Memphis Flyer 6/13/2024

SHARA CLARK Editor-in-Chief

ABIGAIL MORICI Managing Editor

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and

For the Culture Tone’s Juneteenth Festival aims to increase Memphis’ cultural capital.

PHOTO: CBJ VISION

Hidden Gems

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PHOTO: MICHAEL DONAHUE

Lessons From Grandmother Opal Lee

Juneteenth

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THE fly-by

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Memphis on the internet.

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e Memphis subreddit buzzed with the Elon news. Opinions were mixed.

User u/ iccAssCrackHead said, “It means he will be using 1 million gallons of aquifer water per day while only employing 2545 people that are brought in from out of state. Ask Atlanta how theirs is going.”

U/Delway said, “It’s a start. It will hopefully attract other tech companies with high paying jobs. … ber optic network infrastructure will be sped up. High paying Jobs to retro t the facility. Inspire our local youth.”

But one suggestion seems like something we can all agree on. Reddit user u/mylogicistoomuchforu said, “Elon Musk is building a supercomputer in Memphis. We got to call it the ManeFrame.”

{CITY REPORTER

By Kailynn Johnson

Priced Out

Questions, Answers + Attitude

Edited by Toby Sells

“It is very una ordable to try and buy a home for most homebuyers in Memphis.”

Traditionally, the cheapest option for those seeking a home is to buy instead of rent. However, this is no longer the case for those in Memphis.

Ryan Miller, senior investment portfolio strategist at First Horizon Bank, said historically Memphians favored homeownership over renting since interest rates were reasonable, and payments were able to be divided over long periods of time.

However, in 2021 prices of houses began to drastically increase in a short period of time, with interest rates increasing as well. ese factors create higher mortgage rates. While rent has gone up, Miller said it hasn’t gone up as much as these prices and rates.

“It is very una ordable to try and buy a home for most homebuyers in Memphis — especially rst-time homebuyers,” Miller said. “Seventy-two million millennials are entering the housing market while supply from 2018 to 2020 decreased 52 percent.”

A number of factors have contributed to this revelation, such as the rise in median home pricing, median wage not keeping pace, and the national rank of housing a ordability being lower. Miller recently spoke at the A ordable Housing Symposium in Memphis back in May. During his research, Miller found that as of 2023 Memphis has a housing gap of 16,341 units and an a ordability gap of $14,018.

“Supply from 2018 to 2020 decreased 52 percent.”

“ ere are 569,954 units, but the need is 586,295,” Miller said, explaining where this “shortcoming” comes from.

For those who can’t buy homes because of this shortage, their next option is to rent. However, in the city the median rental comes in at $1,224 a month. According to Miller, an individual would need to make $44,064 per year to qualify, while the median income in Memphis is $30,046.

“Basically, the median income in Memphis would have to rise by 52 percent in order for a renter to go rent a house with a ratio of just 33 percent of their overall income,” Miller said. e U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development classi es those

who “pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing” as “housing burdened.”

Miller said one solution is rehabilitation. He said an answer to a ordability is having builders who are focused on a ordable and starter homes as opposed to “McMansions.” He said between 2018 and 2022, the housing supply shortage increased from 2.5 million units to 3.8 million units.

In comparison, 40 percent of homes built in the 1980s were starter homes, compared to 2019 where they only made up 7 percent.

“You need investors to go in and buy up housing in areas where the homes are aged and rehabilitate them so that they can be put back into the a ordable housing inventory,” Miller said.

In 2021, nance company Freddie Mac concluded that while the overall share of aging housing stock is less than 60 percent, an “overwhelming majority of the census tracts in the city center have shares of aging housing greater than 80 percent.”

Areas that have houses whose best options are rehabilitation include Frayser, East Memphis, Whitehaven, parts of Midtown, and more. Miller said rehabilitating homes in these areas would help the a ordability issue.

To help cope with this issue, Miller said people should have a pooling of assets — having friends and family rent together. He also said education is a vital part of this as well.

“ ere’s a direct correlation between education, whether it’s at an educational university for traditional studies or a vocational school,” Miller said. “Education in one way, shape, or form allows somebody to get the job to have a higher income to bridge the gap for a ordability.”

Elon meet Elvis. Elvis meet Elon. @elonmusk @xai

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POSTED TO X BY JEFF BYRD

PHOTO: TIERRA MALLORCA | UNSPLASH Memphis has a housing gap of 16,341 units and an a ordability gap of $14,018.

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OP99 for the Kids {

CITY REPORTER

By Toby Sells

Marathon golf event raises funds for kids golf in Memphis.

They played 99 at OP9.

at is, a group of friends played 99 holes Tuesday, June 4th, at Overton Park 9 for the good of Memphis golf.

e 15 friends started at 6 a.m. — three groups of ve. e goal was to play 11 consecutive rounds of the nine-hole course. ey’d walk the whole thing. One of the group said total milage would be around 25 miles.

For this, they raised money, all the money going to the Overton Park Junior Open, the Overton Park Conservancy (OPC), and the Loren Roberts Scholarship Fund through e First Tee.

Will Frazier’s face was sun-reddened by around 4 p.m. on the eighth round of the 11-round OP99, as they called it. His feet hurt but his spirits were still up. His irons were still crisp. His sense of humor was still intact.

going for the growth of the game and to get more kids involved in it, … I’m like, absolutely.

“I grew up playing golf with my dad and I want to do the same with my boys. If there’s more places to do that and more opportunities for them to do it, that’s what I’m here for.”

Game play on the eighth round was still brisk and competitive. Word on the fairway was that Chase Harris, a former University of Memphis golfer and current PGA golf pro at Chickasaw Country Club, had set the OP9 course record on one round. He was on pace to break his own record in following rounds. Harris nished the day with an astounding 55 birdies, more than half of 99 holes he played.

“So the game plan is to try to build enough momentum from this that it just sort of rolls on itself.”

“I just wish somebody else would’ve put this on,” Frazier joked. “From the beginning I said this is a good idea. is should happen. Sounds great. Who’s going to be the guy who’s going to put it together?”

e guy turned out to be him and

his “partner in crime” John Irvine. Frazier had survived a similar golf event in East Tennessee, that one a total of 100 holes called the Hundred Hole Hike. at event helped to subsidize golf rounds up to $5 for kids there. Memphis kids play every city-owned course for free. So no need to help pay for rounds.

Instead, the OP99 funds will help fund the Overton Park Junior Open. e tournament has been a staple of the Memphis golf scene since it began in 1947. While free and open to all Memphis youth ages 7 to 16, organizing and creating the event is not.

Funds for the OPC will help support the OP9 golf course, of course.

e Loren Roberts Scholarship fund

through e First Tee is awarded to a graduating Memphis student who participates in the First Tee program. at program introduces youth to the game of golf with coaches and practices. e scholarship came from PGA Tour member Loren Roberts, who wanted to make an annual contribution to the Mid-South Junior Golf Association (MSJGA).

As of last ursday, OP99 had raised $54,400.

“I have two little boys — an 8-yearold and a 5-year-old — who love the game of golf,” said OP99 golfer Daniel Connerley. “When [Frazier] said we’re doing this, and we’re going to get it

Frazier is ready to do it again.

“So the game plan is to try to build enough momentum from this that it just sort of rolls on itself because it’s a great idea,” Frazier said. “We’ve got 15 guys out here. But I bet there are 50, 75, 150 guys in Memphis that would love to do this and these legs aren’t going to hold up forever.

“I can do it a couple of times. But not forever.”

e OP99 players were Frazier, Irvine, Connerley, Harris, Stephen Ellis, Tucker Fox, Justin Smith, Alex Ransone, Davidson Alexander, Brian Abraham, McCown Smith, Luke Jensen, Alex Butterworth, Foster Smith, and Jimmy Beard.

To nd out more about the OP99, visit overtonpark99.com.

PHOTO: TOBY SELLS Fi een friends played 99 holes.

POLITICS By Jackson Baker

Who Heads the MPD?

e immediate future could produce either an answer or a power struggle.

It may be only a semantic issue, but, then again, there could be legal rami cations from the matter of what title interim Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis goes by, should she be approved by the city council in its pending retry of her reappointment.

In January, Davis, originally an appointee of former Mayor Jim Strickland, was rejected by the council when then newly inaugurated Mayor Paul Young submitted her name for reappointment.

Young subsequently designated Davis as interim MPD head and indicated he would ask the council to reconsider. Reportedly he will resubmit her name when the city’s ongoing budget deliberations are concluded.

Meanwhile, Young has also announced that he intends to name a public safety director (or public safety advisor). The job’s exact nomenclature, like the timeline for that appointment and the outlines of the public safety official’s intended relationship to the MPD chief, remains somewhat uncertain.

e city charter mandates that the head of police services be referred to by the title “director,” and every supervisor of MPD operations — uniformed or otherwise — since E. Winslow “Buddy” Chapman during the mayoralty of Wyeth Chandler (19721982) has borne that title. Except for C.J. Davis, who allegedly indicated a preference for the title “chief’ when she was hired.

No one seems to remember what title was used in the Strickland-era

council’s deliberations — nor, for that matter, in the deliberations of the current council earlier this year. But questions arise:

If and when Mayor Young’s appointment of the putative new public safety o cial comes to pass, will there be a power struggle with the police chief, as there was between Director Chapman and then-Chief Bill Crumby Jr. before Chapman won out?

Unless Davis is resubmitted as police director, does she even need to be approved by the council to continue serving as chief?

Legal briefs

• e ouster trial of Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert has been scheduled to begin on August 26th in the court of Circuit Court Judge Felicia Corbin-Johnson, who rejected a motion to dismiss the petition led by special prosecutor Coty Wamp of Hamilton County. Meanwhile, a motion to suspend Halbert while the case is ongoing was set for June 25th.

• A resentencing hearing for former state Senator Katrina Robinson has been scheduled by Chief U.S. District Judge Sheryl Lipman for September 20th. Robinson had previously been convicted on two wire-fraud charges in connection with her nursing-school operation and sentenced to time served and a year’s probation.

e 6th Circuit Court of Appeals later restored an additional count she had been convicted of before it was thrown out. Robinson, a Democrat, was expelled from the Republicandominated Senate a er her original conviction on the wire-fraud charges. She is seeking a new trial on one remaining count.

Judge Carol Chumney, at the dais, was among the many members of the political community to pay homage to the late Dr. Joe Weinberg, civic activist supreme, at the Great Hall of Germantown Monday night.

PHOTO: JACKSON BAKER

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Doesn’t

Relax This Summer

Summer is a time of a ernoons by the pool, barbecues, and relaxation. It’s a chance to take a break from your usual routine and enjoy outdoor hobbies and time with loved ones. As important as it is to enjoy summer while you can, it’s equally important to stay nancially focused and not lose sight of your nancial goals. e following tips can help you remain nancially on track throughout the summer months.

1. Automate your nances. Need a break from constantly managing your nances? Give yourself some time to kick back and relax this summer by automating your accounts and investments. Here are a few ways to add automation to your nancial routine so you can spend more time poolside.

planning documents. Also, make sure the custodians you’ve designated to care for your children are still the people you wish to name and that your successor trustee remains relevant.

3. Rebalance your portfolio. Use the change in seasons as a reminder to review your asset allocation and rebalance if necessary. Rebalancing to your original (or an updated) asset allocation helps lock in gains from top-performing sectors and ensure your portfolio remains in line with your investment objectives and risk tolerance. Contact your wealth manager for assistance.

4. Check in on your insurance. Want to feel extra carefree this summer? Review your insurance policies to ensure you’re covered should something unexpected happen. Your wealth manager can help review your existing insurance policies and identify any gaps in coverage.

• Set up automatic debits with your credit card company, loan servicer, utility companies, etc. is practice removes the stress of having to schedule payments each month. Just make it a point to regularly check in on your accounts and ensure the correct amounts have been debited.

• Set up bill pay with your bank. For any service providers that don’t o er automatic debits, consider setting up direct payments through your checking or savings account. It’s still easier than mailing a check each month.

• Automate your retirement plan contributions through payroll deferrals.

• Establish a direct transfer from your paycheck to your savings account.

2. Review your bene ciaries. Checking this important task o your list can provide you with peace of mind this summer. Bene ciaries can quickly become outdated as your life evolves and your relationships change over time. at’s why it’s important to periodically review your bene ciaries on all accounts, investments, trusts, and other estate

5. Plan for summer expenses. Don’t let summertime expenses catch you o guard. Make a plan to cover the added costs of summer vacations, kids’ camps, childcare expenses for when the kids are out of school, etc. Having a plan in place allows you to comfortably spend a bit more without negatively impacting your other nancial goals. If you have a dependent care FSA, this can be used to pay for summer day camps (in addition to daycare and preschool) in a pre-tax manner, assuming the expenses are allowing you to be gainfully employed or look for work.

