LEO Weekly Feb. 17, 2021

FREE FEB.17.2021

A YEAR WITHOUT EVENTS WHAT WE’VE MISSED THE MOST

AN UPDATE ON POLICE REFORM BILLS | PAGE 6

GRANTS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR ARTISTS | PAGE 21

LEOWEEKLY.COM // FEBRUARY 17, 2021

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VIEWS

STATE REPUBLICANS RACE TO THE RESCUE FOR SPECIAL INTERESTS

By Aaron Yarmuth | leo@leoweekly.com

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ON THE COVER A YEAR WITHOUT EVENTS WHAT WE’VE MISSED THE MOST

AN UPDATE ON POLICE REFORM BILLS | PAGE 6

BY TALON HAMPTON

GRANTS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR ARTISTS | PAGE 21

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LEOWEEKLY.COM // FEBRUARY 17, 2021

IT WASN’T surprising to see Kentucky Republican lawmakers spring into action when the state’s horse racing industry needed something… ASAP. It’s a good thing they acted — with the support of Democrats and Gov. Andy Beshear — to quickly pass Senate Bill 120. However, the unusual display of legislative efficiency reveals a lot about the Republican lawmakers’ dependence on special interests.

Last September, the Kentucky Supreme Court unanimously decided that slot-like historical horse racing (HHR) machines were not legal forms of gambling under state law, which only allows for three types of gambling: the lottery, charitable games (such as bingo) and pari-mutuel wagering.

SB 120 simply changed the definition of parimutuel betting to accommodate these machines.

So, there, problem solved.

Now, you might be wondering: “Wait, has the Republican supermajority of state lawmakers done anything to help me and my family survive the global health pandemic? To help save my job or business? Or, to help keep me from being evicted?”

No. They haven’t passed a single COVIDrelief bill. In fact, Republicans have refused to even give Gov. Beshear’s COVID-relief bill (HB 191) a committee hearing.

See, the difference is one emergency affects you, your family, your job or business, while the other affects Kentucky’s horse racing industry. Do you have a legislative affairs group drawing up legislation on your behalf?

But this is what Republican lawmakers are: a proxy vote for special interests; facilitators of think-tank produced, boiler plate bills that serve the powerful.

This is evidenced by contrasting the speed with which they move for a bill critical to the horse industry, while remaining utterly constipated on legalizing sports betting or casino gambling.

Sure, passing SB 120 was the right thing to do.

People should be able to gamble on slot machines in Kentucky — whether the game is based purely on chance or some contrived, ambiguous algorithm using historic horse race results (which is still just chance as far as the player’s concerned).

And there is no question about the economic importance of the horse racing industry to the state.

That said, there is no argument that can be made in favor of SB 120 and HHR games that couldn’t also be made for expanded gaming.

If the Republican argument is tax revenue, then they can’t be in favor of the $15 million in taxes HHR generates each year, while ignoring

multiple times that coming from casino and sports gambling.

If the argument is preserving the 60,000 horse industry jobs in Kentucky, then they can’t be against the tens of thousands of jobs that would be created from expanded gaming.

Continuing to prohibit casino and sports betting is effectively the same (or worse) economically than letting the horse industry fail year after year.

When challenged on the morality of legalized gambling, Republican Sen. John Schickel, from Union, whose district includes Turfway Park, questioned, “Is it really our role to tell poor people that we need to protect them from themselves?” the Courier Journal reported.

And he’s right. Small government conservatives should be against dictating how people spend or can’t spend their own money. But Schickel and other Republicans need to make the same arguments for expanded gaming.

So, can you see why Kentucky Republicans leapt to pass the horse industry’s priority bill and still haven’t taken up expanded gaming? Or a COVID-relief bill? After all, each would have bipartisan support.

It’s because Republicans are incapable of legislating on their own. They have become — not just beholden to, but — dependent on special interests and conservative think tanks to do their legislative thinking for them.

It’s why Republicans couldn’t come up with a replacement for Obamacare in over a decade.

It’s also why we see eerily similar restrictive abortion legislation in various Republican-led legislatures every year.

We see it in this year’s “conscience bill,” which Fairness Campaign CEO Chris Hartman addresses in this issue of LEO, calling it “copy and paste” legislation. It’s all boilerplate policy, generated by dark money, corporate-funded organizations for mass distribution, and Republicans have become reliant on them.

So, when the state Supreme Court struck down HHR operations in September, the horse industry got busy crafting corrective legislation that could get them up and running again in just a few months. This is why it took only six legislative days to get from introduction to state law. (Did I mention Beshear’s COVID-relief bill hasn’t received a committee hearing? And it was introduced over a month ago.)

Perhaps, if racetracks become vaccine distribution sites, we can get some movement on COVID relief. Or, more likely, once Churchill Downs is ready, we’ll get some expanded gaming in Kentucky. •

VIEWS

WRITE SOME SHIT

DOWNTOWN LOUISVILLE IS JUST MISSING THE WHITES ONLY SIGNS

By Hannah L. Drake | leo@leoweekly.com LAST YEAR, I had the opportunity to join Until Freedom in New York City during the height of the Breonna Taylor protests to speak at a rally. It was one of the first times that I had traveled on an airplane since the coronavirus’ onset, and truthfully, I was terrified. At the time, New York was the epicenter of COVID-19, with thousands of reported cases. However, racism never takes a day off, not even during a global pandemic. Black people do not have the luxury of choosing which issue we are going to fight.

But that is another blog for another time.

While I was in New York, I assumed it would be a ghost town; however, many people were out and about, faces covered in masks, enjoying life. My partner and I decided to go to Brooklyn for dinner, and we could not get a table. While patrons had to eat outside, every single spot was taken, and we ended up getting our food to go and heading back to the hotel to enjoy our oxtails, greens, rice and Jamaican wings. It was delicious and a reminder that not even being at the coronavirus’ epicenter kept people from going out. New York City had culture. It had variety. It had soul, flavor and spice. It was not whitewashed.

Then I returned to Louisville.

I returned to a city still reeling from the murder of Breonna Taylor, subsequent protests and the coronavirus’ impact on our local economy. As articles were shared online about various businesses closing downtown, undoubtedly, people who have not ventured downtown in the past year blamed the closings on the protests. Let’s be clear, businesses closing downtown has nothing to do with the protests. Do not allow people that are fighting for justice to be the scapegoat. If pointing to the protests is your excuse for downtown’s failing economy, you are missing it.

Long before the murder of Breonna Taylor, my friend, who travels the country as a social media influencer, texted me and asked, “What’s going on with your downtown? Everything closes at five.” I said, “Downtown was never designed for anyone other than white working people. Once they leave, downtown essentially closes.” Louisville has painted itself into a corner. Once the coronavirus hit, the people they designed downtown for went home to their neighborhoods of comfort, and downtown cannot

sustain itself. Not because people wouldn’t support downtown but because there is nothing downtown to drive Black people or People of Color to it. There are no retail shops with a cultural base, hardly any food with soul and flavor. Outside of a few exceptions, such as Roots 101, the Muhammad Ali Center and KULA Gallery, downtown is completely whitewashed.

In my poem “Spaces,” I write, “The architecture and atmosphere is constructed in such a way that I know, and we know that these are not our spaces.” No one needs to tell me that downtown is not designed for me. Downtown is designed in such a way that screams, “You do not belong here.” It is constructed in such a way that says, “This area is not made for you.” This is nothing new as we look at Louisville’s history and the 1960s “Nothing New For Easter” campaign. This campaign was a boycott of clothing stores by Black people that intended to apply economic pressure on store owners during the ordinarily busy Easter season. The protests were focused on the Fourth Street shopping district, where Black people were often discriminated against and harassed when attempting to make purchases or eat at certain restaurants.

Sit-ins took place at: · Walgreen’s Drugstore (526 S. Fourth St.) · Stewart Dry Goods (510 S. Fourth St.) · Kaufman-Straus (533-49 S. Fourth St.) · Blue Boar Cafeterias (410 W. Walnut St.) · Sit-in Demonstration Sites Introductory Marker (Fourth and Guthrie streets) · Kentucky Theater & Ohio Theater (651 S. Fourth St.) · Mary Anderson Theater & Rialto Theater (610 S. Fourth St.) · Penthouse/United Artists Theater (625 S. Fourth St.) · The Brown Hotel (335 W. Broadway) · The Brown Theatre (315 W. Broadway) Louisville’s downtown area has a history of racism. As we look at Fourth Street Live currently, Cordish Companies, the operator of Fourth Street Live, repeatedly denied complaints from Black people that they have faced racism there. However, trust me, Black

people in Louisville did not all get together and say, “Let’s say Fourth Street Live is racist.” Fourth Street Live didn’t need to put up “Whites Only” signs. All they had to do was enact policies that were geared to target Black people. The policies told Black people this area is not designed for them. So what would compel me to visit downtown? I refuse to spend my money where I am made to feel uncomfortable and as if I do not belong. When you construct your downtown on racist systems and policies, it is not going to sustain itself. And now the chickens are coming home to roost, and it will only grow worse unless the leadership in Louisville starts to reconcile with its history and then decides to change — to make downtown more inclusive.

