comfortable is better…. Caring for each other and seeing how we are in relationship to each other can be hard, but it’s not about having an agenda. We just want to be thoughtful about the barriers and helping people find another way to navigate this. The more we can just as human beings see ourselves in each other, and that’s not just with COVID and the variants, the better. COVID has helped us see more clearly of how people are all connected.” Even now, Goldstein hesitates to say that others should get the vaccine. For him, it’s more about understanding how the other person feels and going from there. “I’m big on meeting people where we are in the moment,” he said. “I don’t want to tell people what to do or not to do. I’m big on sharing information and putting things out there and saying, ‘I understand, I had hesitancy, too.’”

Common misconceptions about the vaccine and how to respond to them I don’t want to be injected with the virus or I don’t know how the vaccine works

While some vaccines use either inactivated or weakened germs, the mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) do not. Instead, mRNA vaccines work by teaching cells how to make the S protein which is found on the surface of the COVID-19 virus. That triggers an immune response in our bodies which produces antibodies that protect us from getting infected if the real virus enters our bodies, according to the CDC and Mayo Clinic. After delivering the instructions, the mRNA is immediately broken down and it never enters the nucleus of the cells where DNA is kept. For the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, a modified version of a different virus, otherwise known as a viral vector, enters a cell. It then delivers harmless genetic material from the COVID-19 virus which gives the cells instructions on how to make copies of the S protein. Then the immune system creates antibodies and defensive white blood cells. Viral vector vaccines do not cause people to become infected with the COVID-19 virus or the viral vector virus. The genetic material does not become a part of your DNA either.

The vaccine is so new

Despite the fact that the novel coronavirus is new, the technology being used by both Moderna and Pfizer, two of the most common vaccines in the US, is not. Dr. Kizzmekia Corbet, one of the lead scientists for the Moderna vaccine, told the National Institute of Health that “messenger RNA technologies have been in development from a basic science perspective for over 15 years.” During those years, Moderna developed mRNA as a bioplatform, which allows “for speedier vaccine development. Bioplatforms are systems that can easily be scaled and tailored for many different diseases, according to a CNBC article.

The vaccine was developed too fast

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the technology of using mRNAs for vaccines has been around for more than 15 years. While vaccines usually go through phases of clinical trials one at a time, for the COVID-19 vaccines, the phases were overlapped to speed up the process so they could be rolled out as quickly as possible to control the pandemic, according to the CDC. No trial phases were skipped. Operation Warp Speed also helped fund vaccine makers develop and build out the vaccines at commercial scale quickly.

I don’t know what the longterm side effects of the vaccine are going to be

“Serious side effects that could cause a long-term health problem are extremely unlikely following any vaccination, including COVID-19 vaccination,” according to the CDC. “Vaccine monitoring has historically shown that side effects generally happen within six weeks of receiving a vaccine dose.” An outline of historical vaccines by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia found this to be true. And while there have been some health complications for those who have taken one of the COVID-19 vaccines, health experts repeatedly note that the likelihood of getting sick with COVID or surviving with permanent damage due to COVID-19 is much more likely, according to a Healthline report.

It’s not approved by the FDA

While some may point to this as a reason not to get the COVID-19 vaccines, on Monday, the FDA fully approved the Pfizer vaccine. Prior to the approval, it had been approved under emergency use authorization or EUA, like the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The

Pfizer vaccine is still under EUA for people aged 12-15 and for immunocompromised individuals who want a third dose. According to the FDA, “EUAs can be used by the FDA during public health emergencies to provide access to medical products that may be effective in preventing, diagnosing, or treating a disease, provided that the FDA determines that the known and potential benefits of a product, when used to prevent, diagnose, or treat the disease, outweigh the known and potential risks of the product.” Moderna filed their application for full approval in June, a few weeks after Pfizer, according to NBC. Johnson & Johnson is expected to file for full approval later this year

I can still get COVID-19 if I’m vaccinated so what’s the point?

While this may be true, breakout infections among vaccinated individuals is much less likely than unvaccinated people becoming infected with COVID-19. According to a study released by the CDC on Tuesday, unvaccinated people are 29 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 compared to those who are vaccinated and were five times as likely to be infected. A report from late June by the Associated Press also found that about 98 to 99 percent of individuals dying from COVID-19 are unvaccinated.