6. Take steps to lower your taxes. e midyear point is a great time to check in on your tax planning strategies. Your wealth manager can help you take advantage of tax-loss harvesting, asset location, charitable giving, and other strategies to help lower your annual tax liabilities.

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PHOTO: GIULIA SQUILLACE | UNSPLASH

For the Culture

TONE’S JUNETEENTH FESTIVAL AIMS TO INCREASE MEMPHIS’ CULTURAL CAPITAL.

PHOTOS:

COVER STORY

By Chris McCoy

Adubb

Hitkidd

Austin Crui$e

Juss o

Ricky Davaine

Tone’s been busy. e arts nonpro t organization is dedicated to “elevat[ing] Black artists as innovative thought leaders, courageous storytellers, and risk-taking problem solvers through intentional exhibitions, conversations, concerts, and artist development, “with the goal of “shi [ing] the culture of Memphis through groundbreaking art, media, and communication that centers Black experiences in our city’s past, present, and future.”

To accomplish that goal, Tone has to keep a lot of plates spinning. e latest exhibition at their Orange Mound gallery, which opened on June 8th, is called “Invisible Man.” e theme for the group show, featuring artists from inside and outside Memphis, is deconstructing concepts of masculinity. “We’ve chosen that name because the essence of the exhibition is inspired by Ralph Ellison’s book Invisible Man,” says curator Kylon Wagner. Tone’s annual Juneteenth celebration has become wildly popular. is year, it will stretch into three days, from Friday, June 14th, to Sunday, June 16th. It will feature the biggest lineup of entertainment yet and give attendees a preview of the latest developments in the organization’s grand opus: e transformation of a derelict Purina animal feed factory into an innovative center for Black arts, wellness, and entrepreneurship called Orange Mound Tower.

Sitting in the freshly renovated o ces of the Tone gallery in Orange Mound, Tone executive director Victoria Jones says sometimes her organization’s ambitious agenda of community transformation can feel overwhelming. “It’s been going, it feels like hyper speed some days. We at Tone internally have really had to focus on building capacity so we could take on the project — not just take on the development of the project, but once it exists in its full capacity, actually grow into that larger space. And so, we have been working on capacity building for our sta , which has led to some really great partnerships with the Mellon Foundation, where we’ve been able to get everybody an honorable salary, wages, and healthcare. Obviously, that’s gonna change the morale of a team! So that’s been really exciting. We have had an opportunity to work with folks like the Memphis Music Initiative, who led the [o ce] renovation back here for us. … It’s a strong, solid team right now. We’re really learning our systems di erently. Because we’ve been such a young, kind of scrappy organization that we were just like, ‘Ooh, let’s try this. Ooh, let’s try that.’ But now we’re learning what it means to actually build out systems, plan for the future, and see those things through. We’re

missing. But it halted Lee’s invasion of the North, at least temporarily. On September 22nd, to capitalize on the victory, and give his abolitionist supporters the moral crusade against slavery they craved, President Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation. E ective January 1, 1863, all slaves in the Confederate territories would be henceforth free. As the news of liberation spread, many enslaved Black people in the West ran away and ocked to newly liberated Memphis, altering the city’s demographics forever.

But many of the enslaved, who had been purposefully kept ignorant by their masters, didn’t know about the emancipation. Even a er the Confederacy surrendered in April 1865, slavery continued in then-remote places like Texas. On June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger landed in Galveston, Texas, to begin the military occupation and Reconstruction, and informed the people of Texas that “In accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.” In the years that followed, the more than 250,000 Black people liberated that day started calling the holiday Juneteenth. e National Museum of African American History and Culture calls it “our country’s second Independence Day.”

Since it was founded as e CLTV, Tone has made Juneteenth their day of celebration. “We don’t have that many holidays that center our experience in general,” says Jones. “We have had to create Juneteenth. I think it’s our rst opportunity to begin to truly celebrate freedom, even before it’s been fully won — ’cause I feel like we still got a little ways to go. It’s an opportunity for us to take a pause and go all the way up for what our ancestors had to go through, what our elders have walked us through, and what we can do in the future.

where it is right now, I don’t know of another holiday that would

vacant, blighted post-industrial site that featured a tower visible from all over the historic Orange Mound neighborhood. “ at

continued on page 14

PHOTO: CBJ VISION A crowd at a previous Juneteenth Festival

PHOTO: CHRIS McCOY Orange Mound Tower

wondering how they were going to accommodate thousands of people in a place with no power and no working bathrooms. Unapologetic, Tone’s partner in the Orange Mound Tower project, provided the entertainment. e gathering went a long way toward putting Tone on the map of Memphis arts orgs. “It’s grown substantially each year,” says Jones. “Even with the rain that hit last year, we saw a huge boost in attendance and participation from the artists and headliners we had selected. It’s been a fun growth to watch.”

One of Tone’s goals for the festival is to make it a sort of Black homecoming, attracting people who have le Memphis to come back. “We’re wanting to name Memphis as the cultural beacon of the South, but wanting to do that in connection with other cities,” says Jones. “If we’re thinking about the emancipation of Black folks and that entire experience, the thought that the country as a whole can reckon with any kind of post-racist experience and not have that reckoning happening here in the South is null and void.”

When designing the celebration, Jones says the organizers asked themselves, “How do we participate in and help launch some of those e orts to o er up space for Black folks to be healing, and inviting folks from the South to participate in that? And then essentially hoping that the festival and we can become so large that it’s a true beacon back home, an invitation to come back home, if it’s for the weekend or if it’s for longer. Come back home; help build this new future with us. Juneteenth really gives us that opportunity. We are watching folks pull up for that weekend and get a taste of Memphis. It’s folks who might not have been here for a long time and are like, ‘I didn’t know this was happening here. I didn’t know these folks were here. I didn’t know this community was here.’”

Appropriately, for a Black homecoming celebration, Juneteenth 2024 kicks o with a game of Spades. How did the card game get so popular in the Black community? “I don’t know,” says Jones. “I just know I ain’t never been to a function without it.”

“It’s a game about making do with what you have. You get that hand, and how can you make it jump?” says Willie McDonald, Tone’s development director. “ e gala didn’t feel like the right rst touch point for the weekend. So just trying to gure out, how do we welcome folk? What we have been seeing in attendance lately is, folks are coming from outside of the city to join us. … Our Juneteenth celebration happens under the banner of a family reunion, and Spades is an essential family reunion activity.”

e Friday night Spades tournament will be held in the Tone gallery, amid the artwork of the “Invisible Man” exhibit. More than 150 people have signed up so far. “We’ll have a whole new, larger crowd to experience that exhibition,” says Jones.

“It was live last year,” says McDonald. “ ere was some controversy in the room.”

On Saturday night, the celebration moves across the street to Orange Mound Tower for the gala. “It’s in one of the smaller warehouses,” says Jones. “ is year, the is theme is revival. I’m imagining reviving the tower. And so the theme will be ‘Sunday best.’”

e seated banquet will include a keynote speaker and entertainment from Beale Street musicians and the Tennessee Mass Choir. “ e way it’s sectioned o , it gives us three or four di erent room opportunities. We gonna have some unique experiences in each room,” says Jones.

On Sunday, the party kicks into high gear, with a vendor marketplace and Blackowned food trucks. One new addition this year will be a carousel with actual horses. Since the event commemorated by Juneteenth happened in Texas, many enslaved people found out about their emancipation from Black cowboys who spread the word on horseback. e Black rancher tradition has recently been in the spotlight, thanks to Jordan Peele’s lm Nope, and Beyonce’s country- avored Cowboy Carter album. (Peele is currently producing a documentary about Black cowboys.) “ at’s a real part of Juneteenth tradition that I don’t think we get to elevate as o en, that it was a Black cowboy letting a lot of the enslaved folks know,” says Jones. “We’ve been trying to nd unique ways to tie Black folks on horses into the experience. It’s the symbolism of freedom and mobility.”

e star of the show on Sunday is the music. is year’s lineup is stacked with talent, both from Memphis and elsewhere in the South. McDonald says the nature of the event helped attract some big names. “ e signi cance of us having this Juneteenth in Orange Mound, being the oldest neighborhood established by emancipated Black folks in the United States, and the funding from that going toward the larger capital campaign e orts for establishing a hub for Black innovation.”

e biggest name performer is neo-soul legend Erykah Badu, who will be doing a set under her DJ name Lo Down Loretta Brown. Memphis hip-hop legend, ree 6 Ma a founder, and secret engine of popular culture innovation Juicy J, whose accomplishments are too numerous to list here, will be on hand to deliver a highly anticipated performance. Also on the bill is New Orleans rapper and record label owner Curren$y, fresh o his 2024 collaboration with Trauma Tone on Highway 600

e o cial headliner is Memphis’ own Hitkidd. e producer of GloRilla’s song of the summer “F.N.F. (Let’s Go)” and Campsouth Records mastermind is no stranger to the OMT stage. “He was at last year’s Juneteenth, and probably my favorite performance of the night,” says Jones.

“It was epic!” says McDonald. “[Last year] the main stage rained out, so our entire crowd stormed the north warehouse, and it made the second stage turn into the main stage. We had to get barricades up in like 10 minutes. en we got Hitkidd

standing up on top of tables and Slimeroni and three other female artists going HAM. It was the moment.”

The Architects of the Future

One person who attended last year’s Juneteenth festival was Germane Barnes. He’s an associate professor and the director of the Community, Housing & Identity Lab at the University of Miami School of Architecture; a Rome Prize Fellow; and the winner of the 2021 Harvard GSD Wheelwright Prize. He was at the festival at the suggestion of Chicago-based artist, professor, and entrepreneur easter Gates, a pedigree which impressed Jones and the Tone board of directors. “His practice is based around building out culturally informed spaces, spaces that have the cultural references that resonate for the people that they’re designed for,” says Jones.

e architect was intrigued the moment he saw the tower rising over Lamar. “He walked with me all the way to the top of the tower the rst day that he came,” says McDonald. “He stopped and took detailed photographs on every oor. He attended the gala. He hung out with us the whole weekend. en he leaves, and we don’t hear from him for a couple weeks.”

When Barnes recontacted Tone, he asked permission to use the Orange Mound Tower project in a class he was teaching at Ohio State University. “He’s got these grad students, and he had them do renderings of the tower. So we y out to Ohio, and we’re looking at these CAD renderings. ey’re splitting the tower open like an egg, showing us cross sections. ey’re throwing all kinds of di erent facilities into it, just giving us perspective on what it could turn into. Some of these would be featured in the space where we’re hosting the gala. ere’ll be an installation showing the progress of the tower that we’re sharing right now.”

Jones says, “ e work we got to do with those students was so important. at’s our rst time learning how to give feedback to architects. He’s pushing us, ‘Speak up, do you like this? How do you feel about this?’ … We got a lot of positive feedback from the students as well. Most of their coursework is for projects that don’t even exist in real life, so to know this could a ect and touch an actual community was meaningful.”

Barnes formally came on board as the architect of record for the Orange Mound Tower project in early 2024, thanks to a grant from the Memphis Music Initiative. “Germane got on that rst call with us excited, and that felt good, really a rming that this is a dream project,” says Jones. “He’s never gotten to do a project of this scale, and so for him, this is an opportunity to touch a big project that, as he describes it, would usually be reserved for a 70-year-old white man. Him being able to come in as a young Black guy and ex what he can do, we know he knows that in a space this Black, it’s just gonna be incredible. He’s teamed up with local rms LRK [Looney Ricks Kiss] and APA [Aaron Patrick Architects], and they’re creating an architecture dream team for us.”

While Unapologetic remains an ownership partner, Tone has taken the front seat in development work. e Tower team also includes Brent Hooks, an accomplished project manager with more than a decade’s worth of experience in large-scale urban development and complex project coordination. “His extensive background in civil engineering and construction management ensures the successful delivery of high-quality projects, contributing signi cantly to the team’s success,” says Jones.

Veteran developers Bill Ganus and Darrell Cobbins serve as development consultants. “ ey’re just so deeply familiar with the landscape of Memphis, and they’ve really been helping us identify some moving parts. We want such a unique approach to tenancy, and how we’re imagining these kind of communities forming around the art and culture, food and agriculture, small business, and health and wellness. [Darrell] has been encouraging and inspiring as we’re imagining how we can truly build out communities around these concepts, not just getting folks to sign leases, so that they can also participate in imagining what the space could look like.”