Louisville is in a position to either start redesigning downtown so that it will be inviting for all people to come or watch it continue to fail. The nation is changing, and it no longer trends towards whitewashing. If Louisville wants to change the economics of downtown, it can no longer lead with whitewashing downtown. It can no longer lead with allowing businesses to take up residence downtown with racist policies.

When I think about revitalizing downtown, the first thing that comes to mind is Lamont Collins’ desire to open the Roots 101: African American Museum.

I was overjoyed that finally a museum with my history and my culture was in my own hometown.

I have traveled to Washington, D.C. to visit The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

I have traveled to Mississippi and Louisiana to visit plantation homes and see the Forks of the Road, the second-largest slave market in the South. I traveled to Alabama to see The National Memorial for Peace and Justice and to stand on The Edmund Pettus Bridge. In each of these locations, I spent money on hotel rooms, food, car rental or Uber, souvenirs, etc. Culture is simply good for business.

One of the most economically useful things this city can do for downtown is investing in Roots 101. If we are going to be a city that declares racism a public health crisis, how do we start to right that? Lip service doesn’t cut it anymore. Where this city’s money is, is where its values reside.

If this city claims it wants to be more inclusive, why is this museum struggling financially? The museum will benefit this city. Even if you cannot wrap your mind around the right thing to do, wrap your mind around the financial benefit of having an institution that Black people will want to visit. Support this museum in becoming the premier location for African American History in Kentucky.

Then take a good hard look at downtown and truthfully ask yourself, would I, as a Black person or Person of Color, want to visit this city? Would an NBA team with predominately Black players feel comfortable moving their team here? As a young, progressive-thinking Black person would I want to move to this city? Would I feel comfortable raising my Black children in this city? If I was a Black person coming to this city would I feel comfortable? Are there places downtown that I would feel see me, understand me? Do not seek to find answers to those questions with a mind of gentrification. Think with a sense of inclusion and invest in people and businesses that do not whitewash the city but add flavor to the city.

That is how downtown will thrive. • If you would like to donate to Roots 101: African American Museum, visit roots-101. org and look for a “donate” tab at the top of the homepage.

LEOWEEKLY.COM // FEBRUARY 17, 2021

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VIEWS

KENTUCKY’S PARADE OF PREJUDICE

By Chris Hartman | leo@leoweekly.com THE KENTUCKY GENERAL ASSEMBLY calls a “conscience law,” Sen. Meredith’s is at it again, with their biggest parade of SB 83 would allow any worker in a health prejudice in over a decade. In the middle care setting to cite philosophical or religious of a global pandemic, with hundreds of beliefs to deny service to someone — essenthousands who have been sick with COtially refuse to do their job. The bill would VID-19, thousands who legally bind the have lost their lives, hands of employIn fact, there are and more than 100,000 ers from taking unemployed Kentuckaction against such more anti-LGBTQ ians, some members employees. of the legislature have This means bills filed in the once again prioritized anyone working in 2021 Kentucky LGBTQ discrimination health care, from over everything else. the receptionist General Assembly who checks you In fact, there are in, to your nurse, more anti-LGBTQ than anytime in nutritionist, nursbills filed in the 2021 the past decade. It ing home facility, Kentucky General custodian Assembly than any time honestly impresses room and more, could in the past decade. It choose to not honestly impresses me me at times how care for LGBTQ at times how creative creative arch-con- people, Black arch-conservatives at patients, ChrisThe Family Foundation servatives at the tians or anyone and Commonwealth Policy Center can be, Family Foundation they object to and continue to keep for they’re the ones who and Commonwealth their job. That’s come up with so many not just wrong, unique laws to strip Policy Canter can it’s dangerous, away LGBTQ rights and especially in a further marginalize some be, for they’re the pandemic. of our most vulnerable ones who come Sen. Meredith Kentuckians. Lawmakthinks this is perers sympathetic to antiup with so many fectly reasonable LGBTQ animus then file the “model legislaunique laws to strip and is offended by the thought tion” these groups have away LGBTQ rights his bill could be copy and pasted from to other states and national and further margin- interpreted allow LGBTQ or conventions. racial discriminaTo date, seven bills alize some of our tion. Regardless have been introduced most vulnerable of what he claims that either target or his intent to be, substantially affect the Kentuckians. the language in LGBTQ community, the proposed law though one of them is is clear — choose whom to serve and whom a duplicate — the anti-LGBTQ bill du jour not to serve based on whatever you want, nationwide, a transgender student athlete and keep your job no matter what. If you’re ban. disciplined in any way, you get to sue the We’ll return to the incredibly toxic hospital for untold sums of cash. By the attacks on our transgender community in a way, it also allows insurance agencies to moment, but the bill moving most rapidly deny payments based on their philosophical through the legislative process right now is beliefs — can you imagine? state Sen. Steve Meredith’s (R-Leitchfield) Unfortunately, six out of seven members “Healthcare Discrimination Law,” Senate of the Senate Judiciary Committee agreed Bill 83. with Sen. Meredith and passed it on to the An unconscionable bill that he ironically

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full Senate. They could vote on the measure the day this issue of LEO Weekly hits the stands.

While the “Healthcare Discrimination Law” is a major concern and our chief focus at the moment, the legislature’s unwavering fixation on our trans community should not be ignored.

While we’ve been able to hold off the many previous attacks on trans Kentuckians, the legislation just keeps coming, now more than ever before. More than half the anti-LGBTQ bills filed this session focus specifically on trans youth, their access to gender-affirming care and full participation in their schools and communities.

Both Senate Bill 106 and House Bill 471 are “Anti-Trans Athlete Bans,” seeking to permanently bar transgender athletes from participating in girls’ sports. Never mind the fact that the Kentucky High School Athletic Association policy currently governing transgender athletes is so strict that I don’t know a single trans girl on a girls’ team in the commonwealth.

House Bill 336 is an “Anti-Trans Youth Healthcare Law,” which would prohibit trans children from accessing gender-affirming health care, and House Bill 477 is some strange “Anti-Trans Healthcare Carveout,” creating additional hurdles for trans youth to receive gender-affirming care.

Make no mistake about it, though these are all different issues affecting trans youth, their aim is all the same — to make life so difficult for trans youth they are either forced to stay in the closet or leave the state to live their authentic lives.

At the end of the day, they’re all “Bathroom Bills,” made famous by North Carolina’s infamous House Bill 2 to target trans folks’ use of restrooms that match their gender identity. That was the first volley of anti-trans bills peddled by national conservative think tanks like the Alliance

Chris Hartman.

Defending Freedom. When the original “Bathroom Bills” failed to gain traction by costing North Carolina hundreds of millions of dollars in tourism revenue, including NBA and NCAA championship games, they just moved on to “Bathroom Bill 2.0” and “Bathroom Bill 3.0.” I don’t know what update we’re on now, but I see no difference.

And the effect will be the same if Kentucky passes any version of these “Bathroom Bills” — economic loss and unimaginable pain, anguish and hardship for our trans community and their families. Just debating these bills does harm, even if they don’t become law.

Here I am at the end of my word count and all I’ve done is decry the bad bills we’re facing in the Kentucky General Assembly.

There are also great pro-LGBTQ bills that are gaining bipartisan traction in historic ways — the “Statewide Fairness Law,” the “Youth Mental Health Protection Act” to ban “conversion torture,” and the HEROES Act to restore LGBTQ state veterans’ benefits.

But you’ll have to research those on your own. Visit Fairness.org/LegislativeAction to learn all about them and take action against the “Healthcare Discrimination Law” at Fairness.org/SB83. • Chris Hartman is the executive director of The Fairness Campaign, a Kentucky LGBTQ advocacy organization founded in 1991.

VIEWS

BLACK HISTORY MONTH IS NOT ENOUGH Society needs to tell the entire story and the truth about racial inequality

By Jermaine Fowler | leo@leoweekly.com ON THE 19TH of December, 1875, the father of Black history was born. Twenty-two years later, he walked through Berea College’s doors and enrolled as a student. It was a miracle of determination. Like many Black children of his time, his labor was necessary, his education secondary. His parents walked right out of American slavery into abject poverty. Toiling on farms and working the dusky Virginian coal mines robbed his childhood of formal education.

As a young Black man in 20th-century America, he’d beat all odds making it to the university.

His name was Carter G. Woodson.

I wonder if it was while studying literature at that small college in Kentucky where the lack of Black history became visible. For it was invisible everywhere, on the bookfilled shelves of public libraries, on the crisp pages of school textbooks, from the lips of college history professors, and the consciousness of young Black boys and girls.

