Memphis Flyer 11.17.2022

SHARA CLARK Editor

SAMUEL X. CICCI Managing Editor JACKSON BAKER, BRUCE VANWYNGARDEN Senior Editors TOBY SELLS Associate Editor

KAILYNN JOHNSON News Reporter CHRIS MCCOY Film and TV Editor ALEX GREENE Music Editor

ABIGAIL MORICI Arts and Culture Editor

MICHAEL DONAHUE, JON W. SPARKS

Staff Writers

GENE GARD, COCO JUNE, RICHARD MURFF, FRANK MURTAUGH

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AIMEE STIEGEMEYER, SHARON BROWN Grizzlies Reporters ANDREA FENISE

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KENNETH NEILL Founding Publisher

BEASLEY

CARRIE

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A friend of mine shared an event on Facebook last Friday — for Christmas at Silo Square, which would be bringing Santa to Southaven. “I’m sorry, but Santa needs to wait until December to leave the North Pole,” I commented, then added the crylaugh emoji for good measure. I was half-kidding, of course, although I’m not sure last weekend’s climate was suitable for St. Nick, him being accustomed to the subzero temps and mountains of snow in his hometown and all. I reckon he survived though since I didn’t hear anything about an untimely demise.

But I have heard lots of whining about Christmas coming too early. As soon as Halloween was over, folks were hauling their trees and ornaments and colored lights down from their dusty attics, turning their homes into makeshi winter wonderlands. Before the spiderwebs and cauldrons were even carted out of Target, the aisles were dutifully lined with snow akes and garlands, and Mariah Carey’s infamous tune arose from its seasonal slumber.

Maybe the complainers are half-kidding, too. Because does it really bother them that much that others nd delight in decking the halls of their own houses? Or that “All I Want for Christmas Is You” now oats into their ears as they meander through Walgreens?

e playlist there isn’t exactly on anyone’s top 10 throughout the rest of the year. Or maybe it is.

Point is that if someone else nds a little joy in hanging stockings in November, let them have it. It’s dark at 5 p.m., winter temperatures hit us like a surprise backhand overnight, it’s gray and gloomy, and everything outside is dying. Not to mention the less-than-stellar economy, higherthan-ever housing costs, political tug-of-war, environmental turmoil, and, you know, the big stu that can cause tons of stress if we let it. Lawmakers can’t seem to quit meddling with our rights and the freedom to make our own decisions, yet we’re grizzled about Christmas.

I’m not rushing to put up a tree. I probably won’t even bother. Putting all that stu up means later taking it down, and I’d rather not add more things to my to-do list. But if the holidays give someone out there the warm fuzzies, and curling up with a hot cup of cocoa in their Frosty the Snowman PJs under the glow of string lights brings a little peace, good for them! ere is so much division in this world, the matter of holiday decor should be at the bottom of the debate list.

All this to say, maybe it’s not so much about snow globes and wreaths as it is that people need something to fuss about. If it’s not politics, it’s sports or religion or which rich guy is the bigger piece of shit. I don’t make it a practice to let these types of things get to me, or even get in the middle of them too much — at least not out loud. It’s not worth the elevated blood pressure. And I learned at the family anksgiving table long ago that not all such conversations end amicably. ere’s that whole “If you don’t have anything nice to say” adage that probably ts here. Unless you just enjoy arguing.

NEWS & OPINION

THE FLY-BY - 4

NY TIMES CROSSWORD - 6

POLITICS - 6 AT LARGE - 8

FINANCE - 9 COVER STORY

I’m not pushing “toxic positivity” either. I’m simply saying that if someone else’s opinion, lifestyle, or personal choices don’t a ect you whatsoever — and much of the time, they don’t — let them be. If faith or cheesy Hallmark movies or plastic trees provide comfort for you, go for it. We’ll never all agree on everything, to be sure. But one thing we can agree on is that we’re here now trying to get through life, each with our own struggles, emotions, and daily minutiae.

“FALL BACK, DRINK FORWARD” BY FLYER STAFF - 10 WE RECOMMEND - 14

MUSIC - 15 CALENDAR - 16 FOOD - 19 FILM - 20

CLASSIFIEDS - 22 LAST WORD - 23

It’s good to have something to look forward to, even if that something is a lighted tree. ose are the kinds of things that bring little joys. And there’s no sense in fussing over that. Shara Clark shara@memphis yer.com

PHOTO: FOX | NEW GIRL Don’t be this guy.

THE fly-by

MEM ernet

Memphis on the internet.

ONLY A TEST

{CITY REPORTER

By Kailynn Johnson

Questions, Answers + Attitude

Edited by Toby Sells

City leaders sent a test of its emergency text system to many here last week. Did it work? Depends on who responded on Twitter.

“Why was the area code 781?” asked Brian Bolton. “I reported it as spam.” (So did Twitter user Adam’s Sombrero.)

“What in the world?” asked Kelly Spratlin. “What a mess.”

User Catrina got a call to her landline, one to her cell, and a text. Her husband got nothing. e 781 area code from the text pushed it to RoboKiller app as “blocked.”

e city of Bartlett tweeted, “Bravo Zulu, Memphis,” which (a er some research) means “well done” in nautical signal ags.

ROBBED

“How in the holy hell you rob the news crew?” asked Fox13’s Jeremy Pierre. He and his crew were apparently robbed at the corner of Poplar and Highland last ursday.

STREET DRIFTIN’

Pink Is Black

Pink Noire bucks the trend as a Black-owned beauty supply store.

e Black Owned Beauty Supply Association (BOBSA) estimates that the Black hair care and cosmetics industry is worth $9 billion. However, it also estimates that less than 5 percent of the beauty supply stores in the United States are Black-owned. is information can be shocking, as these beauty supply stores carry products, not found in retail chains like Ulta Beauty or Sally Beauty Supply, that are essential for the upkeep of textured hair.

“If we’re not driving the decisions, that just suggests to us further discrimination. Just really being on the short end of the stick,” said Chasity Monroe, owner of Pink Noire Beauty Supply & Cosmetics, located at 152 North Avalon Street in Memphis, Tennessee.

Pink Noire is one of the few Black-owned beauty supply stores in Memphis, and opened its doors in April.

“If there are people making products for us that don’t really know about our hair but are trying to get a pro t, that’s never going to end well,” Monroe said. “We’re literally nancing generations of a whole other community, and that dollar is not going to come back to our community.”

supply stores my whole life,” she said.

According to Monroe, one of her biggest takeaways was that Black women were overwhelmed with what the market currently had for beauty supply stores. Pink Noire seeks to remedy this, and Monroe likens the store’s layout to that of a grocery store.

“ at is a big point of di erentiation,” said Monroe. “We even have and highlight a Black-owned section.”

Monroe said that her decision comes at a time where Black-owned brands are not only celebrated because of their ownership, but because consumers prefer to buy from a company that understands their speci c needs.

“Obviously folks who look like us tend to understand what our needs are,” said Monroe. “A lot of the time those products are also really great quality versus some of those bigger company brands that are just trying to get a pro t.”

According to BOBSA, a majority of the beauty supply stores in the country are owned by Korean immigrants.

Ever wonder who puts all those burn-out marks on Memphis streets? Well, one of them (recently at Central Station) was the guy above, identi ed only as “Max” in a YouTube video published last week called “Memphis Street Dri ” from the Aussie nk & co channel.

