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July 8, 2020
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Raleigh W Durham W Chapel Hill VOL. 37 NO. 24
Heather Victoria is uniting HBCUs for change, p. 18 PHOTO BY JADE WILSON
CONTENTS NEWS 9 How will Raleigh City Council fill Saige Martin's seat? BY LEIGH TAUSS 10 COVID-19 stands between a class of lawyers-to-be and the state bar exam. BY SARAH EDWARDS
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The pandemic disrupts hajj, a lifelong dream for some N.C. Muslims. BY ANTON L. DELGADO
FOOD 16 A Durham restaurateur pleads with the city for outdoor-dining help. BY ELIZABETH TURNBULL
MUSIC 17 How local indie record stores are facing COVID-19. BY WILL ATKINSON 18 Jamla R&B artist Heather Victoria on the power of HBCUs. BY KYESHA JENNINGS 20 Three new songs are time machines to free us from this limbo. BY BRIAN HOWE CULTURE 21
Two powerful autobiographical shows open WTFringe. BY BYRON WOODS
THE REGULARS 4 Voices
8 A Week in the Life
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3
BACKTALK
Our story on the NC Board of Elections’ call for young people to staff polls instead of older folks sparked discussion about voting and COVID19. Plus, we get taken to task for what
voices
one reader deemed our insufficiently
critical framing of a new federal ruling on
Lost in Translation
A 16-year-old immigrant’s mortifying mistake casts light on American reticence about race BY CHIKA GUJARATHI backtalk@indyweek.com
ICE detaining children. “I wondered when this topic would bubble to the surface,” commented LIZ R., who said she’s been staffing elections for several years. She stressed that it’s taxing work all the time, not just this year: “Remember that when you walk into a precinct as a worker, you do not walk out for 16 hours. Locked in, unable to leave, no shift changes, few/no breaks, constant contact with the public. Difficult for a 30-year old, it takes days–a week to recuperate for an elder. Without pandemic.” Facebook user BETSY SCHOLL also wants the state to consider shorter shifts for poll workers so that more people are able to help. “For years I’ve been saying I wish the State would change the rules so a poll worker can work shorter shifts,” Scholl wrote. “Last I checked, you had to be there the whole day the polls were open. If they split the days into shifts, I think they’d get more volunteers willing to do multiple 4 or 8 hours shifts, rather than needing people who are able to take a full 12+ hours to volunteer.” Another Facebook user took the chance to point out some of Wake County BOE’s faults from the March primaries. “They need competent, efficient people who can follow (very clear) written procedure,” RACHEL MONINGER writes. “So, if you are someone who can easily follow instructions, can be pleasant to the public for 12 hours, and can spare the time, please sign up!” On another topic, VICTORIA BOULOUBASIS took issue with our characterization of a new federal ruling—that ICE has to release detained children after 20 days—as “good” in last week’s “The Good, the Bad & the Awful.” “What ICE is doing is not inherently good news. That ‘hot take’ graf is detrimental without any context. And it feeds into ICE’s PR. What they are doing is what immigration journalists are calling ‘pandemic-era separation,’” Bouloubasis wrote in an email, linking to Jack Herrera’s New Republic story “The Pandemic-Era Rebrand of Family Separation” for context. On a Twitter thread about the story, Herrera had expressed concern that “ICE will weaponize this human rights ruling to separate families.” “Frankly,” Bouloubasis concluded, “it just feels really trivial to see something ICE is doing labeled as good news while the bad news right below it is Glenwood bullshit.”
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July 8, 2020
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I
t was the summer of 1997. The Sojourner rover landed on Mars. Princess Diana was still alive. The first Harry Potter book made its debut. The Spice Girls were still together. Hanson’s “MMMBop” had penetrated every teen’s brain waves. It was also the summer when I immigrated to Charlotte, North Carolina, from India. I was 16 years old. If I had to describe my state of mind then, I’d say I was elated and completely assured of the understanding of American culture I’d gained from dutifully watching MTV (heavily Indianized) and The Simpsons and The Wonder Years (dubbed in Hindi) before our move. Never again in my life would I be so confident and so clueless at the same time. Later that fall, I would start high school as a junior at an International Baccalaureate public school. As an adult, I have survived competitive colleges, crazy job interviews, and three childbirths. And yet, after all these years, I still feel that none of those experiences have felt quite as testing as making it through my two years of high school. Not because I was harassed or bullied—not at all. But because every single day I had a “Welcome to America” moment that none of my TV shows had prepared me for adequately. The most appalling ones had to do with the fact that I had never been around Black people before. In class, I would unknowingly gawk at the way the Black students styled their hair or wore their pants or painted their nails. I had so many questions, which I assumed were inappropriate to ask. So I just kept my mouth shut. Until the day when I did open my mouth in Mrs. Rogers’s English class and said the N-word several times while discussing a character-related question from our assigned reading, Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In case you don’t remember, the novel, set along the Mississippi River in the 19th century, is chock-full of racial stereotypes and the use of the N-word, a slur I had mistaken for a term of endearment. As I type this, I still feel the same chills I did that day when the class went so quiet and the teacher went so pale. I had no clue what I had done wrong. Mrs. Rogers swung by my desk later and quietly whispered that the N-word was not appropriate to repeat. I still didn’t know why until I cornered my American-born cousin
after school, who looked at me with disbelief before explaining as well as a 15-year-old could. If I was traumatized by what I had done, I can’t imagine how the several Black students in the class felt, none of whom ever mentioned my transgression. Mrs. Rogers was a short, white, formidable woman who commanded a class like no other teacher I had ever met. Her discretion seemed tactful then, but it paints a different picture for me today.
“If I was traumatized by what I had done, I can’t imagine how the several Black students in the class felt.” At the time I was relieved that we weren’t going to discuss this incident ever again. But in hindsight, her choice to never explain the why was a disservice to me—and those Black students who had to absorb the incident in silence. Her discomfort caused a missed opportunity that left a 16-year-old immigrant to her own devices to learn about race and racism. It left me believing that keeping my mouth shut was the best approach. Of course, in the internet age, when no 16-year-old could claim to be ignorant of the N-word’s meaning and there are viral videos to hold them accountable, the incident would play out much differently. But I still wonder what would have happened if my teacher had been bold enough to tell me what the N-word meant. If she had opened up a discussion with the students about its history and their feelings about it. Would we have all left that class with a better understanding of how things were and should be, knowing that being curious and asking questions is better than being quiet and clueless? Welcome to America. 2 Voices is made possible by contributions to the INDY Press Club. Join today at KeepItINDY.com.
CHIKA GUJARATHI is a Raleigh-based writer and author of the Hello Namaste! children’s books. Her work can be found on her blog The Antibland Chronicles.
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15 MINUTES Lisa J Lowe-Hall, 40 Executive Director of the Women’s Birth and Wellness Center BY SARAH EDWARDS sedwards@indyweek.com
What drew you to the Women’s Birth and Wellness Center, where you’re the new executive director? In 2019, my family had a really challenging year. We ended up tragically losing three family members in the run of seven months between April and the week of Thanksgiving, and I ended up leaving the job that I was in shortly after that, in early December. And I just took the end of the year and the first of 2020 to really do some soul-searching and think about my life, what I’m passionate about and what led me to become a healthcare administrator to start with. It led me back to my passion for leading Women’s and Children’s Services. This role came up for the Women’s Birth and Wellness Center. As I just started to research the organization, the work that they were doing really aligned with why I chose to be a healthcare administrator.
And what kind of care does the WBWC offer? We offer comprehensive primary care. We offer, of course, maternal lactation care. We also offer teen-specific care, so the teen population is a population that we love and offer are for, as well as transgender and nonbinary care.
