TCB Sept. 23, 2021 — Freedom Fridge by Triad City Beat

FO OD

BY SAYAKA MATSUOKA | PAGE 12

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TRIAD-CITY-BEAT.COM

GREENSBORO EDITION

for

A L L

Greensboro’s first freedom fridge opens its doors

Horror hits bookmarks

SEPT. 23-29, 2021

Pay an artist PAGE 9

vaccines for kids PAGE 6

SEPT. 23-29, 2021

EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

How (and why and when) to pay an artist

suppose in because they have no other choice. It’s a some sense calling. In most cases, they would do it, we are all artwhatever “it” is, for free, except they like to ists, living lives eat food. of free expression But people are always asking them do and improvisatheir art for free anyway. Which is bananas tion, following our because it takes a lot more time to become muses, engaged an artist than it does a lawyer, and nobody by Brian Clarey constantly in the asks a lawyer to work for exposure. And act of creation and destruction. often, as was recently the case in GreensBut really, artists are the ones who make boro, the entity doing the asking has a lot things; everyone else is just there to watch. more resources than any artist would be Or, you know, make money off the artists. able to get together. It’s easy to make money off of artists. So at the intersection of art and comNot by getting them to give you some, as merce, the power dynamic is almost never they generally don’t have any money, and in the talent’s favor. if they did, they would But believe it or not, it’s spend it on paint or amps just easy to pay artists At the intersection of as it asis to or fabric or whatever. make money off art and commerce, But they’re notoriously them. Easier, even! bad at setting their own The best way to supthe power dynamic is value, bargaining, enforcport an artist is to directly almost never in the ing contracts, marketing give them money for their talent’s favor. themselves and other work — buy a ticket to a basic business skills. Part show, purchase a painting, of being an artist is being drop some dollars in their humble. Remember that. Patreon, get their merch. If you’re broke And remember this: There’s a difference you can show support by sharing their between supporting “the arts” and supcontent on social medial or even sending porting actual artists. them a few words of encouragement now Here’s something else about artists: and then. They don’t do it — act, sculpt, play the And if you really love the arts and the harp, make murals, tap dance, whatever “it” artists who make it all happen, you’ll stop is — for the money. Artists become artists asking them to do their art for free.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

You’re not going to get a tax write-off for this. There’s no ‘good job’ for doing this. It’s the idea that we all have things that we can offer.

— Alyzza May pg. 12

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 GSO Cover: Photo by Sayaka Matsuoka WS: Photo of Grady Hendrix by Albert Mitchell

SEPT. 23-29, 2021

UP FRONT | SEPT. 23-29, 2021

CITY LIFE SEPT. 23-26 by Michaela Ratliff

THURSDAY Sept. 23

FRIDAY Sept. 24

Greensboro Public Library invites you to this family-friendly, interactive event. Children will listen to short stories and participate in activities to get them excited about reading. Find more information and future dates on the event page on Facebook.

Distractions invites guests age 16 and up to wear your favorite set of PJs and join their late-night paint party, with snacks provided. Throughout the night, enjoy bisque, painting and the chance to win a $100 gift card in a raffle drawing. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at Distractions’ website.

GDPI Kids’ Klub: Storytime in the Park @ LeBauer Park (GSO) 10:30 a.m.

Run Club @ SouthEnd Brewing Co. (GSO) 6 p.m.

PJ and Paint Party @ Distractions (HP) 8 p.m.

Something Rotten @ Winston-Salem Theatre Alliance (W-S) 8 p.m.

Join SouthEnd every Thursday for Run Club, where 1, 2 and 3+ mile routes are available for all abilities and paces. And $4 beer specials for Lightest Thing We Have Pilsner are up for grabs. For more info, visit the event page on Facebook.

Men on Boats @ Scales Fine Arts Center (W-S) 7:30 p.m.

Winston-Salem Theatre Alliance presents a weekend performance of the musical comedy Something Rotten. The Renaissance-era play follows brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom as they try to write the world’s first musical. To purchase tickets, visit theatrealliance.ws/box_office/.