Monroe started her career in beauty about 15 years ago when she worked for Procter & Gamble. In conducting market research and working on consumer insights, she found herself having several conversations with Black women. Monroe pinpoints these moments as the beginning of her understanding of the Black beauty industry from a corporate perspective.

However, as a Black woman, Monroe also had an understanding of the Black beauty industry from a consumer perspective.

“Obviously, as a Black woman, I’ve been going to beauty

While some stores prioritize the pro t aspect of running a business, Monroe hopes to also make shopping an experience.

“I wanted to have something that’s not like ‘the price of having Black hair,’” Monroe said. “It’s not a problem at all. It’s a gi that should be curated by a great experience.”

She recalls being in one beauty supply store on a rainy day, and as she was perusing products, she could feel the rain hitting the products as it leaked through missing ceiling tiles.

“It was a deplorable situation, and there were tons of Black women shopping in there.”

is is just one situation that propelled Monroe to act. She recalls the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, and seeing videos of Black women being harassed by non-Black beauty supply store owners, as calls to action.

“Obviously, folks who look like us tend to understand what our needs are.”

POSTED

PHOTO: RAPHAEL BAKER

Pink Noire’s Chasity Monroe

By Toby Sells

Mud Island Dragon

Watch out for a blue dragon on Mud Island. Kathryn Hicks put it there.

Hicks is a certi ed Snapchat augmented reality (AR) creator. She was recently hired by Snapchat in partnership with HBO’s hit series House of the Dragon for a global project to land virtual dragons “in some of the most beloved destinations around the world,” Snapchat said. Hicks said she was “super excited” to get the call.

“As a child, I was obsessed with dragons,” Hicks said. “My mother made the joke, like, she’s not going to be drawing dragons all the time. You’re never going to make money drawing dragons.”

Now, her mother is “absolutely stoked” about it, Hicks said.

chat lter campaign a er three rounds of vetting. Hicks said they were given the choice of several dragon colors: red, blue, green, bronze, and charcoal.

“I chose blue, of course, because of the Memphis Tigers and the Memphis Grizzlies, and the Mississippi River,” she said. “Blue is very Memphis. So, I went with blue for that reason.”

She also carefully chose Mud Island’s Memphis sign as a location for her dragon. She considered the Stax Museum, but worried Snapchat users might interrupt tra c on McLemore Avenue or even get hit by cars. Trafc was also a concern about landing her dragon around the sign for Beale Street, as was the street’s pedestrian congestion.

“I also chose the Memphis sign because I feel like a dragon would live [on Mud Island],” she said. “It’s on an island. It’s a good walk to get there. So, you get your steps in while heading toward this lter. It’s kind of like a little adventure. But it’s kind of a perfect area for a dragon to chill and hang out in.”

To get here, Hicks studied art in grad school at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) a er her undergrad degree at the University of Memphis. At SCAD, a friend worked on a virtual reality project that got her interested in the eld.

To see Hicks’ work, walk to the Memphis sign on Mud Island, open Snapchat, and face the city skyline. She suggests searching for it on Snapchat. A House of the Dragon icon can be found on the Snapchat map but it doesn’t always work, she said. With the lter open, walk to the middle of the Memphis sign and get close. Back slowly away and a blue dragon will appear in the sky. Hicks made a button to land the dragon, which “might be a little buggy,” but when it works the dragon lands, roars, and ies back into the sky.

Dragons like Hicks’ y in digital skies all over the world. Look for them around landmarks like London’s Tower Bridge; Gas Works Park in Seattle; Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City; the Hickson Road Reserve in Sydney, Australia; the Bab Agnaou gate in Marrakesh, Morocco; and many more.

Creators were selected for the Snap-

From there, she applied for and won a space in the Oculus Launchpad program in Palo Alto, California. Her graduate thesis was a virtual reality project about a Sasquatch creature roaming the hills of California.

From there, Hicks took a job as a 3D modeler with a company called Digital Precept. In 2020, she got into AR lter creation and won a slot in Snapchat’s Storyteller Residency.

e sky, it seems, is the limit for Hicks. For now, though, head to Mud Island and watch the skies for her work in Memphis.

“I also chose the Memphis sign because I feel like a dragon would live [on Mud Island].”

PHOTO: KATHRYN HICKS/FACEBOOK Hicks is a certi ed Snapchat augmented reality creator.

Local AR designer creates Memphis Snapchat lter for HBO’s House of the Dragon

Mt. Everest Bound

Anyone attending a meeting of the Shelby County Commission is bound to notice Michael Whaley, the Democrat who represents the newly recon gured District 13, which slices through several sections of central and northeast Memphis.

Whaley is chairman of the commission’s budget and audit committees and has the vaguely clerkish look you might associate with such concerns. He does his homework on pretty much everything that comes before the commission, however, and can always be counted on to take part in discussions, whatever the subject, and o en in great detail.

has scuba dived — to “Memphis nights” to wherever else he can nd the out-of-theway and unusual, the “unique destinations and alternative cultures of the earth.” He has explored the remotest places he can nd, from Madagascar to New Zealand to the outbacks of South Africa.

It all began for Whaley when, 10 years ago, he went with his mother, a teacher, and father, a college administrator, to Burma (Myanmar) where his mother had been born. “It opened my eyes,” he recalls.

e experience not only nourished his curiosity; it was a leading reason for his own choice of education as a career.

Whaley’s rst serious climbing challenge came in 2006 when he and his then roommate went to Montana and climbed Mt. Helena. His most recent experience was hiking and y- shing in Colorado, which he concluded just before the convening of the new commission session.

Whaley makes it a point to travel to a di erent place every year. Newly married, he intends to take a Caribbean jaunt with his wife Lauren next. A er that, he has in mind solo trips to such places as Tasmania and Antarctica. ose places will have to wait, though. First, Whaley will go to Tibet to take a shot at Mt. Everest, the tallest mountain in the world.

at is scheduled for the spring, when he will take a leave to join the Highland Expedition, the next organized assault on the summit of that famous edi ce, all of 18,000 feet up. at’s well more than three miles high.

By profession, Whaley is an organizer of educational programs and institutions, and is principal of Memphis College Prep, a fact which gives him a solid continuing interest in all school matters.

ere is nothing — absolutely nothing — which would provide an observer a hint as to Whaley’s chief motivations as a private individual. He happens to be an adventurer par excellence, with ambitions and accomplishments far in advance of your average weekend outdoorsman.

Whaley has climbed to the top of a still-active volcano in the Congo to smell the sulfur in the world’s largest lava lake and has made his way into the interior of that country’s vast jungle in order to nd and “get up close and personal” with the last remaining mountain gorillas there.

Like Tom Cochrane, he believes that “life is a highway” and intends to experience it “from Mozambique” — where he

Whaley is sensible enough to realize that the summit itself may represent an insuperable challenge for him at this point, but he plans to go as high as he can. His climb will start with a trek in the company of Sherpas (Tibetan natives who assist climbers) to the mountain’s base camp, which is a high destination in itself.

From there? “ e toughest part is in getting through the glacier,” says Whaley, who has researched the matter in some depth. One of the ordeals to come will involve tipping a ladder horizontally across an abyss, a mile or two up, and walking across it to safety wearing spiked shoes.

Merely consider that for a moment or two. And consider what it must be like to be Michael Whaley and routinely take on such challenges in his spare time. Not for him the easy chair and a so season of watching the NFL on TV.

