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JERRY D. SWIFT Advertising Director Emeritus KELLI DEWITT, CHIP GOOGE Senior Account Executives MICHELLE MUSOLF Account Executive BRYCE HAYES Classifieds Coordinator ROBBIE FRENCH Warehouse and Delivery Manager JANICE GRISSOM ELLISON, KAREN MILAM, DON MYNATT, TAMMY NASH, RANDY ROTZ, LEWIS TAYLOR, WILLIAM WIDEMAN Distribution THE MEMPHIS FLYER is published weekly by Contemporary Media, Inc., P.O. Box 1738, Memphis, TN 38101 Phone: (901) 521-9000 Fax: (901) 521-0129 memphisflyer.com CONTEMPORARY MEDIA, INC. ANNA TRAVERSE FOGLE Chief Executive Officer ASHLEY HAEGER Controller JEFFREY GOLDBERG Chief Revenue Officer BRUCE VANWYNGARDEN Editorial Director MARGIE NEAL Production Operations Director KRISTIN PAWLOWSKI Digital Services Director LYNN SPARAGOWSKI Circulation and Accounting Manager KALENA MATTHEWS Marketing Coordinator
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CONTENTS
BRUCE VANWYNGARDEN Editor SHARA CLARK Managing Editor JACKSON BAKER Senior Editor TOBY SELLS Associate Editor CHRIS MCCOY Film and TV Editor ALEX GREENE Music Editor SAMUEL X. CICCI, MICHAEL DONAHUE, JON W. SPARKS Staff Writers JESSE DAVIS Copy Editor, Staff Writer JULIE RAY Calendar Editor LORNA FIELD, RANDY HASPEL, RICHARD MURFF, FRANK MURTAUGH, MEGHAN STUTHARD Contributing Columnists AIMEE STIEGEMEYER, SHARON BROWN Grizzlies Reporters ANDREA FENISE Fashion Editor KENNETH NEILL Founding Publisher
OUR 1681ST ISSUE 05.13.21 “Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that he make every word tell.” This is the instructional essence of what I believe to be the best single book on how to write well: The Elements of Style. Published in 1918 by William Strunk Jr. and amended and updated through the years, most notably by New Yorker writer E.B. White, who called it: “a forty-three-page summation of the case for cleanliness, accuracy, and brevity in the use of English.” It has come to be known as Strunk & White, and it was particularly useful in the newspaper business when I was coming up, serving as a young editor’s guide to making writing better by making it more concise. For the first half of my career (You young whippersnappers!), I wrote and edited only for print, because, well, that’s the only place writing appeared — on paper, from trees, like God intended. Unlike the web, paper is a finite space, limited by Bruce a measurable number of pages and the requirement for a VanWyngarden readable type-size. With the printed word, space is at a premium. That’s why word counts are so critical. This column, for example, has to be between 700 and 750 words every week, give or take an adjective. After 40 years of practice, I’ve gotten pretty good at writing to fit. I can scroll down a block of 12-point type on my computer and tell you within 25 words how long it is. It’s a fairly boring skill, to be honest, useless as a party trick or on TikTok. I usually stop writing at around 850 words and start cutting from there. I’ve learned that pruning a piece almost always makes it better — distills it to the essence, removes verbosity and repetition. Precise writing is becoming something of a lost art, mostly because articles and columns and essays crafted for the web no longer have to “fit.” The physical limitations of print provided in themselves a sort of editing function. No more. On the web, the words designate the space, not the other way around. Writers can let a million adverbs bloom, allow no self-indulgent digression to go unexplored. I’m reminded of this each time I find myself scrolled neck-deep into a story online and asking myself, “When the hell is this going to stop?” It’s not a thought any writer wants to inspire in a reader, but it’s endemic on the world wide web without end: no word count, just boundless pixels waiting to be leisurely fondled into thoughtfully thoughtful thoughts. Another of the maxims I’ve leaned on is this one, also from Strunk & White: “Aim for one moment of felicity.” The most applicable definition of that word in this case is “something that causes happiness, a pleasing manner or quality especially in art or language.” I’ve always taken it to mean we writers should always attempt to offer the reader a little surprise, a bit of unexpected word-play, a fresh turn of phrase, a clever turn-around in the final paragraph. And so, with those words as my guide, I offer this: A career should carry no unnecessary parts; a life should make every day tell. I’m retiring as editor of the Flyer, as of this issue. Twenty years is plenty. I’m going to continue to write a column each week, but I’m leaving the word counts and the pruning and the N E WS & O P I N I O N scheduling of stories to new editor Jesse THE FLY-BY - 4 Davis, who will be in this spot next NY TIMES CROSSWORD - 6 week — and who I’m confident will do SPORTS - 8 a wonderful job filling my worn-ass old COVER STORY shoes. “OVER AND OUT!” BY JACKSON BAKER - 10 This weekend I’m leaving on a twoWE RECOMMEND - 14 week road trip to the northeast to see MUSIC - 15 longtime friends and scattered family CALENDAR - 16 and catch some trout in the Laurel SPIRITS - 19 Highlands on the way. I’ll be back in TV - 20 June on a new page with the same old C LAS S I F I E D S - 21 word count. Thanks for reading. LAST WORD - 23 Bruce VanWyngarden brucev@memphisflyer.com
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THE
fly-by
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W E E K T H AT W A S By Flyer staff
Mud Island, Snakes, & Downtown
WEATH E R MAG I C Memphis was spared from a nasty storm line Sunday, breaking over the city and heading north and south. Reddit user VariableBooleans posted a weather map showing “live imagery of the Pyramid working its black magic on the weather.”
Upgrades but no “soul” sign, Memphis Zoo saving endangered species, and development news.
MAS K I N G D OWN? Binghamptonian Gloria Sanders opened a can of hot debate on Nextdoor last week with this question: “What are your thoughts about Shelby County mask mandate being lifted on May 15th?” As of press time, the post had 559 comments. Some warned that cases would rise here, as not enough people had been vaccinated. Some said it’s a personal choice and they’d still wear theirs. Others said the vaccine is available, so “it’s no longer society’s responsibility to protect you from COVID.” Others urged “stop living in fear” and #freetheface. May 13-19, 2021
Edited by Toby Sells
A roundup of Memphis on the World Wide Web.