I’m young and healthy so I don’t need to get vaccinated

It’s true that younger people were less susceptible to contracting and getting COVID-19 since the outbreak began last year. However, with the rise of the Delta variant, more and more young people are being hospitalized for COVID-19. Whereas before, experts said that a person’s age and underlying conditions were the biggest factors on whether someone would be hospitalized, now it’s vaccine status according to Healthline. According to CDC data, this summer, adults ages 18-49 accounted for the largest increase in hospitalizations. An article in the NY Times recently stated that doctors are “seeing more younger patients who seem sicker than younger patients were last year, deteriorating more rapidly.” Doctors suspect that the Delta variant, which now accounts for more than 80 percent of new infections nationwide, is playing a role, according to the article. Studies have also shown that the Delta variant may cause more severe disease as well.

Mustafa Rashid, Greensboro, 43

ustafa Rashid was utterly unprepared for 9/11. A college student at the time, he was confused, angry and, most of all, ashamed for being Afghani. “I had all these emotions,” he said. “But a few months after that, I went to an Afghani wedding in New York. And seeing them at this wedding, I’m sure they got it 100 times worse than I did living in New York City, but they were still proud of who they were.” In his lifetime, Mustafa has gone through the gambit of emotions about his Afghani heritage. His father, Said Rashid, is from Afghanistan, but Mustafa was born in Japan, where his mother is from. Mustafa has never been to Afghanistan. His parents met in the 1980s, after Said fled Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation and decided to attend college in Japan. Said worked in maintenance before going into engineering. The Soviet occupation began in 1979, and by 1980, the Soviet Union had sent thousands of troops into Afghanistan, assuming control of the capital, Kabul. The invasion was a strategic move by the Soviets as part of the Cold War, which was going strong at the time. During that time, then-president Ronald Reagan secretly armed the Mujahideen, or holy warriors, in Afghanistan to combat Soviet influence. “There’s a lot of people who played a role in this, and the US has played a huge role in the days since the Soviet War,” said Mustafa. “Afghanistan didn’t have a ton of money at that time, and the US haphazardly dumped all this money into Afghanistan and didn’t handle corruption. I think that’s the biggest issue over there.” Mustafa’s family came to the US a little more than 30 years ago, to be closer to Said’s family. Mustafa’s mother didn’t have any family here, so Mustafa grew up mostly around his Afghani cousins. “All of my aunts and uncles and cousins, we all moved to Greensboro originally,” Mustafa said. “It was a pretty big community for a while for Afghans fleeing the war. A lot of people I knew have since moved on to [Washington] DC or California, but for a while there was a strong community.” Mustafa’s father has been back to Afghanistan just once since then, about

10 years ago. He went searching for his parents’ graves and was unable to find them due to the ongoing wars. The most recent upheaval in Afghanistan has left Mustafa and his family feeling uncertain and hopeless, especially for Mustafa’s aunts for whom it is difficult to process what their home country has become. Said’s cousin still lives in Afghanistan. “It didn’t have to be this way,” Mustafa said. “I know the Afghan people. They’re very proud people. They’re warm. They’re the type of people that even if they don’t have any money, they’ll invite you for dinner. They’ll go out of their way to provide for you as a guest. When I see people going through what they’re going through now, I can’t help but picture the people I know.”

Tahe Zalal, Greensboro, 46

AUG.26—SEPT.1, 2021 | NEWS

Afghani Americans weigh in on US withdrawal and Taliban takeover by Nicole Zelniker