It’s enough to make the commission work, with all of its demanding obligations, seemingly endless six-hour sessions, spirited and sometimes baleful exchanges, and not inconsiderable arcana, pale into relative insigni cance by comparison.

PHOTO: JACKSON BAKER Michael Whaley

“From Mozambique to Memphis nights” to the top of the world.

By Jackson Baker

ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE SHOWS IN MUSICAL THEATRE HISTORY.

Ripple

Ripple in still water When there is no pebble tossed Nor wind to blow …

— Robert Hunter

“I’m like Roger Stone, only nice.”

I awoke from a dream the other night in which I’d just uttered these words. To whom, I don’t know, nor do I know the context — just that I’d said to someone that I was like political sleazeball Roger Stone. Only nice.

I can only credit this to the political brain fog in which I’d spent most of my waking hours over the preceding couple of weeks. I watched CNN, MSNBC, and Fox on rotation each night. I relentlessly doom-scrolled my Twitter politics feed. I read countless analyses in e New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post. I scoured websites for new polls and approval ratings percentages.

e conclusion was the same everywhere: e GOP’s messaging on in ation and crime was striking a chord with the electorate. Roe v. Wade was yesterday’s news; that fervor had peaked and faded, replaced by anxiety over the rising cost of groceries and gasoline. Nobody was worried about a “threat to democracy,” even if President Biden made a speech about it. It was the economy, stupid. As it ever was.

Everyone was on board with this, from the addled fever dreams of Tucker Carlson’s brain to the thumb-sucking commentariat of the great Gray Lady. e future was Republican, folks, and this election would be a nightmare for progressives. A “red wave” would sweep the GOP into control of the Senate and the House of Representatives. e only question was how much of a margin they would get. e next two years would then be a nightmare of contrived impeachments, investigations of Hunter Biden’s laptop, blockages of judicial appointments, antiLGBTQ and anti-transgender legislation, and more anti-abortion measures.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the blowout: Namely, everyone got it wrong.

On election night, the red wave was a brief ripple in still water, stirred by the early returns in newly gerrymandered Florida. But it didn’t sustain. Instead, we had an historic blue blowback — an unheard-of mid-term election in which the opposing party lost ground. State legislatures and governorships were ipped

blue. e Senate stayed rmly in Democratic hands. Which party would win the House was still unknown as I write this, but it’s obvious that neither party will have enough of an edge in Congress to control much of anything.

So what do we take from this? First and foremost is the fact that polling is broken. It’s useless. We need to stop using polls as the basis for news stories and analysis. A recent Times story reported that, on the average, only one in 29 people takes a call from a pollster. A poll based on the 1,000 responses (from 29,000 calls!) of the oddballs who actually answer unknown calls is in no way indicative of the public sentiment on anything. It’s another reason polls entirely missed the surging youth vote. People in their 20s don’t answer unknown numbers. Hell, they barely even talk on their phones to their parents. Adding to the chaos, the GOP ooded the media with bogus polls that had Republicans ahead, further skewing the narrative.

What else do we take away? Well, simply put, Donald Trump is nished. Done. Toast. A er the party’s third election loss in four years, GOP leaders have suddenly found the “courage” to begin rejecting the Big Orange. Almost every nutjob he endorsed lost, from coast to coast. e electorate rejected MAGA, rejected election denial, rejected the removal of abortion rights, and rejected Trumpism.

Trump won’t get the message for a while. His ego won’t let it happen. But watch how the winds blow over the next few days. Hell, watch how Lindsey Graham blows over the next few days. When Trump loses Lindsey, he’ll know it’s really over. Even Mike Pence has found some measure of rectitude, albeit only a er six years of obsequious toady-ism.

ese election results have given me hope, a thing that’s mostly eluded me over the past six years, when it seemed darker, autocratic, even violent forces were on the rise, inevitable. It’s all making me feel a bit like Roger Stone, only nice.

PHOTO: RYAN CARPENTER | UNSPLASH

Sur ng the red wave that wasn’t.

AT LARGE By Bruce VanWyngarden

Politics and the Market

Despite all the uncertainty in the past, markets have persevered.

Last Tuesday’s elections are determining the composition of the U.S. House of Representatives, a third of the Senate (runo s aside), and 36 governorships. Politically, this feels like a divisive time, and accusations and dire warnings from both sides of the aisle are getting increasingly hyperbolic. How can we con dently invest or stay invested in markets at a time like this?

like China aspire to become more dominant throughout the world.

We’re not going to solve the world’s problems today, but we can reassure you that despite all the uncertainty in the past, the markets have persevered — through world wars, in ation, recessions, and everything else that happened in the twentieth century. Every time concerning news comes out, people wonder if “this time is di erent.” Each time is di erent in its own way, but thus far the world, the economy, and the nancial markets have always persevered in the long run.

Smart investing can stand the test of time.

ere was never a time where politics didn’t feel at least a little divisive in America. Recent events have us on high alert, but there are a lot of stories in the history books equally as shocking. In 1856, a Senator was beaten with a cane until he fell unconscious on the oor of the Senate. A few years later, there was an all-out brawl in the House, including more than 30 members. Even as recently as 1988, a Senator was arrested and carried onto the oor feet- rst by the Sergeant-atArms to comply with quorum rules. e rise of aggressive algorithms on social media probably does contribute to political divisiveness today, and we don’t mean to minimize the recent events and violence in our political process. However, there has never been a period of time where politics have felt completely constructive and settled.

ere has never been a period of forward-looking geopolitical security either. roughout the Cold War and even today, we have the omnipresent threat of nuclear con ict. Events like the Bay of Pigs invasion are largely forgotten today because they were resolved, but there was no guarantee at the time that things would work out at all. All recorded history has been de ned by the rise and fall of great powers, and these tectonic shi s in in uence and control continue as countries like Russia try to stay relevant and countries

e good news is that there is no evidence suggesting the political party in power reliably has any in uence over the future trajectory of the markets. e conventional wisdom is that populist candidates are negative for the markets and more conservative candidates are market-positive. We think it’s more likely that di erent ideologies bene t di erent types of companies (for example, a Democratic sweep might be positive for green-energy companies while Republicans might be good for coal). Also, there are elaborate checks and balances through the legislative process and via the judiciary, so even with a large majority, one party can’t have overly dominant in uence.

One theme we always come back to is diversi cation. At Telarray, we don’t have to spend any time worrying about which stock or sector might outperform based on a particular election outcome because we are broadly diversi ed across countries, currencies, and investment factors. Our style of investing has exposure to virtually every sector and countless companies throughout the world. Concentrated investing can pay great rewards, but it can also result in great disappointment if things don’t work out the right way. Harry Markowitz’s statement that “diversi cation is the only free lunch” rings truer today than ever.

Gene Gard is Chief Investment O cer at Telarray, a Memphis-based wealth management rm that helps families navigate investment, tax, estate, and retirement decisions. Ask him your questions or schedule an objective, no-pressure portfolio review at letstalk@telarrayadvisors.com. Sign up for their next free online seminar on the Events tab at telarrayadvisors.com.

PHOTO: ROBERT BYE | UNSPLASH

Temperatures roller-coaster dipped into the cool stuff last weekend promising no more 80-degree days until Memphis in May and the exact right conditions to bend an arm under a dark, toasty/roasty fall beer.