With almost $4 million invested in the project’s design phase, and another $7 to $9 million on deck, Jones expects to be ready to move Tone onto the 10-acre site sometime in 2025, along with other tenants who will sign up for space in the massive warehouse that will be rejuvenated in the rst phase of the project. “We’ve broken it into digestible chunks to make our fundraising job a bit easier,” says McDonald.

Jones says Tone is trying to build an infrastructure for Black freedom in Memphis, to retain talent, and to attract new people and new innovation to the city. “What does it mean if we’re able to actually build the infrastructure in our image in ways that are more thoughtful, more innovative than the structures that we’ve seen around New York, L.A., even Atlanta? You don’t have to force a t here. You can actually build it to be what you want it to be. Once that infrastructure is developed, or at least in those beginning phases, we’re inviting folks in. Hey, this platform is here. You ain’t gotta go nowhere. Matter of fact, we need you not to go anywhere! Go see the world, but keep your home here, so we can build this city together.”

Visit tonememphis.org for a full schedule of Tone’s Juneteenth events and for more information.

PHOTO: COURTESY STUDIO BARNES Germane Barnes

steppin’ out

We Recommend: Culture, News + Reviews

Fiesta By Abigail Morici

“In the Philippines, each town has a festival or a esta, o en in honor of patron saints,” says Harry Guinocor, president of the Filipino-American Association of Memphis (FILAMemphis).

“ at’s the one thing that is very distinct about the Philippine culture — it’s fun, it’s entertaining.” at’s partly why, Guinocor says, FILAMemphis is hosting their rst-ever Philippine Fiesta in Memphis this Saturday.

“We want to let Memphis know about the Filipino culture — that we’re a great addition to an already diverse community in Memphis,” he says. “We took inspiration from the other minority groups, like the Vietnamese, the Chinese, and then, of course, you have the Italian Fest, the Greek Fest. We felt like, ‘Let’s do our part.’”

e free event will feature a parade of Fiesta Queens in costumes that represent speci c festivals held in the Philippines. e day will also have performances of various Filipino cultural dances, such as the tinikling, a bamboo dance, and the bulaklakan, a ower dance. Kids can enjoy activities like face-painting, and adults can partake in an open mic session with karaoke, “a beloved Filipino pastime,” Guinocor says.

Of course, the esta wouldn’t be complete without food. Kukuruku Crispy Chicken, a Filipino restaurant in Lakeland, is just one of the food vendors that will be present. “We will showcase a variety of Filipino cuisines, including lumpia, Filipino eggrolls; pancit, a dish of rice noodles with meat and vegetables; and lechon, roasted suckling pig,” he says. “Of course, we’re going to have boba. And one distinct avor of boba we’re going to have is the ube, which is like taro. It’s a Filipino delicacy that’s taken the West and East coasts by storm because it’s something that’s kind of unique, kind of new. ere’s actually going to be a store that’s going to be selling an ube crinkle as well.”

Guinocor adds that the festival will also host non-Filipino vendors, including Latino vendors. “ e Philippines,” he points out, “has been under Spanish in uence for about 300 years, so there’s a lot of Spanish in uence that you’ll see at the festival.”

In all, though, the day is about having fun. “ ere’s always that sense of community during esta time,” Guinocor says. “ at’s when everyone in the town comes together. So we hope that we can also bring that here in Memphis, that we can bring everyone in Memphis together.”

PHILIPPINE FIESTA, AGRICENTER INTERNATIONAL, 7777 WALNUT GROVE, SATURDAY, JUNE 15, 11 A.M.-6

VARIOUS DAYS & TIMES June 13th - 19th

Juneteenth Douglass Freedom Festival

Douglass Park, Friday, June 14, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. | Saturday-Sunday, June 15-June 16, 3-8 p.m.

is year marks 31 years celebrating Juneteenth in Douglass Park, the “OG Juneteenth Memphis.” Friday’s celebration will completely focus on the youth, with youth performers, youth vendors, and even a youth host and DJ. Saturday’s stage will feature the National Jookin League and Marcus.901, and Sunday’s will feature Ekpe Abioto to give libations to honor fathers for Father’s Day, ancestors, and the community.

As always, the festival is free, parking is free, and you are free to bring your grills, coolers, tents, tables, and chairs.

Ben Bailey

Black Lodge, 405 North Cleveland, Friday, June 14, 8 p.m., $35/general admission, $60/VIP

Comedian Ben Bailey drove the smash hit series Cash Cab (still in syndication around the world) for over 550 episodes, earning multiple Daytime Emmy Awards. Prior to becoming “the Cash Cab guy,” he performed at e Comedy Store in L.A., in clubs across NYC, and at major comedy festivals around the world. Bailey starred in two specials for Comedy Central: “Road Rage and Accidental Ornithology” in 2011 and “Ben Bailey: Live and Uncensored” in 2016.

Bailey currently tours the country as a national headliner. You can see him live at Black Lodge this weekend.

Get tickets at tinyurl.com/ yw57mm6d.

Cra s & Dra s

Crosstown Concourse, 1350 Concourse, Saturday, June 15, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

We’re hosting a free, fabulous, fun, family-friendly, and locals- rst shopping event. Join us for a beautiful day in Midtown Memphis, shop local makers and artists, and enjoy delicious local cra beers.

Juneteenth Community Day

National Civil Rights Museum, 450 Mulberry, Wednesday, June 19, 9 a.m.-6 p.m., free e National Civil Rights Museum is celebrating Juneteenth with free museum admission to learn more about the origins and importance of the holiday.

e Community Day will also feature a Health Equity Fair that will o er a range of health-related services, resources, and activities, plus the opportunity to donate blood.

P.M., FREE.

PHOTO: ISAWRED | UNSPLASH Memphis’ rst Philippine Fiesta

MUSIC By Alex Greene

The Subteens Level Up

Back to the Light Records marks the 25th anniversary of the band’s debut with vinyl reissue.

The resurgence of vinyl records has not only brought a plethora of new material sporting colorful platters and beautiful cover art, it’s given a second life to albums that were originally released when CDs were king. e vagaries of time having winnowed the wheat from the cha , albums from decades past that have only taken on more artistic value can now be elevated to a more perfect medium: vinyl.

None are more deserving than the Subteens’ 1999 CD-only debut, Burn Your Cardigan, freshly reissued on wax by Back to the Light Records last month. Recorded just a er seminal punk/indie drummer John “Bubba” Bonds joined the group, it revealed what a perfect complement he was to the visions of co-founders Mark Akin (guitar and vocals) and Jay Hines (bass), and established the Subteens, with their mastery of adrenalinecharged pop-punk originals, as one of the best Memphis groups at the turn of the 21st century.

Yet, as Hines relates today, Bonds was nervous about the sessions. On the rst day of recording, Hines says, “We had to go nd him, and it was raining really hard. He was down at the South End or somewhere, and we had to go get him, get his drums, and then go by Buster’s to get him a h of Jack or something. en we went back to the studio and got busy.”

“Most of those [songs] were done in one or two takes. So miraculous!”

Not that any of them were plastered as they recorded. ey took the album very seriously. “We were just trying to get him to relax a little bit,” says Hines. “He didn’t get sloppy or anything — he played to a click track on a lot of that. But that made him nervous. Also, he had just joined the group. We had had maybe one practice and maybe one show with him at that point. But he just nailed it. Most of those [songs] were done in one or two takes. So miraculous!”

Also seemingly miraculous at the time was the studio’s proximity to cheap eats. e sessions were booked at Robbie Pickens’ Nu-Star Studio, not a well-known recording destination even then. “It was over o Summer behind Sonic. You could literally walk out of the studio, climb over his back fence, and be at Sonic. So that was amazing,” Akin recalls today.

PHOTO: CHRIS REYES e Subteens

ALBUM COVER ARTWORK: MIKE MCCARTHY

“Robbie was not a typical person that a Midtown fan would seek for help producing a record, you know?” notes Akin. “I can’t remember why we ended up with him. Maybe he was just cheap. But for whatever reason, the stars aligned. Robbie really understood the punk that we were coming from. But I think he also understood that we wanted a little bit of gloss on it, a little bit of pop sensibility. Robbie was able to have a foot in both of those worlds and bring it together. I just can’t overstate enough how helpful Robbie was.”

Surprisingly, for a band that seems to have had great guitar sounds dialed in from the start, the crunchy ri s of Burn Your Cardigan came down to Pickens’ production skills. “I could not get the guitar sound right,” says Akin. “And nally, Robbie was like, ‘Mark, leave. Go to Sonic! I’m going to get your guitar sound.’ Later, he calls me to come back in and listen to it, but he won’t let me see what he’s done. And it sounds fantastic. en he said, ‘Okay, let me show you how I got it.’ He had put a really small amp, like a Pignose, in this tiny closet, and had somehow gotten this magical guitar tone out of it.”

e end result was indeed a perfect blend of noisy punk attitude and the band’s unmistakable pop instincts. “Even our favorite punk bands are really pop bands at heart, or at least my favorite punk bands,” says Akin. “ e Sex Pistols,

the Ramones … And Jay’s really into the Buzzcocks, Sham 69. I’m really an AC/DC [fan]. at’s all hooky pop, just with harder rock guitar tones and di erent tempos. And every single one of those songs are arranged with a purpose and they’re arranged in a sensible, linear way.” e ultimate statement of this approach may be Side One’s closer, Billy Joel’s “You May Be Right,” thrashed out with complete sincerity as if it were the latest track by the Clash. ere’s a de ance to the track that helps one understand the band’s historical context. e late ’90s were trending away from the punk/pop axis, toward more introspective, watery styles like “shoegaze.” Shoegaze bands, it must be said, o en ditched the rock-androll threads of jeans and a T-shirt in favor of … sweaters.

“ e title of the album was totally Mark,” says Hines. “ is was back when he was working at the Memphis Pizza Café, and I came in and he had this funny look on his face. He said, ‘What would you think about …’ — and he sort of hesitated, I guess because he thought I would laugh at it — ‘Burn Your Cardigan?’ And once I realized where he was coming from, I thought it was perfect.”

No shoegazing was going on with these guys. As Akin remembers, “When we rst came out, we weren’t super well received. I feel like people didn’t quite know what to make of us at rst because we wrote songs with beginnings, middles, and ends. We tried to have a chorus that got in your head and we tried to make the songs short. We would just go to play 10 songs and get the hell o stage. But then when that record came out, I think it really represented what we were all about. ‘ is is what we are!’ And we started getting more people at the shows, and that never stopped. It’s always fun to have people come and watch you play.”

e Subteens cap o the Record Fair at Soul & Spirits Brewery on Saturday, June 15th, and will celebrate the reissue of Burn Your Cardigan with the River City Tanlines at Bar DKDC on Saturday, July 6th.

DJ Edwin

Saturday, June 15, 9 p.m.

EIGHT & SAND

Live at the Tracks:

Madaline Collins

ursday, June 13, 6:30 p.m.

EIGHT & SAND

Live & Local Music

Live and local music, every Wednesday night on the all-weather patio. Wednesday, June 19, 7-10 p.m.

MOMMA’S

LoCash and Runaway

June

Kix on Beale celebrates 20 years of bringing music to historic Beale Street. All ages are welcome. Free. ursday, June 13, 7:30 p.m.

HANDY PARK

MarceauxMarceaux

A Memphis-based, New Orleans-born DJ. Friday, June 14, 9 p.m.

EIGHT & SAND

Seeing Red

Roo op Party featuring Seeing Red and DJ A.D. ursday, June 13, 7 p.m.

THE PEABODY HOTEL

The Subteens

A er the Record Fair, from 1 to 7 p.m., hear a live set by one of the city’s most beloved bands. Saturday, June 15, 7 p.m.

SOUL & SPIRITS BREWERY

Tony Holiday

Sunday, June 16, 3 p.m.

HUEY’S DOWNTOWN

Java Trio

Wednesday, June 19, 6 p.m.

HUEY’S POPLAR

Jazz on Juneteenth with Symmetry Jazz Band

Gary Topper’s ne band with 10 of the city’s nest jazz players, playing both standards and Topper’s stunning originals. Tuesday, June 18, 4-5:30 p.m.

BENJAMIN L. HOOKS CENTRAL LIBRARY

Max & the Magics

Sunday, June 16, 3 p.m.

HUEY’S POPLAR

PRIZM International Chamber Music Festival: Dior Quartet

Joined together from Israel, Korea-Canada, Saint Lucia, and the USA, the Dior Quartet is the Quartet-in-Residence at the Glenn Gould School, Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Canada. $15/ general admission. Saturday, June 15, 7 p.m.

BUCKMAN ARTS CENTER AT ST.