SATURDAY Sept. 25 4

Wake Forest University Department of Theatre and Dance presents Men on Boats, the story of John Wesley Powell’s 1869 expedition of the Green and Colorado Rivers. To find more information and purchase tickets, visit theatre.wfu.edu.

Southern Guitar Festival Competition @ UNCSA (W-S) 10 a.m.

This two-day event features concerts, workshops, lectures and competitions between guitarists of various experience levels. For schedules, tickets and more information, visit southernguitarfest.com.

Coronavirus in the Triad: (As of Wednesday, Sept. 22)

Documented COVID-19 diagnoses

SEPT. 23-29, 2021 | UP FRONT

Jazz Night at the Kettle @ the Brewer’s Kettle (HP) 7 p.m.

NC 1,350,697 (+35,270) Forsyth 47,642 (+1,427) Guilford County

60,585 (+1,921)

COVID-19 deaths

Bask in a night of jazz at the Brewer’s Kettle with the Brandon Mitchell Four Piece. Find more events on The Brewer’s Kettle’s Facebook page.

UNCSA Wind Ensembles: Across the Pond @ UNCSA (W-S) 7:30 p.m.

UNCSA’s wind ensembles will perform several works by British composers of wind bands, such as Howard Blake’s Sinfonetta for Brass performed by Bergston Brass and “Suite in E flat” by Gustav Holst, played by the UNCSA wind ensemble. For additional performances, more information and to purchase tickets, visit UNCSA’s website.

SUNDAY Sept. 26

Poses N Pours @ Paddled South Brewing Co. (HP) 11:30 a.m.

High Point Yoga School invites you to a morning of yoga, with live music provided by Tim Fogarty. After the class, which is open to all levels, enjoy a complimentary beer from Paddled South Brewing. Admission is $10 and can be paid upon arrival. For more information, visit the event page on Facebook.

Monster Jam @ Greensboro Coliseum (GSO) 11:30 a.m.

15,941 (+536)

Forsyth

495 (+12)

Guilford

801 (+59)

Documented recoveries NC

1,255,168 (+52,194)

Forsyth

*no data*

Guilford

56,195 (+1,651)

Current cases NC

79,588 (-17,460)

Forsyth

*no data*

Guilford

3,588 (+211)

Hospitalizations (right now) NC

3,464 (-166)

Forsyth

*no data*

Guilford

147 (-8)

Vaccinations NC First Dose Get ready for an action-packed afternoon featuring some of the biggest and best monster trucks! Greensboro Coliseum will be home to extreme competitions judging speed and skill. To purchase tickets, visit monsterjam.com.

Bookmarks Festival Keynote Closing with Yusef Salaam @ Forsyth County Central Library (W-S) 4 p.m. Bookmarks in parternship with Forsyth County Public Library is hosting a conversation with Yusef Salaam, who was one of the five teenage boys wrongly convicted and sentenced to prison in the 1989 Central Park Jogger case. He’ll also be discussing his memoir, Better Not Bitter, where he recounts his experience. The event is free, but registration is required and can be done on Eventbrite.

5,538,163 (+69,655)

Fully vaccinated

5,491,901 (57%, +97,492)

Forsyth First Dose

219,174 (+2,828)

Fully vaccinated

203,100 (53%, +3,651)

Guilford First dose

312,328 (+3,440)

Fully vaccinated

292,452 (54%, +4,485)

NEWS | SEPT. 23-29, 2021

NEWS

As Delta surges, vaccine rates for Triad kids and teens remain low by Jordan Howse