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M OTH E R’S DAY K I N G S
POSTED TO TWITTER BY DJ PAUL
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Questions, Answers + Attitude
DJ Paul, one half of Three 6 Mafia, tweeted Sunday, “celebrating Mother’s Day with family and ran into my fellow king. @YoGotti #memphis #kings #mafia”
M U D I S LAN D “S O U L” Downtown leaders sent that “soul” sign proposed for Mud Island back to the drawing board last week, but they approved projects that could bring another (smaller) grocery Downtown, revive a blighted building, and give Alcenia’s a glow up. The Downtown Memphis Commission (DMC) Design Review Board (DRB) voted down a planned art installation on Mud Island from the Memphis River Parks Partnership (MRPP). The installation would have brought a large (40 feet tall and 46 feet wide) black and yellow sign (which some said looked like a billboard) to the island. The sign was PHOTO COURTESY MEMPHIS RIVER PARKS PARTNERSHIP to face Downtown from the island (above) Downtown with large words reading “We have leaders voted down no time for things with no soul.” this version of a new MRPP leaders hoped the sign sign for Mud Island would have drawn visitors to the island from Downtown. For this, PHOTO COURTESY URBAN ARCH ASSOCIATES they pointed at the success of the (right) Big River “MEMPHIS” sign they erected on Market in South End the island in 2019. The sign quickly became one of the city’s most Instagrammed spots. While it might not get that “soul” sign, Mud Island is up for some major improvements this year. MRPP announced last week the park will get a new slate map of Memphis on the Riverwalk, a new seating area on the south tip of the island, a paint refresh of the Gulf Grill, new lights, and new sod. D OWNTOWN: G R O C E R I ES & ALC E N IA’S The DRB approved plans for Big River Market, a “boutique market store,” in the former Emerge Memphis building. The 2,000-squarefoot store would have food, drink, groceries, and coffee. This comes after last month’s announcement from Castle Retail Group (the company behind Cash Saver and South Point Grocery) to put a full-fledged grocery store on South Main. “The applicant is excited to join the newly announced South Point Grocery in bringing food accessibility to the southern end of Downtown,” reads the DRB staff report. “The applicant views this market not in competition with the grocer, but as a small market option for those who live or work within a .3mile radius of the site. Plans were approved for a proposal to renovate a dilapidated building at Fourth and Vance into a modern retail and
apartment space. Brown Girls LLC is leading the renovation project for the building that has laid dormant, broken, and graffitied for years. The building would feature 15 retail spaces. Twelve of them would be “micro-suites” and the other three would be traditional retail sizes. The building would also house four apartments and a bar on the first floor. Soul food icon Alcenia’s was also approved for a project to spruce the place up inside and out. Exterior improvements include new paint, new awnings, new lighting, new trim, and new windows and doors. It will also bring a handicap accessible entrance and a new outdoor seating area. S NAK E R E LEAS E Fifty endangered Louisiana pine snakes were released into the wild recently in a project to save the snake by a team of researchers from the Memphis Zoo. The zoo team was joined in the Kisatchie National Forest for the release by partners with the Fort Worth Zoo, Alexandria Zoo, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, and the U.S. Forest Service. Visit the News Blog at memphisflyer.com for fuller versions of these stories and more local news.
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The New York Times Syndication Sales Corporation 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10018 For Information Call: 1-800-972-3550 For Release Tuesday, October 2, 2018
Crossword ACROSS
27 Spot for a yacht
1 Richie and Ralph’s pal on “Happy Days”
30 Rhinoceros’s skin, essentially 32 Portrayer of Cruella de Vil in 1996’s “101 Dalmatians”
7 Shakespearean title 11 Misbehaving
35 Portia de Rossi, to Ellen DeGeneres
14 “Knocked Up” director Judd 15 Tribe at Council Bluff
38 Customize, as a video game
16 First word of the Lord’s Prayer
39 She reads the signs
17 Teaching catchphrase popularized by “The Karate Kid”
41 Animated movie villain with Minions 42 Lions, Tigers or Bears
19 Sports ___ 20 Spot for a yacht
44 Connection point for a smartphone cable
21 Resealable container for chips or cheese
46 Trades
23 Place to get a perm
48 Should pay 49 Indian flatbread
26 Jean who wrote “Wide Sargasso Sea”
50 Biblical verb with “thou”
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33 What frugal people make do with 34 Ball in the sky 36 Be in a dither 37 What the “€” symbol stands for 40 Makes the cut? 43 [Blown kiss] 45 Royal attendants 47 Wolf-headed Egyptian god 49 Finnish-based consumer electronics giant
50 Hockey feints 51 Tolkien beast 52 Nonsense talk 53 ___ alphabet 54 Soft-serve chain 56 ___ Domini 57 It might start with “For Starters” 58 Part of a TV schedule 61 That dude’s 62 Ending with many fruit names
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“Out of Step” Environmental group wants TVA to lead on carbon-free power.
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The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) plans to reduce its carbon emissions to zero by 2050, but the move was criticized for being out of step with White House goals. The TVA announced its carbonemissions plan last week in a quarterly meeting of the power provider’s board of directors. TVA said it has already reduced carbon emission by 63 percent since 2005 and hopes to further reduce that figure to 70 percent by 2030. This path will cut TVA’s carbon reduction by 80 percent by 2035. That is where one group said the agency’s intentions “fall far short.” President Joe Biden issued an executive order in January for a “clean-energy revolution that achieves a carbonpollution-free power sector by 2035.” The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) said Thursday TVA “has the ability and resources to lead by example and demonstrate the path to zero carbon. … Not fifteen years later.” The group challenged TVA to set a carbonzero goal for 2030. “The current TVA CEO’s public statements are out of step with the Biden Administration’s goals,” said SACE executive director Dr. Stephen Smith. “With accountable leadership, collaborative planning, and commitment, TVA has the opportunity to, once again, embrace the mission and to be a ‘utility yardstick’ of innovative environmental stewardship and job creation.” TVA said its carbon-reduction strategy has already included adding 1,600
PHOTO COURTESY TVA
TVA plans to be zero-carbon by 2050. megawatts of new nuclear capacity, adding 1,600 megawatts of wind and solar capacity, retiring 8,600 megawatts of coal capacity by 2023, and investing $400 million to promote energy efficiency. TVA president and CEO Jeff Lyash said these steps build a strong foundation for “supplying cleaner energy without impacting reliability or low cost.” “TVA is an industry leader in carbon reduction, but we aren’t satisfied,” Lyash said in a statement. “We are focused on increasing carbon reduction while maintaining our commitment to the low-cost, reliable energy our customers expect and deserve.” A new plan approved by the TVA board last Thursday outlines decarbonization milestones over the next 30 years. To get there, the agency said it will continue to expand renewable generation, expand battery storage capacity, retire all coal plants by 2035, and more. Details of these plans will be developed in the coming months, TVA said, and all of them will seek public input. But SACE said TVA also intends to build 1,500 megawatts of fossil gas capacity that will be online by 2023. Its goal to retire fossil plants by 2035 may be “potentially improbable” if TVA continues to build such plants. SACE said its research showed TVA won’t be on track for full decarbonization even by 2050.