For this, Memphians, you are in luck. New beers keep pouring into new Memphis-area taprooms. When Cooper House Project opens in Cooper-Young (hopefully soon!), Memphis will be home to 12 craft breweries. It’ll join Ghost River, Beale Street, Boscos, Crosstown, Grind City, Soul & Spirits, Hampline, High Cotton, Wiseacre, Memphis Made, and Meddlesome. Consider that only two craft breweries — Ghost River and Bos cos — operated here nine years ago.

New beers are pouring into Memphisarea stores, too. Craft breweries from oth er markets are expanding their distribu tion circles, and new stuff is showing up on our shelves. Think of all the Nashville beers we can get here like Bearded Iris and Southern Grist, Urban South from New Orleans, and Deschutes from Bend, Oregon. This now also includes several non-alcoholic beers from brewers who want craft flavors without the hangover.

For this year’s fall beer guide, we

rounded up a bunch of beers you can find around Memphis. This includes some from other markets and does not include every local brewery. Some breweries just didn’t have anything new that we’ve not written about already. We found our beers at Cash Saver and South Point Grocery (thank you, Taylor James!), both known for their wide selections. But you can find most of the beers in our tasting most anywhere.

Some brewers haven’t liked all of our staff comments in past beer guides. But our crew was asked to be honest. We taste and take notes, not as beer experts, but as typical Memphis craft beer consum ers. (I mean, we don’t even have Untappd accounts.)

But we did have expert help. As in years past, we had a guide to help us un derstand the different styles and pick out flavors. This year, Ryan Allen, co-owner and master brewer at Soul & Spirits, shined a light on our path forward. He joined us in an undisclosed Midtown backyard as a few Flyer staffers drank beers from a cooler and wrote about them for work. Hell yeah.

There are plenty of beers to love on this list — and we did love some. But

Fall Back, Drink Forward

don’t take our word for it. Go grab a light jacket and a dark beer for yourself.

— Toby Sells

Athletic

Athletic Lite, light lager, 0 percent ABV Ever leave a sixer in a hot car, discover it later, then put it back in the fridge? This reminds me of that — like a flat, forgotten Miller Lite. Not much flavor, but an easy drinker if you like playing pretend.

— Shara Clark

It’s a light beer with no alcohol. Which I guess is like chewing on a candy cigarette in a cigar club. But to be fair, some people really like candy cigarettes.

— Samuel X. Cicci

A non-alcoholic beverage that seems sort of pointless. Slightly fizzy, like LaCroix water. Yellowish color, like water that’s been, er, used. I’d prefer a LaCroix.

—

them. Why make an NA beer taste like the lite beer designed to make 4.2 percent alcohol content more palatable? This beer makes me long for the bold flavors of tap water. — Chris McCoy

This non-alcoholic beverage is like drink ing Holy Water from church, except the wrong fingers have been dipped in the font — fingers that have been in places God doesn’t approve of — so there’s a tinge of something that shouldn’t be there, making you question if this thing that’s supposed to be “good” for you is actually worth the way it goes down so smoothly.

Meddlesome

Bruce VanWyngarden

There’s nothing there and I guess that’s the point. It’s barely-beer-flavored fizzy water.

— Toby Sells

The recent technological advances that have made decent-tasting NA beer pos sible are welcome. There’s a lot of good brews out there that won’t mess with your sobriety. Unfortunately, this is not one of

— Abigail Morici

Memphis Style Lager, light lager, 4.5 percent ABV

The can art reminds me of a ’90s-style Mead folder, but the beverage itself gives strong shower beer vibes. Lather up the shampoo, crack one open, and throw it back while the water washes the day away. This one’s a winner. — SC

It’s a nice, lighter malty lager. If you like lagers, go for it. But you’re gonna buy it anyway since the can is so fun with its minty-party-shenanigan-chic aesthetic.

— SXC

COVER STORY By Flyer Staff

PHOTOS By Chris McCoy OUR SEASONAL BEER GUIDE GOES TO SOME DARK (EVEN NON-ALCOHOLIC) PLACES.

is 4.5-percenter is right down the middle of my comfort zone. Tastes like beer, friendly and non-aggressive. I could see myself sitting down with a few of these. — BV

It tastes great. Now with that out of the way, let’s talk about the can. To holler at the ’80s Memphis design group on a beer can will delight any who appreciate obscure Memphiana. If you think it looks like Saved by the Bell, well, that’s fun, too. — TS is beer is what you think you want when you order a domestic light beer. Because of Memphis’ great water, and being fresher than your average corporate beer product, it’s got a sharper and better avor. — CM

e Memphis Style has the vibe of a crouton. We like croutons. But do we love croutons — that’s the question. — AM

Southern Grist

Parallel Fruited Sour, sour, 0 percent ABV is is another NA, which is good because you’ve got to be sober to say its name three times fast. Flavor- and texture-wise, this seems like nothing more than a fruit puree — or what you get in one of those bottles of daiquiri mixer. — SC It’s bursting with passion fruit and raspberry, but not super sour, which I want in my beers. Also, it has no alcohol. Which I guess is like choosing to inhale a fruity candle in a hookah bar. — SXC

Another non-alcoholic brew that is in no way reminiscent of, well, beer. It’s pleasant tasting, but to me, this is a soda. — BV is is one of the best NA beers I’ve ever tasted. It’s got the mouthfeel of a regular beer, and the avors are tasty but not overwhelming. Most importantly, it’s not too sweet. — CM

e best snack when you’re in kindergarten is that cherry chapstick that you sneak a little nibble of, and this drink will take you back to those naughty moments — as if the chapstick-eating folk at Southern Grist melted down the worst chapstick, plastic tube and all, to nd a new evil way to capitalize on nostalgia. — AM

Doc’s Cider

Sour Cherry Cider, sour, 6 percent ABV is tastes like an Alabama Slammer Clubtails (those cheap, gas-station, 10-percent malt beverages) or a Black Cherry Four Loko. And if you’ve got more than two bucks to spend on booze, this is

not a good thing. — SC is sour-cherry concoction tested my gag re ex. Never bring this near my face again. — BV is is the opposite of thin. It covers your tongue and palate with a sort of cherry medicine lm. Do not recommend. — TS UhhhlllllAAAAHHHHCHHA [yucky sound]! — CM

It’s like drinking the weirdly pink liquid that drips from a teeny tiny hole in a Febreze-scented garbage bag lled with rotting fruit and used Kleenex as you drag it to your garbage bins. — AM

Urban South

Red Nose ReinBeer, fruited wheat, 5.4 percent ABV e rst sip gave me a little “Oh!” — light with a warm, spiced a ertaste. Subsequent sips sorta felt like peeling back the wrapping paper on a Christmas gi then settling into disappointment once you realize it’s just a pair of socks. — SC

Grandma got run over by a reinbeer while walkin’ home from our house on Christmas Eve. e suspect was a fruity wheat, with notes of cranberry, cinnamon, and brown sugar, but witnesses reported that the spices overwhelm any fruity taste. — SXC

I didn’t want to like this. But it’s Christmas in a can, really. Light on the cranberry avor, heavy on the cinnamon and brown sugar. e taste turns atter the more you drink, though. — TS

Urban Artifact

Xmas Pickle, sour, 4.3 percent ABV What’s the dill with all these odd new beer types, eh? It’s a smooth, light, pickle-based gose. Little bit of salt, a nice clean pickle scent, a bit of tartness, but overall it doesn’t go too heavy on any of the strange avor mixes. — SXC

It’s much like I’d imagine drinking the brine from a pickle jar would be, only with bubbles. It’s got some salt, as well. Might go well with a cheeseburger or something, but I would not drink this sans food.