What challenges are families facing during the pandemic, in regards to maternal care? When you think about that time of pregnancy, it’s familycentered and not just patient-centered. So when patients are coming in for check-ups, we’re limiting the amount of people that can come in and people are wearing masks and really working hard on our end to keep them safe. It’s an evolving learning process. We really continue to focus on this being an exciting time of transition for these families and moms and keep it positive.
PHOTO BY JADE WILSON
But what makes the midwifery model of care different and special is that it is time-intensive. The time-intensive relationship makes the difference and positively impacts health outcomes. This is the one thing that hasn’t changed as a result of COVID19 Even in the midst of a pandemic, we are in relationship with our patients.
The pandemic has also highlighted inequities, especially racial ones, in the healthcare system. Is that a focus for WBWC right now?
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It’s at the forefront of what we do. We recognize the need for diversity in the organization, and we’re definitely looking to diversify our midwife team—all of our staffing, but definitely within our midwife team. We’re actually working on our marketing and our website because it’s not as transparent to all people exactly what we do and what we offer. We want to remove those barriers to access and care.
What are you most excited about with this role? I am most excited to grow an organization that provides highquality care for some of our most vulnerable populations. The thing that I’m really focusing on right now is awareness about our organization. We’re told that we’re the best-kept secret. People that do know about us, just because of our title, think that we’re only a birth center. So we’re trying to get the word out that we are a wellness center as well and do have a comprehensive primary care program and are inclusive of all and are working hard to diversify our organization. W
INDYWEEK.COM INDYweek.com
July 8, 2020
5
Q U ICKBA I T
Thirteen Police Killings in Raleigh and Durham BY BELLA SMITH
backtalk@indyweek.com
B
lack activists such as Mariame Kaba and Angela Davis have long called on us to imagine alternatives to policing in the United States. Only recently have their visionary ideas erupted into the mainstream via the Black Lives Matter protests following the police killing of George Floyd. Americans are increasingly supportive of the core tenets of the “defund the police” movement. According to FiveThirtyEight, 76 percent support diverting police funds to officer training, aid for the homeless, mental health assistance, and combating domestic violence. In New York—where $1 billion was shifted away from the NYPD—a majority of residents support reducing police funding, and nine in 10 believe that mental health professionals should accompany police on some types of calls, according to The New York Times. We used data from Mapping Police Violence, The Washington Post’s police-shootings database, and local archival news reports to take a look at the 13 times in which Durham and Raleigh police have killed someone since 2013. All of them were men, all but four were Black, and half had documented mental health issues. In light of the defund and divert movement, we ask—how might each of these men’s stories have played out differently had a social worker, a mental health expert, or a crisis counselor showed up instead? W
Indicates cases involving individuals with a history of mental health issues
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July 8, 2020
DPD Police-Involved Killings (2013–20)
INDYweek.com
JULY 27, 2013
Jose Adan Cruz Ocampo 33, Hispanic, Armed (Knife) Durham police responded to a reported stabbing and found Ocampo near the crime scene. He reportedly retrieved a knife from his back pocket. Some witnesses said police told him to put the knife down. Then an officer shot him four times. Other witnesses said Ocampo was trying to hand the police the knife. Ocampo, from Honduras, spoke little English.
SEPTEMBER 17, 2013
Derek Deandre Walker 26, Black, Armed Walker, who was involved in an escalating custody dispute, posted suicidal messages on Facebook and skipped work. He took a handgun to the bull in CCB Plaza, pointing it at his head while crying and talking to himself. He then pointed it at an officer who had arrived on the scene and was shot and killed.
SEPTEMBER 5, 2015
La’Vante Biggs 21, Black, Armed (Airsoft) Biggs was carrying an Airsoft toy gun when his mother called 911 in fear that he was suicidal. Biggs then called 911 to make a statement, saying “I love everybody” and “it’s not nobody’s fault.” Hostage negotiators worked for a halfhour to disarm Biggs, then began firing when he walked toward them. The police shot at him twelve times. 23 officers were on site.
FEBRUARY 15, 2017
Kenneth Lee Bailey Jr. 24, Black, Armed (Disputed) Visiting his cousins, Bailey missed his 7:00 PM pretrial release curfew while awaiting trial for armed robbery. He fled when three officers tried to arrest him. They shot him from behind in the street, saying he had a handgun. Several neighbors disputed that he was armed.
MARCH 30, 2019
Ondrae Levado Hutchinson 30, Black, Unarmed
NOVEMBER 22, 2016
Frank Clark 34, Black, Armed (Disputed) Clark was shot and killed after a struggle with three officers who said he made a move for his waistband. They also said they found a gun by his body. Although the five-day report made no mention of it, the district attorney’s report said that Clark pointed a gun at an officer before he was shot. However, an autopsy revealed that both bullets struck Clark from behind, including the fatal shot to his head.
AUGUST 8, 2018
Shaun Jeffrey Christy 37, White, Armed A Chapel Hill nonprofit alerted police after Christy vocalized suicidal thoughts to the center. While Christy was driving around New Hope Commons armed and suicidal, police confronted him. Police shot him after he pointed his gun at them and yelled, “Shoot me! Shoot me!” Christy had a history of mental illness and domestic violence.
Police shot Hutchinson after the mother of his child called seeking help with a domestic argument. After three police officers failed to de-escalate the situation, a fourth officer arrived on scene. Hutchinson resisted getting handcuffed. Three shots were fired.
RPD Police-Involved Killings (2013–20)
APRIL 10, 2013
Thomas Jeffrey Sadler 45, White, Unarmed Sadler, a retired marine who could not afford medicine to treat his bipolar disorder, had a mental health episode in which he attacked his son and screamed profanities while nude in a church parking lot. Police employed a taser on him, and he died.
AUGUST 29, 2016
FEBRUARY 29, 2016
Akiel Denkins 24, Black, Armed When an officer tried to serve a felony drug warrant, Denkins fled. According to the official account, Officer Daniel Clay Twitty caught him, they wrestled, and Twitty fired when Denkins went for a gun in his waistband.
Jaqwan Julius Terry 24, Black, Armed A woman who had just ended a contentious relationship with Terry reported that he had shown up at her home with a gun. Terry ran when the police showed up; an officer chased and caught up to him. They struggled, Terry pulled out a gun, there was a shootout, and a second officer fatally shot Terry.
JANUARY 30, 2020
Keith Dutree Collins 52, Black, Armed (BB gun) When police approached a man reported to be acting strange and in possession of a gun, Collins ran. While running, he turned to face the officer, holding a BB gun. An officer fired four times. As he lay bleeding on the ground, the officer fired seven more times. Collins had developmental disabilities and read at a 3rd grade level.
APRIL 20, 2019
Soheil Antonio Mojarrad 30, Hispanic, Armed (Disputed) Police shot Mojarrad eleven times after a report that he was trespassing outside a pub and had stolen a phone. The officer’s body camera was turned off. The five-day police report stated that Mojarrad had advanced towards the officer with a knife. However, no DNA or fingerprint evidence supported this claim, and he was shot 20 feet away from the officer. Morjarrad had a history of mental health issues and severe brain trauma.
MAY 13, 2020
David Tylek Atkinson 24, Black, Armed Atkinson robbed a BP gas station at gunpoint. Police confronted him, exchanged gunfire, and killed him. Dash and body cameras captured the killing.
INDYweek.com
July 8, 2020
7
The Good, The Bad & The Awful
A WE E K IN THE L IFE
6/30 7/1
Jordan Hester, former beverage director at Brewery Bhavana, is ARRESTED AND CHARGED with multiple felonies for secret peeping and allegedly filming women during their sexual encounters with him. That same day, WRAL published a story with allegations against Hester from 10 women, some of whom are employees at the restaurants.
7/2
More than a DOZEN PROTESTERS ARE ARRESTED for blocking traffic on Capital Boulevard while protesting against SB-168.
7/3
On the cusp of the holiday weekend, North Carolina reports 2,099 NEW COVID-19 CASES, the state’s highest one-day total.