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S P O R TS B y Fr a n k M u r t a u g h
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hen news broke last Thursday that the Los Angeles Angels had released Albert Pujols — the Albert Pujols — my thoughts turned to a red seat at AutoZone Park. A solitary, some would say lonely red seat that rests (mounted on concrete) on the rightfield bluff of the ballpark, just inside a foul pole. On September 15, 2000, a 20-yearold Pujols — a late season promotion from Class A — laced a line drive just fair for a 13th-inning, walk-off home run that gave the Memphis Redbirds their first Pacific Coast League championship in the stadium’s inaugural season. Had the player who hit that baseball never reached the major leagues, it would be one of the greatest moments in Memphis sports history. The man who hit that baseball, of course, became the most accomplished player — to date — of the 21st century, and an all-time great. There’s no such thing as a quick review of the Albert Pujols Hall of Fame resumé. Having played a total of 14 games above Class A (during that championship run with Memphis), Pujols made the St. Louis Cardinals’ roster in 2001 and ran away with National League Rookie of the Year honors, batting .329 with 37 home runs and 130 RBIs. He won the National League MVP award three times (and finished second in the voting four more). On the scale that matters most, he helped the Cardinals to the playoffs in seven of his 11 seasons with the franchise, earning three National League pennants and two World Series championships (in 2006 and 2011). As a Cardinal, Pujols hit the gold standard in the Triple Crown categories — a .300 batting average, 30 homers, 100 RBIs — 10 consecutive years. He remains the only baseball player to accomplish such a decade-long stretch of numerical greatness. Think of your favorite legends: Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Frank Robinson. None of them went .300/30/100 10 years in a row. More recent superstars who put up gargantuan numbers (with the help of performance enhancers), guys like Barry Bonds or Alex Rodriguez … they didn’t pull it off either. Over that decade with St. Louis (2001-10), Albert Pujols established a baseball statistical club of one.
Then came the L.A. years. Pujols shocked the baseball world by heading west after the 2011 season, signing a 10year, $240 million contract with the team Vin Scully did not describe. While “The Machine” climbed various charts and hit major milestones — 600 home runs and 3,000 hits — with the Angels, his performance gradually faded, and his team never won so much as a single playoff game. After batting .328 with 445 home runs and 1,329 RBIs in 11 years with the Cardinals, Pujols hit .256 with 222 homers and 783 RBIs in a now-abbreviated 10 years with the Angels. Unable to crack the fabled Mendoza Line this season (.198 in 92 plate appearances), Pujols departed Los Angeles not with the ceremony worthy of a legend, but with a pink slip. The Angels will pay Pujols upwards of $30 million this year … not to play for them. Speculation begins now. Has Pujols entered a batter’s box for the last time? Might another American League team — one that could use a designated hitter — sign Pujols and put him in the lineup on a daily basis? And the juiciest rumor of all: Might Pujols return to St. Louis for some form of limited action and a farewell tour that would, indeed, feature ceremony after ceremony, one ballpark after another? For now, I choose not to speculate for what remains in the sunset of Pujols’ singular career. I like the memory of September 15, 2000, when upwards of 10,000 Memphis baseball fans got to know him before the world did. He wore number 6 when he hit the home run that spawned that red seat at AutoZone Park. (Redbirds management had the good sense to leave the seat in place when hundreds of others were removed during renovations a few years ago.) The number 6 has long been retired by the Cardinals in honor of the franchise’s greatest player, Stan Musial. No one in Downtown Memphis 21 years ago knew that the streak across the sky we just witnessed was a baseball comet on his way to hitting more home runs as a Cardinal than anyone except Stan the Man. Legends tend to grow gradually, shaping time and space — sometimes a baseball diamond — with their mighty impact. But the birth of a legend? That’s an instant. Blink and you’ve missed it. The Albert Pujols legend was born in Memphis. It’s about time we recognize that red seat for what it’s become: a throne.
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COVER STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY JACKSON BAKER
Over and Out! ASSESSING THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY OF THE 2021 TENNESSEE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
May 13-19, 2021
The men who run the government take stock.
F
inally, well into the evening of Wednesday, May 5th, the first year’s session of the 112th Tennessee General Assembly came to an end, just slightly behind schedule. The leaders of elected state government stood in a row, as is the custom, on a low platform in the Capitol’s Old Supreme Court Room to face the truncated remainder of what, in previous years, had been a highly inquisitive and boisterous press corps. Governor Bill Lee played host, speaking in his mellow, vaguely twangy 10 Middle Tennessee tones and claiming success for the session in a general sort
of way. The other leaders reciprocated in like regard, praising the governor and indulging in mutual compliments of each other. The chorus included Senate Speaker/Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally of Oak Ridge, House Speaker Cameron Sexton of Crossville, Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson of Franklin, House Majority Leader William Lamberth of Portland, Senate Republican Caucus chair Ken Yager of Kingston, and House GOP Caucus chair Jeremy Faison of Cosby. White men all, they were something of a cross-section of the Assembly’s current Republican governing super-majority.
Governor Lee then solicited questions from the assembled media members, calling them by their first names. They politely responded with a series of process questions — all within the framework of subject matters alluded to by the legislators, their queries dodging matters of ideology and lacking any measure of tendentiousness or satirical spite that these reporters, like all reporters everywhere, express in jocular discussions amongst themselves. Toward the end of the discussion period, Lee was asked if he had a reaction to the significant changes that had occurred in a controversial bill, the
brainchild of veteran Senator Mike Bell of rural Riceville, who had set out to create a new statewide chancery court to hear all challenges to the constitutionality of state-government actions. Bell, the chairman of Senate Judiciary, was, as he put it, “head on” about his intent — to scuttle the existing precedent of routing all such cases through chancery in Nashville’s Davidson, the state capital and, all things considered, the last remaining citadel of the old Solid Democratic South. “I’m admitting there’s partisanship within the judiciary; other people want to turn a blind eye to that. These judges are
(above) Rep. Joe Towns (l) and Democratic Caucus press chief Ken Jobe relax after passage of anti-slavery amendment; (below) Mourners in line to see the late Sen. Thelma Harper lying in state
judgments against it. The bill passed the GOP-dominated Senate by the unimpressive margin of 17 to 10. In the case of both these bills, collective reason had prevailed, probably because there were enough legislators with legal backgrounds or with prior service in local governments to recognize wolves in sheep’s clothing. There is another point worth making about the outcome of these two judicial measures: The term “Nashville” is often used, especially on this end of the state, as a term of reproach, as a synecdoche of sorts for the legislature’s more obstinate or backward-looking actions. But in fact, as in the case of the chancery court bill, Nashville more often than not comes in for the same sort of punishment as the
state’s other major urban center, Memphis, and Davidson County legislators are fairly dependably shoulder-to-shoulder with Shelby Countians in opposing bills with an ultra-conservative tilt.