MARY’S SCHOOL

PRIZM International Chamber Music Festival

Faculty Concert

ursday, June 13, 7 p.m.

SHADY GROVE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

AFTER DARK: Live Music Schedule June 13 - 19

PRIZM International Chamber Music Festival Student Showcase

Friday, June 14, 7 p.m.

SHADY GROVE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Van Duren

e singer/songwriter, a pioneer of indie pop in Memphis, performs solo. ursday, June 13, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

MORTIMER’S

Allen Stone

Friday, June 14, 8 p.m.

MINGLEWOOD HALL

Almost Elton John & the Rocketmen

Friday, June 14, 7 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Along Came A Spider With Heartsick [Small RoomDownstairs]. Sunday, June 16, 8 p.m.

HI TONE

Baroness With Portrayal of Guilt, Filth Is Eternal. Friday, June 14, 8 p.m.

GROWLERS

Belvedere Chamber Music Festival

Produced by Luna Nova Music to feature masterworks of the 20th and 21st centuries and new works by young, aspiring composers. Visit belvederefestival.org. Free.

Wednesday-Saturday evenings at 7 p.m.; Friday and Saturday a ernoons at 3 p.m. Wednesday, June 19-June 22.

GRACE-ST. LUKE’S EPISCOPAL

CHURCH

Black Cream Friday, June 14, 8 p.m.

RAILGARTEN

Blvck Hippie

Free. Saturday, June 15, 7:30 p.m.

OVERTON PARK SHELL

Bob & Angela

Tuesday, June 18, 6 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Cedric Burnside e Grammy-winning guitarist and drummer rede ning the hill country blues. Free. ursday, June 13, 7:30 p.m.

OVERTON PARK SHELL

Data Drums

With Outside Source. Friday, June 14, 10 p.m.

BAR DKDC

Debbie Jamison Band Sunday, June 16, 3 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Devil Train Bluegrass, roots, country, Delta, and ski e. ursday, June 13, 10 p.m.

B-SIDE

Dinosauria

With K.L. Clark, J.W. Bird, Avery Vaughn [Small RoomDownstairs]. Wednesday, June 19, 8 p.m.

HI TONE

Eddie 9V

Sunday, June 16, 8 p.m.

MINGLEWOOD HALL

Equinox Wavelength

Frequency Consortium

Tuesday, June 18, 10 p.m.

B-SIDE

Father’s Day Massacre at Growlers

With Pantheon, Severe

Headwound, Deathspiral of Inherited Su ering, East of Eden. Sunday, June 16, 7 p.m.

GROWLERS

Formerly Known As Friday, June 14, 10 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Full Metal Racket

Saturday, June 15, 9 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Goner Presents: Cosmic Psychos 40th

Anniversary Tour Australian punk band formed in 1982, spearheaded by founding member and bass player Ross Knight. With Nine Pound Hammer, True Sons of under. ursday, June 13, 8 p.m.

GROWLERS

Gothique DJ Night

Presented by Sanctuary of Shadows with DJ Midnight, DJ Plastic Citizen. Saturday, June 15, 10 p.m.

GROWLERS

Grand Theft Audio

Sunday, June 16, 7 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

GWAR

With Weedeater, X-Cops, Squid Pisser. Saturday, June 15, 7 p.m.

MINGLEWOOD HALL

Jazz in the Galleries with the Memphis Jazz Workshop

e Saturday Series featuring good jazz and great times in the galleries at the Brooks. Saturday, June 15, noon-2 p.m.

MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART

J.D. Westmoreland Band

Monday, June 17, 10 p.m.

B-SIDE

Jeremy & the Drip

Edges

With Joecephus & the George Jonestown Massacre. Friday, June 14, 9:30 p.m.

B-SIDE

Jessye DeSilva

“Utterly tender hearted. Warm and sincere.” – The Ark of Music. Presented by Folk All Y’all and Crosstown Arts. $20/general admission. Saturday, June 15, 7:30 p.m.

THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS

Joe Restivo 4 Sunday, June 16, 11 a.m.2 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Korroded

With Forced Humility, Inferna [Small RoomDownstairs]. Friday, June 14, 8 p.m.

HI TONE

Lamont Landers

Free. Friday, June 14, 7:30 p.m.

OVERTON PARK SHELL

Laundry Bats

With DJ Sara Moseley. Saturday, June 15, 9 p.m.

BAR DKDC

Marisa Anderson

“One of the most distinctive guitar players of her generation,” (The New Yorker) blending minimalism, electronic music, drone, and 20th century classical music with blues, jazz, and country. $20. Sunday, June 16, 7:30 p.m.

THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS

Mighty Souls Brass Band ursday, June 13, 6:30 p.m.

RAILGARTEN

Mystrio Sunday, June 16, 7:30 p.m.

B-SIDE

Nekromantix

With e Beat Creeps, Los Psychosis [Big Room-Upstairs]. Sunday, June 16, 8 p.m.

HI TONE

Pam & Terry Monday, June 17, 6 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Premo Rice: Juneteenth Celebration Wednesday, June 19, 5 p.m.

MINGLEWOOD HALL

Devil Train & Gia Welch

Friday, June 14, 8 p.m.

HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY

Duane Cleveland Trio

Sunday, June 16, 6 p.m.

HUEY’S SOUTHAVEN

E.G. Vines & the Turkey Buzzards

ursday, June 13, 8 p.m. |

Friday, June 14, 10 p.m.

HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY

Ethan Smith Trio

Wednesday, June 19, 6 p.m.

HUEY’S SOUTHWIND

Greentown

Wednesday, June 19, 8 p.m.

HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY

Live in Studio A: Summer Series with 926 Stax Music Academy Alumni Band

Purgatory Pressings

Presents Purg Fest

With Etta Havoc, Suroor, Pity Invite, Nonconnah, Shea Harris, Gooetones, Robert Traxler. Saturday, June 15, 6 p.m.

LAMPLIGHTER LOUNGE

Rice Drewry Collective

Saturday, June 15, 5 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Southern Grind Sessions Wednesday, June 19, 6 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Symptoms With Team Marcia, Stone Redd [Small Room-Downstairs]. Thursday, June 13, 8 p.m.

HI TONE

The Acorns With Move Through, Wicker, General Labor, The Ellie Badge. Friday, June 14, 7:30 p.m.

LAMPLIGHTER LOUNGE

The Acorns

With Wicker, Don Quixote’s Horse. Saturday, June 15, 9:30 p.m.

B-SIDE

The Chaulkies

Sunday, June 16, 3 p.m.

HUEY’S MIDTOWN

Third Coast

Saturday, June 15, 8 p.m.

RAILGARTEN

Thumpdaddy

ursday, June 13, 7 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Vinyl Happy Hour

With guest DJs every ursday. ursday, June 13, 3-5 p.m.

MEMPHIS LISTENING LAB

Willie Farmer Trio

From Winter Hill to Duck Hill: Blues All Night Long, also with Ryan Lee Crosby feat. Grant Smith and Shaun Marsh. $20-$25. Friday, June 14, 7:30 p.m.

THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN

ARTS

Zashed

With A Kiss Before Dying, Gutbust, O cer Down, Calamity [Small RoomDownstairs]. Saturday, June 15, 7 p.m.

HI TONE

Featuring Stax Music Academy alums now in college or working as professional musicians.

Tuesday, June 18, 2-4 p.m.

STAX MUSEUM OF AMERICAN SOUL MUSIC

High Point Sunday, June 16, 6 p.m.

HUEY’S SOUTHWIND

Zebra

Eighties hard-rockers Zebra come to Graceland Live.

$29.50/reserved seating.

Saturday, June 15, 8 p.m.

GRACELAND SOUNDSTAGE

Concerts in The Grove — Hope Clayburn’s Soul Scrimmage

Funkadelic-like grooves with soul, world beat, rock, and jazz to create an energetic and unique Memphis sound. $7. ursday, June 13, 6:30-8 p.m.

THE GROVE AT GERMANTOWN

PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

Memphis Blues Society Weekly Jam

Hosted by Jackie Flora & Friends. ursday, June 13, 7:30 p.m.

ROCKHOUSE LIVE

Richard Wilson: Soulful

Blues

Live and smooth. Friday, June 14, noon-2 p.m.

JACKIE MAE’S PLACE

Singer Songwriter

Sundays

Enjoy some of the areas best local musicians every Sunday. Sunday, June 16, 4-6 p.m.

MEDDLESOME BREWING COMPANY

The Grazers - a Bluegrass Concert on the Garth

Enjoy an evening of music on the lawn. Sunday, June 16, 7 p.m.

ST. GEORGE’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH

Wendell Wells & The Big Americans

Honky tonk, cow jazz, barn burnin blues. Saturday, June 15, 5 p.m.

MARGARITAS MEXICAN RESTAURANT

PHOTO: JENNY BERGMAN Jessye DeSilva

MARISA ANDERSON

CALENDAR of EVENTS: June 13 - 19

ART AND SPECIAL EXHIBITS

“Between Heaven and Earth, We Build Our Home”

“Between Heaven And Earth, We Build Our Home” explores themes of ancestry, immigration, and homemaking in an exhibition featuring AAPI artists from Memphis and the South. rough June 20.

URBAN ART COMMISSION

“Branching Out”

Discover intricate connections between students, teachers, and casting communities, which branch out much like a family tree. rough Sept. 8.

METAL MUSEUM

CBU: 2024 Spring BFA Exhibition

esis exhibition for graduating seniors in the department of visual arts at Christian Brothers University. rough June 30.

BEVERLY + SAM ROSS GALLERY

Dr. Gopal Murti: “Finding Beauty in Everything I See” Murti’s art is eclectic in terms of style, subject, medium, and substrate. rough July 1.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

“Everyday People: Snapshots of The Black Experience” A photography exhibition showcasing Memphis artist Eric Echols’ photo collection of 20th-century African Americans. rough July 14.

MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & HISTORY

Freida Hamm: “Storytelling” Capturing colorful, languid moments just a er dawn and just before dusk, when the day’s light does its dance. rough July 13.

DAVID LUSK GALLERY

“It’s All Relative” Sicilian/Puerto Rican postsurrealist sculptor Morgan Lugo uses permanent materials, such as bronze, to speak to the lasting e ects of past experiences. rough July 7.

METAL MUSEUM

“Memphis 2024”

Experience visual art in various genres and media from artists across Memphis. rough June 30.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

“Mission: Astronaut”

Get a taste of life as an astronaut, using skills like engineering, physics, teamwork, and fun. rough Sept. 2

MEMPHIS MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & HISTORY

“People Are People” is exhibition honors famed American designer Christian Siriano’s electrifying contributions to fashion. rough Aug. 4.

MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART

“Sisters of the Brush and a Brother Present an Eclectic Mix” Paintings by Phyllis Boger, Ann Brown omason, Barrie Skoda Foster, and Jana Jones, with a brother, Patrick McGee. rough June 30.

ST. GEORGE’S ART GALLERY AT ST. GEORGE’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH

Sowgand Sheikholeslami:

“Progression” is show ranges from enigmatic gures set within interior spaces to boldly painted still lifes and abstract landscapes. rough July 7.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

Summer Art Garden:

“Creatures of Paradise” Memphis-based duo Banana Plastik present an environment lled with vibrant and whimsical beings. rough Oct. 26.

MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART

“The Real & Imagined” New work from Erin Harmon and Kong Wee Pang delving into imaginary environments and creations. rough June 22.

SHEET CAKE

“Threading Legacies”: A Tribute to Black Women Quilters in Memphis

“ reading Legacies” honors Black women quilters, celebrating resilience, artistry, and community through their quilts, weaving personal and communal histories. rough June 28.

COSSITT LIBRARY - DOWNTOWN MEMPHIS

“Whimsy & Wonder”: Bartlett Art Association Exhibition

Enjoy the Bartlett Art Association’s use of pixels and pallets. rough June 29.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

ART HAPPENINGS

Figure Drawing Class Artists of all levels can practice and increase their skills drawing the human form. $10, $15. Saturday, June 15, 10 a.m.-noon.

MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART

Flower Show: “My Favorite Things”

Floral arrangements inspired by the song from e Sound of Music. Friday, June 14, 1-4 p.m. | Saturday, June 15, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

MORTON MUSEUM OF COLLIERVILLE HISTORY

Freida Hamm:

“Storytelling” Opening Capturing colorful, languid moments just a er dawn and just before dusk, when the day’s light does its dance. Saturday, June 15, 4-6 p.m.

DAVID LUSK GALLERY

Memphis Camera Club:

Best of Show Awards

ANF Architects welcomes this magni cent group of local photographers as they exhibit their best photos of 2023. Friday, June 14, 5-7 p.m.