7/4
Independence Day marks the 35TH DAY OF BLACK LIVES MATTER PROTESTS in Raleigh and across the state.
Duke Energy and Dominion Energy CANCEL THE ATLANTIC COAST PIPELINE. The controversial project would have run through eight counties in Northeastern North Carolina. A Raleigh summer camp announces that a COUNSELOR HAD TESTED POSITIVE for COVID-19 and that attending families to the camp may have been exposed.
7/6
Protesters in Raleigh call on Governor Cooper to VETO SB-168, which has a clause that shields law enforcement death investigations from the public record. The protests develop into an around-the-clock occupation outside the Governor’s Mansion. MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL is finally canceled, making it official: this will be a summer without Durham Bulls games. The Department of Education FINES UNC-CHAPEL HILL $1.5 MILLION for misrepresenting campus crime statistics, including ones related to sexual assault. That same day, the school FAILS TO TURN OVER RECORDS detailing how sexual assault perpetrators on campus were reprimanded before a state Supreme Court-mandated deadline.
7/5
(Here’s what’s happened since the INDY went to press last week)
8
North Carolina reports 1,329 NEW COVID-19 CASES for Sunday. The drop is likely due to decreased testing over the holiday weekend. A federal judge TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED Graham’s ordinance restricting protests, after several civil rights organizations file a lawsuit. Governor Roy Cooper VETOES SB-168, stating that the bill could “have unintended consequences of limiting transparency in death investigations.”
July 8, 2020
INDYweek.com
d goo
bad
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No pipelines It’s a bad week to be a pipeline but a good week to be a human who cares about clean air and water. On July 5—shortly, if coincidentally, after we published a long story on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline's opponents—Duke Energy and Dominion Energy canceled construction of the ACP, the natural gas pipeline that would have cut across West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina. The two utility giants cited delays and mounting costs; however, the news also followed six years of organizing from environmental activists and the rural communities who would’ve been caught in the toxic crosshairs. The next day, on July 6, a district court ruled that the Dakota Access Pipeline must shut down, pending an environmental review. That shutdown, too, came after years of tireless grassroots activism led by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and other Indigenous and environmental activists.
Anti-mask elected officials Western North Carolina turned out by the hundreds to see Lt. Governor Dan Forest at a July 4 campaign event in Hendersonville. The Trump-backed Republican nominee for governor shook hands, took pictures, and defended the lack of masks at the packed event, stating, “There have been multiple comprehensive studies at the deepest level, held to scientific standards in controlled environments, that have all said for decades, masks do not work with viruses. That's why we've never used a mask for a coronavirus before, ever." The wildly irresponsible statement was made as COVID-19 cases in the state continue to break records: As of July 3, the state had reported 70,241 cases and 1,392 deaths from COVID-19 and has continued to miss major benchmarks for tracking the spread of the virus. It’s worth noting that Forest, despite stating that masks do not “work with viruses,” sells branded face masks on his website.
ICE vs. students The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency announced on July 6 that students on visas must leave the country unless they are taking classes in person. The policy seems to be a clear attempt to force the hand of the 4,298 colleges and universities that are expected to shift online in the fall, and which rely on tuition. For students attending universities that are opting to offer in-person classes in addition to online classes, it forces them to make a potentially life-or-death decision between attending classes or leaving the country. The Trump administration has imposed a number of cruel immigration restrictions since the beginning of the pandemic. Let’s say it again louder for those in the back: Abolish ICE.
N E WS
Raleigh
Uncertain Term A crisis-battered Raleigh City Council reckons with who should fill the seat Saige Martin quit in disgrace BY LEIGH TAUSS ltauss@indyweek.com
T
o call this Raleigh City Council’s fledgling reign a disaster is almost an understatement. The backlash over the secret scheme to eliminate Citizen Advisory Councils was swiftly followed by the pandemic axing Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin’s plan for a historic “moonshot” package of housing and park bonds. Then the public was bothered by the appearance of impropriety when Baldwin accepted a job with development contractor Barnhill just weeks after the city awarded the company a $6 million paving contract. More criticism piled on after Raleigh Police and the Wake County Sheriff’s Office deployed teargas at Black Lives Matter protesters, igniting a riot that resulted in widespread property damage downtown. Following weeks brought more documented incidents of police brutality, including the unwarranted arrest of a Black 17-year-old protester, an incident that prompted an internal investigation. And last month, the council’s youngest and most outspoken member against the police, Saige Martin, resigned after sexual assault and misconduct allegations were brought to light by a lengthy News & Observer exposé. It’s been one public-relations nightmare after the next, and this council—Baldwin especially—desperately needs to avoid another crisis as they start to navigate the process of replacing Martin. Instead of the smoke and mirrors that clouded the CAC decision, the council says it’s leaning into transparency this time. “We decided to take applications and open up the process to encourage a diversity of folks to apply,” Baldwin told the INDY. Applications for the District D seat will be accepted by the city until this Friday, July 10. You can find the application form on the city’s website, along with the names and applications of residents in the running. (As of Monday, 10 viable candidates have applied.) To qualify, you need to have lived in District D, which encompasses southwest
Raleigh, for at least 30 days, be registered to vote in Wake County, and be over the age of 21. After the application deadline, viable candidates will be asked to participate in a community forum on July 12 at 3:00 p.m. The council is then expected to make a decision—which will require five votes even with the absence of a member—on July 14. Sounds simple enough, right? But the council has a lot to consider when deciding who is best to serve, and who might help quell bubbling public dissatisfaction. Will they be an ally of the development-friendly voting bloc on council or side with odd-NIMBY-out David Cox? What matters more, experience or diversity—and can we have both? Will they choose a one-term wonder or someone who plans to stick around if the voters let them next year? Some vocal opponents of the current council—the same group that preaches about protecting the character of neighborhoods and views rampant development as a plague—want to bring back Kay Crowder, who received only 33 percent the votes in the October election before conceding the race to Martin, who had won 47 percent. Crowder was first appointed to the council in 2014 following the death of her husband, longtime council member Thomas Crowder. She went on to win election twice and served two full terms on the council. Crowder, who did not return the INDY’s request for comment, wrote on Facebook that she would “be honored to serve out the remaining months of the term if asked to do so. “However, if appointed, I would also commit not to run for re-election to that office,” Crowder wrote. “Serving our community has been one of the great honors of my life, and it would a privilege to do so again during this difficult time.” But others believe the council needs to focus less on experience and more on representing diverse voices in the community. Many back Stormie Forte, an attorney who
“There has never been a Black woman elected to serve on the Raleigh City Council.”