Perhaps Woodson was like many students today, noticing the absence of humanity in Black narratives. Like the many disillusioned with history. Wondering why Black people have yet to be considered, for example, as an integral part of American history, and as such, are not part of mainstream American memory.

I’ve long noticed that Black history is segregated and taught in isolation — kept away from white narratives like a form of academic apartheid. Expressing these same frustrations, Woodson created Black History Week in 1926, which later became Black History Month. The idea was to deepen the knowledge and study of Black history all year long. So in his mind’s eye, Woodson saw a future where this short celebration would no longer be necessary. Hopeful that America would embrace Black people and their past as part of the American present.

And here we are. Celebrating Black History Month nearly 100 years later.

The only time America gets long-winded about Black history is during the shortest month of the year. In February, we learn about the civil rights struggle of Martin King. The million-dollar dreams of Madam C.J. Walker, and the peanut inventions of George Washington Carver. All presented as noble and heroic. Real as that may be, this history does not tell the whole truth of Black history. It’s a highlight reel. We get a glimpse of exciting moments, but it doesn’t show you the entire game.

Where are the sprawling empires of Africa in our studies? What about the Black presence in Europe? In these short 28 days, we don’t dive deep enough into the slave

trade, historic prison systems, Jim Crow, lynchings, police brutality, redlining, voter discrimination or institutional racism. I imagine this is the real reason why white society doesn’t want to integrate Black history. To do so, you’d have to talk about American atrocity, which doesn’t fit the American branding of the brilliant founding fathers and the grand ideals of American democracy.

Then there is the 90-plus% of white Kentucky teachers who struggle to teach Black history in meaningful ways. Let’s not pretend that unconscious bias, racial anxiety and stereotypes don’t make it into classrooms. So our Black children, having seen the spectacular failure of American institutions to include their history, begin to see themselves outside of America — they fail to see themselves. White kids, some with little to no other encounters with Black people, only see them through pop culture, music and media.

What do we do in the face of all this? It seems to me that, the same institutions that mandate Black students to show up to be educated, should be mandated to teach those students the breadth and depth of their history. They owe it to all students to provide a diverse history education. It also makes sense that those who know they are ignorant of this history take the initiative to learn it, even if they are already into adulthood.

James Baldwin said, “History is not the past. It is the present. We carry our history with us. We are our history. If we pretend otherwise, we are literally criminals.” It is criminal. Criminal that we don’t acknowledge, for instance, that our police forces started as a slave patrol and that many of those historical tactics and attitudes toward Black communities exist today. Criminal that we don’t admit that redlining has been flatlining Black opportunity since the 1930s.

Or that Louisville has never been neutral.

They say our city joined the Confederacy after the Civil War was over. Because ex-

Jermaine Fowler.

Confederate officers entered all significant institutions and took control of the town. It turns out, this history is alive and well, thriving in the present than most ever wanted to acknowledge.

The fact is real Black history should affirm Black humanity in all the fullness of the human experience. It should demonstrate Black achievements from all over the world — from the medieval empires of Africa to the first Black Republic of Haiti, to the stories of Black musical genius. Then teach everything in between. It needs to show that Black achievement lies in revolution toward democracy just as much as it does in hitting a baseball or being the first doctor in a white institution. It should strive to tell the truth about racism, slavery and American brutality.

As long as America embraces Black History Month as it is, we are saying we are fine with its segregation and separation. That a short 28 days is enough for Black people —

the rest of the year, America can forget about it. So no, it isn’t enough to highlight a few Black celebrities and activists with sanitized legacies. Black History Month should affirm a commitment to advancing real solutions to anti-Black racism and also affirm the uniqueness of the Black experience. It’s not only a time to celebrate achievements, but to tell the entire story and the truth about racial inequality. • Jermaine Fowler is the founder of The Humanity Archive, a podcast and educational website committed to telling the untold stories of history. You can find his work at www.thehumanityarchive.com and tune in to The Humanity Archive podcast on Apple, Spotify or anywhere else you listen.

LEOWEEKLY.COM // FEBRUARY 17, 2021

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NEWS & ANALYSIS

POLICE REFORM BILLS: SOME RECEIVE BIPARTISAN SUPPORT, OTHERS FLOUNDER

THORNS & ROSES

By Danielle Grady | dgrady@leoweekly.com

THE WORST, BEST & MOST ABSURD

A BILL that would make it easier to decertify corrupt police officers passed the Kentucky Senate unanimously last week, and is now heading to the House.

Another bill that would make it illegal for officers to engage in sexual activities with people in custody is awaiting a full Senate vote.

Some police reform bills are seeing bipartisan support in the Republicancontrolled Kentucky legislature after a year that saw several well-publicized police killings of Black people across the country, including in the Bluegrass state, where Louisville Metro Police Department officers killed Breonna Taylor in a botched raid while executing a no-knock warrant.

“I think there’s no question that the events of the last year have moved the needle in my caucus and in the legislature as a whole,” said Republican state Sen. Whitney Westerfield, a co-sponsor of the sexual assault bill and the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who called Breonna Taylor’s death, as well as George Floyd’s, “horrific murders.”

State Rep. Nima Kulkarni, a Democrat who is also co-sponsoring several police reform bills, said when she was first elected in 2018, the conversation in the legislature mostly revolved around criminal justice reform. But this session, that has changed.

“I think suddenly policing reform is bipartisan on some level,” she said.

“You’ve seen movement in the Senate, you’ve seen discussions.”

Legislators are still coming at the bills from their own perspectives: Kulkarni, who is co-sponsoring several reform bills in the House, is an immigration attorney who said she has seen the poor treatment of her clients at the boot of law enforcement, and she’s a Louisville legislator who has experienced living in one of the U.S. cities most roiled by police brutality protests.

Sen. Danny Carroll, the primary sponsor of the decertification bill (SB 80), is a former police officer from a small town in southwestern Kentucky.

ROSE: COVID “POSITIVE” NEWS Monday marked the lowest single day of COVID-positive cases since mid-October. The state positivity rate continued to decline, as well.

And, Kentucky’s child care workers were bumped up into the 1B group of vaccine priority, joining teachers and other school workers.

(Not sure what took so long there, but it’s never too late to hear good news.)

Police formed a perimeter around protesters who had been arrested last September.

Also, some Democrat-sponsored police reform bills remain untouched by the majority party, including the ones Kulkarni is co-sponsoring — even Breonna’s Law, from state Rep. Attica Scott. That bill would ban no-knock warrants and require Kentucky law enforcement to wear body cameras while on the job.

A Senate bill regulating no-knock warrants hyped by Republican Senate President Robert Stivers has also not appeared yet.

But, Kulkarni still has hope for the rest of the session.

KILLINGS BREED BROAD SUPPORT

To get meaningful reform passed, Kulkarni said that all stakeholders must come together: legislators, community members and players in the criminal justice system.

When Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on the neck of George Floyd, killing him for nothing more than suspicion that he had tried to pass off a counterfeit $20 bill, Daviess County Sheriff Keith Cain said that police officers from all over found the situation unacceptable and wanted the officers responsible held accountable.

Cain also spoke at an Interim Joint

Committee On Local Government in July for the Kentucky Sheriffs’ Association about possible no-knock warrant legislation. There, he said that no sheriffs in the state he spoke to supported their use.

Last week, Cain told LEO that tragedies like Floyd’s death can wear down trust between police and their communities, even in distant jurisdictions like in Kentucky. And, he said that these frayed relationships need to be addressed.

“We understand that in a time when many of our communities have serious questions about whether the people who are sworn to protect them will actually be held accountable if they violate that oath, I think it’s incumbent upon us to answer those questions,” he said.

The Kentucky Sheriffs’ Association, the Kentucky Association of Chiefs of Police and the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council have all voiced support for SB 80 this year. And, at the July meeting on no-knock regulations, representatives for the Kentucky Association of Chiefs of Police also were tentatively supportive of changes to the current warrant system.

Police reform was already something on Rep. Kulkarni’s mind prior to 2020, but police reaction to Louisville CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

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ROSE: NEW GENERATION OF LEADERS Louisville Metro Council unanimously passed an ordinance that will require racial equity goals be included in every department budget.

Each of the city’s 26 departments (starting July 1) will be required to provide an equity vision statement, with goals, key performance indicators and timelines. The ordinance specifically points to a history of systemic racism leading to disparities in “homeownership, job opportunities, quality education, and health care, and are still evident today in our affordable housing challenges, income disparities, distressing educational differences, and health outcomes.” The ordinance was apparently spearheaded by first-term Councilwoman Keisha Dorsey (D-3), who said, “I was heads down and really working to make sure this was implemented. This wasn’t about celebrity, per se, or taking credit. I wanted something I could give my city,” the Courier Journal reported.