eens and tweens have some of the lowest vaccination rates compared to other age groups in North Carolina. According to the state’s vaccine data, children aged 12-17 are not getting the COVID-19 vaccine at rates comparable to other eligible age groups. In North Carolina, as of last week, 12-17 yearolds accounted for just 12 percent of vaccinations. Tonya Dixon, a Guilford County mother of two teenagers, said her 13-year-old and 16-year-old received their vaccinations as soon as it was approved for them. “They were ready to be vaccinated before they even could get it,” she told Triad City Beat. Dixon’s kids were among the peak percentage of teens who received the vaccine in May when the vaccine rate maxed out at 32 percent. That was when the Pfizer vaccine received emergency use authorization for the age group. Even one month ago, the weekly average hovered around 20 percent. So what changed? The prevailing thought — as with vaccinations for all age groups — is that the people who were going to get vaccinated have already done so. As of last week, just 6 percent of children 12-17 in Guilford and Forsyth counties had been vaccinated with at least one dose. This age group makes up about 8 percent of the population in Guilford and Forsyth counties. And despite the rise of the Delta variant, parents of students in Guilford and Forsyth counties are as divided about their children getting vaccinated as they are about getting it themselves. Dixon said she was vaccinated as early as possible so she did not have any hesitation about getting her children vaccinated and neither did they. “[My children and I] did research on what real doctors and scientists were saying about this vaccine and we didn’t see any issue,” she said. “They’ve been out of school for a year and haven’t had that social interaction, so this is a way for them to have the opportunity to be a 13-year-old and be a 16-year-old.” Lili Ahmand, 16, considered another possibility for the decline: teenagers no longer have the autonomy to get vaccinated on their own. In mid-August North Carolina passed

STOCK PHOTO

HB96, a law that, in part, requires it was safe to put that in our children,” written parental consent to receive the Daniels said. “With the COVID vaccine, COVID-19 vaccine which may be slowit just feels like more of the same: the ing down the ability for eligible kids to government insisting on things we should get vaccinated. have control over for our families.” “We don’t always think like our parWhile vaccination rates are going ents,” Ahmand said. “I could see some down, COVID-19 infection rates in chilof my friends wanting to get vaccinated dren continue to rise. And even though but their parents not wanting them to COVID-related deaths continue to be because of whatever belief they have. uncommon for kids, the highly contaThat’s kind of messed up.” gious Delta variant is increasing the rate Dixon agreed. of infection. Nationwide, as of Sept. 9, “Adults are the ones politicizing [the children account for about 29 percent, vaccine], but the kids are more like, or 243,343, of COVID infections, an ‘This is what’s going to keep me safe, so increase of nearly 240 percent from midwhy wouldn’t I?’ It doesn’t seem to be a July, according to the American Acadbig deal to them,” she said. emy of Pediatrics. Zeke Daniels has three Locally, in mid-July, “Adults are children; he says one is there were 125 confirmed eligible for the vaccine. It’s the ones cases of COVID in chilbeen a “no” on vaccines dren ages 0-17 in Forsyth politicizing for him since before COCounty and 165 in Guil[the vaccine]...” ford County. Last week, VID-19. – Tonya Dixon, parent of two After reading ingredithose numbers were 373 ent lists of some of the and 399, respectively. vaccinations required for public schools, Vaccinations rates peaked for the Daniels deemed vaccinations “poisonage group at 32 percent of all vaccinaous” and decided not to get his two tions in May, after the Pfizer vaccine youngest children vaccinated, despite was authorized for emergency use for the US Federal Drug Administration’s children aged 12-15. Pfizer’s emergency approval and the Centers for Disease use authorization was amended DecemControl’s recommendation. He said he ber 2020 to include 16- and 17-year-old feels the same way about the COVID-19 teens. On Monday, Pfizer said that their vaccine. vaccine is “safe and effective” for 5-11 “We learned so much more about year olds. Once trials are complete and what is in vaccines, and we didn’t think finalized, the FDA anticipates being able

to complete its review “in a matter of weeks, rather than months,” said acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock and Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Director Dr. Peter Marks in a statement Sept. 10. Cali Stevens, a mother of one teenager, said she wants to wait until the FDA does its full review and gives its complete authorization before she gets her kid vaccinated, as she did when she decided to get vaccinated. “Kids are different than adults,” she said. “They’re still developing, and I think I’ll feel more comfortable knowing that they’ve done all the exhaustive trials, determined the right dosage and know all the side effects. I worry about her being in school, but I trust her to wear her mask and do everything she can to stay healthy until the vaccine is approved for her.” Public school systems in Guilford and Forsyth counties require face coverings indoors but do not keep track of vaccination status for all students. Guilford County monitors vaccination status for student athletes and other high-contact activities. Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools tests their student athletes weekly, regardless of vaccination status. The week ending Sept. 17, Guilford County Schools currently has 247 active positive COVID student cases and Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools has 250 positive student cases.