T N A C A V District D Council Member works as ombudsman for the State Bureau of Investigations, according to her LinkedIn page. “There has never been a Black woman elected to serve on the Raleigh City Council,” Forte wrote in a Facebook post. “I have had a number of conversations about my interest in pursuing the appointment to the seat. I am giving it very serious consideration.” While diversity is important to District C representative Corey Branch, the council’s only member of color, he’s looking for a leader that can grasp the complex issues the city faces. “I just want someone that can understand multiple forms of information at once because that’s what we do,” Branch says. “In a matter of an hour, I could talk to five different people about five different issues. You need someone that can multitask.” Baldwin declined to comment on any of the candidates specifically. “We are going to consider everybody fairly,” Baldwin says. W INDYweek.com
July 8, 2020
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North Carolina
Breaking the Lawyers Other states are making the bar exam safer for hundreds of graduates during COVID-19. Why won’t North Carolina? BY SARAH EDWARDS sedwards@indyweek.com
“T
he exam is four weeks away. It is time to hunker down and study.” This is how Campbell School of Law dean Rich Leonard replied on Facebook to Britni Prybol, a new graduate who had expressed concern over plans to move forward with the state bar exam July 28 and 29. In any other year, Leonard’s advice would be standard. The state bar exam takes place twice a year and is the culmination of three years of study. It’s the only way to become a licensed attorney in the state. But 2020 isn’t just any year. A large indoor gathering of hundreds is incongruent with Governor Cooper’s phase 2 mandate, which bans indoor gatherings of more than 10. With exceptions for those with documented medical conditions, about 700 applicants will be split between two testing locations in Raleigh, where graduates will be spaced out during the exam. Some law school graduates are balking at the prospect of traveling from far corners of the state to sit in a room with hundreds of others for two consecutive six-hour days, potentially exposing themselves and others to COVID-19. As of July 6, North Carolina has the 12th-highest number of cases in the country, and it’s the only hotspot that hasn’t modified its bar exam procedures. And so, North Carolina graduates are hunkering down to study. It’s not easy. Taking the bar is grueling work under any circumstances. It costs thousands of dollars in fees and preparation materials—a barrier to access for many—and requires an average of 350–500 hours of study. The pandemic has introduced new variables, like vulnerable family members, partners without work, or a lack of childcare. Prybol is a breast-cancer survivor who has been balancing studying for the bar and advocating for safer conditions with caring for her seven-year-old and 10
July 8, 2020
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“Take this test in a couple weeks under conditions that may not be ideal or wait until February when you don’t know what the conditions will be like—and in the interim, you can’t work. Those seem like a set of bad choices.” monthly hormonal chemotherapy sessions at Duke. Kimberly Herrick, chair of the North Carolina Board of Law Examiners (NCBLE), says that the board is taking safety precautions, including asking test-takers to wear masks and providing special accommodation for the immunocompromised, such as Prybol, who received permission to take the test in a separate room. “We have had a few people that are immunocompromised that have asked for a special accommodation and, to my knowledge, there have been no requests that have not been granted,” Herrick says. Such accommodations extend to those with documented medical conditions, but not those caring for vulnerable family members. Adam Rodrigues, a recent graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Law, has spent the past two months studying while trying to care for his 14-monthold twins at home. Rodrigues has accepted a job doing post-conviction work that would begin in August. It’s exactly the kind of work that made him pursue a law degree, but it requires a license. But protecting his family, he says, is a paramount concern. “We’re in an unprecedented time,” Rodrigues says. “Our profession is built on
creative problem-solving, and we feel there are other ways to solve this that don’t require us to be physically around people who may transfer the virus and then have to come back to our families.” On July 6, more than 200 bar examinees and graduates in North Carolina submitted a letter to the N.C. Supreme Court and Governor Cooper’s office asking the board to “take greater measures to address the serious threat that we, our families, and the general public face as a result of the current plan for the administration of the 2020 North Carolina bar exam.” The letter also recognized that for “Black, Latinx, and Native American test takers, these burdens may be magnified by social disparities and structural racism.” Many students are pushing back against the NCBLE. But of the students that we contacted, several canceled interviews or asked not to be quoted for fear of endangering their job prospects or their chance at passing the character-and-fitness portion of the exam. The letter was also signed by law students across the country, reflecting the demands that are being made nationally as states reckon with the best way to administer a test that holds the future of thousands in the balance.
Already, 20 states have introduced alterations, including moving the exam online or adding more testing locations. Just last week, Texas rescheduled the bar for September under pressure from students and law school deans, with a built-in option to take it online in October. Utah, Washington, and Oregon have elected for diploma privilege—which allows law school graduates to be licensed without sitting for the bar or receive temporary licensure until it’s safer to take the exam— while nine other states have opted for an online option. While there’s no single solution that represents the interest of every exam-taker in North Carolina, there is consensus that the current plan is just too risky, even with masks. As if to add insult to injury, graduates will have to sign a waiver assuming the risk if taking the exam should “result in personal injury, illness, permanent disability, and death.” For those who don’t feel comfortable assuming that liability, the NCBLE will waive the $1,250 fee for the February bar. Deferring six months is not easy, however, for hundreds of graduates who need to practice law to pay off their student debt. “It’s really intense, and it’s stressful particularly because you’re thinking in your head, ‘These three years that I spent could be practically worthless if I don’t pass this exam,’” Rodrigues says. Faculty across the state have backed students. Another letter circulating is signed by 148 law faculty and legal professionals urging the NCBLE to reconsider its rigid stance. “Take this test in a couple weeks under conditions that may not be ideal or wait until February when you don’t know what the conditions will be like—and in the interim, you can’t work,” says Rachel Gurvich, who teaches law at UNC-Chapel Hill, summarizing the dilemma students face. “Those seem like a set of bad choices.” W
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Hajj on Hiatus COVID-19 cancels the Islamic pilgrimage, grounding a lifelong dream for some N.C. Muslims BY ANTON L. DELGADO, NC NEWS INTERN CORPS backtalk@indyweek.com
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ore than two million Muslims from dozens of countries were planning on flying to Saudi Arabia at the end of the month to take part in the annual Islamic pilgrimage of hajj. But in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Saudi government effectively canceled the pilgrimage—grounding the dreams of dozens of Muslims in North Carolina. “When God gives you a test or a calamity like this one, you must be patient,” said Shakil Ahmed, an imam at the Islamic Center of Cary. “We need to accept the will of God and the advice of authorities.” Performing hajj—at least once for those physically and financially able—is one of the five intrinsic religious duties bestowed on all Muslims, known as the Five Pillars of Islam. “It is our belief that Allah is both merciful and understanding,” Ahmed said. “While it is a once in a lifetime requirement, there are clear exceptions for people who can’t go. While most prefer to go as soon as able, Allah wants them to wait a year. If they die between now and then, God will not count it against them.” The five-day pilgrimage culminates in Mecca, one of the holiest cities in Islam, with a visit to the Kaaba, located within the religion’s most important mosque. The Kaaba, known in Islam as the “house of God,” is the location where Muslims direct their daily prayers. Saudi Arabia, whose king holds the title “the custodian of two holy mosques,” a reference to the holy sites in Mecca and Medina, has not canceled hajj since the foundation of the kingdom in 1932. The time frame of hajj is determined by the Islamic calendar, which is based on the lunar year. This year it was supposed to take place from July 28 to August 2. After the announcement, Saudi officials stated only around 1,000 domestic pilgrims will be allowed to perform hajj. “If the pandemic continues or if there are other pandemics coming, I am not sure how Muslims will ritually adapt to that in this new landscape we are facing,” says Ariela Marcus-Sells, assistant professor of religious studies at Elon University, who specializes in Islamic history. “We might see a turn to localized ritual prac12
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Imam Khalid Shwaiki speaks to members of the Islamic Center of Cary during Friday prayers on June 26, 2020 PHOTO BY ANTON L. DELGADO
tice. This hyper focus on hajj was not always the case, historically. It always had a particular place in Muslim imaginary, but it didn’t draw the kind of the numbers that it does now.” Hajj is so revered that a new religious status is reached by those who complete it. Muslims often add the honorific title of “al-hajj or “hajji” to their business cards. Those terms are also sometimes attached to a person’s name in conversation as a sign of respect.
According to Pew Research Center, Islam is the fastest-growing major religion in the world. Currently there are more than 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide, making it the second-largest religion behind Christianity. Marcus-Sells says an analogy between hajj and the Stations of the Cross, a common Christian tradition, can be made. “Both are a way of reliving and emotionally experiencing for oneself sacred narratives of the two religious traditions,” Marcus-Sells says.
Annual number of pilgrims participating in hajj Hajj, a historic Islamic pilgrimage, brings millions of Muslims from all over the world to Saudi Arabia every year. But to stop the spread of COVID-19, the Saudi government effectively canceled the 2020 pilgrimage.