ANF ARCHITECTS

Munch and Learn

Presentations by local artists, scholars, and Dixon sta sharing their knowledge on a variety of topics. Wednesday, June 19, noon-1 p.m.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

“Still and Not So Still”

Opening

New work by Angi Cooper and Jennifer Hyatt featuring art with movable parts. Friday, June 14, 5:30-7 p.m.

PLAYHOUSE ON THE SQUARE

“Thought by Muses Led”

Opening

Art by Marcy W. Stagner, Savannah Jewell White, and Emma Self. Free. Friday, June 14, 5:30-8 p.m.

MEDICINE FACTORY

BOOK EVENTS

A Novel Book Club

Discuss e Villa by Rachel Hawkins. All are welcome. Wednesday, June 19, 7 p.m.

NOVEL

Bridgerton Book Club and Tea Party

Celebrate the release of the next four installments of Bridgerton’s third season. Saturday, June 15, 2-4 p.m.

NOVEL

Environmental Justice Book Club

Join an intergenerational book club of eco-enthusiasts. Meet every three weeks to have discussions surrounding climate justice and learn how to live a more sustainable lifestyle.

Saturday, June 15, 2-4 p.m.

BENJAMIN L. HOOKS CENTRAL LIBRARY

Lori Turner-Wilson: The B2B Marketing Revolution

Meet the author of Amazon bestseller W.O.O.F. – Why Ordinary Organizations Fail Tuesday, June 18, 6 p.m. NOVEL

Omar Tyree: Control

Hear about a knife-edged thriller from NAACP Image Awardwinning author. ursday, June 13, 6 p.m. NOVEL

Wilbur McKesson: Retribution

Wilbur McKesson celebrates the release of his new book. Friday, June 14, 6 p.m. NOVEL

CLASS / WORKSHOP

Camera Nature

Photography

Led by experienced photographer Erica Haskett. Sunday, June 16, 9 a.m.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

Flower Happy Hour at the Garden

Local owers, native plants, and eco-friendly oristry techniques. Adults only 21+.

Supplies provided. ursday, June 13, 6-8 p.m.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

Send the date, time, place, cost, info, phone number, a brief description, and photos — two weeks in advance — to calendar@memphisflyer.com.

DUE TO SPACE LIMITATIONS, ONGOING WEEKLY EVENTS WILL APPEAR IN THE FLYER’S ONLINE CALENDAR ONLY. FOR COMPREHENSIVE EVENT LISTINGS, SCAN THE QR CODE OR VISIT EVENTS.MEMPHISFLYER.COM/CAL.

PHOTO: COURTESY DAVID LUSK GALLERY

New work by Freida Hamm

Free Saturday Seminar: Houseplants 101

Learn houseplant options, light and watering, soil and repotting, basics of propagation, and pests and disease. Free. Saturday, June 15, 10 a.m.

URBAN EARTH GARDENS, NURSERY & MARKET

iPhone Nature Photography

Led by experienced photographer Erica Haskett. Sunday, June 16, 8 a.m.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

Juneteenth Painting Workshop with Glynnis King

Celebrate with us and create memorable art to cherish for years to come. $35. Wednesday, June 19, 6-8 p.m.

ARROW CREATIVE

Lunchtime Meditations

Looking for something relaxing to do to clear your mind and improve your overall health? Head to the Dixon for free meditation sessions every Friday. Friday, June 14, noon-12:45 p.m.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

Succulent Garden Workshop

Planting and care instructions plus tips for propagating, encouraging blooms, and overwintering. Learn how to have a thriving succulent garden. $49.39. Sunday, June 16, 11 a.m.

URBAN EARTH GARDENS, NURSERY & MARKET

COMEDY

Ben Bailey Star of the smash hit series Cash Cab and two specials on Comedy Central. $35-$65. Friday, June 14, 8 p.m.

BLACK LODGE

Comedy Open Mic

Hosted by John Miller. $10. Tuesday, June 18, 8 p.m. HI TONE

Faizon Love

Best known for roles in the lms Friday, Elf, e Replacements, Made, and Couples Retreat. $25-$50. Friday, June 14, 7:30 p.m. | Friday, June 14, 10 p.m. | Saturday, June 15, 7:30 p.m. | Saturday, June 15, 10 p.m. | Sunday, June 16, 8 p.m.

CHUCKLES COMEDY HOUSE

Saturday Night

Showcase is underground comedy show, hosted by Tylon Monger, boasts a diverse and interesting lineup each week that cracks smiles, shakes heads, and causes uproarious laughter. $15. Saturday, June 15, 7 p.m.

MEMPHIS CLOVER CLUB

COMMUNITY

Juneteenth Community Day e National Civil Rights Museum’s Juneteenth event with free health info and vaccinations. Wednesday, June 19, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.

NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM

Mid-South Hobbies

Grand Opening

A grand opening and customer appreciation event to celebrate the debut of the outdoor track for remote control cars, trucks, crawlers, bashers, and more. Saturday, June 15, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

MID-SOUTH HOBBIES

Who is running for the Memphis Shelby County Schools board?

Get to know candidates running for the Memphis-Shelby County Schools board before the August elections. Free. Monday, June 17, 6-8 p.m. IDLEWILD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

DANCE

Sunday Argentine Tango Mini-Lesson & Practica

Mariallan and James will be conducting a short tango class directed at beginning dancers (5:30-6:15 p.m.), followed by a guided practica (6:15-7:30 p.m.). $15/lesson and practica, $10/practica. Sunday, June 16, 5:30 p.m.

THEATREWORKS

continued from page 19

New Ballet’s SummerDance

New Ballet takes center stage in SummerDance. $20. Friday, June 14, 7 p.m.

BUCKMAN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

Tokyo Takeover 2 - Anime Rave

Cosplay is encouraged but not required. 18+ event (21 to drink). $10. Friday, June 14, 10 p.m.

BLACK LODGE

FAMILY

Crafternoons at Cossitt

Children’s craft time (aged 8 and under) at Cossitt Library with a guided craft, but also will provide supplies for artistic free play. Saturday, June 15, noon.

COSSITT LIBRARY

Drop-In Family Day: Civil War & The African-American Experience

Historical documents tell the story of Harry Biggs, an African-American resident of Collierville before, during, and after the Civil War. Wednesday, June 19, 10:30 a.m.

MORTON MUSEUM OF COLLIERVILLE HISTORY

Family Fun Friday

Join the park for some free family fun. Friday, June 14, 6 p.m.

DAVID CARNES PARK

Family Yoga at the Garden

A fun way for parents to bond with their kids. Please bring a mat and water. Free with MBG admission. Monday, June 17, 10-11 a.m.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

Father’s Day at Overton Square Lefty Driftless will be performing on the stage.

Sunday, June 16, 8:30 a.m.-11:30 p.m.

OVERTON SQUARE

Juneteenth Celebration

Children 12 and under can celebrate Juneteenth at the library with stories and crafts. Thursday, June 13, 3 p.m.

BENJAMIN L. HOOKS CENTRAL LIBRARY

Mudpie Mondays

Children can craft their own mud pie using natural materials. This event is canceled if it is raining. Monday, June 17, 10 a.m.-noon.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

Sensory Storytime

Sensory storytime is designed for special sensory seeking children (12 and under) with autism or other sensory integration challenges. Friday, June 14, 11 a.m.

BENJAMIN L. HOOKS CENTRAL LIBRARY

Story Time at Novel

For children up to 5 years, songs and stories featuring new books and well-loved favorites. Saturday, June 15, 10:30 a.m. | Wednesday, June 19, 10:30 a.m.

NOVEL

Superheroes and Sidekicks

Meet superheroes, watch superhero movies, and get superhero masks and bracelets. Snacks and drinks from Sweet Noshings. Saturday, June 15, 10 a.m.-noon.

OVERTON SQUARE

FESTIVAL

BSV Summer Vintage Market

Vintage-only market with 20+ vendors. Saturday, June 15, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

BLUE SUEDE VINTAGE

Crafts & Drafts 2024

Enjoy local craft beers at this family-friendly event featuring 160+ of the best curated local and regional crafters, makers, and artists! Saturday, June 15, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

CROSSTOWN CONCOURSE

Juneteenth Douglass Freedom Festival

A weekend of love, life, and liberation. Friday, June 14-June 16.

DOUGLASS PARK

•Extended School Hours & Days

•Extended School Hours & Days

•Advanced placement (AP) Classes

•Advanced placement (AP) Classes

•FLL & Underwater Robotics Program

•FLL & Underwater Robotics Program

•National Honor Society

•National Honor Society

•College Counseling & Planning

•College Counseling & Planning

•Extracurricular Activities

•Extracurricular Activities

•After-School Clubs

•

•After-School Clubs

• Early Emphasis on STEM Classes: Science, Technology, Engineering & Math

Juneteenth Shop Black Festival

Food trucks, food vendors, and shopping vendors. Saturday, June 15, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

THE FOURTH BLUFF

Memphis Vegan Festival

A day full of vegan food, live entertainment, and a marketplace featuring local businesses, plant-based health and beauty products, clothing, and accessories. Sunday, June 16, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

THE FOURTH BLUFF

Philippine Fiesta!

Prepare to be swept away by the vibrant colors, mesmerizing performances, and delectable flavors of Filipino culture. Saturday, June 15, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

AGRICENTER INTERNATIONAL

FILM

Milk

Gus Van Sant’s 2008 film about Harvey Milk, the 1970s LGBTQ hero and martyr. $5. Thursday, June 13, 7 p.m.

CROSSTOWN THEATER

Space: The New Frontier 2D

From self-assembling habitats, commercial space stations, and rockets without fuel to the Lunar Gateway to deep space. Through May 23, 2025.

MEMPHIS MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & HISTORY

Spirited Away

Hayao Miyazaki’s wondrous fantasy adventure and 2002 Academy Award winner. Saturday, June 15, 4:30 p.m.

MEMPHIS MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & HISTORY

The Color Purple

A screening of the 2023 movie musical in celebration of Juneteenth. Free. Monday, June 17, 6:30 p.m.

ORPHEUM THEATRE

Thelma

Josh Margolin’s poignant action-comedy featuring June Squibb (Nebraska) and Richard Roundtree. Free. Wednesday, June 19, 7 p.m.

STAX MUSEUM OF AMERICAN SOUL MUSIC

FOOD AND DRINK

Cooper-Young Community Farmers Market

A weekly outdoor market featuring local farmers (no resellers), artisans, and live music. Saturday, June 15, 8 a.m.-1 p.m. FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

MSE, SCS & TN Average Comparison Chart

Dinner & Music Cruise

Come enjoy a two-hour cruise on Ol’ Man River featuring live entertainment and a meal. $50/general admission. Thursday, June 13, 7:30-9:30 p.m. | Friday, June 14, 7:30-9:30 p.m.

| Saturday, June 15, 7:30-9:30 p.m.

MEMPHIS RIVERBOATS

Food Truck Fridays

Grab a bite from a local food truck and enjoy lunch in the beautiful Dixon gardens. Friday, June 14, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

Memphis Farmers Market

A weekly outdoor market featuring local farmers and artisans, live music, and fun activities. Saturday, June 15, 8 a.m.-1 p.m.

MEMPHIS FARMERS MARKET

HEALTH AND FITNESS

Get Outside! Mental Fitness

Clear your mind through calming breathing and guided meditation. Bring yoga mat and water. Saturday, June 15, 10:30 a.m.

SHELBY FARMS PARK

Goat Yoga

Have a lot of laughs and leave feeling relaxed and entertained. Multiple sessions throughout the day. $25. Friday, June 14.

SHELBY FARMS PARK

Free Sana Yoga

Find your glow and fuel your soul. This free, all-levels flow class will leave you feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. Free. Tuesday, June 18, 11-11:45 a.m.

COMEBACK COFFEE

Hustle & Flow Step

Get movin’ and groovin’ at free hip-hop step aerobics led by instructor Ayanna on Wednesdays. Free. Wednesday, June 19, 6-7 p.m.

TOM LEE PARK

Slow Your Roll | Saturday Morning Meditation

Led by the experienced mindfulness educator Greg Graber. Free. Saturday, June 15, 8-8:30 a.m.

CHICKASAW GARDENS PARK

Yoga on the River Candace guides your yoga journey along the mighty Mississippi. Free. Tuesday, June 18, 6-7 p.m.

RIVER GARDEN

LECTURE

The Endangered Whorled Sunflower Dr. Jennifer Mandel of the University of Memphis and Anne Ballentine on the conservation of rare native plants. Wednesday, June 19, 6:30 p.m.