ABSURD: MCCONNELL’S LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT State Republican lawmakers haven’t found the time to give Gov. Beshear’s COVID-relief bill a committee hearing, or do anything to help Kentuckians survive the global health pandemic. But, apparently they have time to change the way U.S. Senate vacancies are filled. Senate President Robert Stivers proposed a bill (SB 228) that would require the governor to choose his appointment from a list of three, which will be provided by the executive committee of the departing senator’s party — ensuring the same party maintains control of the seat. McConnell, who was just reelected to his seventh 6-year term, apparently supports the proposal. It’s absurd that McConnell, Stivers or anyone else would decide now’s the best time to propose this change. It’s also absurd, however, to think we’re fortunate enough that Mitch is planning an early exit. He’s been planning his succession for a long time (eh-hem, Dan Cameron…), and it’s better to let someone know where you left your final will and testament, just in case.

ABSURD THORN: MCCONNELL CAN’T GET “ANYTHING” RIGHT McConnell voted not to convict former-President Trump for inciting an insurrection of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Oh, but he believes Trump is guilty: “There’s no question — none — that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day,” McConnell said in a Senate speech after acquitting Trump.

However, impeaching a former officeholder is unconstitutional according to Mitch. “We have no power to convict and disqualify a former officeholder who is now a private citizen,” he said. In addition to being factually wrong, Mitch is confusing the Senate with another branch of government. The Supreme Court determines constitutionality… Mitch only determines what’s politically advantageous, remember? Yet, there is hope. McConnell said Trump “is still liable for everything he did while he was in office. He didn’t get away with anything yet.”

But Trump did in fact get away something: Thanks to the Republican “Leader,” Trump was acquitted of any political consequences. I guess we’ll see in the coming months if that amounts to “anything.”

Cage The Elephant at Forecastle 2015. | PHOTO BY NIK VECHERY.

A YEAR WITHOUT EVENTS WHAT WE’VE MISSED THE MOST

WE’RE QUICKLY sneaking up on a year since that week last March when the world changed. Most of us were bracing ourselves for it, but we didn’t exactly know what to expect back then from the emerging coronavirus. And here we are, stuck in winter of 2021, still locked in a battle with the pandemic. But, not without hope, as vaccines circulate, providing a little optimism that we’ll all soon get to hang out again. Because, here at LEO, we miss events. Missing out on events wasn’t the most important thing in 2020, of course, as a racial justice movement, a pivotal presidential election, a public health crisis and an economic downturn defined the year, but the cancellation of festivals, concerts, markets and

gatherings hurt everyone’s collective ability to get out in the world and be social, contributing to an isolation that’s taken a toll on all of us. Below, a few staff members, contributors and friends describe what they miss the most.

The Familiar Faces

By Sheri Streeter, musician I’ve always been a bit of a loner, but now I understand the value of interacting with acquaintances and strangers.

While the pandemic limited contact with close friends and family, it all but eliminated casual encounters.

I often used to go alone to restaurants, coffee shops and movie theaters. I didn’t mind sitting quietly, but I miss the possibility of organically meeting new people. There are some I don’t mind not running into at shows and sordid public encounters to say good riddance to. But I miss the spaces that allow a distant fondness to grow, to catch up with pleasant acquaintances, or for an introduction to a friend of a friend. If I recognize another customer, I’ll wave and politely try not to keep them. There are no more familiar faces in places I once frequented, no warm exchanges across the room with someone I’ve never spoken with but wouldn’t mind to, no brief chats with passersby and kind strangers LEOWEEKLY.COM // FEBRUARY 17, 2021

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waiting in line with me. There is simply no more being in the company of others.

My sense of community with other musicians, artists, and people with shared interests was lost with venues and businesses closing. I miss seeing acquaintances’ excitement and pride in projects they’ve been working on, hearing about the progress they’ve made since we’ve last spoken. I used to draw inspiration from the creative energy of others that can only be felt in person. Without an audience, writing now feels self-indulgent and no longer the conversation that a live performance is, a chance to connect with a room full of people even if they don’t relate to me. It’s harder to find the point of it all if no one’s there anymore to listen.

The loss of these “impersonal” relationships has shifted my aloneness to loneliness.

Extending The Apogee

By Allie Fireel, writer, performer, producer and founding artistic director of Louisville Fringe Festival I’ve felt this thing — this instant — standing on stage confessing to 500 people that I used to be a self harmer. I’ve felt it before I stripped off my last article of clothing seducing a packed house of 20. I’ve felt it onstage as a performer, seen it offstage as a playwright, heard it happen waiting in

the wings, smelled it bouncing as a part of the crowd. A lot of people use the phrase, “the audience was on the edge of their seats,” but that’s not it.

I had this dance teacher once — John Rodriguez, ballet, Dayton, Ohio. He was this tiny, soft-spoken 60-year-old man with effortlessly precise technique. I took roughly 1,260 ballet classes from him. He swore if you took a sharp extra half-breath just before the highest point of your jump, you’d hold off the end of your apogee — you’d float — for an extra tenth of a second.

That’s what it is. It’s not an audience at the edge of their seat. It’s a group of people in a room collectively reaching an apogee, breathing in, sitting up straighter, waiting for what is going to happen next.

Sometimes as a performer, I get to shape that millisecond, push the audience to laugh or cry, to think or to lose their fucking minds. It makes up for every powerless second of childhood I spent scared and struggling with a learning disability in an educational paradigm that demanded I spend my time in silence. And that’s why I’ve been driven to spend 10,000 hours to get that chance.

I have been living a palpable feeling of missing that moment so much, the first time I tried to write this, I lost a whole day. I couldn’t write. My partner asked me what was wrong, and I didn’t know how to answer.

Because there’s this other instant that some people love, but it makes the space between my shoulders itch like somebody is planning to sucker punch me. Or stand me in the corner. It’s the moment when I am waiting for the show to begin.

I need this waiting moment to end.

The Little Things

By Sean Patrick Hill, writer and LEO contributor Over the course of this past year, lodged in the pandemic, there are many things I miss from being in public. Sitting in a coffeeshop with a macchiato, perhaps a journal. Going to the library to pick up books precisely when I need them, and then browsing the shelves, aimlessly, letting one discovery lead to another. But these are small things and are, of course, self-concerned to an extent. They rise quickly to mind, but it may be that such excursions — shopping, dining, exploring — are only masking a deeper loneliness.

There are times I am in the company of other people.

Grocery shopping, which has long since lost its sense of dread. Buying clothes, which has taken me to a number of small vintage shops, moments that will often develop into a conversation at closer quarters. I walk in the parks, or through the neighborhood — though one cannot miss how

Belushi Speed Ball. | PHOTO BY NIK VECHERY.

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The 2019 Dirt Bowl . | PHOTO BY SCOTT RECKER.

often we seek to avoid each other, how people cross the street at our approach, averting their gaze.

Naturally, I’ve wanted to feel the gaze of a friend, or even a date, without the mediation of a computer screen, without simply reverting to texting. Living alone, the longing to be touched — even by a hand laid on the small of my back, or on the ball of my shoulder — is nearly without precedent.

But what I’ve missed most, I suddenly realize, is simply the fullness of faces. I long to see smiles, to hear an unmuffled laugh. I saw a child one day, in the Mid City Mall, who smiled at me brightly despite the fact my own mouth was hidden behind fabric. Seeing his face was like turning to the sun. I felt its light.

Elation and Heartbreak

By Erica Rucker, arts & entertainment editor of LEO Weekly A long time ago, there were weekly, nightly, wheneverthey-happened dance parties above El Mundo on Frankfort. Some nights were chill — folks nattering on about art and movies while drinking margaritas or shots of rum while music thumped in the background. Other nights were colored by the haze of boozy carnality, filled with artists, a lack of inhibitions and wandering hands acting only on an implied consent. They were risky moments that would feel more dangerous now, but then — for a young, scribbling, high-heeled, control freak — letting myself melt into the space, music, surrendering my many inhibitions created

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something that felt transcendent and necessary. It gave me a lot of words. Sometimes, it still gives me words.

There were other parties like that, in other spaces, warehouses, old brick buildings and with other “crowds,” and it always felt like a scene from a movie when the characters find themselves at the mercy of the environment frozen in space — the rusty binary, “boy” and “girl” at the center of a crowd, coming together or breaking up, realizing you’d just outgrown your use for each other.

I miss those spaces. I miss those moments of elation and heartbreak. Even now, I both love and lament the New Year’s Eve in one of those places where I put someone’s heart on ice so that I could begin a separation and move on with my life.

Selfish and Necessary.

The best words for what I miss about events, at least these very specific events — I miss the way music moves through bodies and spaces. I miss the way a collective mood can take over a crowd and how we choose to navigate or remove ourselves from those moments.

Being with people is how we become better at living in our human skin and finding our ways through life. My hope for the future is that as we emerge from this pandemic — hopefully safe, even wrinklier or fatter — that we find ourselves in the middle of a crowd, under stars or stage lights and feel that moment of being moved by just BEING there surrounded by others having a similar experience.