— BV

Ryan [Allen from Soul & Spirits] said pickle beers are on the rise. I ain’t tryna drink this all a ernoon, but it’s crazy di erent and fun to explore. I bet it’s great with fried chicken. — TS

I wasn’t aware of the pickle beer trend before this tasting, and I’m not sure I’m on board with it. is one smells like a pickle

more than tastes like one, and it’s by far the saltiest beer I’ve ever had. Bottom line: It’s not as bad as it sounds. — CM

Soul & Spirits

Polk Salad, fresh-hopped IPA, 6.1 percent ABV e vibe: You’re sitting in a eld, breeze blowing against your face, sipping a cold, carbonated herbal tea. Fresh hops here really gave this a crisp, clean drinking experience. Best IPA I’ve ever tried. — SC is is a better IPA, made from fresh hops (grown in Memphis!) and packed with fresh greens. Not bad. And that’s coming from an IPA-hater. — SXC is is the freshest beer I’ve ever had. Maybe I would not have described it that way if Ryan hadn’t told us about the freshhop process, but dang if I can’t taste it. My notes say “just so fucking good.” — TS It starts with a great nose. e initial taste is light and crisp, with a bold nish. e fresh hops linger longer and add more complexity than you get with your average West Coast face-melter. is is one of the

e texture is so , almost melted buttery. A hint of dough. Not for every taste, but will hit the spot for many. — BV

Ryan de-mysti ed Dunkels for me, saying they’re basically Hefeweizens with darker malts (and that “Dunkelweizen” literally translates to “dark wheat”). is one has those banana avors and lots of suds. Fun to drink, and extra points for crop circles on the can! — TS

is new “dark wheat” is one of the better o erings from the venerable Ghost River label. It goes down smooth, but be warned: It’s got an exceptionally high alcohol content. You can get yourself into trouble with this one. — CM

Have you ever licked the cracked side of a plastic Mardi Gras bead that’s lost its shine and sits in a puddle of spilled beer? Well, now, you don’t have to; this drink will do the trick instead. — AM

Wiseacre

Strizzle Bier, IPA, 6.2 percent ABV Yipes. Bye-bye, taste buds. I think they were burned o by the bitterness. — SC Wiseacre makes so many good beers that I don’t feel bad saying I don’t like this. It’s a weird fusion of IPA and brown ale, and I’m not sure those two styles ever truly reconcile. — SXC

Solid brew with a clean slight bitterness that isn’t o -putting. is one suits the season just right. — BV

IPA bros like myself (self-burn), rejoice! Your fall beer is here. It’s bitter, even a little fruity, and de nitely all IPA. — TS Not much nose, followed by a weird, muddled taste pro le. It’s bitterness without context. Strizzle is a rare miss from Wiseacre. — CM

is tastes the way sliding a nger along a freshly Pledged table feels but without the pleasant lemon scent. — AM

High Cotton

Ghost River

Dunkelweizen Ale, Dunkelweizen, 8 percent ABV It’s got a bit of a clovy taste. A lot of Ghost Rivers have a sameness to their taste, but this one breaks the mold. Kudos to the brewer. — SXC is has a dark, caramel-ish initial taste.

Chocolate Rye Porter, porter, 5.5 percent ABV is is just begging to be made into a beer oat. Is that even a thing? Well, it is now. Gimme a mug and a scoop of vanilla, please. — SC

As a kid I used to go to my grandmother’s and attack the bowl of 85-percent Ghirardelli chocolate squares. is beer reminds me of those, a bitter and oh-soslightly-sweet meld of chocolate avor

continued on page 12

best IPAs I’ve ever tasted. — CM

Toby Sells (le ) with Soul & Spirits owner and master brewer Ryan Allen.

continued from page 11

swirling softly amidst the dark porter. Truly heavenly, and the perfect fall/winter beer. — SXC

It smells just like coffee as I bring it up for a sip. It tastes like the holidays. If ReinBeer above is the fun, gaudy Christmas party with lil smokies and Dirty Santa, this beer is the classier sit-down, roast beef dinner with your well-to-do cousins. — TS This is the kind of beer I’m in the mood for when the leaves are falling. It’s wellbalanced, not too sweet, with a complex set of flavors. This is one of my favorite beers from a Memphis brewery. — CM

— somewhere between a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup and a pecan pie. Those brew ers up there in Nashville are making great beer. — CM

Hi-Wire

Chocolate Coconut Bar 10W-40 Impe rial Stout, stout, 8 percent ABV

It’s a silky, creamy chocolate imperial stout with a bit of lingering coconut. I expected more of a Mounds bar-esque taste. Not quite as good as the chocolate rye porter, but solid if you’re a stout fan. — SXC Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. The coconut goes way over the top here and turns the candy bar flavor into suntan lotion. — TS

As a fan of stouts, chocolate cake, and co conuts, this sounds like it should be right up my alley. But it’s just chewy and thick and not much else. I’m not sure I even tasted the coconut. Meh. — CM

Soul & Spirits

Smoke Stack, smoked dark lager, 5.7 percent ABV

Ever played musical chairs around a campfire to avoid the smoke blowing in your eyes? But every time you move, it follows, permeating your hair and clothes and your entire respiratory system? That usually sucks, but while this tastes like inhaling a smoke cloud, it’s a bold beer, and I’m here for it. — SC

Tailgate

Peanut Butter Milk Stout, sweet/milk stout, 5.8 percent ABV Yum! Nutter Butters in a cup. This would make a great boozy milkshake. — SC My notes, verbatim: “Fuck it. I love the shit out of this beer.” I couldn’t help it, even though I don’t usually like these beers and wanted not to like this one. I can’t explain the magic that converted me, but it was there. — TS

It’s got a great nose, it pours like motor oil, and the flavor is deep and satisfying

The smoke hits you right up front, like when the wind from a fire pit wafts your way. It’s meant to emulate Memphis bar becue, and like Memphis barbecue, it’s a slow burn. Not a beer to crush, but could go well with a rack of ribs. — BV

Ever had a beer that’s smoky like a good scotch? Made with Tennessee barley roasted over mixed hardwoods intended to evoke the flavors of Memphis barbecue, this one was a new experience for me. Not sure I could have more than one at a sit ting, but this is an excellent beer. — CM

steppin’ out

We Recommend: Culture, News + Reviews

Magnolia Song

By Abigail Morici

“If you had asked me while I was at Rhodes College [in 1969] what I was going to do with my life,” Bob Towery says, “I would’ve told you that I’m gonna race automobiles and then I’m gonna write about it.” Well, he’s raced cars, earned a fourth-degree black belt in taekwondo, founded Memphis magazine, established Towery Publishing, sailed in two hurricanes, and at long last, he’s written his rst novel — though there’s not a lot of race car driving in it, just a former NASCAR driver-turned-crooked sheri . e novel, titled Magnolia Song: A Saga of the New South, chronicles the stories of two Memphis families intertwining from 1915 through 2018, and it has marijuana, reptiles, incest, murder, lots of absurdity, dozens of illustrations, over 150 characters, and 530 pages.