COURTESY PHOTO

ecades before the Soviet invaThe home Tahe Zalal’s family escaped from in Afghanistan. sion, AG Zalal, who is from Kandahar in Afghanistan, met ued. “I had a cozy bed in a safe place, someday,” Tahe said. “I’m 46. You never his wife, a North Carolina native, who yet here’s my dad’s family coming to a know, but I’ve kind of given up that was working for the state department. new place carrying only the things they dream, but I still hope my son, who’s 15, “They met and dated, and then got could carry, leaving their home behind. will be able to visit.” married,” said AG’s daughter, Tahe ZaWhen they got here, you would never lal. “Back in the ’60s and really up until Mariam Stephan, know the sadness or the fear or anything. the Soviet Invasion, women and men Greensboro, 49 They embraced this new life, and they’ve could socialize and go to school together. ariam Stephan’s memories of been here ever since.” There was freedom, but Islam was still a Afghanistan are peaceful, ilTahe’s uncle and cousins were the part of daily life. So there was a wonderluminated by childhood and the last of the family still in Afghanistan up ful blend of tradition and freedom.” fact that more than 40 years of conflict until recently. Her uncle had lived in Shortly after his arrival to the states, had not yet torn her mother’s birth Germany for several years and married AG started Afghan Roofing Company in country to pieces. a woman in Pakistan before moving back downtown Raleigh. He began to build Mariam’s family lived in Afghanistan to Afghanistan. They have five adult himself a community of Afghanis in the for a year, in 1978. Shortly after, the children, all of whom recently escaped state that came together for not only Soviet Union took over. back into Pakistan. Tahe has never met dinners and celebrations, but also to “The ’60s in Kabul were incredibly them. protest, specifically after the advanced,” Mariam said. “My mom Several of Tahe’s aunts Soviet invasion. AG and his went to Germany to study abroad were able to visit in the late friends started an organiza‘It didn’t have ’90s or early 2000s, and her and met my father in Hamburg. They tion called Americans for married there and came to the states in Permanent Peace in Afghani- to be this way.’ eldest aunt, Khadija, was 1969. She was the first in the family to able to visit more recently. – Mustafa Rashid stan. Tahe’s mother would travel and move abroad, but that started But now, they are focused encourage her to come to the to happen more from the early ’70s on getting her cousins out protests, but as a child, Tahe through the mid-’80s.” of the country, especially the rarely saw the point. Now, she underHer mother, who was born and raised women. stands the importance of speaking out. in Kabul, grew up with seven brothers All over Afghanistan, women are “I remember going shopping and my and one sister. Some of them had been afraid to leave their homes for fear that mom sewing curtains, doing all this stuff forced to flee when the US invaded, the Taliban will stop them. The Talito make a new home for them,” Tahe them having worked for the Russian ban says women should not leave home said. “When they came over, it was Febgovernment. Most of them now live in without a man to chaperone them. CNN ruary of 1981 and I remember my dad the US and Canada. But two of Mirireported on a rickshaw driver in Kuncoming in in the middle of the night and am’s uncles are still in Kabul with their duz who was physically assaulted for waking me and my sister, saying we had families. transporting a woman who was traveling to go to the airport to pick everybody up. without a chaperone. “It took me well into adulthood to see “I’d always hoped to visit Afghanistan Cont. on pg. 10 how different my life was,” she contin-

NEWS | AUG.26—SEPT.1, 2021

COURTESY PHOTO

Mariam Stephan’s family in their home in Afghanistan.

Cont. from pg. 9

“Right now the concern is that they both have daughters who were either working as professionals or in college, and all of that stuff right now is terrifyingly put on pause,” Mariam said. “Everything is in limbo. They’re hiding in the house and everyone is just waiting.” Mariam’s mother has passed away, but two of her uncles in California are in touch with their family in Kabul. Mariam’s aunt is in Istanbul and is trying to get her visa to the US. “Thank God that she’s not in Afghanistan,” Mariam said. “But we’re feeling really helpless and angry about the loss of freedom and support for my cousins in Kabul right now.” One of the biggest losses for Mariam’s family is the loss of what Afghanistan once was. Mariam recalls that not only was the country physically beautiful, but she remembers the people. “They just want a beautiful, peaceful life with their family, just like here,” Mariam said. “The people there have tried to hold onto culture and tradition without losing sight of other people’s demands of them. People’s homes and right to live a decent life on their own terms have just disappeared. I’d just want everyone here to contemplate what that would be like and how infuriated you would become if someone suddenly came in and occupied your neighborhood, terrorized you. “I’m very fortunate,” she said. “I’ve been here my whole life and my sense of loss or dislocation to the country and my mother’s homeland, I feel like it’s such an abstract sense of loss and pain,