3,000,000 Pilgrims 2,500,000 2,000,000 1,500,000 1,000,000 500,000
0
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
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The number of pilgrims that participated in hajj in 2020 has not yet been released. Chart: Anton L. Delgado | NC News Intern Corps. Source: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Statistics
The construction site of the Cary Masjid on June 26, 2020 PHOTO BY ANTON L. DELGADO
Data from the Saudi General Authority for Statistics show that 2.49 million pilgrims took part in hajj last year. Close to 75 percent of pilgrims in 2019 came from abroad and nearly 500 of them were from the U.S. “It is a beautiful thing to see millions of your fellow Muslims come together to worship God,” says Ibin Ahsin, a member of the Islamic Center of Cary, who completed the pilgrimage two years ago. “I felt a deep connection with all of humanity during my time at hajj, especially with my Muslim brothers and sisters.” While most pilgrims travel in groups, Ahsin traveled independently with his wife. During hajj, however, he bumped into the contingent of Muslims from North Carolina. They were participating in the religious experience through the Islamic Association of Raleigh (IAR). “God works in mysterious ways,” Ahsin says, with a gentle chuckle. “I was in the middle of millions of Muslims and just so happened to run into the Muslims from my own state. It’s a reminder that we are never far from home.” Most mosques and masjids in North Carolina plan their journeys in unison or through larger associations like the IAR, which this year was offering exclusive deluxe deals ranging from $12,000
to $16,000, depending on the number of people participating. Imam Mohamed AbuTaleb, who has completed hajj, was one of the organizers. He says reservations to join the trip were only open for a month before the IAR decided to close it following the issuing of the statewide stay-athome order at the end of March. According to AbuTaleb, 15–20 people had already signed up and the IAR was on track to fill all its spots. He anticipated a total group of approximately 50 people, which would have been one of the association’s largest. “While we must fully embrace that this pandemic is hard work, we become stronger by facing it together,” AbuTaleb says. “We never wish for times of difficulty, but perhaps the silver lining is that we can witness the beauty of people. … The beauty I have seen in these heartbreaking circumstances is people’s courage to connect and serve.”
Ahsin says the same courage being exhibited by Muslims now, in the midst of the pandemic, is a core tenant of hajj, and something he witnessed during every step of his pilgrimage. “When one is taking part in hajj, you have to distance yourself from the temptations or character defects you usually fall into,” Ahsin says. “You can’t fall prey to being impatient or getting angry. You have to exhibit the very best aspects of Islam. “Throughout the pilgrimage you are very conscious of your fragility and your limited resources, like we are now. But in the midst of that difficulty, I saw people giving their water and food away—actively trying to help people, like we are now. All of these little aspects of beauty during such a difficult time makes you see the deep bond you have with people.” Even though hajj is a pillar of the Islamic religion, AbuTaleb has been reassuring
“Even though we can’t gather in person, our hearts are becoming closer than ever before.”
those in his masjid that Allah will be merciful if they are unable to go. “No doubt this hajj season is heartbreaking for Muslims across the world, many of whom planned this journey for many years,” AbuTaleb says. “But actions are judged by their intentions. If the intent is to do good, then a person will be rewarded for that. God is all-powerful, therefore this disruption is a necessary disruption.” The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic also affected the celebrations surrounding Ramadan, another one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The holy month—celebrated this year from April 23 to May 23—is observed by Muslims worldwide as a time of fasting, prayer, reflection and community. “We pray to be closer to the end of the pandemic every day, but we also pray every Muslim is doing their part. We must be stewards of our local community and avoid unintentionally becoming the spreaders of this disease,” AbuTaleb says. “Even though we can’t gather in person, our hearts are becoming closer than ever before.” W The NC News Intern Corps is a program of the NC Local News Workshop, funded by the North Carolina Local News Lab Fund and housed at Elon University’s School of Communications. INDYweek.com
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1,000 Words
Justice for Vanessa Guillen WORDS + PHOTOGRAPHY BY JADE WILSON
Sunday night, July 5, 70 to 80 people joined the national cry of justice for Vanessa Guillen at CCB Plaza. Guillen was a 20-year-old U.S. Army soldier who was killed and dismembered by a fellow officer in Fort Hood, Texas. The candlelight vigil was organized by Amayrani Calvario and Sandro Mendoza in collaboration with La Semilla.
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FOOD & DR I NK
Op-ed
Al Fresco Fiasco COPA’s owner argues that Durham needs to do more for independent restaurants during COVID-19 BY ELIZABETH TURNBULL food@indyweek.com
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ust over two years ago, my husband Roberto Copa Matos and I started COPA, the nation’s first farm-to-table Cuban restaurant and a living-wage employer. We started it with its sister farm, Terra Sacra, with the mission of “cultivating relationships from soil to table.” We were on track to finally turn a modest profit when our dine-in service was shut down in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We pivoted immediately to online orders, takeout, and delivery as well as starting a small “bodega” for grocery items. Even in the toughest moments, we haven’t closed our doors. We have reinvented ourselves so many times now that we’ve lost count. Still, we’re losing the battle. Our city’s independent restaurants are dying an unnecessary death due to the inaction and lack of political will of Durham’s leaders. If Mayor Schewel, Durham City Council, Commissioner Wendy Jacobs, and the county commissioners do not take swift, bold action immediately, Durham will lose the industry that has helped turn the city into one of the most desirable destinations in the Southeast. Our independent restaurants haven’t just built a national reputation for Durham. We also provide living wages and dignified employment to thousands of people. We are essential to the well-being and vibrancy of this beloved city, and we are dying from neglect. While I am sympathetic to the many needs of our diverse city, I cannot help but recognize that the inaction of city and county leaders on behalf of our independent restaurants is so extreme one could argue our leaders aren’t just being unhelpful, they are being actively anti-small business. I and dozens of our industry’s leaders have attended weeks on end of roundtables and committee meetings because Mayor Schewel asked us to “be creative,” 16
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“build resiliency,” and “work together.” We have done just that. Through the Durham Restaurant Coalition, founded by Dorian Bolden, we have proposed at least six different programs. At each turn, we are either shut down by the city’s attorneys or told to find our own funding. Time and again, we hear nothing from our leaders. The closest to success that we have come in working with the city is with the outdoor dining program, something other communities around the state and country managed to implement weeks ago but which is still not active in Durham. During the pandemic, outdoor dining provides a safer dining experience, attracts customers who don’t feel comfortable eating indoors, and brings
steps, applicants must submit a to-scale drawing for a space that does not belong to us, utilizing measurements we do not have. When the co-chair of the Task Force for Renewal and Recovery agreed that the application was overly complicated, the mayor, city council, and the Durham City-County Planning Department still did nothing to simplify it. But perhaps the biggest blow to the outdoor dining program came on Friday, July 3, when we learned Governor Cooper’s Executive Order EO 141 mandates that our total capacity must remain at 50 percent of our normal indoor seating, “even if you have space the size of a football field,” to quote a member of the governor’s staff. This effec-
“We are essential to the well-being and vibrancy of this beloved city, and we are dying from neglect.” vibrancy back to a dormant city, thus driving economic recovery. The benefits of outdoor dining are obvious and virtually uncontested. And yet, it still took two months for the plan to go for a vote, despite the persistent efforts led by Shawn Stokes of Luna, Rochelle Johnson of The Cast Iron Group, and Downtown Durham, Inc. The vote passed unanimously on July 1. Victory? Not really. For starters, the outdoor dining program comes with zero funding. The city isn’t even providing traffic barriers to protect people sitting in street-side parking spaces. The burden and expense fall on the restaurants, as does furnishing, lighting, and beautifying the space. This means we have to serve enough people who otherwise wouldn’t eat indoors to pay for the upfront investment before we can begin to think of covering payroll or rent. Even the application process is unnecessarily cumbersome. Among other tedious