I
t is often tempting to regard what the legislature does as a clown show, and there is no doubting that it sometimes comes off that way. State Representative Frank Niceley, a Republican from Strawberry Plains in east Tennessee, seems especially determined to play into that stereotype. His arsenal of remarks, ranging from the comical to the folksy to the outlandish, is a familiar staple of the legislative dialogue, as when, apropos of nothing in particular, he trotted out last week a version of that old saw in which an equivocating politician of yore
both endorses alcohol as the elixir of life and condemns it as demon rum. More unfortunate was this doozy, supportive of a Niceley measure to guarantee Tennesseans the right not to be vaccinated against COVID-19: “I think if you’ve got your weight right, and your lifestyle right, and your diet right … I don’t think this virus will bother you.” Yet Niceley can be a source of plain common sense as well, as when, during a debate on legalization of medical marijuana in Tennessee, he vented a concern that the state was allowing the possibilities of a highly profitable cash crop to go untapped. The legislature cranked itself up in the last week to allow a somewhat adulterated variant of THC to be imported from outside Tennessee in limited quantities for limited medicinal purposes, and Niceley’s lament struck many as making all the sense in the world. With some exceptions, the bills that were dealt with in the Assembly’s closing chapter this year were those for which sentiment was mixed. Much of the more drastic legislation was passed early on. One example was HB 3/SB 228, a transphobic measure co-sponsored by Rep. Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka), an ex-athlete, and Sen. Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald), a physician, mandating that a student’s participation in sports had to conform to the gender indicated on his/her birth certificate. The bill was signed by Lee and became law in early April. Another case was that of the notorious SB 1121/HB 828, co-sponsored by Rep. Tim Rudd (R-Murfreesboro) and Sen. Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma), basically requiring women seeking abortions to bury or cremate their fetal remains or pay a stiff fine to support a variety of state funds. This one, too, is now state law, signed by Lee. But most far-reaching of all was HB 786/SB 765, co-sponsored by House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland) and Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin). Dreaded (by law enforcement) and coveted (by the NRA and other gun groups) for years, the bill, now signed into law by Lee (and a pet project of his), allows open permitless carry of firearms. What’s done is done, and only posterity will be able to fully gauge the consequences of these measures, which are no laughing matter.
M
uch of the last day of the session consisted of back-and-forths on matters of controversy. There was, for example, a protracted struggle between the House and the Senate on whether SB 623/HB 580, a caption bill regarding continued on page 12
COVER STORY m e m p h i s f l y e r. c o m
reflecting a philosophy now, and that’s of the people that are electing them,” Bell declared. Several rulings emanating from Nashville chancery had riled him — most recently that of election year 2020 by Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle, a Democrat, who broadened the right of Tennessee voters to cast mail-in ballots while the pandemic raged. Bell’s bill, as originally written, would have established a new Chancery Court consisting of three judges, each representing one of the state’s Grand Divisions but all elected statewide. Thereby, argued Bell, legal judgments affecting state authority and regulations would reflect the majority of the state’s voters — i.e., would be guaranteed Republican-friendly. The specter of so blatant an imposition of political will on the judiciary begat a flurry of activity to counter it — some out of the public eye, some of it openly, as in a high-pressure petition campaign by several Tennessee Democrats to defeat the “Gov. Lee Judicial Power Grab” — so called, apparently, because the state’s Republican governor would have dibs on appointing the first three judges prior to elections in 2022. Quieter — and, importantly, more bipartisan — were efforts behind the scenes to reason with officials in and out of the legislature, including, notably, members of the governor’s staff. By the time the bill came to pass, on the last day, it created no new court — elected, appointed, or otherwise — and merely sanctioned the state Supreme Court to convene ad hoc tribunals made up of existing chancellors from throughout the state to hear cases involving state authority. During the post-session press conference, Lee was asked his opinion of the significant changes made in the Chancery Court bill. With apparent sincerity, and with a convincingly uninvolved look, the purported powergrabbing chief executive answered that he didn’t know what those changes were, inasmuch as they had happened “during the last couple of hours.” Also reduced to insignificance during the Assembly’s last hours had been a bill by Shelby County Senator Brian Kelsey that, in its original form, would have prohibited local governments from filing actions against state government and given the state an automatic stay, pending the resolution of its appeals, of any injunction against it. After numerous postponements and adjustments, all that was left of Kelsey’s bill on the last day was a provision allowing the state a somewhat more expedited way to appeal adverse
11
continued from page 11 certain state mandates for the public schools, should contain an amendment from conservative House member John Ragan (R-Oak Ridge) making it illegal to teach any of a series of ideas currently being widely debated — e.g., whether America is a racist society or has historically fostered depredations by whites against citizens of color. The Senate refused at first to pass Ragan’s amendment to that end, characterized by opponents as a “Don’t-blame-white-people-for-the-raceproblem” clause. But Ragan essentially got what he wanted from a conference committee consisting of members from each chamber. As articulated by the aforesaid Kelsey in the resultant committee draft, “‘Critical race theory’ holds that the rule of law does not exist but instead is a struggle of power relationships between races and groups.” Hence, such a theory, along with what Kelsey condemned as a corollary notion, that American history began not in 1776 but with the importation of slaves to the continent in 1619, would be taboo in Tennessee schools. Not every difference of opinion was resolved by an act of senatorial backtracking, however. SB 843/HB 513
— a measure sponsored by two West Tennesseans in the shadow of Memphis, Senator Paul Rose (R-Covington) and Representative Ron Gant (R-Rossville) undertook to declare it a felony to “obstruct a highway” and would have created “the offense of throwing an object at another while participating in a riot,” as well as “the offense of intimidating or harassing another while participating in a riot.” Meanwhile, it would arguably have exculpated motorists from striking such a rioter — inadvertently, of course. Styled the “Law and Order Act of 2021,” the bill steamrollered through the House, 70-23, but was blocked in the Senate’s Judiciary Committee, where it was relegated to “summer study,” a.k.a. limbo. On an issue whose topicality was certified nationally on this past Sunday morning’s political talk shows, Representative Nathan Vaughan (R-Collierville) got to retreat somewhat from his reputation as a Republican moderate, as he and his GOP colleagues churned out epithets like “mailbox checks” and “giveaway money” to distinguish unemployment stipends from money earned on the job, as he argued that the state’s unemployment compensation fund was in ultimate danger of depletion, at a time, he said, when easy unemployment
money was militating against employers’ needs for an available labor force. Democratic Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) took issue with the idea that the state’s laid-off workers were “lazy or living large,” but with impressive solidarity and party-line margins, both the House and the Senate saw things Vaughan’s way, approving HB 10230/SB 1402, which reduced the period of eligibility for unemployment benefits from 26 weeks to a range of between 12 and 20 weeks, while boosting weekly unemployment stipends by minimal amounts. The House passed the bill 71-19, the Senate by 26-7. Not much argument there on a matter that, in similar form, was undergoing discussion in a dozen other states.