SEPT. 23-29, 2021 | NEWS

NEWS | SEPT. 23-29, 2021

GSO community anticipates arrival of 100 Afghans to the city by Nicole Zelniker

oon, an estimated 100 Afghans are expected to resettle in Greensboro, and all of them will need help. On Sept. 18, dozens of Greensboro residents gathered behind New Garden Friends Meeting to learn how to aid their newest neighbors. Deborah Suess, Interim Minister at New Garden, introduced Million Mekonnen, Executive Director at North Carolina African Service Coalition. Mekonnen explained to the group of would-be volunteers that although NCASC has been actively resettling refugees since 1997, this would be a new type of challenge. “We’re in a very different time,” said Mekonnen. “This is an emergency evacuation.” The Migration Policy Institute estimates that 65,000 Afghan evacuees will have to be resettled in the U.S. by the end of the month, and another 30,000 in the next year. Many are fleeing the country after the culmination of a decades-long conflict that has led to a Taliban takeover of the government. There are four groups of people coming in to the US from Afghanistan. The first are those on a special immigrant visa, those who worked for the US government or government contractors in Afghanistan for a designated period of time. The second are refugees. The third are SQ/SI parolees, or those with pending special immigrant visa status. The last are humanitarian parolees. The majority will be humanitarian parolees, which means they will not be available for federal benefits, such as medical benefits, food stamps and the right to apply for a green card. They are, however, able to apply for asylum status, which would grant them the benefits if they are approved. Mekonnen and NCASC are pushing for co-sponsorships, which would allow people in the community to help the Afghan people find transportation and housing, and adapt to the community. “Resettlement is not a one-agency job,” Mekonnen said. “We have to bring everybody.” NCASC is not the only agency working to bring people into Greensboro and connect them to friends, jobs and housing. FaithAction and Church World Services have partnered to do similar work in the community. “We have some fantastic staff who are working to turn strangers into neighbors,

NICOLE ZELNIKER

Dozens of community members showed up to a meeting at the New Garden Friends Meeting house on Sept. 18 to learn more about how they can help the incoming Afghan people.

to make sure anyone in the community boro and most medium and large cities who comes in as an immigrant or refuare facing,” said community organizer gee has a supportive space,” said AdriaAndrew Young. “Where can you place na Adams at FaithAction. “It’s a difficult people given a limited amount of housclimate to be in if you’re not accepted as ing?” a legal citizen. We provide DACA supYoung has a long history working with port, and then we also have refugees and other groups case management support coming to Greensboro for families and individuals through the Bonner Center ‘Resettlement at Guilford College. He who are newcomers.” Right now, FaithAction’s hopes agencies will be able to is not a onebiggest priorities are food, agency job. We get all of the resources they permanent housing, transbut also knows it could have to bring need, portation, education and job be a struggle. everybody.’ connections. And while all He’s seen things go terribly of these are important, some – Million Mekonnen, NC wrong too. In 2018, five African Services Coalition Congolese children died in Greensboro residents are wondering how things like an apartment fire, pushing housing will play out when refugee families and activthere is so little affordable housing accesists to fight for better conditions. But the sible to begin with. parents of those children will never get “That gets into the issues Greenstheir kids back.

“Kids died in this scenario,” said Young. “The agencies were never held accountable.” Affordable housing has long been a difficult find for even current residents, and the wait list of low-income housing is long enough that many already on it may end up houseless before they reach the top. Despite the eviction moratorium in place earlier this year, people have still found themselves without housing. “It’s good that they’re saying they need help, but there’s not an easy answer to that,” said Young. “There are a lot of folks in our town who want refugees to come here. I want them to. But there’s not an easy solution.” FaithAction will be holding a fundraiser on October 16 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at LeBauer Park. Learn more at faihouse.networkforgood. com.