“I hope that it conveys, as much as anything else, a joy of living,” says Towery. “One of the main things I wanted to do is just make people laugh. When you start trying to make people laugh, sometimes it just turns dark, but laughing is one of the great tonics in life. It should be pursued at all levels.”

Towery began writing the book in 2016 but made substantial headway a er Covid struck. “I took a long time to get around to writing a book, but I had great fun writing this thing,” he says. “It all came out of my fevered brain. What I was trying to capture is the kind of social change that took place between then and today, which encompasses the greatest social change in human history.”

Already, Towery is working on the sequel: Black Widow’s Waltz, scheduled for release in fall of 2023. is novel will begin in 1775, which was how the author planned to open Magnolia Song before realizing how long his novel was shaping up to be. “It’s very long,” he says. “I’m kind of a long-winded sort.”

But don’t mistake the Dickensian length as unapproachable. “My favorite book of all time is War and Peace,” Towery says. “I’ve read it ve times, kind of once every generation since I was an adult. I think it’s a magni cent book, and unfortunately people think of it as this unapproachable tome. And it really isn’t. It’s a wonderful galloping story.”

And that’s the kind of story Towery aims to tell. “I hope that the book is an anthem to our community,” he says. “I’d say that if there is a main character, it’s probably Memphis.”

Towery will read from Magnolia Song and sign copies at Burke’s Book Store on ursday, November 17th. e reading will begin at 6 p.m.

Magnolia Song is available for purchase at Burke’s, Novel, and btowery.com, where you can also nd cheat sheets for characters and a timeline for when you’re reading.

READING AND BOOK SIGNING WITH BOB TOWERY, BURKE’S BOOK STORE, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 5:30-6:30 P.M.

Sugar Run 5K

Wolf River Nature Area, Saturday, November 19, 8 a.m.

e Sugar Run 5K has become the premier charity event for type 1 diabetes research since its founding in 2006. e run has raised over a quarter-million dollars for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (West TN Chapter).

e Sugar Run has continuously evolved over the years. Four years ago, the race added a new division, the Elite Run, to showcase the top echelon of runners from around the world and to allow elite athletes to compete alongside others. e inaugural run in Germantown will feature the Elite Run alongside the classic Sugar Run 5K and Kids Fun Run, making the event accessible for people of all ages and skill levels.

A Wunderland Holiday

eatreWorks, performances through November 19, $27

Kick o your holidays with sequins and heels at A Wunderland Holiday by Friends of George’s! Hostess Allysun Wunderland welcomes audience members into her home for a Judy Garland-inspired Christmas special. You’ll meet special guests, watch drag performances, learn holiday tips, and more. is will be a holiday event you don’t want to miss! Proceeds will bene t Choices Memphis Center for Reproductive Health.

Performances run ursday through Saturday, November 17-19, at 8 p.m. Visit friendsofgeorges.org to purchase tickets.

“Les Paul ru the Lens” Stax Museum of American Soul Music, on display through December 30 Stax Museum hosts “Les Paul ru the Lens,” highlighting the life and career of Les Paul, the inventor, musician, and icon.

e exhibit features a collection of gallery-framed black-and-white photographs including Paul’s life from a small child to his later career. It includes rare personal family photos, famous friends, and photos of the man with a larger-than-life sense of humor and amazing curiosity. Guests can follow along while viewing each photograph with the web-initiated storylines. From Paul’s time inventing in his famous Hollywood garage studio to his popular reality TV show and appearances with Mary Ford, the exhibit provides fans with the opportunity to see Paul like never before.

Memphis’ Jazz Champion

It was a momentous evening when Memphis-born jazz giant Charles Lloyd took to the stage Friday, November 4th at the Germantown Performing Arts Center (GPAC), but not just for the music. Before playing a note, Lloyd reminisced at length about his youth here, including his time at Manassas High School, where “Frank Strozier put the hurt on me,” as Lloyd said, by virtue of his better chops. But he also took a moment to re ect on a recently fallen friend, one who gured heavily in the local jazz scene for decades: Malvin Massey Jr. Lloyd, who said he spoke with Massey o en in his comings and goings through Memphis, even paid tribute to Massey’s manner of speaking, saying, “Jazz’s human voice was Malvin. Malvin Massey sounded like jazz.”

For countless Memphians over the decades, that was literally true, as his voice wove in with the music of WUMR, the University of Memphis’ jazz-oriented station. Massey, who died this October 29th, became the station’s general manager in 2009, but he’d already been involved with the station nearly 20 years by then, serving as volunteer DJ, music director, and program director over that time. And when Massey le the station in 2020, he carried on promoting what he o en called “that classic AfricanAmerican art form called jazz,” joining co-host Howard Robertson for the popular Kudzukian podcast, Ri n’ on Jazz.

“He told me some years ago that a fan described his voice as ‘a whiskey baritone,’” Robertson recalls today, echoing Charles Lloyd’s words, though he personally remembers when Massey’s voice was likely only a pre-teen squeak. “Malvin and I go way back to junior high school. We went to seventh grade together at Corry Junior High, right here in Memphis. We both thought at the time that we were God’s gi to the saxophone, and we were ercely competitive. Everybody back then was in a band; we were in bands from the time we were 12 years old.”

Massey kept playing music all his life, but he really built a career in radio. Robertson, also boasting years of experience

in radio, observes that “he helped build WUMR into one of the best jazz stations in the country. It was absolutely one of the nest university-owned and operated radio stations anywhere.” Indeed, it was one of only eight such stations in the country and carries on today a er its rebirth as WYXR, supported by a partnership between the university, Crosstown Concourse, and e Daily Memphian. ere, Massey became a trusted mentor to many. Social media comments upon the announcement of his death re ected as much. “If it wasn’t for Malvin and the chance he gave me at WUMR as a high school graduate, I may have never gone to the University of Memphis,” wrote one former associate. “He was a great guy and mentor to me,” wrote another.

More recently, Massey’s podcast work is distinctive; the fact that both he and Robertson played music all their lives gave Ri n’ on Jazz a unique spin right out of the gate, not least because the hosts interjected bits of jazz lore they’d picked up over the decades.

“ at’s how we learned! And that’s why we were thrilled to be able to do the show like that,” Robertson says. “We learned about it at the feet of old guys — our daddies, our uncles, many older people. And we’re sitting on the oor in front of a stereo or hi- , reading the album covers, and they’re talking about the music and the artists. And in a lot of cases, they knew them because a lot of them were from Memphis or came through Memphis, so they might be telling stories about them and what-not. And we’d be listening to the music, becoming educated and informed about who was playing what on what album cuts. ere was all that great information you could get at that time from the liner notes.”

Re ecting on his last, great collaboration with Massey, Robertson says, “We learned to play together; we learned music together. And to have the opportunity to get back together and do this show, in our seasoned stage of life, was an incredible privilege to me. We had a great time.”

His gratitude echoes the words Massey spoke so o en on the air, signing o from a program: “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gi . at’s why it’s called the present.”

PHOTO: LARRY KUZNIEWSKI Malvin Massey Jr.

“Malvin Massey sounded like jazz.”

MUSIC By Alex Greene

ART HAPPENINGS

Artist’s Talk

Devan Shimoyama crafts he roic and sanguine depictions of the Black, queer, male body. Free. Thursday, Nov. 17, 6 p.m.