M
ention should be made here of a resolution successfully accomplished during the last week, one that voters of Tennessee will have an opportunity to concur with in the next statewide general election in November 2022. This was Senate Joint Resolution 80, sponsored in the Senate by Raumesh Akbari and in the House by Joe Towns, both of Memphis. What it will do, if passed on the 2022 ballot as a constitutional amendment, is nothing less than the abolition of slavery. To be sure, slavery is already abolished
in Tennessee and in its constitution, and has been since the state’s ratification in 1865 of the 13th amendment to the Constitution of the United States. But the state constitution, like the national one, reflects an exception — banning slavery or involuntary servitude “except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.” SJR 80, which contains language expressly granting the right of the state to require work on inmates, would banish that exception. It is a fine point, perhaps, but one that has passed legal muster, though the resolution received a handful of no votes in both the Senate and the House, based on a foreboding, as Rep. Susan Lynn (R-Mt. Juliet) expressed it, that prisoners might henceforth have a right to sue for relief under the revised amendment. The great majority of legislators in both chambers and both parties seemed untroubled, and the sponsors were certainly pleased — Towns to the point that he pronounced himself ready to launch a national campaign to expunge the criminalpunishment exception from the 13th amendment. A mite giddy, perhaps, but who can begrudge him? It isn’t every year that the Tennessee legislature manages to improve on Lincoln the Emancipator.
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There’s something intoxicating about the clinking and tinkling of wine glasses. There is something exhilarating about the arts and community. Put them together and you have Vintage901. Founder Stephanie Ferreira says, “The best things happen over wine and food. Wine, food, and music are the catalyst. The big-picture piece is all the people who come to the experience. Bringing people together. Community.” In its fifth year, Vintage901’s Grand Tasting will look a little different. This year, it will be held at the Levitt PHOTO BY PAUL BURNS, COURTESY OF LEVITT SHELL Shell with safety in mind, using open pods so that the Vintage901 brings wine, food, and music to the Shell. community feels connected. “The Levitt Shell was built during the depression to build morale,” says Natalie Wilson, the Shell’s executive director. “We want to go back to our roots and build community in these uncertain times.” This concept is a direct result of the pandemic. “It’s going to be a space for more uses, for more people to experience the magic,” Wilson says. “We are so happy to have Vintage901 here at the Shell this year.” There will be an afternoon session from noon to 3 p.m. and an evening session from 6 to 9 p.m. The sessions will be different so that participants can enjoy both. The musical lineup includes Memphis Youth Symphony, Opera Memphis, Memphis Jazz Workshop, Hope Clayburn and the Soul Scrimmage, and a presentation by Memphis Black Arts Alliance. Chefs will include Chef Tamra “Chef Tam” Patterson, Chef Jimmy Gentry, and Chef Aaron Winters. Wine experts Michael Whaley and Rick Farwell return this year, along with Kym Clark, who will emcee for this one-day outdoor event. Proceeds will benefit ArtsMemphis. VINTAGE901, LEVITT SHELL, 1928 POPLAR, SATURDAY, MAY 15, NOON-3 P.M. AND 6-9 P.M., $100.
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World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest Tom Lee Park off Riverside, ThursdaySaturday, May 13-15, $12 A Memphis in May competition featuring teams representing the best of barbecue as they compete for the title of World Champion and a share of more than $115K in prize money. Pints For Paws Meddlesome Brewing Company, 7750 Trinity, Saturday, May 15, 2-5 p.m., free A one-of-a-kind adoption event benefiting the Humane Society of Memphis and Shelby County. Featuring the release of three new beers with pets and their bios on the bottles, live music from Josh Waddell, and food from Crawfish Shack.
Meet the Artist: Brittney Boyd Bullock The Dixon Gallery and Gardens, 4339 Park, Saturday, May 15, 5-8 p.m., free Local visual artist, textile designer, and leathersmith talks about her exhibition of two- and three-dimensional works in a variety of media. Cooper-Young Garden Walk Cooper-Young Historic District, Saturday-Sunday, May 15-16, $25 A self-guided tour of 80+ eclectic, imaginative urban gardens and green spaces. Highlights include free-range chickens, beehives, funky art and vendors, educational booths, shesheds, water features, garden speakers, and demos.
CAF AirPower History Tour Olive Branch Airport, 8000 Terminal Drive, Mon., May 17, 1-5 p.m., Tues.Wed., May 18-19, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., and Thurs., May 20, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., $20 Brings the sights, sounds, and stories of World War II aviation. Featuring P-51, T-6, PT-13, B-29 tours and plane rides, airshow, and the L-26B Commander “Ike’s Bird,” which served as Air Force One for President Eisenhower. Novel at Home: Elizabeth Heiskell Online from Novel, novelmemphis.com, Wednesday, May 19, 6 p.m., free with registration Online book launch, party, and live cooking demo via Zoom with author of Come On Over!: Southern Delicious for Every Day and Every Occasion and guest Chef Kelly English.
MUSIC By Michael Donahue
PHOTO BY RAMON JOHNSON
Kickman Teddy
Still Kicking With a hot song, Kickman Teddy is cruising. would just make noise. All the rhythms going. Kids would go crazy over it. It’s just a natural thing for me to do, and I enjoyed it.” Teddy originally went the “choir scene” route, drumming and touring with community choirs. He says people began saying, “Who is this guy? This little young drummer? He’s got a fast foot and he can play songs fast.” Teddy began performing for Billy Rivers & the Angelic Voices of Faith. One night, he played Rivers part of a song he’d written. “He was like, ‘Keep going.’ I was making up lyrics on the spot. Before I knew it — I don’t know if he knew this — he was pushing me into being a writer.” Teddy toured Europe with the group for about a month. But things changed after he met FreeSol at Applebee’s. They struck up a conversation and formed the FreeSol band that day. “I had to make a choice because I started touring with FreeSol pretty heavy.” The group was signed to Justin Timberlake’s production company, Tennman Records, in 2006. “Man, one of the high points for me was just being in the studio with Justin and learning … his whole work ethic and how he could come in and command a room.” FreeSol then signed with Interscope Records, but was
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Kickman Teddy is cruising solo these days. Teddy, who played drums in the alternative hip-hop/rock band, FreeSol, is now singing, writing, and producing. His single, “Crusin’,” currently is No. 2 on iTunes and No. 23 on the Billboard R&B/Soul charts. The single, which he produced last June, is “basically about me and this female just cruising the city, enjoying life, having fun together,” Teddy says. “Crusin’,” which includes Memphian Mike Sweep and Atlanta-based Kanard Thomas, is on the Hotline Miami compilation. Teddy and his manager decided to add the song to “make people aware that the song is out there … build momentum around [it]. We got it to the people we needed to and it took off from there.” His new single, “Get the Paper,” will be released in late May. Born in Memphis, but raised in Julius, Arkansas, where his grandparents lived, Teddy says his family members sang in churches. “They would go around and tour churches and so forth and let us hang around and learn from them.” As for his drumming talent, Teddy says, “Man, it was in my blood. It’s always been there.” But he didn’t have a drum set at first. “I was beating on anything I could get my hands on — shoes, my desk. I
dropped from the label. “For a minute, I lost my love and drive for what I was doing.” Teddy reached his low point. “I was locked in a cell overnight. I got locked up for DUI — intoxicated, drinking at a party.” But, he says, “It changed my life. When I got there, man, I saw murderers around me. I saw drug addicts around me. And nobody cared about who I was or who I worked with. I was just like everybody else.” When he got out, FreeSol bass player/keyboardist Daniel “Primo Danger” Dangerfield, called and asked him to join him playing on a cruise ship. “God always has a plan for your life,” Teddy says. Teddy began writing raps every day. Writing hip-hop came naturally. “I just liked being challenged, doing something different. I was beating on my desks again. It brought me back and grounded me.” He released his first full-fledged album, Xrayvision, in 2014. “For a solo project on my own, I thought it was pretty dope. That was just me and my writing skills.” Teddy formed a production company, Martian Boy Music, and he also got the FreeSol members back in the studio to record the song “Out of Love,” which is slated to be released in July. “It brought a feeling over me like, ‘Man, we can still make music and enjoy each other.’” Now, Teddy says, “I’m not thinking about fame. I’m not thinking about money. I’m thinking about putting out great music.”