WOLF RIVER CONSERVANCY

PERFORMING ARTS

Monday Night Poetry Set by Perform901

An immersive celebration of the written word, where the beauty of language comes alive. Monday, June 17, 7:30 p.m.

HI TONE

SPECIAL EVENTS

LPN Hiring Event

Jumpstart your career. Dress is business casual or scrubs. Thursday, June 13, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.

CROSSTOWN CONCOURSE

Career Fair at Overton Park Hospitality workers and employers are invited to participate in this free event that is open to all. Friday, June 14, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

OVERTON PARK SHELL

SPORTS

901 Wrestling “Family Night”

Kids get a free picture in the ring! Cousin vs. Cousin: “The Merc” Chris Evans vs. Prince Adonis. Saturday, June 15, 7 p.m.

BLACK LODGE

CALENDAR:

Memphis Redbirds Vs. the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. $22-$86. Tuesday, June 18, noon | Wednesday, June 19, 7 p.m.

AUTOZONE PARK

Shotgun Entertainment

MMA Fighting Championships

Exciting mixed martial arts action returns to the Grand Hall! Saturday, June 15, 7 p.m.

LANDERS CENTER

THEATER

Catch Me If You Can A high-flying wild ride through the life of a young con artist pursued by the FBI. Friday, June 14-July 14.

PLAYHOUSE ON THE SQUARE

Cinderella

JUNE 13 - 19

The classic saga of rags to romance is wonderfully captured with all the wonderment that comes with a fairy tale. Friday, June 7-June 30.

THEATRE MEMPHIS

Legally Blonde the Musical at GCT America’s favorite blonde, Elle Woods, is ready to prove who’s in charge in the ultimate Broadway tribute to girl power. $26/adult, $21/ senior 60+, $16/student/teacher, $16/military, $16/wheelchair space, $10/sensory friendly performance. Thursday, June 13, 7:30-10 p.m. | Friday, June 14, 7:30-10 p.m. | Saturday, June 15, 7:30-10 p.m. | Sunday, June 16, 2:30-5 p.m.

GERMANTOWN COMMUNITY THEATRE

ACROSS

1 The Cardinals, on scoreboards

4 Egyptian cobra 7 Bracelet trinket 12 Little Red Riding 14 “Do ___ others …” 15 Former Chicago mayor Richard 16 To a sickening degree

18 Steal, informally 19 Proceeding well

21 PC key 22 Harness strap

23 Netflix’s “Bill ___ Saves the World”

24 Rainy

27 “Definitely so” 29 Falls behind 31 Good name for a gemologist

33 Barely make, with “out”

35 Hungarian composer Franz

39 Place to bring aluminum cans 43 Paris subway 44 Peter and Gordon, e.g. 45 100% positive 46 English actor Idris 49 Poseidon’s domain 51 Jack-in-the-___ 52 Help wanted sign?

55 Twilight time 57 On the ___ vive 59 No longer in contention 65 Grammarian’s concern 66 Race suggested by 19-, 39- and 59-Across? 67 Fashion 68 Like a thermometer that’s put in the mouth

69 Prima donna

70 Liability’s opposite

71 0, in World Cup scores

72 Break a hunger strike DOWN

1 Kind of carpet

2 Big fuss

3 Comedian Love who co-hosts “The Real”

4 Once again

5 Step between two floors

6 ___ horse (gymnastics apparatus)

7 Music format popular in the 1990s

8 Goldie of “Snatched” 9 Straighten 10 ___ all (email button) 11 “As if!” 13 “S.N.L.” alum Carvey

14 Pittsburgh-based N.Y.S.E. company 17 Hideous

20 “Mamma ___!” 24 Fishhook squirmer

25 Sword for an Olympian

26 “The ability to step on a man’s toes without messing up the shine on his shoes,” per Harry Truman

Compete in a slalom

“deadly”

PHOTO: MARY

New Ballet Ensemble’s SummerDance

New Jack City: Live on Stage

Je’Caryous Johnson’s musical based on the cult classic hit movie. Saturday, June 15, 3 p.m. | Saturday, June 15, 8 p.m.

ORPHEUM THEATRE

TOURS

Haunted Pub Crawl

Visit three local bars for ghost stories, dark history, and tales of the paranormal. Friday, June 14, 7:30-10 p.m. THE BROOM CLOSET

The Original Memphis Brew Bus

The Memphis Brew Bus is a Saturday afternoon trip into the amazing Memphis craft brewing scene. Visit three local breweries for tours, talks with the brewers, and of course beer. $59. Saturday, June 15, 2-5:30 p.m. THE BROOM CLOSET

Fellow told to “hop on

PUZZLE BY PETER GORDON

We Saw You.

with MICHAEL DONAHUE

Neil Rome of the “901 Ma a” team entered his mouth-watering “Italian Mu uletta Meatloaf” in “Anything Italian,” one of the categories at the Memphis Italian Festival, held May 30th through June 1st at Marquette Park.

Rome begins making the dish, based on his grandmother’s take on an old Justin Wilson Cajun recipe, by creating a paste out of breadcrumbs, tomato sauce, eggs, seasoning, and parsley. He then adds ground beef and smoked ham, which he forms into a big ball before laying it out at. He spreads a mixture of onions, black and green olives, Parmesan cheese, and pepperoncini peppers over it and slowly rolls everything up “like you would a jelly roll,” Rome says. Finally, he pours his gravy, which he makes out of tomato sauce, red wine, olive oil, and seasonings, over everything and slides it into the oven.

Rome’s team’s entry didn’t win Anything Italian, but his team won the Father Milton Guthrie “You Are Great” award.

Forty-three teams participated in this year’s Memphis Italian Festival, which drew more than 15,000 people, says Richard Ranson, who, along with his wife Vickie, is the cooking teams and judges co-chair.

MICHAEL DONAHUE above: (le to right) Lucca Dyer, D. J. Naylor, and Teagan Naylor; Brooke Davis and James Little le : (le to right) Jacob Andew Bratcher, Abigail Miner, and Briley Faulkner below: (le to right) Neil Rome; Marjo, Andrew, Joseph, and Billy Labonte bottom row (le to right): Zoey High, Sarah Jordan Houseal, and Olivia Tashie

PHOTOS:

BOOKS By Alex Greene

The Ron Hall Chronicles

Remembering works by the great historian of Memphis music … and wrestling.

There are record collectors, and then there are record collectors. Holding strong against the tides of time, which have rendered recorded music as weightless as a cloud, streaming past us like raindrops and just as ungraspable, Memphis is yet home to many minilibrarians. We curate our own collections of vinyl, tapes, and CDs, still attached to those miniature works of art and the ritual of listening that they require. Yet, among this haven of gatherers — raging, raging against the dying of the vinyl — there once walked among us the ur-collector, and the ultimate documentarian of the history behind his stacks of wax.

His name was Ron Hall. ere was no one more committed to the history and lore of local music than he, and no bigger fan of Memphis wrestling.

When Hall passed away in March at the age of 73, a er su ering a major stroke two months earlier, the city lost not only a gi ed private archivist but a gi ed author. Shangri-La Projects, who published his entire oeuvre, posted this on social media as a response to his death:

“Ron was a savant in shining a light on what it meant to grow up in the middle of the post-war pop culture explosion in one of the most in uential pop culture, music, and professional wrestling cities in the world. Ron’s three books, two CD compilations, documentary lm, and Memphis music calendar solidi ed him into being one of the craziest chroniclers/fellow fanatic travelers of all that is wacky in Memphis’ creative cauldron of the ’50s/’60s/’70s/’80s.”

Here, then, is a recap of Hall’s important body of work.

Playing for a Piece of the Door: A History of Garage and Frat Bands in Memphis, 1960-1975

is was the book that started it all, and it remains a constant reference source for this writer and many others in Memphis. Tellingly, the introduction begins with Hall’s memories of actually performing with a band, when “the 13th Muse took the stage at a home for unwed mothers in the Oakhaven area of Memphis, Tennessee,” in late 1969. ough they only played the one show, Hall recounts, “I was doing what hundreds of other kids in Memphis wished they could do.” at everyman spirit informs this look into the stories of over 500 local bands that cropped up in the title’s 15 year span. Some went on to stardom, others were only locally celebrated, and some weren’t even that. Yet all are cataloged with an inclusive, democratic

zeal by Hall, who not only collected the sometimes obscure 45s that made these bands immortal but saw many of them performing in their prime. is lends crucial historical context to the groups. Take e Embers, for instance, “one of the top bands in the Jackson/ Humboldt, Tennessee, area in the midto-late ’60s.”

Starting in 1964, many (most?) of these groups were inspired by e Beatles. is is, a er all, an undeniably partial collection of groups, centered on the largely white ensembles that sprung up in e Beatles’ wake. But Hall reaches back before the Fab Four’s heyday as well, as with his entry on e Monarchs, who, starting in 1959, were “one of the few surf bands in the area.” Hall lls out his archival research with interviews with some of the players, making this book a kind of oral history as well. “ e Beatles killed us,” recalls Charles McAllister of the Monarchs.

And, as the book takes us into the ’70s, we see the post-Beatles groups ourish as well, with power pop and California rocktinged groups like Big Star, Target, and Cargoe hitting their stride. In all, it’s one of the most important chronicles of how

sounds morphed through a decade and a half of the city’s golden years at the top of the music industry.

e Memphis Garage Yearbook, 1960-1975

When Playing for a Piece of the Door came out in 2001, it sparked a new surge of demand for all that was obscure and garagey in Memphis music, and soon a er Shangri-La Projects released two CDs compiling the best tracks from Hall’s and others’ vinyl collections. Concerts were held on the Shangri-La Records porch, featuring onetime ’60s artists like Jim Dickinson, B.B. Cunningham, and the Castels. Ultimately, a second book was released which covered much the same ground, but through a di erent lens. Put together like a high school yearbook, and relying more heavily on rare photographs and show bills collected by Hall, it’s a stunning visual accomplishment. e book being organized chronologically (rather than alphabetically, as the rst book is) sheds a di erent light on the evolution of the groups and the various players who shuttled between them. And the live performance photos underscore that this book, as well as its predecessor, doubles as a chronicle of the era’s key venues as well as its bands.

Sputnik, Masked Men, and Midgets: e Early Days of Memphis Wrestling Hall was not only fascinated with local music, as this 2009 volume made clear. If many, like me, rst became aware of the connection between early pro wrestling in the city and rock-and-roll by reading Robert Gordon’s It Came from Memphis, Hall seems to have gotten it organically, from being a dedicated fan of the sport since his youth. Rare 45s by more sonically ambitious wrestlers like Jackie Fargo, Sputnik Monroe, and (of course) Jerry Lawler are featured in photographs and on the book’s accompanying CD. Moreover, Hall called on some key fellow collectors for the visuals here, namely Robert W. Dye Sr., a local amateur photographer; Jim Blake, owner of the record label that released Lawler’s musical ventures; and many others. e result is a galvanizing compendium of eye-

gouging action shots, tough guy poses, screaming show bills, and detailed writeups from Wrestling, King of Sports, a local wrestling rag from the era. Not long a er this book appeared, Shangri-La Projects released the lm Memphis Heat: e True Story of Memphis Wrasslin’, which relied heavily on this book by Hall, who also served as the lm’s executive producer.

Memphis Rocks: A Concert History, 1955-1985

While retaining much of Hall’s fascination with all things Memphis, this book expands the scope of his research, documenting more than local bands. In a photo-heavy format closer to Hall’s wrestling book than Playing for a Piece of the Door, it collects concert photos, ticket stubs, show bills, and print media ads for practically any major concert in the city over a 30-year span. is includes both national and local groups, with a focus on the former: the big concerts that music fans ocked to, now cherished in the memories of those who attended. Yet smaller shows make the cut as well, and this, like Hall’s other works of music history, serves as an important chronicle of now-forgotten venues. Contrary to the subtitle, for example, the book actually begins in 1954, devoting a page to every local live performance by a certain Elvis Presley that year. Many of them were at Eagle’s Nest. Who knew?

It’s also a de facto celebration of the Mid-South Coliseum, charting the many stellar shows there over three decades, from James Brown in 1965 to e Beatles the next year to Iron Maiden in 1985. Resonating with any fan savoring the experience of such shows are the “Concert Memories” compiled by Hall, where local musicians and others recall the power of seeing pivotal performances in their lives. As such, this, like all of Hall’s painstaking works, is a compendium of not only Memphis music and Memphis memories, but key moments in the history of American culture as a whole.

PHOTO: SHANGRI-LA PROJECTS Ron Hall

FOOD By Michael Donahue

Hidden Gems

Scan those restaurant menus at your favorite Memphis haunts.

I

f you’re like me, you usually order your favorites at your go-to restaurants.