EDITORIAL

NC GOP still clinging to the dream of voter ID

ou do not need to show your ID to vote in North Carolina elections, now and forever, according to a three-judge panel who issued a “final ruling and order” in Superior Court last week. That should be it for voter ID. The only thing that could save it now is if someone turns up the kind of voter fraud that could be prevented by showing ID at the polls. But the only significant voter fraud that has been uncovered in NC over the last 20 or so years was perpetrated by Republicans in 2018, when McCrae Dowless rigged the game using absentee ballots. That would not have been prevented by voter ID. t It’s worth mentioning that Dowless was working for Republican candidate Mark Harris in the 9th Congressional District, which had already been gerrymandered to be mathematically advantageous for the GOP. Yet they still cheated. The state GOP has been trying to establish voter ID since 2011 with the same sort of zeal they expend for preserving Confederate monuments and underpaying teachers. It eventually passed in 2018 by voter referendum — as an amendment to the NC Constitution! — only to be immediately challenged and banned by the courts until this lawsuit played out. It’s important to remember here the reason why voter ID has been repeatedly struck down by courts: Like the poll tax and

literacy tests that came before it — both of which were cited in the majority opinion — voter ID is designed to keep Black people from voting. Throughout our state’s history, the opinion notes, “laws limiting African American political participation have been facially race neutral but have nevertheless had profoundly discriminatory effects. Defendants even concede that North Carolina has an unacceptable history of racial disenfranchisement.” And because time is a flat circle, the Republicans have already announced a challenge to the ruling. What’s left is a Republican Party unrepentant in its racism, unrelenting in its quest to disenfranchise as many Black voters as it can, willing to abuse the courts and acting in bad faith about the threat of voter fraud. There is nothing conservative about wasting time and money on an unjust, immoral cause. There is nothing noble about dogwhistle politics designed to stoke white fears. There is nothing brave about silencing votes among those most vulnerable communities, the ones who rely on government services the most. The most significant threat to election integrity in North Carolina is the GOP itself. They tend to do much better when thegame is rigged.

Claytoonz by Clay Jones

SEPT. 23-29, 2021 | OPINION

OPINION

claytoonz.com

CULTURE | SEPT. 23-29, 2021

Culture by Nicole Zelniker

Author Grady Hendrix and the evolution of horror at this year’s Bookmarks Festival

ALBERT MITCHELL

Author Grady Hendrix’s new novel The Final Girls Support Group tackles the trope of the final girl and flips it on its head.

rady Hendrix hates author events. No one wants to go to his events, he says, not even him. So around the same time he released Paperbacks from Hell in 2017, he started doing what he calls “one-person shows” instead. “It’s really nice to be doing things for the audience,” he says. “Everyone left their house [to be there]. That’s a big deal. Not just during a pandemic, but there’s Netflix. There’s any music you want.” Hendrix, a horror author who is convinced he would die within the first ten minutes of a horror movie, has done these shows for several of his books now. He was planning on doing one for The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, his book from April 2020, but made a podcast instead when the

pandemic hit. He plans to bring the tradition back with his appearance at Bookmarks’ 16th annual Festival of Books and Authors which takes place from Thursday through Sunday. At the event, which will be in person for the first time since 2019, Hendrix will be presenting on the history of murder books with a series of slides. “It’ll be an hour long, but it moves pretty fast,” Hendrix says. “There are songs and I’m a terrible singer, so I always say the drunker they are the better my voice sounds.” Hendrix and horror go way back. He has been a fan of Stephen King since his teens and did a five year long read of all King books that ended in 2017, though King has published several more since. Some of Hendrix’s favorite horror and horror-inspired books include anything by King, My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan

Braithwaite and Joan Samson’s The Auctioneer. The one book he says everyone should read, though, is Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber. “If anyone hasn’t read that, that’s a crime and they should read it before they die sad and unfulfilled,” Hendrix says. His most recent book, The Final Girl Support Group, came out earlier this year, but Hendrix had written the first draft back in 2014. In the intervening years, he rewrote the ending and studied up on fairy tales, which he said were surprisingly helpful. “It’s not really a genre that occurs in fiction,” he says of slasher novels. “I found that the closest thing I could find were fairy tales. Little Red Riding Hood is a slasher story, isn’t it?” The Final Girl Support Group centers on a group of women, each the sole survivor of a brutal massacre. The plot takes off when one of the women is mur-

Hendrix will present his oneperson show about the history of murder books at Bookmarks in Winston-Salem on Thursday at 9 p.m. He will also do a panel with author Stephen Graham Jones on Saturday. The full schedule of events can be found on Bookmarks’ website.

Horror is all about the return of the repressed, that thing you’ve buried in the backyard.

‘

last year, namely Paul Tremblay’s Survivor Song, which came out in August 2020. The book is about a virus that quickly infects people’s minds, and a doctor who risks everything to help her pregnant friend in the midst of an epidemic. Hendrix found it unexpectedly reassuring. As someone who has built a career out in the horror genre, he feels the pandemic is a natural subject to explore, as much as people want it to be over. “Part of my job as someone who writes horror is to be the person who’s like, ‘Not so fast,’” he says. “Horror is all about the return of the repressed, that thing you’ve buried in the backyard.” Coming up for Hendrix, The Final Girl Support Group is set to be adapted into an HBO Max show. His books Horrorstör, My Best Friend’s Exorcism and The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires are all in the process of being adapted for the screen as well. “It feels like these characters have gone off to college and only occasionally send a postcard,” he says. “All I can do is hope they don’t fall in with the wrong crowd.”

SEPT. 23-29, 2021 | CULTURE

dered, convincing the protagonist that someone is out there trying to finish them all off. For Hendrix, it was important to make these women real, which meant creating characters who were not all white and able-bodied. “In movies I feel like a wheelchair is either too important or not important enough, so I spent a lot of time talking to people who use wheelchairs,” he said. The “final girls” in most popular horror movie franchises, like Scream or Halloween, tend to be young, white, tough and most importantly, alone. The trope now refers to young women who somehow survive the span of a horror movie when everyone else has been killed off. The women in The Final Girl Support Group, instead, band together. They deal with addiction and agoraphobia. They matter beyond the initial murders. They won’t be discarded. “These women survive, and they don’t do it by accident,” Hendrix says. “I wanted to pay tribute to them. I find them really inspiring figures.” In the coming years, Hendrix anticipates more horror about or related to the pandemic. His upcoming book, These Fists Break Bricks, is set at the beginning of 2021. He’s also read pandemic books over the course of the

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?

CONTACT US TO GET STARTED! 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. Or, scan the QR code to take you straight there. Dr. Blair Wisco - UNCG

copelab@uncg.edu

CULTURE | SEPT. 23-29, 2021

Culture by Sayaka Matsuoka

Greensboro’s first Freedom Fridge feeds a community, freely

SAYAKA MATSUOKA

Although the fridge hasn’t been around for that long, organizer Alyzza May says the items in the fridge turn over quickly. “A lot of people are engaging with it,” May says.

ozens of freshly-picked, brightred chili peppers take up residence in the highest shelf of the fridge door, above a couple jugs of milk and packs of applesauce. In the belly of the fridge, deli meats, bags of grapes and cartons of eggs wait patiently for their turn to be picked. In the freezer, two unopened boxes of ice cream sandwiches beckon. On a recent Monday afternoon, these are the items from which community members can choose from the first Freedom Fridge in Greensboro. Located next to the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in the Warnersville neighborhood off of Curtis Street, the fridge aims to be a new kind of mutual aid in the city, one