tively eliminates the greatest benefit of the outdoor dining program, which was intended to bring restaurants back to full capacity. Under the executive order, to utilize outdoor space, we will have to further reduce our indoor seats at the same time that we are investing our extremely limited resources into a program that the city council has the authority to end at any moment. I recognize that every day thousands of people are dying. We are living the single greatest crisis most of us will ever witness. I am 100 percent on board with doing whatever it takes to beat this deadly virus—as are the other restaurant owners I know. In addition to the human toll that COVID-19 is taking, the virus is also threatening to unravel the fabric of our society, held together in many ways by independent restaurants that don’t just serve food and drink, but that provide a place to gather and celebrate. We are drowning. Since it seems a rescue crew isn’t coming, I’m asking for a
simple buoy to keep us temporarily afloat. I propose that the city and county collaborate to provide a 50 percent matching grant, up to a maximum of $2,000 per establishment, toward the cost of furnishing an outdoor dining space. The money will go toward tables, chairs, lighting, barriers, and beautification. I also propose that the outdoor dining program be extended through the end of 2021 to give restaurants time to recoup their investments. While this would only be a small first step, it is the bare minimum Durham owes to an industry that anchors its growth. The framework for such a program is already available in the form of the city’s Retail and Professional Services Grant program with the Office of Economic and Workforce Development. The program serves “to assist business owners and improve the pedestrian experience by enhancing the visibility and appearance of businesses.” Outdoor dining would accomplish the same goal and more. A matching grant would allow cashstrapped restaurants to make the necessary investments in an outdoor dining program. The grant would also incentivize people to frequent Durham restaurants by providing a safe, attractive, and creative dining experience. And while a micro-grant won’t save a dying business, it will help restaurants to buy time, invest in a new program, keep their employees, and hopefully boost sales, thus increasing sales tax revenue for the city and county. I am calling on Durham’s residents to help save our independent restaurants. Call, email, tweet, and tag Mayor Schewel, city council members, Commissioner Wendy Jacobs, and the county commissioners. Tell them to fund a matching grant program for outdoor dining. Perhaps they’ll listen to your pleas because they certainly haven’t heard ours. W
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Vinyl Biding How local record shops are waiting out a pandemic that prohibits the hands-on experience they sell BY WILL ATKINSON music@indyweek.com
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s the full scope of the coronavirus pandemic was becoming clear in March, Chaz Martenstein sat down with the staff at Durham’s Bull City Records to discuss the way forward. With so much unknown about COVID-19, he decided to close. He figured he could manage without regular business for a month or two at most. “We still don’t know what’s going on, but we definitely didn’t know what was going on then,” Martenstein says more than three months later. Some types of retailers were well prepared to pivot online, but the point of independent record shops is that they’re not websites. They sell an experience, not just a product. The tactile and social nature of record shopping is central in its appeal, which almost certainly contributed to the resurgence of vinyl over the last decade.
to the surprise of the technology-averse Marchant. “Do we even need this stupid-ass [Instagram] store?” he recalls thinking. Others, like Bull City Records and Raleigh’s Sorry State Records, have taken the opportunity to expand their web stores, filling holes in their online inventory, while Durham’s Carolina Soul has turned to sites like Discogs and eBay. At first, Bull City Records shifted to mail-order purchases to make up for the closed shop. Martenstein went there every day to fulfill orders and add to the online inventory. Before long, though, regulars began to ask whether they could simply stop by the shop to pick up their orders, and backdoor pickup was born. Martenstein says that’s how he’s been doing most of his business for the last several weeks. The system has allowed “Our business model is that someone him to keep the shop has touched everything we have.” running while getting to resume conversaSpending an hour in a record shop means tions with customers from a safe distance flipping through rows of LPs and crates of of 20 feet. He still isn’t sure about a timeused albums, having face-to-face interac- line for reopening the shop floor, but the tions with staff and other customers. This backdoor system has allowed the shop is a serious hurdle to limiting the spread to find a new balance, taking it day by of a virus whose mode of transmission is day. And even if things return to normal, not fully understood, and record shops have the added line of convenience will likely had to find new ways to engage customers remain a part of operations. “The comforting thing is, we’re all in it and pay the bills during the shutdown. “Our business model is that someone together. Everybody has it in a not-ideal has touched everything we have,” says way right now,” Martenstein says. “If we Enoch Marchant, co-owner of Raleigh’s can navigate it and stay nice to each other, Nice Price Books & Records. At the start then I think it’ll be easier coming out of it of the pandemic, Nice Price didn’t even in the long run.” Sorry State, whose online store and have a proper website. Now, in addition to a new site, the store is doing a lot of its record label preceded its 2013 brickselling through Instagram Stories, much and-mortar shop in downtown Raleigh,
Chaz Martenstein, owner of Bull City Records
already had the infrastructure for a swift transition to online orders. Owner Daniel Lupton notes that despite the loss of walk-in customers, the mood among the staff has largely been optimistic. The community response, he says, has been overwhelmingly positive. “I think people not being able to come into the shop realize what they miss, and they’re really interested in making sure that we get through it, that we can get back to normal,” Lupton says. Sorry State has been booking private shopping appointments, allowing individual customers to enter the shop for an hour at a time. But Lupton isn’t making any predictions about reopening until COVID-19 cases decline. At Nice Price, Marchant and co-owner Brian Shaw faced more of an uphill battle, as the shop had relied almost exclusively on walk-in customers. Marchant acknowledges the success of Instagram in continuing business during the pandemic, but the idea of replacing the tangible experience of being at Nice Price—where items are organized, “but not too organized,” to encourage exploratory browsing—with something so ephemeral still bothers him. “The stuff we sell, the reason people want it is because they want to have it forever, and it exists forever,” Marchant says. “The idea of selling those things on the least tangible format is a very odd combination.”
PHOTO BY JADE WILSON
In recent weeks, Nice Price has opened to the public for limited hours, requiring masks to enter. Marchant considers the shop lucky, but he worries many independent and DIY music spaces won’t make it through the current crisis. “That hammer has yet to fall,” he says, citing the recent closure of the beloved Asheville venue The Mothlight as one of the first major local casualties of the pandemic. And on June 28, Nice Price announced that Nice Price Jr., a smaller location in Raleigh’s Historic Oakwood that opened in 2018 and specialized in book clubs and small gigs, was closing for good. With venues closed, record shops are one of the few spaces where the local music scene remains open for business. It hasn’t been easy, but then again, it never was. They’ve weathered the rise of Amazon, the dominance of streaming services, and the everyday challenges that come with running any small business. But if their business model makes them particularly vulnerable to the challenges of the coronavirus, perhaps their tradition of adaptability will balance the scales and see them through. “You need to listen to your regulars and your customers. They’re going to share with you how to operate,” Martenstein says. “For record stores, the music industry changes so fast and so often. You just learn to deal with it.” W INDYweek.com
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p.m. and end downtown on Parrish Street. We caught up with Victoria to learn about her inspirations and her new role as an organizer and advocate for Black communities. INDY: What inspired you to start NC HBCU Alumni? HEATHER VICTORIA: The goal is to organize and network
within alumni communities in efforts to provide a change in our neighborhoods. And when I say neighborhoods, I mean in our Black neighborhoods. We are interested in hosting monthly or quarterly events, like a parade or yoga meetup, to gather offline and have our voices heard amongst each other. You know, there’s so many people who attended HBCUs in North Carolina who don’t live here anymore, which makes us even more powerful as far as what we could get done. The inspiration just came from all of the recent events with police violence in our communities, from Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. It even goes back to Tamir Rice and Trayvon Martin. I am inspired by the work Beyoncé does with her Bey Good organization. Recently she offered free COVID testing in Houston and she always gives back to her community. Tamika Mallory is also an inspiration. I got to hear her speak at the 2018 BET awards. As we see with Breonna Taylor, Atatiana Jefferson, and Sandra Bland, Black women are often overlooked when it comes to police violence. How does the treatment of Black women by the police and your identity as Black women inform the organization’s mission?