but it’s a sense that gets heightened now. There’s a helplessness. I knew I would never be able to go back anyway, but it becomes all the more poignant now. Any remnant of reclaiming connection to the land and the beauty of that place is further away from me.” When Mariam was a child, so few Americans she knew had even heard of Afghanistan, and it saddens her to know that this is how people think of it, as war-torn. Even now, the people she knows only seem to care about Afghanistan when it is in the news. “The wars and struggles in Afghanistan have been going on for so long, and people only seem to care when it’s fashionable,” she said. “But even 20 years ago when Bush invaded, I realized they’d never be able to leave. It was shocking that this was going to happen. This is the inevitable conclusion when you look at that kind of guerrilla warfare. “Everyone, regardless of political party, would agree that Americans have a short-term memory,” she continued. “Unless you’re directly involved, something like Afghanistan in particular has such a complicated history. So many hands have tried to take control of it. Everyone from Reagan forward is complicit in cultivating the tragedies that are unfolding now.” Mustafa, Tahe and Mariam are encouraging the American government to help the people of Afghanistan. The North Carolina Senate can be called at 919-733-4111 or sent letters at 16 W. Jones St., Raleigh, NC 27601

AUG.26—SEPT.1, 2021 | NEWS

OPINION | AUG.26—SEPT.1, 2021

AUG.26—SEPT.1, 2021 | OPINION

flatisback.com

UPCOMING EVENTS

SUNDAY, AUGUST 29th

Saturday, September 4th

Reliably Bad

Charles Owens Trio

FRIDAY, September 3rd

Sunday, September 5th

An Evening with Joe Troop Sam Fribush Organ Trio with Charlie Hunter

Saturday, September 10th Sam Fribush Organ Trio with Charlie Hunter

WEEKLY EVENTS MONDAYs Open Mic with J Timber

TUESDAYs Charlie Hunter & Friends

WedneSDAYs DJ PREZ - In the Beat of the Night

THURSDAYs Maia Kamil

Live Broadcast 103.1 WUAG

221 Summit Ave. Greensboro, NC Across from The Greensboro historical museum

OPINION | AUG.26—SEPT.1, 2021

OPINION EDITORIAL

The trials of Mark Robinson

reensboro’s own Mark Robininitiated the FACTS Task Force, basison is a lesson in fallacy. cally a snitch form for anyone to report By riding a three-minute, examples of indoctrination in our schools.. poorly-informed diatribe at a Some great reporting by Jeffrey BillGreensboro City Council meeting into man explored the 506 complaints generthe North Carolina Lieutenant Governor’s ated by the task force and found that just office, he exemplifies the Peter Principle, 3.7 were actual accounts of issues raised by which a person rises to their level of by the task force. And just 20 percent incompetence. were complaints about the teaching of Robinson, a Grimsley graduate who race in schools. But that’s not stopping dropped out of UNCG before becomRobinson, Senate Majority Leader Phil ing a driver for Papa John’s pizza, is the Berger and others to use the data as supcurrent president of the NC Senate. He port for HB324, which forbids teaching sits on four state boards: education, comthe racist history of the United States, munity colleges, economic among other restrictions. development and military Here, Robinson illustrates Lt. Gov. Mark the conundrum of the Black affairs. He is on the Council of State. Republican. Robinson In this role, he has exhibRobinson has entrenched illustrates the himself ited classic symptoms of the deeply in the North Dunning-Kruger Effect, which conundrum Carolina GOP. This is basically stipulates that stupid the party which has been of the Black people think they’re smart, outwardly hostile to Black Republican. while smart people know how voters — even going so far as stupid they are. Robinson’s to gerrymander Black voting last brush with formal education was likely districts “with surgical precision” as one a corporate training video for new hires, federal judge put it, which has attempted and yet he’s convinced — and is trying to to enshrine Confederate monuments, convince others — that our public schools which is actively attempting to whiteare hotbeds of leftist indoctrination, espewash state history with HB234 and other cially when it comes to race and even the measures, by protecting police who shoot barest acknowledgement of the LGBTQ+ Black people with restrictive body camera community. laws and dozens of other measures that Robinson, who has meme-ed himself not only disenfranchise Black people, but brandishing a Desert Eagle handgun while at times seem deliberately designed to drinking “leftist tears” from a Trump mug, make Black folks’ lives more difficult.