Interacting With Readers

By Laura Snyder, publisher of LEO There will be no Literary LEO 2021 event. Instead of gathering together in Copper & Kings’ beautiful event space to appreciate the poetry, fiction and photography of LEO’s talented readers, we’ll have to be satisfied with letting them take over the pages of our March 17 issue. But, once again, I’ll miss the surprise of seeing that the author of first place poetry is an 80-year-old retired bus driver or a high school senior or someone I regularly see walking her dog in Crescent Hill. I’ll miss hearing the emotion in the voice at the mic reading about Breonna Taylor/Butchertown/sex/ youth/rebellion/loss… but there won’t be the loss of life due to a LEO event — something we didn’t fully understand this time last year when we very hesitantly canceled Literary LEO 2020. I questioned the necessity of the cancellation repeatedly, telling myself we would reschedule in June or July when everything returned to normal.

Then, in August, I found myself scrapping plans for Margaritas in the ‘Ville 2020, a sun-baked 600-person celebration of el Jimador tequila and the area’s best margarita mixologists, where the LEO cohort annually bids farewell to summer on the banks of the Ohio River at Captain’s Quarters.

In October, I was determined to find a way to safely celebrate the local businesses who won our Readers’ Choice Awards, which is how Acting Against Cancer (AAC) found themselves performing the Rocky Horror shadow cast in 40

degree weather at the Sauerbeck Family Drive-In (Remy, I’m sorry). I knew there was no chance of packing 800 guests into Tim Faulkner Gallery or Odeon to listen to an up-and-coming band, but at least we could listen to Jack Harlow over our radios as the logos of Electric Ladyland, Headliners, Carmichael’s Books, The Louisville Palace and our readers’ other favorite businesses flash across the screen.

And we did that (AAC did that!), but no Coopers’ Craft filled our glasses, and beyond missing the hugs, it was dark by 7 p.m., so I’m not even sure who came to our party.

A year without LEO events is a sad tale, but, nonetheless, we’re holding out for a happy ending — an ending that’s an opening… of doors and drinks and introduction and dancing with strangers. They say that, just as the 1918 pandemic ended, we’re going to usher in a second roaring ‘20s. Damn, what a party it’s going to be. Until then, we’re hunkering down, storing up our hedonism, staying alive the best we can so that we can see all of you at the next LEO event. Thank you for making sure we all get to enjoy it together.

The Society Of Beer

By Syd Bishop, beer and music contributing writer to LEO When I say that I like craft beer, I mean that I love the craft of beer. I love someone turning hops and grains into something fun. For the last three or four years, I’ve been lucky enough to write about the local beer scene in a quarterly roundup that focuses on seasonal beers. That made me feel like the luckiest person in Louisville because now I get to write about beers AND drink them. It’s in the job description even.

as silly as it sounds, it felt like I was standing in a different place than the dive-punk venue that I’ve been to dozens of times.

The week before, the thrash metal band Belushi Speed Ball was spraying a packed crowd with silly string. I’d seen Sheer Mag and countless other bands and musicians on their way up the ranks make so much noise in that room that it seemed like the walls were going to crumble, while the crowd itself — even if only a few people showed up — was always a confluence of attitude, style and energy.

But, there I was, in that room, where you could have heard The 2017 Readers’ Choice Awards Party. | PHOTO BY NIK VECHERY. a pin drop. Instead of feeling deep into Then the world shut down. Like a reasonable person, I a Saturday night, I felt like I was in a storage closet. That’s listened to the science. I practice social distancing and wear because a crowd can change a room from deeply forgettable masks. I mostly keep to myself. I’ve shifted my support of to a burned-in memory. the local brewery scene from the taprooms to my comfy I had a similar experience at the 2019 championship rocking chair. It’s been a heavy year, but I’ve been able to game of the legendary outdoor basketball tournament, the spend time with family and support the things I love all the Dirt Bowl. Two days prior to the game, I was sitting in same. But goddamn do I miss breweries.

Shawnee Park, interviewing Ben Watkins, founder of the I miss talking to strangers, brewers or just other beer Dirt Bowl, who has since passed away. Watkins was telling nerds, about whatever it is that makes this or that beer speme the history of the Dirt Bowl, which started in 1969, as cial. I miss sidling up to the bar and asking the bartender for we sat on the bleachers, looking at the blank courts in the whatever best describes the season to them, which is differearly afternoon. There were maybe only two other people ent for everyone. There is nothing better than someone sugin sight. But, that Sunday, during the championship game, gesting a beer that’s so far off your radar that you would’ve hundreds of people packed around the court, filling the never thought of it. A black IPA at Christmas? Let’s go! bleachers, standing ten rows deep on the edges. There was It’s not just tasting the beers, but getting the stories. Do a roaring crowd and food vendors. When three-pointers you know anything about barrel-aging? Getting a tour of the dropped, announcer Cornell Bradley shouted his signature back-of-house or seeing a bottling system is a treat, espeline: “Bang! I said bang!” Dirt Bowl legend, UofL champion cially when you make friends along the way. Do you know and 1981 NBA Rookie Of The Year Darrell Griffith watched what helps everyone make friends? Beer! Beer is a great courtside. It was incredible. Two days before, it looked like social equalizer, making strangers into friends, and I miss any other outdoor court, then it morphed into one of the largout on that camaraderie as much, if not more than a fancy est and last remaining outdoor basketball tournaments in the chocolate stout or hazy IPA. United States.

Crowds are a window into humanity, and they act as a vortex that reshapes a space. They certainly can dictate a

By Scott Recker, managing editor of LEO mood. Sometimes, of course, that can lead to bad shit hapA few years ago, I got a phone call at Kaiju. The front pening. But, most of the time, like in the examples above, of the bar was noisy, but there wasn’t an event going on in they lead to life-affirming moments that connect us, give us the backroom, so I walked into the small venue area and something to look forward to and often leave us with some answered the call. The room was empty, quiet, uncluttered, good times to remember. • lifeless — just like I had hoped — but, oddly, it was a strange experience. I had never seen the room like that, and,

How A Crowd Changes A Room

LEOWEEKLY.COM // FEBRUARY 17, 2021

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PHOTO ESSAY

WHAT EVENTS CURRENTLY LOOK LIKE

By Kathryn Harrington | leo@leoweekly.com

RESTAURANTS, bars and event venues have been some of the hardest hit industries during the pandemic. They have had to navigate and adapt to a fluid situation, weighing how to continue to bring in business while protecting staff and customers from an invisible enemy. But, as we close in on a year since the pandemic started, some venues and organizations have brought back small-scale, socially-distanced events. They’ve committed to following safety protocols while indoors. Sanitizing stations and signs are generally present, reminding customers to wear their masks and take precautions. We swung by events at Mile Wide Beer Co.

and Tim Faulkner Gallery to see what they looked like.

Over the weekend, Mile Wide teamed up with Harvey’s Cheese to create a beer and cheese pairing for those who wanted to get something special to take home. The brewery also hosted the Valentine’s Vintage Pop-Up with the Germantown Vintage Collective for customers in the brewery.

Taproom Manager at Mile Wide Aaron Wilkins noted that customers are pretty familiar with the fact that masks are a must. “People kind of know what to expect when they come in here, which is awesome. People know there’s no fooling around, no putting their masks down, we’re pretty

strict about it.”

The Tim Faulkner Gallery also hosted an event on Saturday night, featuring bluegrass bands and a few vendors. Sanitizing stations were placed throughout the gallery, attendees had their temperatures checked at the door and mask wearing was enforced throughout the event.

Co-owner Margaret Archambault noted that for their first indoor event, everyone adhered to the safety precautions.

“People now at this point in the pandemic are naturally distancing themselves,” said Archambault.

Here are our photos from the events.

Customers were reminded to wear their masks while inside Mile Wide.

Masked customers browsed Germantown Vintage’s pop-up at Mile Wide on Saturday.

The bar line was spaced-out at Mile Wide.

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The Tim Faulkner Gallery placed sanitizing stations throughout the bar and gallery.

PHOTO ESSAY

Vendors sold art during the event at the Tim Faulkner Gallery.

Those who attended the show at the Tim Faulkner Gallery wore masks and had their temperatures taken at the door.

LEOWEEKLY.COM // FEBRUARY 17, 2021

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STAFF PICKS THURSDAY, FEB. 18

The Louisville Vibe With Don The Poet

Nirvana | 1047 Bardstown Road | Search Facebook | $10 | 9 p.m.