RHODES COLLEGE

Meet the Artist

Meet Emily Ozier, whose work is featured in Marisol’s Dress Thursday, Nov. 17, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

Opening Reception at Crosstown Arts

The opening of Janaye Brown’s, Sarah Elizabeth Cornejo’s, and Katrina Perdue’s exhibits. Friday, Nov. 18, 6-8 p.m.

ARTS

CROSSTOWN

BOOK EVENTS

Book Event with RJ Smith

A discussion and book signing with the Chuck Berry biogra pher. Thursday, Nov. 17, 7 p.m.

STAX MUSEUM OF AMERICAN SOUL MUSIC

Reading with Bob Towery

Bob Towery will read from and sign copies of his debut novel, Magnolia Song. Thurs day, Nov. 17, 5:30 p.m.

BURKE’S BOOK STORE

COMEDY

Chestnut

A night with Chestnut is a great way to blow off steam. $15-$20. Friday, Nov. 18, 6-11 p.m.

K3 STUDIO CAFE

Josh Gondelman with Ross Turner

Thursday, Nov. 17, 7 p.m.

GROWLERS

FESTIVAL

A Parade of Nations International Festival

This celebration will highlight, inform, and educate about cul tural differences and resources within our community. Satur day, Nov. 19, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

BENJAMIN L. HOOKS CENTRAL LIBRARY

FILM

Bruce Lee vs. Superman Triad gangsters call Superman out of retirement to kidnap a scientist who solved the global food shortage crisis. $5. Thursday, Nov. 17, 7:30 p.m.

CROSSTOWN THEATER

New Horror Movie Marathon Get caught up on some of the best new horror movies

of 2022: Smile, X, Pearl, and Barbarian. Free. Sunday, Nov. 20, 4:45 p.m.

BLACK LODGE

HEALTH AND FITNESS

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

HOLIDAY EVENTS

Downtown Holiday Tree Lighting

Featuring ornament sales benefiting St. Jude, free photos with Santa, Dinstuhl’s Candies for the first 200 kids, hot chocolate, and music. Satur day, Nov. 19, 4:30 p.m.

DOWNTOWN

Elvis Presley’s Graceland officially kicks off the holiday season by flipping the switch to light Elvis’ iconic Grace land. Free. Thursday, Nov. 17, 6 p.m.

GRACELAND

THEATER

A Wunderland Holiday Allysun Wunderland wel comes you into her home for some holiday fun. $27. Through Nov. 19.

THEATREWORKS

How the Grinch Stole Christmas: The Musical Discover the magic of Dr. Seuss’ classic holiday tale as it comes to life on stage. $25$90. Tuesday, Nov. 22-Nov. 27.

ORPHEUM THEATRE

Influenced: The Hip Hop Musical Delve into the lives of five high school seniors who are dealing with pivotal moments in their life where they have to think about and choose what or who they will allow to in fluence them. $20-$35. Friday, Nov. 18-Nov. 19.

ONE ACCORD INTERNATIONAL

Graceland Holiday Lighting Weekend

Ramblin’ Joe’s

eet Ramblin’ Joe’s Co ee. It’s that same little co ee shop that used to be called Ugly Mug at 4610 Poplar Avenue at Perkins Extended. Ramblin’ Joe’s is the new name of their shops that sell the familiar Ugly Mug co ee.

“We made a name change,” says Ramblin’ Joe’s owner David Lambert. But that’s just the store name. “Anything called ‘Ugly Mug,’ we own it. Except the stores. ‘Ugly Mug’ is our online grocery, and we sell Ugly Mug in our stores. e deal is we can’t call the stores themselves ‘Ugly Mug.’” ey also have Ramblin’ Joe’s stores in Nashville and Knoxville, and they plan on opening one or two more in Memphis in the near future.

credibility built into this brand. I talked to the guy for three months. He just would not deal on this.”

Finally, Lambert thought, “If we want to grow, we have to come up with a new name.” ey asked customers to submit names and got about 600.

“I was thinking about ‘Joe.’ ‘Joe’ is a name for co ee. I was driving to Nashville. I turned on the radio. ‘Ramblin’ Man’ was on. e Allman Brothers.”

He thought, “People enjoy going places if the place has a story and some depth to it rather than a place to just buy something.”

So, Lambert came up with a story. “Ramblin’ Joe is basically the co ee taster that works for Ugly Mug co ee. He’s been tasked to go around the country and around the world and nd di erent regional products and bring those avors back. And we feature those avors in our Ramblin’ Joe’s co ee choices.”

Lambert and his wife, Kim, found a co ee shop in Maine that sells a salted latte. ey now sell a Maine Salted Maple Latte at Ramblin’ Joe’s.

“I guess I’m kind of ramblin’ Joe. We like to travel a lot. We always go places and we nd unique products that are regional. We should just, from time to time, have products and co ees that come from other parts of the world.”

And their co ee, including Full Moon latte, which originated in Memphis, will be introduced in other states and countries as they open Ramblin’ Joe’s franchises.

e recent Grind City Co ee Xpo was “the o cial launch” of the new store name.

Last March, they hired a franchising company because people were inquiring about opening Ugly Mug franchises. “ ey came back and said, ‘Hey. We got a problem. Somebody took your trademark.’ I tell you, you could have knocked me o the chair. I had no idea.

“I did not realize trademarks expired. Every 10 years what you have to do is send the U.S. government proof that you’re still using the trademark.”

eir “Ugly Mug” trademark expired a year ago, and somebody picked it up. “It was a guy out in California.”

He was opening a little shop called e Ugly Mug, Lambert says. “ ey weren’t even open yet. ey just got the trademark. I talked to the guy. I said, ‘Hey. is is the deal. We’ve had this brand for 20 years, and we have a lot of

In 1971, Lambert’s dad, Bill Lambert, began Lambert’s Co ee, a non-retail business that services restaurants and o ces. In 2005, David purchased the Ugly Mug co ee brand and began selling it online and in stores, including Kroger and Walmart. Around 2015, they started renting the co ee shop on Poplar. “For the past ve or six years, we’ve won Best Co ee Shop and Best Co ee Roaster in the Flyer,” he says.

ey will open the rst Ramblin’ Joe’s franchise in March at Memphis International Airport. “Our focus as a company is going to be more on franchising and expanding Ramblin’ Joe’s and trying to expand it all over the country.”

Lambert wants to give people “a little avor of Memphis.”

“ ere are lots of co ee shops in town that are awesome and do a fantastic job. We want to be a little more accessible as a drive-through. We want customers to come to our shop and not only get a great cup of co ee, but get it fast. Good-quality gourmet co ee for the everyday person. For the average Joe.”

PHOTO: MICHAEL DONAHUE David Lambert, Kim Lambert, Drew Smith, and Teagan Gri th

e co ee shop formerly known as Ugly Mug sports a fresh look and identity.

By Michael Donahue

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

In December, 2016, Carrie Fisher died of a heart attack shortly a er nishing lming her last scenes for e Last Jedi. Rian Johnson’s lm turned out to be the best Star Wars title in 30 years, but the franchise had a big problem. e nal lm, Duel of the Fates, was to have focused on Leia as the last surviving member of the original trilogy’s band of heroes. With Fisher deceased, the script was scrapped, and the director red. J.J. Abrams was brought in to guide the saga to safe landing. Instead, he crashed the ship. e Last Jedi remains controversial, but e Rise of Skywalker is universally acknowledged as an epic asco.