where fresh food is available for all. “We started because of the pandemic,” says Alyzza May, an organizer with Greensboro Mutual Aid and co-creator of the Freedom Fridge. “We were seeing three basic areas of need in the city: housing, food and emergency cash assistance.” The organization, which has been around for a little over a year, has been providing community members with goods and direct financial assistance in the form of Venmo or Paypal for months, utilizing platforms like Instagram and Facebook to offer help. Food had also been one of the most askedfor items, so the group began discussing the idea of creating a community fridge network, where people could donate and

get food for free. Then, a couple of months ago, members of Greensboro Mutual Aid connected with two NC A&T State University students, Bray-Lynn Singleton and Ashley Mathew, to bring the idea of a community fridge to life. “Because food was one of the things that we were getting inquiries around, this was a natural segue to do that,” May says. On Aug. 29, the first Freedom Fridge in Greensboro was unveiled. Currently, it sits next to the parking lot of the church in a shed built by Terri Jones, a member of Greensboro Mutual Aid who grew up in Warnersville. A long, orange extension cord runs from the fridge into the church

The Freedom Frige is located in the parking lot at 1100 Curtis St. in Greensboro. To learn more about the fridge or to contribute, email gsomutualaid@gmail.com or follow @gso_mutual_aid and @gsocommunityfridge on Instagram.

bank or another kind of charity. Namely, there isn’t anyone manning the fridge constantly. That means that giving and taking food is based on a shared understanding of need and trust. “A big part of mutual aid is trusting that people are asking for what they need,” May explains. And although they don’t really have a way to track how many people are using the fridge, they say that the items are turning over pretty quickly. “A lot of people are engaging with it,” May says. “Community ownership is growing and that’s really important because we want there to be an implicit understanding that there is a need and that as a city, we have everything we need, whether it’s the people growing it or the people hoarding it. It’s a process of understanding what it is that we have to offer our neighbors. It’s a way to create community connection and empathy.” Ben Tyson with the Sunrise Movement in Greensboro is a contributor to the fridge. As a hub coordinator for the organization, Tyson has been helping to grow produce at a community garden plot and has been taking vegetables like peppers to the fridge. So far, they’ve made about two or three runs he says. But in order to contribute more, he says that they’re working to partner with larger farms like the Urban Teaching Farm to increase production. It’s kind of like how he thinks about a bell pepper. “A bell pepper is cheap and is full of seeds which become a lot more bell peppers,” he says. “You could sell a bell pepper, but it’s free to turn it into a bunch more peppers to meet other people’s needs. It’s the idea that we can collaborate with other groups and meet more people’s material needs.” And collaboration and expansion will be key to maintaining the success of the Freedom Fridges, Singleton says. Eventually, she wants other entities like downtown businesses, grocery stores and more gardens to contribute to the fridge. That way, they can start placing more fridges around the city. “We really want to inspire people in the community to get involved to get it widespread through Greensboro,” she says. “It’s something that anybody can get into. It’s a good way for people to get into activism or social justice. We need all hands on deck.”

SEPT. 23-29, 2021 | CULTURE

nearby. The idea came from other cities who have created similar networks, May says. “We saw it in other places,” they said. “The blueprints we had for the building originally came from a program in Chicago. There’s also fridges in Atlanta, and the first one I saw was in Brookline or Boston. It’s nice to see all of these networks. There are people all over the world doing this.” That’s how Singleton, a senior at A&T, got the idea too. “I found some community fridges on Instagram like in Houston and Miami and I wanted to find a way to do it in Greensboro,” she said. “I really wanted it to work in Greensboro because I felt like it would be good mutual aid for the city…. There’s a lot of food insecurity here, especially in east Greensboro.” According to 2014 data by the Committee on Food Desert Zones, a legislative research commission created by the North Carolina General Assembly, there are 17 identified food deserts in Greensboro alone. There are 24 in Guilford County. A food desert is defined by the US Department of Agriculture as a residential area with a high level of poverty, where at least one-third of the residents live more than a mile from a grocery story. According to a map from 2014, most of the food deserts in Guilford County are located in the center of the county in south and southeastern Greensboro and also to the northwestern part of the county towards McLeansville. Much of High Point also is also considered to be an area of scarcity. And while these problems have existed for years, May said that the pandemic, like with virtually all aspects of society, has made food insecurity much worse. “I think it has highlighted the problem immensely,” May said. A huge part of alleviating problems during the pandemic has been the concept of mutual aid — giving and receiving without expecting anything in return. “It seems like charity but it’s very much not,” May explains. “It challenges the charity model in general, which I think is very important because anyone can be someone who gives or who receives. We’re all teachers and we’re all learners. You’re not going to get a tax write-off for this. There’s no ‘good job’ for doing this. It’s the idea that we all have things that we can offer.” That’s why May views the Freedom Fridge, which is run solely by volunteers, as fundamentally different from a food