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Send the date, time, place, cost, info, phone number, a brief description, and photos — two weeks in advance — to calendar@memphisflyer.com or P.O. Box 1738, Memphis, TN 38101. DUE TO SPACE LIMITATIONS, ONGOING WEEKLY EVENTS WILL APPEAR IN THE FLYER’S ONLINE CALENDAR ONLY.
CALENDAR of EVENTS:
May 13 - 19
T H EAT E R
C O M E DY
The Orpheum
Chuckles Comedy Club
Orpheum Virtual Engagement, join Orpheum staff, artists, and students for activities, interviews, and more on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Ongoing. 203 S. MAIN (525-3000).
Theatre Memphis
Thursdays on the Plaza, enjoy the atmosphere of the Menke Sculpture Garden during a variety of events from blues to trivia. Cash bar with wine and craft beer, as well as a nosh or two. Free-$5. Thursdays, 6:30 p.m. Through July 15. OT H E R AR T HAP P E N I N G S
Meet the Artist: Brittney Boyd Bullock
Exhibition of two- and three-dimensional works by visual artist, textile designer, and leathersmith. Free. Sat., May 15, 5-8 p.m.
Novel at Home: Elizabeth Heiskell
Online book launch for Come On Over!: Southern Delicious for Every Day and Every Occasion. Featuring cooking demo with Chef Kelly English. Free with registration. Wed., May 19, 6 p.m.
Benji Brown, $20-$70. Fri.-Sun., May 14-16, 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. 1700 DEXTER.
The Comedy Junt
New School Comedy, hosted by Joe Means featuring Ronnie B, Juju Rashad, and others. thecomedyjunt.com. $20. Fri.-Sat., May 14-15, 8 p.m. 4330 AMERICAN WAY (249-4052).
“Just Do It: Gardening After Covid”
Carol Reese, extension horticulture specialist at UT AgResearch and Education Center, will speak on topic via Zoom. Free with registration. Wed., May 19, noon.
COOPER-YOUNG HISTORIC DISTRICT.
Reader Meet Writer: Bob Drury and Tom Clavin
Thousands of plants predominantly native to the Mid-South including milkweeds, coneflowers, and a variety of shade plants will be available via online and on-site shopping. Through May 29.
NOVEL, 387 PERKINS EXT. (9225526), NOVELMEMPHIS.COM.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS, 4339 PARK (761-5250), DIXON.ORG.
LICHTERMAN NATURE CENTER, 5992 QUINCE (767-7322), MEMPHISMUSEUMS.ORG.
Through May 28.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN, 750 CHERRY (636-4100).
Bicycle Tour of Elmwood Cemetery
Cooper-Young Garden Walk, May 15th and 16th
Plant Sale
Spring Plant Sale
TO U R S
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS, 4339 PARK (761-5250).
A self-guided tour of 80+ green businesses and gardens, featuring free-range chickens, beehives, art and vendors, educational booths, speakers, and more. $25. Sat.-Sun., May 15-16, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
NOVEL, 387 PERKINS EXT. (922-5526), NOVELMEMPHIS.COM.
Authors discuss Blood and Treasure: Daniel Boone and the Fight for America’s First Frontier about frontiersman Daniel Boone via Zoom. Free with registration. Thurs., May 13, 6 p.m.
LECTU R E / S P E A K E R
Cooper-Young Garden Walk
F EST IVA LS
Bike through the past during a fun-filled history tour taken from your bicycle. $10. Saturdays, 2 p.m. Through May 29.
Live at the Tracks
ELMWOOD CEMETERY, 824 S. DUDLEY (774-3212).
CENTRAL STATION, 545 S. MAIN.
Join us at the 1st annual
Bluff City Balloon Jamboree
Featuring local music. Free. Thursdays, 6:30-9:30 p.m. Through May 27.
June 19–20, 2021 Collierville, TN
May 13-19, 2021
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Morning balloon ascension, Tethered Balloon Rides
Carnival rides, games & live music
Food and arts & crafts vendors
Tickets available online
C A L E N D A R : M AY 1 3 - 1 9 S P O RTS / F IT N ES S
S P EC I A L EVE N TS
Agape Kids Classic Golf Tournament
Broadway Tunes
TPC AT SOUTHWIND, 3325 CLUB AT SOUTHWIND (626-3601), AGAPEMEANSLOVE.ORG.
BUNTYN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 6413 QUINCE (RESERVATIONS, 324-3627), MCIL.ORG.
JX2 Team Roping
Edge Neighborhood Social
Benefiting children and families utilizing Agape Child & Family Services. $500 per player. Mon., May 17, noon.
Fri.-Sat., May 14-15, 7:30 a.m. AGRICENTER INTERNATIONAL, 7777 WALNUT GROVE (757-7777), JX2EVENTS.COM.
Memphis Grizzlies vs. Sacramento Kings
Thurs., May 13, 7 p.m., and Fri., May 14, 8 p.m. FEDEXFORUM, 191 BEALE, FEDEXFORUM.COM.
Memphis Redbirds vs. Louisville Bats May 18-23.
AUTOZONE PARK, THIRD AND UNION (721-6000).