You order the ribs and the cheese plate at the Rendezvous. Maybe lasagna or spaghetti at Pete & Sam’s.

Well, guess what? ere are a lot more items on the menus at those restaurants as well as others that have been around a while. People just don’t realize they’re there.

e ham-and-cheese sandwich at the Rendezvous is something that gets overlooked, says owner John Vergos. His dad, the late Charlie Vergos, began his restaurant in 1948 with that sandwich. “Gosh, he’d sell 200 or 300 a day,” John says. “ at’s what really started the restaurant going. at’s how he supported his family.”

Fineberg Packing Co. used to smoke his dad’s hams because he didn’t have the pits in those days, John says. Charlie would cut the slices of ham o the bone. Now, John says, “We don’t cut it o the bone. We haven’t been able to nd a good ham to do that with. We buy boneless hams.”

e original sandwich was “hamand-cheese on rye with either regular mustard.”

ey used French’s mustard, but now customers can get French’s as well as a sweet glazed mustard that blends Tiger Tail mustard with Rendezvous seasoning.

e ham sandwich began to be overshadowed when his dad introduced ribs “sometime in the ’50s” at the Rendezvous. “We still served a lot, even up until the ’70s. en we added a lot more di erent products and we just took our eye o the ball.” ey stopped making the sandwich

the way Charlie made it. “We got away from it for years. We started grilling it. Not making it the way he did.”

e ham wasn’t “nice and thick in the middle.” Instead of rye bread, they served it with white bread or Texas toast and mayonnaise. “We let it slide. We didn’t take it seriously.”

About a month ago, they went back to the original way of making the sandwich. John announced, “I’m determined to serve the original hamand-cheese sandwich the way my dad built it. Stacked the same on rye with mustard.”

Surprisingly, another “little appreciated item” at the Rendezvous is the shoulder sandwich, John says. “I’ll match it with anyone.”

e barbecue is smoked for 12 hours, he says. “It’s all pulled by hand and minimally chopped — no fat, gristle — clean. I hate when I eat a shoulder sandwich and bite into a thumb-size piece of fat. It’s jumbo size with beans and our slaw on the side.”

Meanwhile, an item that isn’t a big seller at Mortimer’s is their “Pecan Ball,” says owner Sara Bell. It was a huge hit at the legendary Knickerbocker Restaurant, which her father, the late Vernon Bell, owned.

It’s vanilla ice cream rolled in chopped pecans with chocolate sauce.

e Mortimer’s version includes whipped cream and sometimes a cherry on top.

They sell a ton of their banana pudding, but Bell doesn’t know why they don’t sell a lot of the pecan balls. “Once they try it, it’s addictive,” she says.

Another item along that same line is their Knickerbocker Shrimp Salad, Bell says. “ at was huge at the Knickerbocker. It’s just shrimp with a little mayonnaise, celery, and a dash of Worcestershire. It’s like a chicken salad, but it’s made with shrimp.”

Even Pete & Sam’s includes items hidden in plain sight on the menu. Many people are surprised to discover the restaurant, which also opened in 1948, sells fried chicken, says Sammy Bomarito, one of the owners. Or steaks. “In general, people don’t necessarily think of us as a steak place,” he says. “And we’ve got some of the best steaks in the city.”

Other longtime items aren’t top sellers. “ e bacon-wrapped chicken livers are one of the things we’ve had on the menu forever.”

A lot of people don’t try that, Bomarito says. “But that’s a little

hidden gem, if you will.”

Another is the “stu ed celery,” which has been on the menu for decades. It’s celery stu ed with a bleu cheese, Gorgonzola, and mayonnaise mixture and green olives. e four celery sticks come with black olives, peppers, and lettuce with paprika sprinkled around.

Dino’s Grill is famous for its spaghetti, ravioli, and other Italian fare. But their mu uletta is another story.

“People are sort of surprised we have it,” says owner Mario Grisanti. ey’ve had it on the menu for “as long as I can remember,” he says.

“We get our bread from Gambino’s [Bakery] in New Orleans, so it’s traditional mu uletta bread. And we do ours a little bit di erently. We just do salami and ham and cheese. Most people do salami and mortadella with cheese. en the olive dressing we put on top is the same dressing we put on our Italian salad. It’s green olives, black olives, banana peppers, celery, onions, oil, vinegar, and Italian seasonings.”

It’s a “New Orleans-style mu uletta. We just have our own little take on it. e way we’ve been doing it forever and ever.”

Finally, Coletta’s Italian Restaurant, which opened in 1923 at its 1063 South Parkway East location, has an extensive menu. Ravioli and its barbecue pizza are famous at Coletta’s Italian Restaurant, which opened in 1923 at 1063 South Parkway East. But not everybody is aware of other items on the menu.

“We have hamburger steaks, which are real good,” says owner Jerry Coletta. “Well, it’s basically about a half pound of ground beef we cook.”

It comes with “fries and a little slaw. And that’s a good meal. Not many people get it.”

Also, he says, “A lot of people don’t know we sell hot wings and honey wings. And they’re real good.”

In other words, in addition to your knife and fork, bring along a magnifying glass and dig into your menus when you go out to eat.

PHOTOS: MICHAEL DONAHUE

(above) John Vergos with the Rendezvous ham-and-cheese sandwich; (below) shoulder sandwich at Rendezvous

Stu ed celery at Pete & Sam’s

PREVENT OPIOID OVERDOSE

CARRY NARCAN

Qualifying Agencies

•Health Organizations

•Treatment Centers

•Churches

•Schools

•Local Businesses

•Non Profits

•Restaurants/Bars/Clubs

•Hotels etc...

NEWS OF THE WEIRD

By the editors at Andrews McMeel Syndication

A Hard Act to Swallow Parashuram, 38, a convict in a Karnataka, India, prison, acted quickly to hide his smuggled-in cellphone when guards raided his cell in early April, The Indian Express reported. Instead of stashing the contraband in a pillowcase or toilet, the convicted murderer serving a life sentence swallowed the phone. When he started complaining of stomach pain, he was transferred to Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru, where doctors did an ultrasound. On April 25, he went under the knife to remove the phone, which was stuck at the entrance of the small intestine. The phone had been inside Parashuram for 20 days when it was removed; the prisoner recovered from the surgery and was returned to his cell. [Indian Express, 5/2/2024]

Surprise!

When David Loop of Sierra Pacific Furbabies, a feline rescue organization in California, found a box dumped in front of their office in April, the attached note explained that the “kitten” was found “in Mt. Rubidoux hiking path.” But when he opened the box, Loop said instantly, “I’m pretty sure this is a bobcat kitten.” Sure enough, Newsweek reported, when Loop contacted a local wildlife center, they thought the bobcat kitten was 3 to 5 weeks old. The furball has been transferred to a wildlife center where it will hang out with other bobcats and eventually be reintroduced to the wild.

[Newsweek, 4/30/2024]

Most Chatty Criminal

Last September, Stephanie Langley, 55, of East Farleigh, Kent, England, stepped outside the Hare and Hound pub and stabbed her former brotherin-law, Matthew Bryant, to death. She was convicted on May 1, the BBC reported. Although Langley “claimed in court that she had never intended to hurt her victim,” she started that violent evening by telling pub-goers, “Get a drink while he’s still alive.” Then she told Bryant, “You’re dead tonight.” After she stabbed him three times, witnesses heard Langley say, “I hope he’s dead.” She told arresting officers she had killed him, was glad she had killed him, and was happy to go to jail for it. She’ll be sentenced at a future hearing, probably to life. [BBC, 5/1/2024]

News You Can Use

Attention Tornado Alley dwellers: On April 30, as violent storms were coursing around the Midwest, two “rare” versions were detected near Loveland, Oklahoma, Fox Weather reported. Meteorologist Stephen Morgan acknowledged that “some strange things” popped up that night. Turns out, more than 98 percent of tornadoes spin in a counterclockwise direction. But that night, two tornadoes — technically called anticyclones — were found to be spinning clockwise. Morgan said the anticyclonic tornado “rotated around what you could call a ‘normal’ tornado. What we saw … was very rare.” The anticyclones are typically smaller and weaker than cyclonic storms. There were no reports of injuries in the area.

[Fox Weather, 5/2/2024]

It’s Come to This

Stanislav Netesov of Moscow, Russia, was attacked on April 27 at a bus stop on his way home from work, Oddity Central reported. The assailants took his phone and knocked out one of his teeth. The next day, Netesov went to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to report the attack, but instead of taking his report, they accused him of a crime: dyeing his hair yellow and blue, the colors of the Ukrainian flag. Doing so is a punishable offense against the Russian army. Police took his fingerprints, handed him a summons to military enlistment, and told him they’d force him to “kiss his native soil in the trenches.” [Oddity Central, 5/2/2024]

Family Values

A 41-year-old mom in Newtown Township, Pennsylvania, was charged with DUI on May 6 after she ran into her 7-year-old son with her car in the parking lot of a Little League baseball field, WPVI-TV reported. After backing into the boy, the mom told police she didn’t realize he wasn’t inside the car. He suffered injuries to his ankle. Police said the mom had a “strong odor of alcohol” and “slurred speech.” She was taken into custody and later released. [WPVI, 5/7/2024]

NEWS OF THE WEIRD © 2024 Andrews McMeel Syndication. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): The term “maze” has various meanings. Most commonly, it signifies a puzzling cluster of choices that lead nowhere and bode frustration. But there are more positive meanings of the word. In ancient myths, a maze was where heroes underwent ritual tests. There they might summon ingenuity to win access to a hidden treasure. In modern psychology labs, the maze is a structure used to stimulate learning in rats. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, the maze you are now in is metaphorically akin to the second two meanings, not the first.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): There is an abundance of good news, Taurus. In the coming weeks, your conversations could awaken realizations that will augment your wealth — both the financial and emotional kind. So be eager to commune with vigorous souls who inspire your power to attract resources and goodies. Furthermore, you could generate enriching benefits for yourself by engaging with unfamiliar influences that are outside your web of expectations. Don’t be too sure you already know everything you need. Helpful surprises could arrive if you’re extra open-minded.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Your subconscious mind is full of marvelous capacities and magic potencies. But it also contains old habits of feeling and thinking that influence you to respond to life in ways that are out of sync with what’s actually happening. These habits may sabotage or undermine your conscious intentions. Now here’s the good news: In the next nine months, there’s a lot you can do to dissolve the outmoded imprints. You will have more power than ever before to perform this wizardry. So get started! How? Ask your subconscious mind to send you intuitions about how to proceed.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The fairy tale “Jack and the Beanstalk” will serve as a prime metaphor for you in the coming weeks. Ruminate on its themes as being applicable to your life. I’ll refresh you with the main points of the story. Young Jack and his mother need money, so she decides to take drastic measures. She bids him to sell the family cow at the marketplace a few miles away. But on the way into town, Jack meets a man who coaxes him to sell the cow in exchange for magic beans — not money. When Jack returns home, his mother is angry at his foolishness. In disgust, she flings the beans out the window into the dirt. Later, though, the beans live up to their promise. They grow into a giant beanstalk that Jack climbs to reach the lair of a giant who lives in the clouds. There Jack retrieves three of his family’s lost treasures, which had been stolen by the giant long ago.

By Rob Brezsny

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Before the reign of Emperor Qin Shi Huang in the third century BCE, Chinese people had built many local walls designed to keep out invaders. Qin Shi Huang initiated a great public works project to connect all of these fragments into what’s now known as the Great Wall of China. He also erected a vast system of roads and a city-sized mausoleum filled with the Terracotta Army: sculptures of 8,000 soldiers with their chariots and horses. Qin Shi Huang was a big thinker who was also highly organized! In accordance with astrological omens, I invite you to glide into your very own Qin Shi Huang phase. What longlasting structures do you want to build in the next 11 months?