“S

hot of Jameson.” “No.” “Okay, Tullamore Dew.” “Try again, we ran out yesterday.” The customer moves on to bourbons, only to be shot down again, like a kid trying to find a prom date the day of. No Makers, no Beam, no Dickel. We rarely by James Douglas have a cheap rail whisky these days. Lately it’s been some nondescript brand I’ve never heard of, the type of forgettable name that emulates the design of the more popular bottle they’re ripping off, but tastes like the cheap swill it is. It gets the job done, as they say. We reach a truce at Canadian fare: There’s a quarter bottle of Crown Royal left.; the Seagram’s ran out last night. It’s only 5 p.m. on a Tuesday. So, why am I having to explain to multiple customers every night that we are out of liquor? The head of the Triad ABC Commission, Gregory Bradsher, likens it to a snow day. “Each component has its own issues,” he says. “There’s hoarding, there are supply-chain issues, glass shortages, label shortages, cork shortages, production shortages left over from the past year.” He goes on to mention that sales are up from last year, even surpassing 2019. It boils down to “demand being so much greater and the supply so little,” he says. Traxler Littlejohn, Winston-Salem native and owner of Nippitaty Distillery in Charleston, SC, elaborates on the glass shortage. “I have switched my bottle style three times and I’m still struggling to buy bottles,” he explains. “My current glass supplier, which is one of the largest in the country, has stated that I need to buy enough bottles for half a year. It really sucks because you have to come up with 10 to 12 grand to pay up front.” Things are worse in NC. Ours is one of 17 “control states,” where the sale of various alcohols is managed by a state commission board. That commission oversees the county boards and controls wholesale distribution. The local boards have a monopoly on liquor and are responsible for the sale, distribution and law enforcement of each. They do so through a private inventory contractor combined with state-owned retail outlets. If it sounds confusing, it’s because it is. The 171 independent local boards across the state adjust for their customer base and act independent of each other, but all are sheltered under the ABC umbrella, who use a third-party distribution company to acquire, store and deliver liquor throughout the state. The distribution company, LB&B Associates, based in Maryland, is contracted by the state to maintain storage warehouses, delivery, and ordering capacities. Part of the reason for this set-up is that state regulated alcohol is profitable. In 2020, the ABC’s revenue was $1.3 billion. The revenue is distributed throughout the city and county governments with the state ABC acting as a buffer between the distillers and retail. This allows them to monopolize the alcohol distribution in the state and regulate it. The ABC contracts with LB&B to act as the intermediary. LB&B receives liquor from the distillers, stores it in their warehouse (for a fee per case, called a “bailment”), and distribute it. Nowadays, a bar places an order, say about $3,000 worth of liquor. On Friday, the bar manager shows up with a check at the

local ABC distribution site, sometimes waits hours, and is finally blessed with about $900 of liquor that includes brands they didn’t order and an apologetic, “That’s all we have for you this week.” Think of it like an alcoholic bread line. This week, whiskey. Last week was tequila. Those of you not in the bar industry but who frequent the ABC stores for home use have likely seen empty shelves as well. This is a common occurrence across the state, while just over the border in places like South Carolina, the liquor shelves are more plentiful, despite the various product shortages. South Carolina follows a different method of distribution where the sellers are responsible for their liquor stock as opposed to the state being the go-between. So, what gives? The state’s ABC spokesman, David Strickland, touted sales numbers when asked about the shortage, “a 13.7 percent increase over July 2020, and total sales in July 2020 were 21.99 percent higher than the year before…. I expect many did not forecast or expect this level of explosive growth,” he says. That being said, Strickland says the current contract obligations with LB&B are not being met. Continuous delays, shortages and long waits have a common denominator: the company responsible for moving the product. Private retail in states where there isn’t an intermediary were allowed to stock product that was predicted to be short as demand increased, and the effects are apparent. The ABC and LB&B were targeted by the state auditor in 2017, and the results were less than favorable. Excessive costs, underpayments to distillers, empty warehouses and the lack of the ABC’s monitoring of LB&B were all documented. The audit’s key findings were that “the commission did not procure, administer, and monitor the LB&B contract… in accordance with state policies and best practices.” This process allowed distillers to be underpaid by LB&B, have $11 million in costs exceeding the contract limits, and approval of more than $5 million in price increases with little to no oversight by the commission. The ABC deflected the report by saying that the local boards are responsible for monitoring the performance of LB&B, not them. The audit stated that the independent local boards do not have the means to monitor the contracts with the state. Appointed ABC commissioner Michael Herring resigned shortly afterwards while criticizing the audit for being “fictitious.” The ABC board unanimously recommended that LB&B’s contract should be renewed in March 2021. The new contract began July 1. Per a press release, the new contract requires “nearly error free and on time deliveries as well as increased delivery frequency to the 171 local ABC boards.” So far, most retailers are not seeing that. There are multiple dynamics at work, truly. Political appointees, a highly profitable industry, high demand combined with production shortages across the board and an overseeing body that sees fit to renew multi-million-dollar contracts with third-party entities with a track record of botching contractual obligations. So where does that leave us? Millions in the coffers of the state and LB&B, while shortages and delays abound. No Grey Goose, but the bottle sure does look similar. No Malibu, but here’s some coconut off brand that you’ll throw some pineapple juice in so no one will be the wiser. Maybe the next time I’m hard up for a drink I’ll go out of state to purchase Jameson — at a Walgreens.