M E ETI N G S
As We Are
A social support group for trans/ GNC people of color over the age of 18. The group meets biweekly via Zoom. Second Thursday of every month, 6 p.m. OUTMEMPHIS: THE LGBTQ CENTER OF THE MID-SOUTH, 892 S. COOPER (278-6422), OUTMEMPHIS.ORG.
Friends of Memphis Center for Independent Living will sing tunes from favorite musicals. Bake sale benefiting MCIL. Free. Sun., May 16, 2 p.m.
Featuring a live performance by DJ Bizzle Bluebland and whiskey flights and local craft beers offered by Stop 345 and Craft Axe. Free. Wednesdays, 5-7 p.m. Through May 26. THE EDGE DISTRICT, MADISON, MARSHALL, AND MONROE, STOP345.COM.
GO Public Garden Days An ongoing Evergreen Association initiative to drive the public to visit, value, and volunteer at public gardens. Through May 16. MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN, 750 CHERRY (636-4100).
Mental Health Saturday Series
Free food giveaway and resources by area organizations. Saturdays, 1-3 p.m. Through May 29. MEMPHIS ROX CLIMBING, 879 E. MCLEMORE (401-6104), MEMPHISROX.ORG.
“Red Dresses”
Exhibition at the Beaver Lake or Chickasaw Trail of red dresses to honor the thousands of indigenous women and girls that go missing, are murdered, or are victims of violence every year. Through May 31. SHELBY FARMS PARK, 500 N. PINE LAKE (767-PARK).
FOOD & DR I N K E V E N TS
Douglas Park Mobile Food Bank
Providing fresh vegetables, dairy, meat products, and access to other food staples to those most in need. Sat., May 15. DOUGLAS ROAD PARK, DOUGLAS AND MEMPHIS-ARLINGTON.
Pints for Paws
A one-of-a-kind adoption event benefiting HSMSC. Free. Sat., May 15, 2-5 p.m. MEDDLESOME BREWING CO., 7750 TRINITY (207-1147).
World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest
Teams representing the best of barbecue compete for the title of World Champion and a share of the more than $115K in prize money. $12. Through May 15. TOM LEE PARK, OFF RIVERSIDE DR., MEMPHISINMAY.ORG.
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S P I R ITS By Richard Murff
I
’m not even sure just where you’d get it in Memphis, or even in Tennessee for that matter. Still, the vaccines are flowing, cases of the crud are dropping, and summer is nearing. So here is my boozy travel warning: Don’t buy Kirkland Spiced Rum. I was in Birmingham on some promotional work and visited an old friend from college. In Alabama, wine in the grocery store is old hat, and liquor sales are dominated by the state ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Control) stores. It was in one of these places where I found this bit of dark magic. A word of caution — approach all flavored liquors the way you would a friend who once threw up on your shoes: They might never do it again, but you know it’s in the playbook. Using lime-flavored gin does not make the classic G&T one step easier. It makes your cocktails taste like you’re adding a dash of Scope to look clever. Just use the real thing. You aren’t that busy. I trust that I don’t need to remind readers of the dangers of an ill-advised case of Bud Light Orange, which tastes something like slamming a thin beer without taking the Jolly Rancher out of your mouth. A fine way to ruin both flavors. Getting back to the spiced rum, the danger lurking inside a bottle of Kirkland (the same people who bring you those 47-packs of T-shirts and athletic socks at Costco) is that good spiced rums actually do exist. Sailor Jerry is a very good option. Normally, kitschy labels are a red flag, but not here. It’s a great spiced rum at a decent price, and in a bottle that looks like your grandfather might have picked it up on his lively gap-year in Vietnam. For purists who want their rum from the Caribbean, you can’t go wrong with Cruzan 9. It’s excellent, although I don’t advise going to their distillery in St. Croix — plenty of local color, you understand, but not the sort
of operation to put the industrial world at ease. A lot depends on what you’re using your spiced rum for. Drinking it neat? Cocktail? Appeasing Baron Samedi or some other netherworld haint? If it’s the latter, try Boukman Botanical Rhum, made in Haiti and one of the best around. Although its voodoo properties aren’t verified by the ATF. Kirkland, on the other hand, is an evil spirit in and of itself. Sure, their “Army Mobilization Size” pack of underwear is a great value, but the delicacies of producing a spiced rum that doesn’t taste — if not unholy, at least unnatural — seems to be beyond them. What wasn’t off-brand was the size of the bottle and its attendant price. To a real skinflint, this is dazzling. As a lifelong tightwad, trust me on this: Walk away. Perhaps I’ve over-sold it a bit; Kirkland isn’t an evil spirit. Despite all effort to the contrary, this rum lacks the character to attain evil status. It’s like wandering up to a haunted castle in a dark forest only to realize that it’s made of vinyl siding. Drinking Kirkland Spiced Rum is like watching a middle school theater club dramatize something called spiced rum. It’s just awful. I wouldn’t even mention the stuff, but soon the wife and I will be scooting down to the Gulf Coast for our annual skin-cancer invitational. After paying the rental on the beach house, you might happen to stop in one of Alabama’s friendly and helpful ABC stores and be hypnotized by the sheer volume and price of Kirkland and find yourself saying: “Brenda, we both know that we’re going to spend the week drinking like deranged Parrot Heads, and here is a bottle of rum that could float the Queen Anne’s Revenge for a fair, reasonable price.” Free isn’t a reasonable price in this case; and as far as fair goes, quaff this stuff and you deserve whatever you get.
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Bad Juju
19
TV By Chris McCoy
Send in the Clones Disposable soldiers watch democracy crumble in Star Wars: The Bad Batch.