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Psychologist Carl Jung believed we could accomplish profound self-transformation by working hard on our psyches’ unripe and wounded aspects. That might entail honest selfexamination, objective observation of how we affect others, and a willingness to recognize and forgive our mistakes. Jung also recommended another way to heal our neuroses: through the power of numinous experiences. By “numinous,” he meant mystical, sublime, or aweinspiring. Jung said that such visitations could radically diminish our painful habits of mind and feeling. They might arrive through grace, thanks to life’s surprising interventions. They may also be coaxed to appear through meditation, dreamwork, communing with myth and fairy tales, and spiritual practices. I foresee a wealth of numinous events in your life during the coming months, Libra. May they bring you a steady stream of healing.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In a moment, I will list events I foresee as being possible for you during the next 11 months. They are cosmic tendencies but not cosmic mandates. Whether or not they actually occur will depend on how you wield your willpower — which, by the way, could be freer and more muscular than it has been in a long time. Now here are the potential developments: 1. An offer to create one of the most symbiotic unions or robust collaborations ever. 2. Great chances for you to capitalize on the success of others. 3. Alterations in the family configuration. 4. Major shifts in loyalty and affinity. 5. A raise in rank. 6. Revelations of secrets you can use to your advantage.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Have you been metaphysically itchy and psychologically ticklish? Are you unsure whether those tingling sensations you’re feeling are worrisome symptoms or signs of healing and awakening? I believe they are signs of healing and awakening. They suggest you are doing the metaphorical equivalent of what a snake does when it sheds its skin. Expect imminent redemp-

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):

Though 2024 isn’t even half over, you have already earned the title “Least Boring Zodiac Sign of the Year.” Or maybe a more positive way to frame it would be to award you the title “Most Scintillating, Interesting, and Stimulating Zodiac Sign of the Year.” Please keep doing what you have been doing, Gemini. Entertain us with your unruly escapades and gossip-worthy breakthroughs. Encourage us to question our dull certainties and dare us to be more fun. If we seem nervous to be in your stirring presence, disarm our worries with your humor.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): It’s time for Super Mom to make an appearance. Some circumstances in your life could benefit from healing tweaks best initiated by her. And when I say “Super Mom,” I’m not necessarily referring to your actual mother. I’m envisioning a wise older woman who sees you as you really are and who can assist you in living your destiny according to your own inner necessity, no one else’s. If you have no Super Mom in your world, see if you can locate one, even hire one. I also recommend creating an inner Super Mom in your imagination. You need and deserve sympathetic input from the archetype of the sage crone.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): I suspect that later in 2024, I will authorize you to commune with boisterous adventures and tricky risks. But right now, I advise you to flirt with modest adventures and sensible risks. Can you contain your burning, churning yearnings for a while? Are you willing to coax your crazy wild heart into enjoying some mild pleasures? By early autumn, I’m guessing you will have done the necessary preparations to successfully roam through the experimental frontiers. Until then, you are most likely to corral Xfactors on your behalf if you pace yourself and bide your time.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “Oh God, if there is a God, save my soul, if I have a soul.” That prayer was the handiwork of Piscean philosopher Joseph Ernest Renan. If his ironic minimalism is the only spiritual aspiration you can manage right now, so be it. But I hope you will strive for a more intimate, expansive, and personal connection with the Divine Intelligence. The coming weeks will be an extra favorable time for you to speak and listen to mysterious powers beyond your rational comprehension. Please take advantage! Go in quest of the sweet, deep lowdown directly from the Sublime Source!

tion, Sagittarius! Reframe the discomfort as a herald of relief and release.

By Kailynn Johnson

What Ya Gonna Do?

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence return in Bad Boys: Ride or Die

For the past few years it’s seemed as if Hollywood had been infected by a plague, and legacy media were the most susceptible. Movie screens and streaming libraries have been lled with reboots and continuations to stories that were either major successes in their heyday, or built cult followings which capitalists sought to seize. Every so o en a new trailer or press junket would drop, teasing a new installment of some saga that would leave the audience wondering, “ ey still make that?” or “Did we ask for that?”

is phenomenon becomes even more of an enigma when certain franchises return a er hitting the screens decades ago since it can potentially alienate audiences who don’t fully understand the lore. However, Bad Boys: Ride Or Die is an exception, leaving the viewer either satiated as a longtime fan or eager to start from the beginning.

e movie serves as the fourth installment of the series. Like the last lm, the pandemic-era Bad Boys for Life, original director Michael Bay is replaced by Belgian directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, with a story by Chris Bremner, Aquaman scribe Will Beall, and George Gallo. Reprising roles they originated in 1995 are stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, along with supporting actors Paola Nüñez and Jacob Muntaz Scipio, with Eric Dane. New to the franchise are Better Call Saul standout Rhea Seehorn and Ioan Gru udd.

e lm opens with the titular pair Mike Lowrey (Smith) and Marcus

Burnett (Lawrence) in another one of their iconic car chases. Both men appear dapper and on a time crunch as their latest mission —Mike’s wedding to his former physical therapist Christine (Melanie Liburd) — brings a new sense of urgency. But en route to the nuptials, Marcus asks to stop at the gas station for a ginger ale, much to Mike’s dismay. Marcus’ junk food addiction gets the best of him, and as he piles his order onto the counter, he nds himself at gunpoint in a gas station robbery.

Within seconds, the pair annihilate the assailant, and Mike makes it to the church on time. As the couple is pronounced husband and wife, we see the wedding party joined with a memorial photo of Captain Conrad Howard, who died in Bad Boys for Life while trying to take down a Miami drug cartel.

At the reception are Rita Secada (Núñez), as well as Howard’s daughter Judy (Seehorn) and granddaughter Callie (Quinn Hemphill). But the celebration

is cut short as Marcus’ diet of sweet garbage nally catches up with him, and he su ers a heart attack. As he’s rushed to the ER, Marcus hallucinates Howard’s ghost, who informs him that it’s not his time to go. Marcus awakens with a new lease on life.

at ghost seems to be busy. As Marcus is recovering, city o cials are noti ed that Howard is seemingly committing fraud from beyond the grave. Mike and Marcus, forever indebted to Howard, take on the mission to clear their late captain’s name.

eir rst stop is the prison where Mike’s son Armando (Scipio) is being held, as he’s been convicted of Howard’s murder. Armando believes he can identify the real perpetrator, but as word spreads through the prison, he nds himself the target of a deadly attack in the yard. With

his safety at risk, he’s moved to Miami. But his transfer helicopter becomes a target for the cartels, and our heroes miss death by an inch in the ensuing crash. Mike, Marcus, and Armando continue their mission as fugitives.

With the help of Advanced Miami Metro Operations agents Dorn (Alexander Ludwig) and Kelly (Vanessa Hudgens), they not only uncover the mastermind of the hoax, but follow the trail of deception and forbidden alliances. While it may be a part of the series, and the conclusion of a story Adil and Bilall began in the last lm, rst-time viewers needn’t worry about being confused. Longtime fans will be reminded as to why this pair works so well together in the buddycop genre. ousands of slap-happy think pieces and unsolicited marriage tidbits later, Smith is still refreshing, and we’re reminded of why the camera loves him. Lawrence’s comedic legacy precedes him, and his impeccable delivery doesn’t disappoint. Both actors manage to balance out the comedic and action elements without doing too much.

e lm ends on an open note, with the plot wrapped up, but no major cli angers. If there’s going to be a reboot, why not give Gilmore Girls and e Marvelous Mrs. Maisel creator Amy Sherman-Palladino a shot? Bad Girls, anyone?

Bad

Boys: Ride or Die

Now playing Multiple locations

Bad boys will be bad boys in a Bad Boys movie.

Our critic picks the best films in theaters.

Inside Out 2

The Pixar masterpiece gets a sequel. Riley, the runaway girl from the first film, is a teenager now. And that means a whole new set of emotions to deal with.

Inside Riley’s head, Joy (Amy Poehler) is still trying to keep it together, as Riley enters the psychic chaos of high school. Now she’s joined by Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos), and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser).

Longtime Pixar creative Kelsey Mann takes over from Pete Docter, who made the original an enduring classic.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

George Miller’s story of how the hero

of Fury Road became an Imperator in the army of Immortan Joe is the most epic thing you will see this year. Anya Taylor-Joy and Alyla Browne portray Furiosa in this 15-year saga of loss and redemption in post-apocalyptic Australia. The sci-fi action is a feast for the eyes, but Miller never fails to engage the mind while rocking the body.

Milk

On Thursday, June 13th, at Crosstown Theater, the Crosstown Arts Film Series presents the 2008 biopic of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay official elected in California who made waves in the San Francisco political world before being tragically assassinated by a jealous political rival. Gus Van Sant directs, and Sean Penn stars.

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THE LAST

WORD

By Alice Faye Duncan

Lessons From Grandmother Opal Lee

Juneteenth is freedom rising, and freedom is for everyone.

ere are lessons to learn from Grandmother Opal Lee. With her silver crown of curls, she is a Black Texas Rose endowed with vision and courage at the age of 97. From 2016 to 2021, Grandmother Opal traveled countless times from her Fort Worth home to Washington, D.C. Her mission was to encourage politicians to make Juneteenth a national holiday. Grandmother Opal also led annual walks across America’s highways, collecting almost two million signatures for her Juneteenth petition. She waged a tireless pursuit in her ubiquitous canvas sneakers. Dreams do come true. President Biden signed a law making June 19th a federal holiday in 2021. Juneteenth, as it is called, commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to the enslaved in Texas, two years and six months a er the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. e 13th Amendment abolished Black servitude. However, Juneteenth is the touchstone that represents the end of slavery in the collective American mind. People around the globe call Opal Lee the “Grandmother of Juneteenth.” On May 3rd of this year, President Biden awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, as she is a symbol of dignity, goodwill, and liberation. e medal is the nation’s highest civilian honor.

I went on a journey to write Opal Lee’s picture book biography for children during the summer of 2020 a er the George Floyd murder. We had a lively conversation in December of that year. When our talk ended, I understood with clarity why Juneteenth is a celebration for every American. It is not a “Black holiday.” It is an American holiday. And to that point, here are ve lessons that I learned from Opal Lee — the esteemed Grandmother of Juneteenth.

Grandmother Opal said, “Juneteenth is a time for re ection.” Just as for Black Texas families in 1866 at the rst Juneteenth anniversary in Galveston, the day remains an occasion to remember our collective past and express gratitude for the tribulations survived. It is also a time to honor Black history-makers and freedom ghters, whose courage paved a road to this present day. When speaking of roots, Grandmother Opal said it was her maternal grandfather who gave her a love for history and the preservation of family ties. His name was Zack Broadous. Born in 1871, he was a Texarkana farmer, landowner, and preacher. Juneteenth is a time we can all re ect on our speci c ancestors who believed in the liberation of the mind, body, and spirit.

Beyond ancestral meditations, Grandmother Opal acknowledged the loud rejoicing that surely rang across Texas in 1865 a er Black generations had survived more than 200 years on the auction block. As the holiday inspires images of such overwhelming joy, Opal Lee taught me a second lesson. She said, “Juneteenth is a day of music and praise.” Since Glynn Johns Reed’s inaugural Memphis Juneteenth celebration in 1993, each year the Memphis Douglass Park is found teeming with African drumming, local bands, and gospel singers who make the Juneteenth holiday a jubilant Memphis a air. ere is no Juneteenth celebration without music. And as I spoke with Opal Lee about Memphis music and our Juneteenth traditions, she quipped, “Twerking is for young people. I do the holy dance!”

During our talk, I asked about food traditions. Grandmother Opal replied, “Juneteenth is a jamboree of feasting and fellowship.” From the rst Juneteenth celebration in Galveston until now, many Juneteenth hosts prepare vibrant red foods that Black Americans were denied during servitude. Juneteenth guests might feast on tangy ribs, strawberry pie, and Big Red Soda that is bottled in Waco, Texas. In this new age with various dietary options, Juneteenth tables are also decked in vegan and vegetarian victuals, fancy tarts, and cra mocktails.

When questioned about her ability to form coalitions toward making Juneteenth a national holiday, Grandmother Opal said a wise elder gave her an example in building friendships beyond her neighborhood. at mentor was the late Lenora Rolla, a historian who founded the Tarrant County Black Historical & Genealogical Society. As we spoke about the impact of mentorships, Opal Lee served me a fourth lesson. She said, “Juneteenth is a time for listening to the elders.” Wherever she travels, Grandmother Opal welcomes children. She speaks with them and reads to them in schools, at public libraries, and at Juneteenth celebrations. “If we want the world to survive, healthy and whole,” she said, “we must take time for children. Listen to them.”

I asked one last question. What do people misunderstand about the Juneteenth holiday? Opal Lee taught me a h lesson: “No matter who you are, Juneteenth is a uni er that represents freedom.” ese nal words served as my guidepost. Immediately, I knew what I would write for children about Opal Lee and the Juneteenth holiday. Hear me with your heart: Juneteenth is bigger than Texas, singing, or dancing bands. Juneteenth is freedom rising, and freedom is for everyone. Juneteenth is for you and me!

Alice Faye Duncan is a Memphis teacher who writes for children. Her Juneteenth book, Opal Lee and What It Means to Be Free, has sold 95,000 copies since 2022. Her new barnyard blues story, I Gotta Sing, is available now wherever books are sold. She can be reached at alicefayeduncan.com.

PHOTO: COURTESY DIONE SIMS

Grandmother Opal Lee