AUG.26—SEPT.1, 2021 | CULTURE

In the weeds The great alcohol shortage of 2021

Nowadays, a bar will place a $3,000 order but only receive about $900 of liquor.

CULTURE | AUG.26—SEPT.1, 2021

Culture by Brian Clarey

Punk’s elder statesman ushers in a new era for Totally Slow

cott Hicks, the 48-year-old punk, works the merch table before his gig at a comic shop and video game store in Burlington. He’s got T-shirts and stickers and even some matchbooks bearing logo of the band, Totally Slow, that he’s been associated with since 2012, when he and a few of his buddies got together to record a song against Amendment 1, an effort by the North Carolina Legislature to enshrine a ban on same-sex marriage in the state constitution. The amendment failed. The band is still here. There are copies of the new album, too — Casual Drag, on vinyl and cassette. It’s the band’s third effort but the first under this new formation, with new bassist Kate Weigand and new guitarist Chuck Johnson joining Hicks and longtime drummer Andy Foster. It’s the first time Hicks participated in a collaborative writing process as opposed to the somewhat dictatorial force he had become under the former configuration. “It was always, I’m the one with the ideas; I’m the one who’s pushy and obsessive,” he says. “I wanted to make something more collaborative, not the Scott Hicks Show.” Something else that’s different: This project gained traction, more than Totally Slow’s previous efforts and maybe more than any of his other bands, which go back 30 years. They signed to a label, Refresh Records out of Charlotte, which meant support for marketing, booking, distribution and even merchandise. They’re getting more shows, playing more festivals, reaching more ears. Hicks, who started as a touring musician before he even graduated high school, acknowledges that this may be his biggest musical project yet. But he’s a veteran of the industry, with “many hundreds” of live shows under his belt. Plus he’s been married, had kids, built a career. This is just one more thing. “I would say it did change my life,” he says, “but my life changes every day. Not to get overly corny with the Buddhist stuff. “There’s no hope that I’m ever gonna be a famous rock star,” he continues. “That’s never been the metric at all. But I can make a cool thing, and have it. There’s other things that flow from it. Shows. I’m doing this interview. I see every single thing that comes from it as gravy.”

TODD TURNER

After signing with Refresh Records out of Charlotte last year, Totally Slow’s touring schedule includes stops on the regional festival circuit, most of NC’s rock clubs, an album-release party and this gig at a comic shop in Burlington.

They’re hitting the festival circuit, such as it is, this summer, including a day party at Hopscotch. They’ve got gigs booked at the biggest rock clubs within driving distance — the Cave in Chapel Hill, the Pour House in Raleigh. Their CD release party last week at the Flat Iron in the band’s home town of Greensboro filled the joint. “Sometimes we do big things,” Hicks says, “and sometimes I still play to 12 people.” •••

“We’ve been doing this all summer long,” says shop owner Darian Stokes, known in the community as Sensei. “There’s nothing for kids, and even some adults, to do in Burlington that’s fun.” It’s an all-ages show — no drugs, no alcohol. The stage takes up most of the room, a wooden plank laid atop a bed of old tires, leaving the crowd to mingle in the periphery. Their black T-shirts indicate their musical allegiances: the Ramones, Joy Division, Rancid, Teenage Bottle Rocket, Corrosion of Conformity, Johnny Cash, the Joe Strummer Foundation, plus a black Suicidal Tendencies ballcap with the brim flipped. As Totally Slow sets up after Orphan Riot’s set, the opening band’s frontman takes his place at the front of the stage with three other teenagers who make up perhaps half of the paying audience. No matter — they’ll carry on as if they’re in the packed basement of some DIY venue or a dingy city club anyway. This definitely counts as a punk show. “I like your glasses,” Hicks says to the kid in the black Ra-