Whether you’re coming for the featured artist or the undiscovered Louisville singers, comedians, poets and instrumentalists, you will be entertained at the OPEN MIC weekly Louisville Vibe open mic night at Nirvana. This week, Don The Poet is your guaranteed musical guest, and she’ll be performing new music from her debut EP STANZA1. As for who else you might catch performing? You’ll have to come to find out (or stream the show from home via livexport.tv).— Danielle Grady

THURSDAY, FEB. 18-21, 23 & 24

Billy Strings Live Stream From The Capital @ High Horse Bar

High Horse Bar | 1032 Story Ave. | Search Facebook | Free | 7 p.m.

Calling all Deadheads. You looking for a flashback? Fifty years ago, the Grateful Dead conducted an ESP experiment involving the audience of the 2,000-capacity crowd MUSIC of The Capital Theatre in New York. Commemorating the 50th anniversary of this legendary show is guitarist Billy Strings, with “The Deja Vu Experiment” at the Capital.

To be clear, this is not a tribute show. However, “the band hopes to tap into the musicianship and fearlessness that the Grateful Dead did 50 years ago, unlocking improvisational boundaries of music and psychedelia in a familiar yet unique way.”

Intrigued? High Horse Bar will be livestreaming all six nights of the show.

You can “get your head in the game for the upcoming shows!” by downloading “Deja Vu Experiment” backgrounds for your phone on billystrings. com. —LEO Billy Strings.

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FRIDAY, FEB. 19

Connect & Ground: A Magickal Relaxation Practice Virtual | Search Facebook | $20 | 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Unwind with gentle, restorative yoga; magick; and community. Goddess Gatherings of Louisville will guide you through a yoga flow, performed either seated or lying YOGA down and influenced by earth-based spirituality. There will also be a talking circle for you to share your feelings if you wish to. The class is open to anyone who identifies as female, organizers say. —LEO

SATURDAY, FEB. 20

City Awake LIVE

21st in Germantown | 1481 S. Shelby St. | Search Facebook | $5 | 8 p.m.

The local digital rock station LRS 102 is celebrating its two-year anniversary with a concert featuring APOD, Exotic Species, City Awake and Shades of Raven. If ROCK OUT you feel comfortable at a sociallydistanced concert, they’re currently happening at a few places around the city, and this is a solid option.

—LEO

STAFF PICKS

SUNDAY, FEB. 21

Indoor Sunday Popup Markets

Logan Street Market | 1001 Logan St. | Search Facebook | No cover | 10 a.m.

Well, by the weekend, the ice falling from the sky should stop coating our cars and crushing our souls, so it’ll be a good opportunity to spend some cash and shop those POP blues away. A good place to do that is at the Indoor Sunday Popup Markets, where guest vendors take over Logan Street Market. Support a local business or two and get something nice for yourself. —LEO

FEBRUARY 4-28, 2021

THURSDAY, FEB. 23

York, Isaac Murphy & Medgar Evers: Historical Poetry As Teacher Virtual | filson.simpletix.com | Free | 6-7 p.m.

Frank X Walker proposes an alternative way to learn about history: HISTORY through poetry. At this lecture, he’ll use his four poetry collections to discuss how memory, research and imagination are core aspects to the process. Plus, he’ll read new poems from his forthcoming book about York, the Black man enslaved by William Clark who was a key member of Lewis and Clark’s western expedition. —LEO

25 Days, 11 Award-Winning Films 5 Engaging Guest Speaker Events featuring Special Guest Speaker, Shira Haas, of Unorthodox

Join us virtually, on your schedule, for the extraordinary 23rd Louisville Jewish Film Festival. Become inspired by 11 award-winning, national and international films, and 5 outstanding speaker engagements, and explore new worlds from the comfort of your own home.

Visit JEWISHLOUISVILLE.ORG/FILMFESTIVAL for details and tickets.

The Louis Levy & Wilma Probst Levy Film and Theater Arts Fund Goldstein Leibson Cultural Arts Fund

A bronze statue of York by sculptor Ed Hamilton stands on the Belvedere in Louisville. | PHOTO BY KATHRYN HARRINGTON. LEOWEEKLY.COM // FEBRUARY 17, 2021

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VOT E D BEST

LO U ISVI L L E D IST IL L ERY

STAFF PICKS

MONDAY, FEB. 22-28

Louisville Restaurant Week 2021

Various locations | louisvillerestaurantweek.com | $26, $36 or $46 | Times vary Over a dozen participating restaurants are offering three-course, prix fixe menus all week.

It’s a great opportunity to try somewhere new or revisit a favorite…

DELICIOUS while also helping to feed those in need. Louisville Restaurant Week 2021 will benefit the McAtee Community Kitchen, which provides prepared meals, groceries, supplies and opportunities to families in Louisville’s West End, Shelby Park and Smoketown neighborhoods. The organization is named in honor of restaurant owner David McAtee, who was shot and killed in his restaurant by the National Guard during a night of protests last year. —Aaron Yarmuth

DISTILLE RY AMERICAN B RAN DY, G I N & ABSINTHE DISTILLERY AME RICAN BRAN DY AGED IN KENTUCKY BOURBON BARR E LS EXPERIENCE SONIC AGING: LISTEN TO THE BARRELS ROCK ‘N ROLL E XPLO RE T H E S KYD EC K & TAKE IN T H E VIEWS O F D OWNTOWN LO U ISVI L L E

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CO PP E RAN D KIN G S.CO M 16

LEOWEEKLY.COM // FEBRUARY 17, 2021

THROUGH MARCH 5

‘Mirabilia: A Cabinet of Curiosities’ By Mitch Eckert Cressman Center for Visual Arts | 100 E. Main St. | louisville.edu/art | Free

Let’s travel back to 16th century Germany when the ART wunderkammer (chamber of wonders) first appeared. These personal minimuseums were popular with aristocratic collectors as a way to display their favorite curiosities, art and found objects in one location, be it in a cabinet or room. The idea of a cabinet of curiosities still has a hold on us today, proven in this solo exhibition by UofL Associate Professor Mitch Eckert. His photographs of one in Kosciusko County, Indiana, reveal Egyptian artifacts, Crimean cannon

By Mitch Eckert. Photograph. balls and “mermaid tails.” It is indeed a chamber of wonders even in the modern age. Reservations are required. —Jo Anne Triplett

STAFF PICKS

ONGOING

Black Heritage In Racing

Kentucky Derby Museum | 704 Central Ave. | derbymuseum.org/blackheritage | Prices vary | 9 a.m.-5 p.m. (open at 11 a.m. on Sunday) Black History Month lasts longer than 28 days in the Kentucky Derby MuBHM seum… as it should. The industry, like much of the country, was built from the labor and talents of Black Americans. As the Derby Museum notes, 15 of the first 28 winning Derby jockeys were Black, before Jim Crow laws pushed Black people out of the industry. Now, the museum has added, “A new tour and special programming to bring this rich history to life in a new way and serve as an extension to the Museum’s longtime permanent exhibit, African Americans in Thoroughbred Racing, and educational programming.” One new program includes the opportunity to learn about jockey Isaac Murphy — 3-time Derby winner and considered one of the all-time best jockeys — as costumed performers take on Murphy and other horsemen in an interactive, educational experience. Offering so much to learn, experience and inspire, the Derby Museum should be on your list. —LEO

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Isaac Burns Murphy , born in Fayette County, Kentucky, rode in 11 Kentucky Derbies, and is regarded as one of the greatest riders in American Thoroughbred horse racing history. | LIBRARY OF

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CONGRESS.

ONGOING

TeleTales

Over the phone | lfpl.org | Free | Any time If you’ve been missing your friendly, neighborhood library, LFPL can help you recapture the experience with their new TeleTales hotline. Call 916-9909, and you’ll STORY TIME hear the voice of one of the Louisville Free Public Library’s librarians reading a recorded and family-friendly story, poem or joke. New content is added weekly.

—LEO

LEOWEEKLY.COM // FEBRUARY 17, 2021

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MUSIC

SPINSTERS UNION REFOCUSES AMIDST EXTENDED PANDEMIC

By Erica Rucker | erucker@leoweekly.com

WHEN your job is a party, what happens when a pandemic hits and the party is put on hold?

For Louisville DJ collective, The Spinsters Union, the pandemic knocked the wind out of their spinning gigs at parties and bars. In the span of a week, the Spinsters went from booked at residencies and performances to deciding as a collective what the next move should be and trying to figure out if parties were even a possibility.

“We collectively decided back in March and April, and when the protests started, that we should take some space because we felt it was the important thing that needed to be done at the time,” said Spinsters Co-founder and WFMU radio host Kim Sorise. “We all took a step back from the public about the Spinsters so that we could help the community uplift what needed to happen for Breonna and her family.”

“As a collective, we said let’s not be promoting the Spinsters because we need to be using the Spinsters as another way to get out against police brutality and protest and supporting the work that is being done in the city.”

Formed in 2018, The Spinsters Union of Louisville is “a collective of Louisville’s best gender non-conforming and women DJs and producers.” Their mission states that they “are here to claim our space, kick ass, and make every room feel safe and sound perfect.”