Heather Victoria PHOTO BY JADE WILSON
Higher Learning Jamla Records artist Heather Victoria unites HBCUs against police brutality BY KYESHA JENNINGS music@indyweek.com
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efore the end of the Civil War, large numbers of people of African descent were still enslaved in the South, and Southern laws prohibited teaching them to read or write. After the war, Historically Black Colleges and Universities were founded to afford Black people access to higher education. North Carolina is home to 12 HBCUs, including Raleigh’s Shaw University, the first in the South. While contemporary conversations around the intersections of social justice, activism, and music often place hip-hop in the spotlight, R&B artists are rarely included, despite the genre’s blending of hip-hop aesthetics. But Heather Victoria, a Jamla Records R&B artist from Wil18
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son who graduated from Durham’s North Carolina Central University in 2012, wants to use her platform to evoke change and build community across the state. Victoria cofounded the organization NC HBCU Alumni with three other Black women: Desmera Gatewood (NCCU ’12), Amber Cole (Fayetteville State ’12), and Jimissa McLean (NC A&T ’12). The organization’s mission is to fight police brutality and systemic racism, support efforts to defund police and redirect funds to underserved communities of color and increase financial support for HBCUs. NC HBCU Alumni will hold its first rally July 25. It will start at NCCU’s Mass Communication building at 6:00
We are so inspired to just do something more than the hashtags—not saying that [hashtag activism] is bad or anything. I think what really triggered me was just reading about our elders who fought for us during the Civil Rights Movement and how long they were able to hold boycotts. The [North Carolina A&T] students in Greensboro, how that lasted for months. We have to be the change that we want to see within our communities. I feel like a lot of people are really proud to be HBCU alumni, but they might not necessarily have an organization to belong to that is doing the work. We have a real passion for trying to continue the fight against police brutality and we support the movement of defunding the police in hopes that those same funds can be redirected back into our communities, and specifically our HBCUs. Tell us about the event on July 25.
It’s a community event that will be a peaceful march. We will be providing voter-registration resources at the end of the rally. The goal is to gather, to bring together people who would like to be a part of the organization or offer support. You don’t necessarily have to have graduated from an HBCU here in North Carolina. You could just support North Carolina HBCUs by wanting to see them thrive. It’s really just a call to recognize that we are here, we’re organized, and we are wanting to be a part of the necessary social justice and systemic change that we want to see. W
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Time Machines New songs by H.C. McEntire, Autumn Nicholas, and Jay Bishop shake up our state of limbo BY BRIAN HOWE bhowe@indyweek.com
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.C. McEntire’s album Eno Axis comes out on Merge Records August 21, but we got our first taste way back at the start of 2019, though we didn’t know it then. “Houses of the Holy” seemed like a one-off between the Mount Moriah bandleader’s 2018 solo debut, LIONHEART, and whatever would come next. Since Merge revealed the tracklist, we know it’s the final song on the new album, and for sure, McEntire’s electric-folk sanctification of Led Zeppelin would be a hard act to follow. But “Time, on Fire,” the single that dropped with the announcement, is a strong contender and an interesting counterpoint. As an alternate title for it, “Holy Are the Houses” would totally work. The new single is a country cruiser with a secret post-punk chassis, as if Loretta Lynn had been sneaking around listening to Shudder to Think—or maybe to one of McEntire’s old bands. Some Mount Moriah fans might not remember when she used to bruise and blister in Bellafea, whose dark-mirrored sound ran parallel with Des Ark’s as the Triangle’s post-punk pacesetter in the aughties. Though McEntire has dialed back the dynamic range in her spectral country music, the dark-shrouded atmosphere of those early days still clings like nocturnal dew. At the start of “Time, on Fire,” a long drone spreads out the stars, which linger over the glass-shard verses and chugging choruses (which recall the stealth-pop of another McEntire band, Un Deux Trois) and then swirl into a stellar guitar solo. McEntire’s distinctively crimped and fluted voice flashes silver, copper, gold. The song catches her in a metaphysical mood, watching the days burn off through a windowpane. The split-screen video looks like three unsquared Instagram posts and mostly captures small household actions, quietly emphasizing the song’s intimation of something mundane and precious constantly slipping away—now, and now, and now. Wow, OK, that got kind of dark. That’s on me. But we can lighten things right up with the anthemic folk-pop wattage of “Light,” Autumn Nicholas’s new burst of fresh air. The singer-songwriter from Fort Bragg is no stranger to the Triangle, composing music for Durham 20
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Heather McEntire: Eno Axis
Autumn Nicholas: “Light”
company OM Grown Dancers. Recently she’s been in LA working on her second EP, from which “Light” is the first single. The song begins with just Nicholas’s clear, darting voice and an acoustic guitar. Then it incandesces with dramatic Adele-like flourishes: ethereal harmonies, swelling strings, booming drops, a stadium-sized kick drum. As the arrangement builds higher and higher, Nicholas is always a step ahead, as if powered by the sheer conviction of her assurances about identity and belonging, which feel hard-won. There’s no doubt lurking in dark corners because there’s nowhere for them to hide: “Light” is a pure beam of inspiration that dispels shadows. If Nicholas’s song is everything under the sun, Jay Bishop’s “Outer Space Love” is completely over the moon. The choice cut from the Durham native’s new album, Steppers, is a flight test for all its beloved vintage tropes—only the driest drum machines and the wettest reverbs for Bishop, the funky-robot-est bass arpeggios and the silkiest bright-tinted synthesizers. Really, Steppers is less a spaceship than a time machine, and it lands at a cookout in Durham circa 1990. This is Bishop’s love letter to a rich strand of premillennial Black music that ran from underground to mainstream, from boogie and electro to the Princely heights of pop and R&B—from Vicky D and Leon Sylvers
Jay Bishop: Steppers
III to titanic teams like Jam and Lewis, L.A. Reid and Babyface, and the architects of new jack swing. It’s a style of lush, sculpted electro-pop that exists at the nexus of house music, soul music, and funk, and Bishop, a singer of winning simplicity, recreates it to the last plashing chord and liquid bass. The album even opens with an homage to George Clinton’s spiel at the beginning of Snoop’s barbecue classic Doggystyle. Bishop calls it music for aunties and uncles to two-step to at the family reunion, for backyard cookouts and basement spades games, for washing the car in the driveway on Saturdays and cleaning the house on Sundays. There’s something extra-poignant about Bishop’s ode to the domestic, community-based soundtrack to his life. He made it in Tokyo, where it was issued July 3 on Late Pass Records. Though he still has a home in Durham, he’s been in Japan for the last three years for his wife’s work. So Steppers transfigures around another corner in space and time, in one of the billions of personal labyrinths that make up the master pattern. A car or boat or plane will take you back there, wherever it is. But only music can take you back to then, and during this endless month we’ve been trapped in since mid-March, these musical escape pods from limbo are especially welcome. Wow, that got kind of dark again. I’m fine, really. W
STAGE
MOMMY, GIVE ME PILLS | HHHH
yOU CaN TAke ouT a PArEnT pLUs lOaN | HHHH
July 11 (11:30 a.m.) & July 19 (midnight) | $10 suggested donation
July 11, 5:45 p.m. | $10 suggested donation | twitch.tv/wtheatrefestivalnc
Bitter Laughter Powerful personal monologues on sobriety and student debt open the WTFringe festival BY BYRON WOODS arts@indyweek.com
“M
ainly, I’m an alcoholic, but I say I’m a drug addict. It sounds scarier.” Chicago monologist Eileen Tull’s surprisingly funny and disarmingly frank one-act memoir, Mommy, Give Me Pills, documents her early-20s plunge into alcoholism and substance abuse—and the steep road back. It’s one of a pair of autobiographical solo shows that opens the Women’s Theatre Festival’s WTFringe, a compendium of 25 experimental productions from New York, California, and venues across the South. While the Raleighbased festival’s workshops, seminars, and special programs run weekdays this month on its Twitch channel, its fringe productions run each Saturday through August 1. The other new show is New York actor Camille Thomas’s yOU CaN TAke ouT a PArEnT pLUs lOaN. Both shows fearlessly lay claim to hard-won, uncomfortable personal truths, from Tull’s public reckoning with the consequences of her past to Thomas’s baring of the economic servitude imposed by student debt. “Our world isn’t built for [sobriety],” Tull said in a post-performance talkback last week. That might be truer than ever during a pandemic when Tull has observed people bragging on social media about getting drunk during online business meetings. “During tough times, society says, here’s your escape: Have a drink, do something to feel good, and a lot of that is geared toward substances.” In the monologue, the gifted comedian and raconteur displays her chops in a couple of senses: At the beginning, she exposes her teeth and gums with her fingers. “It really started with the pain in my back tooth,” she says, unspooling a warm, engaging memory of her first dentist. She grew up “middle-class poor” among the rich but was sheltered by her father’s position in an Ohio community where “being a high school teacher slash football coach … was a little bit like being in the mob.” But after a comic recollection of a loser boyfriend’s one and only drug deal in downtown Chicago, a palpable chill intrudes when Tull closes her eyes and recalls her first
Eileen Tull
PHOTO BY KAREN LEVIN
feeling of inebriation, at age 20, after being a teetotaler teen. As her anxieties and self-consciousness drift away, her narcotic rhapsody concludes, “I never want to be without this feeling again. I always need to feel like this. So that’s what I tried to do, for a long time.” If you’re heading into a dark place, it helps if you trust the tour guide. Thankfully, the darkness of Tull’s struggle back to sobriety is brightened by her finely honed sense of the absurd and unmistakable confidence as a storyteller. Narratives themselves imply survival: If a person’s telling a story, they’re outliving the events they’ve described. Still, Tull underlines the contingency of her reclaimed life rather than adding a happy ending. “That’s not how addiction works,” she says. “Today, I’m sober; today, I did not take a drink.” In the post-performance chat, she insisted that this wasn’t “a story about how I beat addiction. That journey is every day.”