Totally Slow plays Sept. 3 at Snug Harbor in Charlotte, followed by a Hopscotch Thursday day party in Raleigh at the Pour House, then a show on Sept. 25 at the Cave in Chapel Hill. Find their music on Bandcamp and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

estled behind a tiny parking strip in downtown Burlington in between a wooded lot and a residential home, Game Over sells comics and vintage video games; its occasional live shows comprise perhaps one-third of Burlington’s punk scene. It’s the last event of a summertime, Saturday-night music series that has Totally Slow sharing the bill with Rocket 77 out of Wilmington and Orphan Riot, comprised of a couple of local high-schoolers and a fill-in drummer who wears Vans but looks like he has a day job.

AUG.26—SEPT.1, 2021 | CULTURE TODD TURNER

TODD TURNER

Drummer Andy Foster was in the original incarnation of Totally Slow, which formed in 2012 to record a protest song.

New band members include Chuck Johnson, guitar, and Kate Weigand, bass.

TODD TURNER

The owner of Game Over in Burlington known locally as “Sensei,” pictured in a black T-shirt in the background, started the summer music series because there’s not much for kids to do in town.

mones T-shirt, before imploring everyone to support the comic shop. “Be thankful for what you have,” he says on stage, “because you won’t always have it.” Totally Slow opens with “Needle,” a driving burner laden with crunches and riffs, a strong but accessible melody, a message about opiates both literal and figurative. It’s the song that got them signed, Hicks says. Like a lot of their material, it harkens back to the conventions of punk without being entirely in service to them. And like the rest of them it clocks in well below the three-minute threshold, with the exception of the final cut, “I Yield My Time, Fuck You,” which runs 4:33, the punk rock equivalent of decadent indulgence. “I don’t know if ‘traditional punk’ is a thing,” Hicks says. “We’re definitely not playing whatever the cool version of punk is now. It’s definitely doing some things that are kind of unexpected — it’s not like a Ramones cover album. We come from a tradition of, you present what comes honest to you and you do it as best you can. What came honest to me was that sort of surf-y, sort of fast, angry, raw kind of thing. “It’s still a punk rock record,” he finishes. “We recorded it in four days. Record one day, overdub the second, vocals third day, fourth day mix.” Back onstage, Hicks sweats through the set, a dynamic frontman with chops honed through his years of service. He’s not technically old, but he’s getting there, with streaks of gray in his wispy, red beard and a ballcap obscuring the indignities time has imposed on his hairline. He’ll be 49 in November. Whatever. “I don’t know, man, I feel like ageism is the next frontier,” he says. “There’s a lot of energy out there to stop discounting people older than you who are creating things. Why, at any certain age, is the creating of things any less valuable?” He was in his first band in 1988, Rights Reserved, which put out a 7-inch album before he turned 18. After touring for years, they broke up and reformed without the guitarist as Eagle Bravo. He got married in 1997 and started his family, resurfacing briefly for a stint in Manamid, “Like a pyramid of men,” Hicks says, straight-faced. which a

Facebook page claims started in 2001, and “played hundreds of shows to handfuls of people.” An untitled EP hit Bandcamp in 2013.Then he fell out again for a bit, coming back to it for Decoration Ghost, a kind of Greensboro supergroup formed around bassist Tim LaFollette during the early days of his battle against ALS. Afterwards came Totally Slow, which initially was a group of friends who gathered to make a punk cover of a political protest song. That configuration lasted through two albums and eight years of NC shows. Those personal relationships made the lineup change difficult. “That was horrible,” Hicks says, “having to ask someone to leave. I knew it was going to be hurtful, but I knew there were more creative things I wanted to do with what this thing is. It was either gonna be stop, or change things up. •••