Despite the collective taking a break, some Spinsters kept working throughout the pandemic including being on the front lines of local protests, both as activists and spinning at protest and politically-related events.

Spinster DJ Quinnette Connor took the opportunity to join the protests while also working on a livestream via Twitch. For Connor, who is Black, joining the fight for Breonna Taylor wasn’t something that needed deliberation.

“You’re breathing, but you’re not thinking about you breathing,” she said.

“I’ve always advocated for Black rights.

None of this is new to me. It’s not anything that I was newly aware of.”

“The consciousness of how important

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music and DJing is — like you know it is, and you do it because you love it, but to see it in real time, man.”

Connor was called upon during the McGrath Senate race to DJ a political event, and it was one of the first times she questioned whether putting herself in a space was the right move.

“When Amy McGrath was running for Senate, they had all of these people in The West End come to put up signs for this woman,” she said. “These people were asking me to come down and DJ, and I was like, ‘I see what y’all are doing,’ but sometimes your artistry is confronted, like ‘Do I say no because this is exploitative, or do I go because people are going to be there anyway,’ and you’re helping, even though you’re being played, you’re helping. You’re helping the people.”

“I ended up going. I was playing soul music, and I was mad [about feeling exploited]. I was playing Al Green and Sam Cooke. There were people crying.

They had a moment of joy because you’re playing music.”

For Connor, this was worth it. It was an opportunity.

Connor saw the chance to DJ via Twitch as another opportunity to be grasped. Her “Soul Purpose” show which airs on Twitch each Tuesday night at 7 p.m. became an extension of the “Truth Be Told” radio show Connor hosts on Sunday nights through WXLU (93.9) out of Lexington.

“I have a very good friend who is a DJ from New York kinda gave me pointers and said ‘Yeah, you kinda need to get on this.’ And it just kind of grew. Now it’s like an official thing. I’ve done it 30 weeks in a row,” said Connor. “I saw that as an opportunity. It evens the playing field. The internet created the opportunity for everyone to be heard.”

Connor isn’t the only Spinster who is using Twitch as a resource to share their craft. Spinster DJ SCZ also uses the platform.

Another Spinster, FILO (aka Jordan Hauser), played their last event in May of 2020. “A few days later, the first weekend of protests started, and I just dropped everything and refocused,” Hauser said. “I

had to recenter my priorities.”

The Breonna Taylor protests started in Louisville on May 28 after the Courier Journal released phone transcripts from Taylor’s boyfriend’s 911 call.

Hauser heard about the protests through the grapevine and went the first night.

“I just went to kind of support and be there. I didn’t really have a plan.”

“Then I ran into a few people that I’d kind of been acquainted with. I kind of used them as a resource to see where I could be of help.”

Hauser began attending trainings and producing graphics for various organizations related to social justice. The 490 Project is a group that watches the process of the FOP contract in Louisville, advocating for substantive changes and accountability to be added. Hauser became involved with them and has produced graphics for the organization.

While focusing on social activism, Hauser also found their way back to art. “I went to school for art, and I hadn’t really been in tune with my visual art side, and I kind of took the quarantine time to explore that, and that’s kind of the path I’ve been on,” said Hauser, who just moved into a new art space called the Snide Hotel with a couple of friends.

Hauser’s art skills have been part of their activism. Lending embroidery skills and graphic design work to several organizations.

Hauser and Sorise agree that getting back to DJing is on the menu but that being safe is high priority.

“I really enjoy playing rave-type events where you can be in a room with people who are sweaty, and they are touching

Spinster DJ FILO.

you, and you don’t know who it is. I’m so afraid that we won’t ever get back to that kind of experience,” said Hauser.

“Say next week if everybody was cured of COVID, I don’t know if I’d jump back into it. I don’t want to overbook myself.”

Sorise currently prefers to stay away from bar gigs so that other DJs who don’t have full-time jobs can get priority. Sorise is a full-time language arts teacher at Walden School.

“I’m not ready to go DJ in a bar,” she said. “I think about my regular residency at theMerryWeather. MerryWeather has been doing things beautifully so when they said ‘Tell us when you’re ready to come back,’ I said, ‘You know what, I want to come back but not yet, and what I want you to focus on is there are other DJs that you guys have residencies with, and they don’t have steady employment. I do, so bring them back first.’”

COVID numbers are starting to decline, but we’ve got a long way to go before it is safe to sweat and breathe mask-less in a room full of wiggling bodies. Until then, the Spinsters have found ways to focus their energy, and we’ll just have to see what happens next. •

FOOD & DRINK

RECOMMENDED

MAKE SAL’S YOUR GO-TO FOR LENTEN FRIED FISH

By Robin Garr | LouisvilleHotBytes.com I REALIZED the other day that Ash Wednesday and Lent are coming up, so this is the season when Louisville food writers are supposed to talk about fried fish … and all the Friday fish fries at Catholic (and a few Episcopal) churches around town.

Wednesday was also National Pizza Day! This was a challenge. Like just about everyone in Louisville, I love fried fish. But I love pizza too. Could I do both?

Luckily, one of my favorite neighborhood pubs, Sal’s Pizza & Sports Pub in Lyndon, has both good, old-school pizza and one of the best fried-cod sandwiches around.

Before we get to that, though, what’s up with the Lenten fish fries in this pandemic year? Like the rest of the restaurant scene, things look different. “Parishes are having fish fries, but they’re almost all carry-out or order ahead, and in some cases the menu may be more limited,” said Cecelia Price, chief communications officer at the Archdiocese of Louisville.

Despite our inland location, Louisville loves seafood all year ‘round, and that’s

been so for generations, all the way back to the late 1800s, when L&N express trains would rush fresh fish and oysters on ice up from the Gulf to a hungry public. A lot of that hunger was driven by German and Irish Catholic immigrants who chose fish on Fridays, especially during Lent; and the tradition endures to this day.

Several local eateries serve seafood and fish, and many of them feature mild white fish, often cod, fried in a crunchy coating.

It may be served on a bun or bland white bread, but deep Louisville tradition calls for rye bread — perhaps in a nod to the German share of our immigrant heritage.

I’d be hard pressed to name a local favorite, but I keep coming back for the fish sandwich at Sal’s Pizza & Sports Pub. Pizza may be the eatery’s middle name, but that cod sandwich, which they not-so-shyly call “Our Famous Fish,” is as good as I ever ate.

Sal’s fish sandwich is $9.99 with two pieces of Icelandic cod, a bag of potato chips and a pickle; as a platter with cole slaw, hushpuppies and fries. It’s $15.99 with

Sal’s offers its fresh-fried Icelandic cod on your choice of white bread or dark, aromatic rye. | PHOTOS BY ROBIN GARR.

Yes, this really is a mushroom pizza from Sal’s. The ‘shrooms and the spicy tomato sauce are well hidden under a thick, comfy blanket of stretchy mozzarella.

LEOWEEKLY.COM // FEBRUARY 17, 2021

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FOOD & DRINK

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We can p and pu rint blish your bo ok, too!

Sal’s creamy slaw is exceptionally tasty, and the chips that come with the fish are first-rate.

Order by phone or web: 859-520-3757 www.reformationpublishers.com

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LEOWEEKLY.COM // FEBRUARY 17, 2021

white, wheat or rye bread. I recommend the rye.

Unadorned pizzas are $9.99 for a 10-inch pie, $13.99 for the 13-inch model and $17.99 for a hulking 17-incher. Each additional topping from a list of 13 standards is $1.59, $1.99 or $2.59, respectively.

A half-dozen specialty pies range in price, depending on toppings, from $13.99 (for a small margherita pizza or vegetarian garden special) to $25.99 (for a large meat special, BBQ chicken or Sal’s Hot Brown pizza).

Nine hot sandwiches, many of them subs, cover a close range of prices from $7.99 to $9.99. Italian-style entrees include spaghetti with Sal’s family Italian marinara ($8.99), spaghetti with meatballs ($9.99) and chicken parmigiana ($8.99).

Assorted appetizers, excellent bar-food bites, include a variety of bread sticks ($7.99-$9.99), jalapeño cheese balls ($7.99) and Sal’s popular boneless wings ($8.99), as well as a couple of salads.

There’s a kids menu, a $30 pizza for families that will feed 8-10 and, of course, Sal’s cozy neighborhood bar stocked with liquor, beer and wine.

I called in our order and picked up dinner just after Sal’s 3 p.m. weekday opening time. I’m pleased to note that a thoughtful notch in the paper bag to let out steam might have otherwise turned that crisp breading mushy.

The fried fish sandwich ($9.99) was moist and flaky with steam still rising from the fish after the trip home. It came with two large slices of dark rye and two boneless cod fillets even bigger than the bread. The fish

was coated with a crisp, golden cornmeal crust that was a bit on the salty side but not enough to complain about. The cod was pure, flaky and delicious, mild as cod should be with a good, clean fish flavor. The rye was thick-sliced, dark brown and seedless, with just a touch of sweetness and that good, robust rye flavor that goes so well with fish.