T
May 13-19, 2021
he Star Wars prequels have been getting something of a re-evaluation lately. Maybe it’s a case of first-wave Millennial nostalgia, as the grown-up children of the ’90s reconnect with the media they remember, like the Boomers watching Happy Days. There is certainly that element, but I think the prequels are aging well because George Lucas’ overarching story of the fall of the Old Republic looks increasingly prescient. The latest Disney+ animated series, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, begins as the prequel trilogy is reaching its climax. Like its live-action cousin The Mandalorian, The Bad Batch spins stories outside of the suffocating shadow of the Skywalker family melodrama. Worldbuilding has always been the franchise’s strong suit, so there are plenty of implied side stories in the galaxy far, far away to mine for material. To me, one of the most profound questions the universe poses is raised in one of its filmic low points. Attack of the Clones is emblematic of the prequels, in both its strengths and weaknesses. The visuals are ahead of their time — no one else in the special effects game could touch turn-of-the-century Industrial Light & Magic, and Lucas retained his sharp eye for design
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until he retired. But he also seemingly forgot how to delegate, and he badly needed a writer. But success is an insidious poison, and so we got one of the worst on-screen romances ever, and a jumbled presentation of what is actually a compelling story of politics and manipulation. In the early days of the War on Terror, the story was a reminder of the dangers of an out-ofcontrol security state. Senator Palpatine, who is secretly the evil space wizard Darth Sidious, engineers a separatist threat to the Galactic Republic and uses the crisis to have himself declared chancellor, and as an excuse to build an army of clones. As the Clone Wars grind on, Palpatine grooms his vainglorious apprentice Anakin Skywalker into Darth Vader, then orders his clone armies to ambush and kill their Jedi commanders. That moment — known as “Order 66” — is the heart-rending climax of Revenge of the Sith; Obi Wan and Anakin’s fateful lightsaber duel pales in comparison. The clones, bred for the sole purpose of combat and forced by implanted chips to betray their comrades, become tragic figures in The Clone Wars animated series, which was finally given the
Omega (above), voiced by Michelle Ang, is a deviant clone in Dave Filoni’s Star Wars: The Bad Batch, a spin-off of the Clone Wars series. ending it deserved by Disney+ last year. The Bad Batch is a group of elite clone commandos introduced in the final season. They are defective units rescued from disposal by Kamino’s clone master Nala Se (Gwendoline Yeo) for experimental upgrades. Their names are their purpose: Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Crosshair, and Echo are all voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. The Bad Batch’s defects are their strengths, and when Order 66 comes in as they are backing Jedi master Depa Billaba (Archie Panjabi), they find that their controlling chips don’t work. Hunter, experiencing his first taste of free will in the midst of a galaxy-wide political upheaval, secretly lets Depa’s padawan escape. The Order 66 sequence in the 70-minute pilot episode takes on unexpected relevance in the wake of the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol. As the assembled clones on Kamino listen to Palpatine announce the creation of the Empire, the Bad Batch realize it’s wrong but don’t quite know what to do about it. When Admiral Tarkin (Stephen Stanton,
TV By Chris McCoy
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Mandalorian writer/producer Dave Filoni, The Bad Batch expertly zeroes in on the questions of free will raised by the creation of semi-disposable, sentient clones. But more than an A.I. cautionary tale, the show’s themes could not be more relevant, such as, how much loyalty does an oppressed class owe a flawed democracy? The second episode reverts to a more conventional sci-fi escape story, but the background of a society losing its freedom and self-determination serves as a stark warning in these perilous times. Star Wars: The Bad Batch is streaming on Disney+.
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doing an uncanny Peter Cushing imitation) arrives to take command of the clones, he orders the commandos on a mission to mop up a group of separatist insurgents. When you’re a clone, nothing stops the Forever War. As they leave, a deviant female clone named Omega (Michelle Ang) begs them to take her. But the Separatists turn out to be a group of refugees from the Republic led by Saw Gerrera (Andrew Kishino), and the Bad Batch decide to desert, but not before returning to Kamino to retrieve Omega. Led by Clone Wars and The
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THE LAST WORD By Craig David Meek
Converting Vaccine Skeptics
THE LAST WORD
Now that anyone in this part of the country who wants a COVID vaccine can get one, the difficulty has switched from having to wait to get a shot to convincing the still-unvaccinated to get theirs. We need to achieve herd immunity in order to protect people who truly can’t get vaccinated due to medical issues, and to try to stop the spread of the more deadly and contagious variants, like the ones currently ravaging India as the virus spreads and mutates through millions of hosts. Some people truly don’t realize how easy getting a shot is, after initial months of long lines and confusing appointment processes. If you are talking to one of them, please help them get vaccinated. From there, we have to move on to convincing the “vaccine hesitant.” Paradoxically, the people who have been screaming the loudest about wanting life to return to normal are often the most hesitant to take the easiest step to resuming normal life. The people who insist COVID is no big deal seem to be the ones most worried about the potential side effects, which are mainly a day or so of mild symptoms. We have to convince people to get a shot, as many of them are being bombarded with propaganda to convince them otherwise. And you aren’t going to SCALIGER | DREAMSTIME.COM get someone to change by calling them a moron, even if they are getting medical I am not gonna miss my shot — but have you gotten yours? advice from people like Tucker Carlson or Alex Jones (who have both argued in court that no reasonable person should believe anything said on their shows). The reason reactionary propaganda is so effective is that it tells people, “You are smarter than everyone else. Your conditioned knee-jerk opinions are wiser than anything any expert says.” So, during a pandemic, we waste time debating about masks and vaccines instead of paid sick leave and universal healthcare. It doesn’t matter that the talking heads think their audience are idiots, and are willing to get some of them killed if it means they can continue complaining about lockdowns and masks. They disguise their contempt. They’re telling the audience they’re smart. If you’re standing on the other side calling them an idiot, who do you think they’ll listen to? To get a reluctant person vaccinated, so we can all move forward, we’re going to have to roll up our sleeves and engage them as a rational person, even if you have to address talking points they pulled from YouTube videos. YouTube is successful because anyone can find confirmation bias for pretty much any belief there. If you want to believe the Earth is flat or the secret to good health is drinking your own urine or even that Donald Trump won the 2020 election, there are videos affirming your opinion. When someone is describing their vaccine concerns using their Fox News, YouTube, and meme-based “research,” we’re going to have to bite our tongue and address these points of view as serious concerns. Blood clots? The risk from a vaccine is literally one in a million — infinitesimal compared to actually getting COVID. You can still catch COVID after being vaccinated? There is no guarantee with any vaccine. That’s why herd immunity is crucial. The vaccines are amazingly effective at making sure you won’t get a case that requires hospitalization. They even guard against the variants hitting people who have already had COVID. Why take a vaccine for a disease 98 percent of people survive? Most of us are vaccinated for a lot of diseases we’d probably survive: mumps, measles, rubella, tetanus, hepatitis A and B. But why suffer through something that’s easily preventable? Worried about unknown long-term effects and don’t want to be a “guinea pig”? Go read firsthand accounts of COVID long-haulers, those suffering the unknown long-term effects that have doctors and scientists terrified. A lot of formerly healthy workers are COVID long-haulers who no longer have the stamina for service industry jobs. When people complain that “no one wants to work anymore,” they’re probably referring to those jobs, which require constant hustling on your feet. No one wants to do that for wages that won’t pay their bills. The service industry spent a year on the pandemic front lines, often dealing with a belligerent, unmasked public. A lot of people got fed up and changed careers. Remember the protestors a year ago demanding everything reopen immediately with signs like, “I need a haircut” and “I want a margarita”? Now they’re mad about the shortage of workers they once deemed expendable. Craig David Meek is the author of Memphis Barbecue: A Succulent History of Smoke, Sauce & Soul.
m e m p h i s f l y e r. c o m
Rampant anti-scientific propaganda is a tough opponent to overcome.
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