ack at the comic shop, Totally Slow continues its clinic on punk-rock technique: machine-gun drums, surf-rock licks, power-chord progressions, atonal riffs, stylized feedback, guitar solos like splintered glass. While members of headliner Rocket 77 nod their heads appreciatively in the background, the young acolytes cavort at the front of the stage, absorbing the lessons offered. Somewhere between the fourth and fifth songs, the guitarist from Orphan Riot changes into a black Totally Slow T-shirt in the bathroom of the comic shop. And now they’re moshing loosely, a kick dance with arms akimbo. One by one, they spin-jump off the edge of the performance platform. And then they each put a foot on the edge of the stage on front of Hicks and start headbanging. Fucking epic. Hicks, who still has a carbine hook holding dozens of keys clipped to his belt, takes in this audience energy and gives it back to them. The feedback loop grows and swells until the guitarist of Rocket 77, swept up in the moment, dances to the back of the comic shop and swaps out his Joy Division T-shirt for a Totally Slow one. And it isn’t even black.

SHOT IN THE TRIAD | AUG.26—SEPT.1, 2021

SHOT IN THE TRIAD

Burlington Road, Greensboro

CAROLYN DE BERRY

Scene from the Mixed Greens Community Garden, which serves all residents of Guilford county.

‘Locked In’— in memory of comedian Sean Lock (1963-2021). by Matt Jones

SUDOKU

If you read

Across 1 The “T” of MIT, briefly 5 Close friend 8 Lumps of dirt 13 Cream-filled Hostess cake 14 2016 Olympics locale 15 Bucks 16 Question presented by Jimmy Carr that starts “If you could change ...”, part 1 18 Grandmother, in Guatemala 19 Question, part 2 21 Daily news sources, still 23 Traveling through 24 Back muscle, for short 25 Crossword constructions 26 Singer ___ Lipa 28 Rap duo Kris ___ 30 Plea at sea © 2021 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com) 31 Comedian’s asset 32 Kung ___ beef 33 Question, part 3 39 4, on a phone 40 Soccer official 41 Spheroid 43 “Finding Dory” actor Willem 46 “CSI” evidence 47 Hindu title of respect 49 Cockney’s residence? Answers from last issue 50 Improvise with the band 21 Family-friendly film ratings 52 Rocky’s surname 22 Three in ___ (tic-tac-toe win) 53 Pithy response from Sean Lock, part 1 26 Metal singer Ronnie James ___ 57 “___ to think so” 27 Mid-road maneuver 58 Response, part 2 29 Go bad 61 Joined (up) 31 “1917” backdrop 62 “Ich bin ___ Berliner” 32 Adobe file format 63 Sports reporter Andrews 34 Earlier 64 Insult from Bob and Doug McKenzie 35 1989 Jack Nicholson role 65 Holstein sound 36 “Back to the Future” actress Thompson 66 “Curses, foiled again!” 37 Canadian-born hockey legend Down 38 “Switch” attachment 42 South American slitherer 1 Despite, in poetry 43 “___ that what you will” 2 Long, long, long time 44 Painter Modigliani 3 Not too hard on the wallet 45 “___ that were in the mood” (“Vogue” line) 4 Place with a lot of activity 46 Driver’s lic. issuer 5 Hybrid hatchback 47 Big name in chemicals 6 It just isn’t ... “isn’t” (and audio tapes and floppy disks, once) 7 Sluggish 48 Activist lawyer Gloria 8 2018 series spun off from “The Karate Kid” 51 Danny Pudi’s character on “Community” 9 Reed and Bega, for two 52 It’s good in Puerto Rico 10 Palindromically titled 1976 album with “Evil Woman” 54 Zest of ___ 11 Southfork Ranch setting 55 “Unexpected ___ in bagging area” 12 Elevator passageways 56 Home of Xenia, Youngstown, and Zanesville 15 The Rock, in “Moana” 59 “Boyz N the Hood” actress Long 17 ___ d’oeuvres 60 Demolition compound 20 IVF eggs

then you know...

• The plight of gamer girls. • How yoga can be used for abolition.

AUG.26—SEPT.1, 2021 | PUZZLES

CROSSWORD

• Where to find locally made sourdough.

(editor@jonesincrosswords.com)

To get in front of the best readers in the Triad, contact Chris or Drew

Answers from previous publication.

chris@triad-city-beat.com drew@triad-city-beat.com