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SHOT IN THE TRIAD

North Elm Street, Greensboro

CAROLYN DEBERRY

Members of the Joyemovement dance company at the conclusion of A Wicked Silence, a site-specific performance created by Downtown Greensboro Parks Inaugural Artist-inResidence Alexandra Joye Warren.

‘Make Light Work’— paying respects with a notable joke. by Matt Jones

SUDOKU

If you read

Across

1 Printer cartridge color 5 Sports reporter Andrews 9 Bee-related 14 Emmett Kelly persona 15 Dynamic prefix 16 “Death Be Not Proud” poet John 17 “Jane ___” 18 Greek island and titular home of the Louvre’s “Winged Victory” statue 20 Extinct beast with a trunk 22 Thurman of “The War with Grandpa” 23 Dubai’s country, briefly 24 “Who is, um, ___-Doo?” (response from Burt Reynolds, er, Turd Ferguson) 27 Petco Park player 29 Field figure 32 Leaves in the cup 33 Fourth word in the “Star Wars” © 2021 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com) opening crawl 35 “Lord of the Rings” actress Tyler 37 Sunlight unit 38 Whence aliens originate, in some sci-fi works 43 Not just mine 44 Barge puller 45 Pronoun option 46 Place to play the ponies, briefly 47 Rockefeller Center setting, for short Answers from last issue 49 Attorney-___ 19 Many commercial logos (abbr.) 53 “Town Called Malice” band 21 “Hasta ___” (“See you later”) 57 Regatta requirement 25 Necklace unit 59 “As Is” singer DiFranco 26 Orange side dish 60 “The Living Daylights” star 28 Joe Namath’s last pro team 64 It’s celebrated in May 30 Poetic lament 66 4, on some old clock faces 31 Cone producer 67 Words often paired with “Come on!” 34 Baseball Hall-of-Famer Mel 68 Pot throw-in 36 Beetles, e.g. 69 Saint ___ Bay, Jamaica 37 Novelist ___ Easton Ellis 70 Braces (for) 38 Pedal pusher 71 Yearn for 39 The “R” of “Notorious RBG” 72 Insect found in the theme entries (and the 40 Jacks ___ (video poker variety) subject of a famous joke told by Norm Macdonald) 41 Attila, for one Down 42 Catherine of “Schitt’s Creek” 1 Ruin, like a pet owner’s favorite pillow 48 Road Runner’s foe 2 His cello is nicknamed “Petunia” 50 “Hispanic, ___, or Spanish origin” 3 On a gap year, maybe (U.S. census category) 4 63-Down’s brother and former bandmate 51 Apply holy oil 5 Class with little struggle 52 Sorta alcoholic and aromatic, maybe 6 Tool for enlarging holes 54 It means “struggle” in Arabic 7 “Garfield” waitress 55 Answers from a flock 8 Weight-loss app whose subscription fees got 56 Fez’s country (abbr.) flak from the BBB in 2020 58 Tossed in 9 Committee type 61 More ___ enough 10 ___-Novo (Benin’s capital) 62 Sharpen, as skills 11 Where travelers can be put up 63 4-Down’s brother and former bandmate 12 Anti-apartheid org. 64 “Top Gun” aircraft 13 “Born,” in some notices 65 “Cheerleader” singer

then you know...

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