In August 2020, another Disney department faced tragedy. Chadwick Boseman, the beloved star of Black Panther, died of colon cancer at age 43. Director Ryan Coogler, having made the best lm in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, was faced with nothing but bad choices: Do you re-cast T’Challa and assume the hero of millions of Black kids worldwide is, like James Bond, just a brand name llable by semi-disposable himbos? Or do you try to

write around the disappearance of one of 21st century cinema’s brightest lights?

Coogler chose option B. He immediately announced that Boseman would not be replaced. at meant Wakanda Forever was written with the di culty settings on “high.” Normally in the second lm of a superhero franchise, we have dispensed with the origin story, and the hero really comes into their own. Instead, Coogler and writer Joe Robert Cole had to account for their hero’s o -screen death, deal with all of the resulting character and plot fallout, and shi the focus to a new protagonist, while also introducing a new antagonist and delivering all the superpowered thrills and chills the audience expects.

It’s an impossible assignment. Coogler and Cole come very close to pulling it o by leaning heavily on the excellent ensemble they assembled for Black Panther We open with the skeptic Shuri (Letitia Wright) praying to the cat god Bast as she races to nd a cure for the mystery illness a icting her brother T’Challa. She suspects the solution is related to the heart

herb which gives the Panthers their power, but pretender to the Wakandan throne Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) destroyed the garden where the herb grew, so now she must try to create a synthetic version. Shuri’s still struggling with the problem when her mother, Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), tells her it’s too late.

All this drama, and the moving funeral sequence, takes place before the opening credits. Flash-forward a year, and the queen is trying to help Shuri come to terms with T’Challa’s death. Wakanda is still struggling with the same question that has always hung over the secret

Afrofuturist society: Should they engage with the world that has always been so hostile to Black people or hide behind their vast technological advantage and huge supply of the alien wonder material vibranium? Stung by the trauma of her husband and son’s deaths, and the West’s quest to steal Wakandan resources, Ramonda is leaning back toward isolationism. Her political calculations are upended when a new variable presents itself in the person of Namor the Sub-

A hero is gone, and Ryan Coogler’s melancholy Marvel epic picks up the pieces.

Ryan Coogler and his ace cast search for a new hero in Wakanda Forever.

Mariner (Tenoch Huerta Mejía). He’s the king of the underwater realm of Talokan, which has their own independent supply of vibranium. Since Namor is a 400-yearold superpowered mutant son of the Mayan civilization, he’s also suspicious of representatives of “Western civilization” looking for resources in his territory. The two civilizations’ interests would seem to align, but instead Wakanda and Talokan spiral into war.

Coogler is the best director work ing in the comic book space. His deep knowledge of classic genre films makes him uniquely suited to this novelistic storytelling. He flawlessly executes a tension-building Zulu sequence leading to the film’s first set piece, a three-way air, ground, and water chase through Boston. Bassett carries the early acts on

her sculpted shoulders, before passing the baton to Lupita Nyong’o’s superspy Nakia and Winston Duke’s grumpy warlord M’Baku for their own bravado scenes.

T’Challa was the moral center of the Marvel heroes, the one who best repre sented Stan Lee’s dictum: “With great power comes great responsibility.” When Shuri takes up the mantle of the Black Panther, she faces the Wakandan co nundrum of conquest or peace. T’Challa made the Solomonic choice to split the difference. Shuri’s choices, like the film itself, are much messier. Wakanda Forever tries very hard, but Chadwick Boseman is a tough act to follow.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Now playing Multiple locations

We Must Fix Sacrifice Zones

A tale of two toxic ZIP codes.

Two communities have the same harmful chemical emissions but with extremely di erent responses and outcomes. As noted in this paper’s cover feature last week, residents of South Memphis recently received the startling news that they might be exposed to cancer-causing chemicals from Sterilization Services of Tennessee, a company in their Memphis 38109 community that sterilizes medical equipment.

Oh, the irony. Damage some people with toxins to protect others with clean equipment.

e Environmental Protection Agency shared the dire news at a community meeting that ethylene oxide (EtO), a known carcinogen, was being released into the air by the company. As expected, shocked and outraged citizens demanded to know the health impact and when the toxic exposure would cease. “You should move,” said one government o cial. It was pointless advice, as if the people could just pick up and move during these tough economic times. ey also received a bunch of bureaucratic hurry-up-and-wait-for-relief responses.

Sterilization Services of Tennessee is based in a community that is home to a population of 96.6 percent Black and 1.8 percent white residents. e median home value is $67,000 and median household income is $31,067.

In comparison, a company called Cosmed Group LLC, based in Erie, Pennsylvania, also sterilizes medical equipment using the same chemical, EtO. Instead of making people move, that company added new controls that became operational in August of this year. Cosmed installed a wet scrubber and a combo water balancer/catalytic oxidizer to control emissions from their facility, based in zip code 16510.

As a result of these changes made by Cosmed, the risk level for residents in their “Erie, PA, facility area has decreased,” according to information on the EPA’s website. e population of Erie is 86 percent white and 9.7 percent Black with a median household value of $105,200 and median household income of $53,021.

It is frustrating, but not at all surprising, to see the disparate outcomes in these two communities. e white community received relief while everything remains uncertain for the Black community.

As a recent frontline environmental justice organizer in Detroit, I became acutely aware of how Black people are more likely to breathe toxic air. e community I le behind in the Motor City remains the most polluted in the sate of Michigan, with more than 27 industrial facilities spewing harmful chemicals into my area on a daily basis. In fact, my community was known for being the most polluted in the state. It was impacted by steel mills, a water and sewerage treatment facility, a biosolids company that baked human waste into fertilizer, asphalt plants, a huge automotive plant, a lime production facility, and a massive oil re nery, plus a freeway adjacent to our subdivision.

Mirroring residents in South Memphis, we had a wide range of diseases and illnesses related to toxic air. I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and asthma, and had to undergo a kidney transplant. My health maladies were not unique. ey, in fact, were ubiquitous in our zip code.

As a concerned citizen, I have met with residents of South Memphis who live near Sterilization Services. Hearing their health stories felt like I was sitting at home in a community meeting. My heart ached as I fought back tears. I also was impressed and upli ed by their resolve to keep ghting for a healthy outcome. But why do Black people always have to agitate for everything, even life itself? Our life expectancy should not be determined by our zip code.

“ e redlining that occurs in our communities is the same boundaries polluters use to set up facilities in our area,” said Justin J. Pearson, co-founder of Memphis Community Against Pollution. “We live in sacri ce zones.”

Clean air advocates o en predict dire consequences regarding the increase in global warming. What they have missed is Black people are already the canaries in the catastrophic environmental coal mine. It is unconscionable to sacri ce the health of a group of people so that others may bene t.

e EPA, government agencies, and industrial facilities must work to develop timely and permanent solutions to end toxic deaths and promote good health outcomes in Black communities. If a company in Erie, Pennsylvania, can solve a pollution problem for white people, it can be done here too by Sterilization Services for Black people in South Memphis.

Emma Lockridge is a veteran news reporter who focuses on the environment and social justice initiatives. Formerly based in Detroit, she also is a photojournalist who has had exhibits of her impactful images.

PHOTO: EMMA LOCKRIDGE e pollution in the author’s old Detroit zip code mirrors that of 38109 in South Memphis.

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