“E
ducation has always been my family’s thing because it always had to be,” Camille Thomas says in yOU CaN TAke ouT a PArEnT pLUs lOaN. The scathing solo show, whose title typography echoes a Spongebob Squarepants meme, asserts that escalating prices have turned higher education into “debt disguised as degrees.” In a candid moment with an academic advisor, Thomas confesses that the double major that she thought would be an economic lifejacket feels like an anchor. After maxing out her work schedule and her credit card, she concludes, “I’m drowning, and I don’t know what else to do about it.”
Camille Thomas
PHOTO BY ELLIS DAWSON
In lines penned in acid, Thomas exposes a system of financial aid that rewards the packaging and performance of ethnic socioeconomic disadvantage. “If there’s anything institutions of higher education love more than a token Black student succeeding, it’s a token Black student who overcame struggle to succeed,” she says. “I honestly get tired of pimping my pain for money, putting everything on display so I can afford to go to school.” We laugh at Thomas’s play-by-play commentary during her attempts to secure the money she needs to graduate from the advisor. After reeling off a list of dead white dramatists including “a little bit of Chekhov,” Thomas exults, “Oh yeah, she gonna write that check off,” in a gleeful victory dance. But when that celebration proves premature, she’s left scrambling to fund one last semester. She braves a demeaning cavalcade of side hustles and dodgy backdoor moves at the campus cafeteria and a distant community food pantry, all the while wondering why a student should “be required to have financial perfection in order to afford school.” Fed up with being the college’s “emotional piggy bank, stuffed with stories of sexual assault and increased tuition rates,” Thomas experiences both dread and relief in taking out a $7,000 loan to re-enroll in her final classes—and in writing a show disclosing that, despite all her efforts, her degree and transcript will not be released until she satisfies a debt to her university. When she says that she can hear George Washington having “another chuckle at my expense” from the face of a one-dollar bill, she makes us almost hear that bitter laugh. W INDYweek.com
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C L AS S I F I E D S EMPLOYMENT
Marketing Manager, IG HCP sought by Grifols USA, LLC for Durham, NC loc. Reqs Master deg in Biotechnology, Microbial Biotechnology or rltd life sci fld & min. 2 yrs industry exp. in mrkt research & commercial analytics support for biopharmaceutical mktg strategy & tactics in targeted mktg prgms for HCP specialties, incl: primary & secondary mrkt research & analysis, forecast models, business & competitive intelligence; ROI analysis; analyzing large d/sets & reporting data (prgm metrics, or external pharmaceutical d/bases / tools /data sources such as IQVIA [IMS], Definitive Healthcare, Symphony); promo material dvlpmt; events such as advisory boards, pharma/healthcare conferences/conventions exhibit booth; liaising/ supporting cross functional internal teams; external vendor/agency mgmt. Must have exp. presenting to key stakeholders, Sales & Mktg leadership, w/demonstrated proficiency in MS Excel adv. functions (V-Lookup, Pivot Tables) for complex data analysis, Word, PowerPoint. Reqs 15% travel for events/ prgrm support. Apply online at https://www.grifols.com/ en/careers EOE. Biostatistician PPD Development, L.P PPD Development, L.P. seeks a Biostatistician in Morrisville, NC to act as a lead statistician to deliver the project statistician tasks and responsibilities. MS + 1 yrs. To apply send resume to global.recruitmentSM@ppdi.com Job Reference Number: 171839
Principal Statistical Programmers Principal Statistical Programmers sought by Parexel International in Durham, NC to provide principal-level expertise & technical support for SAS statistical prgmg for clinical trials in an FDA 21 CFR Part 11 regulated envrmt. Reqs Master’s in Statistics, Mathematics, Biotechnology, or related field plus 2 yrs (or Bachelor’s plus 5 progressive yrs) of exp in SAS statistical prgmg. Must have 2 yrs of exp with: FDA 21 CFR Part 11 regulations; ICH-GCP, CDISC, & SOP guidelines; Phase I, II, or III clinical trials; SAS/BASE, SAS/ STAT, SAS/SQL, SAS/ MACRO, SAS Data Step, Proc Step, Functions; generating reports, tables & listings for statisticians; & building structured, CDISC, SDTM or ADaM databases for clinical trials. Will accept any suitable combo of edu, training or exp. Position may work from home 1-2 days per week. Interested candidates must send resumes to openings@ parexel.com & cite code 00802. Senior Programmer/ Analyst Sr. Java Developer sought by LabCorp in Durham, NC to leverage technology skills to dvlp business solutions w/in the healthcare industry. Create & implmt enterprise standards for a web service platform (RESTful APIs). Position reqs a Bach's deg or foreign equiv in Engg or Comp Sci +5 yrs of progressive exp as a Dvlpr. To apply, submit resume through jobs. labcorp.com, ref Requisition #20-83433.
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Senior Programmer/ Analyst Senior Programmer/ Analyst sought by LabCorp in Durham, NC. Prep detailed specs from which comp prgms will be written. Meet w/ customers, d/base admins, server/ platform engineers, n/ working, or any other IT organization in order to build applications. Job reqs a Bach’s deg in Comp Sci or foreign equiv + 5 yrs of progressive exp as a Developer. To apply, submit resume through jobs.labcorp.com, req# 20-83173. Senior QA Analyst Senior QA Analyst sought by LabCorp in Durham, NC to identify, plan & execute testing activities in Agile/Scrum environment to ensure high quality s/ware & ensure compliance according to regulatory statues, policies & procedures. Position reqs a Master’s deg in S/ ware Engg, Comp Sci, Electrical Engg, or foreign equiv +3 yrs of exp as an IT Project Manager or Prgmr Analyst. Employer will also accept a Bach’s deg in listed fields or foreign equiv +5 yrs of exp as an IT Project Manager or Prgmr Analyst. To apply, submit resume to jobs.labcorp.com & ref Req# 20-83431.
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