After all that talk about fish, I hate to give the pizza short shrift. It’s a good, simple pie, nothing artisanal or elevated about it, just a good, old-school Louisville thin-crust pizza that shows its family-Italian roots. I added mushrooms to a 10-inch pizza ($9.99 plus $1.59 for the topping). The crust was thin and cracker-crisp, adding a light char to its wheaty goodness from the pizza oven. The tomato sauce was lightly applied, as it should be, rough-textured with a deep tomato flavor and just enough peppery spice to give it a little kick. The mushroom bits were tiny and tender, completely covered by a thick blanket of stretchy mozzarella.

A side order of Sal’s slaw ($1.99) was well-made and appetizing: Chopped crisp cabbage with bits of carrot julienne and green onion tossed in a thick, creamy slaw dressing.

A filling meal with plenty of leftovers came to a very reasonable $24.97, plus a $7 tip. •

SAL’S PIZZA & SPORTS PUB 812 Lyndon Lane 365-4700 salspizzalouisville.com

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | ART

15TH A N NUAL THOM AS MERTON BLACK HISTORY MON TH LECTURE

THE FINE ART OF FINANCING

“Lead Me, Guide Me”: The Gift of Black Catholics to the Universal Church

GRANTS, RESIDENCIES AND OTHER FUNDING FOR ARTISTS

By Melissa Chipman | leo@leoweekly.com This is our monthly list of arts-funding opportunities. Look back at our past lists on leoweekly.com for opportunities that still have open deadlines.

RESIDENCIES

Blackacre State Nature Preserve & Historic Homestead holds a writers’ residency situated within nearly 300-acres of trees and fields of prairie grass located in eastern Jefferson County. Each year, six writers are chosen for a one week (sometimes more) flexible residency, including a stipend of $200 for travel and access to a car. Applications are accepted from any author of poetry, plays, screenplays, fiction or creative nonfiction. Residents are required to give at least one public presentation and/or attend a “Meet and Greet” function. The writer will have access to Wi-Fi, a furnished large living room, bedroom, kitchen, central air and heat, plus a washer and dryer. Applications are $20 and are open until June 14.

For more information: blackacreconservancy.org/writer-in-residence/ As a former fellowship recipient from The Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, I can vouch for the respite provided from a stay at this historic retreat in this vibrant and beautiful little town. Are you a parent juggling your writing — fiction or nonfiction, poetry or prose, scripts or screenplays — with childcare? The My Time fellowship awards a free week of stay (including weekday dinners and additional food for lunches and weekends) and a $400 stipend for childcare and/or travel to a parent who needs a break to work on their craft. Each writers’ suite has a bedroom, private bathroom, separate writing space and Wi-Fi. The fellowship is funded by Sustainable Arts Foundation, and the deadline is March 15. For more information, visit: writerscolony.org/fellowships.

GRANTS

by Christopher Pramuk

Innovate Grant awards two $550 grants each quarter, to one visual artist and one photographer. In addition to receiving a grant award, recipients’ work will be featured on the Innovate Grant website. All that is required for application is: name, email, grant category, three to five images of your work and an application fee of $25. The deadline for the winter cycle is March 18. For more information, visit: innovateartistgrants.org/ The Provincetown Art Association and Museum in Provincetown, Massachusetts awards the annual Lillian Orlowsky and William Freed Grant. It is awarded to under-recognized American painters over the age of 45 who demonstrate financial need. The mission of this grant is to promote public awareness of and a commitment to American art and to encourage interest in artists who lack adequate recognition. The award is for painters only and excludes digital artists. Grants will be awarded in amounts from $5,000$30,000 and will be judged anonymously.

For more information, visit: paam.org/ education/the-lillian-orlowsky-and-william-freed-grant/

February 21, 2021 • 3 p.m.

Free Virtual Event • Register at: http://bit.ly/Merton15register D r. Ch r istopher P ra mu k is Reg is University Chair of Ignatian Thought and Imagination, and an Associate Professor of Theology. He is the author of six books, including two award-winning studies of Thomas Merton, as well as Hope Sings, So Beautiful: Graced Encounters Across the Color Line, a meditation on race relations in society and church. Chris’s latest book, The Artist Alive: Explorations in Music, Art, and Theology, draws from his many years of using music, poetry, and the arts in the classroom. Chris lectures widely on topics such as racial justice, Ignatian spirituality, and the witness of Thomas Merton.

Learn more: 502.272.8177 / 8187 www.merton.org

LISTEN NOW

EMERGENCY FUNDING

The Fund for the Arts is providing COVID-19 Emergency Support Grants for performing artists — across all performing arts disciplines — who are struggling to have their basic needs (shelter, food, medical) met due to loss of artistic income from the pandemic. These funds are available to artists living in the Greater Louisville area including Bullitt, Jefferson, Oldham, Shelby and Spencer counties in Kentucky and Clark, Floyd and Harrison counties in Indiana. Applicants must be a professional, working performing artist. Application deadline is rolling. Grantees may request up to $500.

For more information, visit: fundforthearts.org/covid-19-emergency-supportgrants-for-individual-artists/ •

PODCASTS FOR EVERYONE Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or find all of our podcasts on the LPM app.

Innovate Grant is now accepting submissions for the winter 2021 cycle.

LEOWEEKLY.COM // FEBRUARY 17, 2021

21

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | MUSIC

JAZZ MUSICIANS DEVELOP ONLINE EDUCATIONAL CURRICULUM

By Marty Rosen | leo@leoweekly.com

IN 1964, when a saxophonist named Jerry Coker published a slender self-instruction book called “Improvising Jazz,” the reaction in some quarters was hostile.

Rudi Blesh, one of the most influential jazz critics and historians of the time, wrote, “The usefulness, or the advisability even, of this book may be seriously questioned. The project of jazz pedagogy smells faintly but unmistakably of the smug arrogance of the current academic belief that aesthetic creativity can be taught. This is rubbish, as any real artist knows.”

It was a prevalent romantic dogma that jazz could not be “taught.” And, for the most part, nobody was trying to. In 1964, only a single American university — the University of North Texas — offered degrees in jazz.

Coker’s book has never gone out of print.

And, for generations of aspiring musicians, it represented a radical idea: that you could study jazz anywhere.

That’s the very idea that animates Jason Lindsey, who has recently launched a jazz education website called, appropriately enough, Jazz Anywhere.

Lindsey is a web developer (DreamchaserDesign.com) who is deeply connected to the world of jazz pedagogy. As a teen, he took a job with Jamey Aebersold, whose library of instructional jazz recordings is an influential force around the world.

In addition to furnishing tech support and consultation to Aebersold, for 20 years he’s been the administrator of Aebersold’s annual summer jazz workshops, sprawling affairs that bring students from all over the world to work with renowned players and teachers in Louisville, where the workshops have long been hosted by the UofL School of Music Jamey Aebersold Jazz Studies Program, which is led directed by saxophonist Mike Tracy.

In a phone interview, Lindsey said that in 2017 he had an insight. For years he’d been observing the urgency, the excitement and the sense of community forged during the summer camps. He was immersed in the technical innovations around audio, video and wireless communication. And though he wasn’t sure how it might all come together, he purchased the web domain jazzanywhere.com.

It wasn’t on Lindsey’s “front burner,” he said.

And then came the pandemic. And the cancellation of the jazz workshops.

And then came a conversation with Tracy, who was thinking of offering a few online Zoom classes just as a stopgap summer

22

LEOWEEKLY.COM // FEBRUARY 17, 2021

offering.

And gradually an idea took shape: instead of just a few one-off sessions, why not build out a fully-functional educational platform, robust and flexible enough to serve the musical and pedagogical needs of both jazz instructors and students, while building in ways to give students the individual feedback and sense of community that are so prominent during the face-to-face summer workshops?

That is what jazzanywhere.com has rapidly become. A few months ago, I observed an early offering: a saxophone master class taught by Tracy. The students on the Zoom screen were dispersed across the continent, instruments at their sides. Earlier, they had sent Tracy recordings of solos they’d played over backing tracks. And the discussion after recording was animated and engaged. A two-minute solo stimulated not just technical issues, but reflections on taste and aesthetics, specific suggestions and observations. Although it was a “master” class, everyone in the session took part — and all this with instruments in hand.

In some ways, we’re living in a golden age of online musical instruction. Via YouTube, you can find lessons on just about any subject.

But the core essence of musical instruction is getting feedback from an expert teacher who listens and gives feedback, and that’s a rare, and generally expensive commodity.

Jazz Anywhere classes typically run eight weeks and cost $150. Some are fully live, some are a mix of live and/or recorded instruction. All classes are archived for attendees to view at any time, and into the future.

This week a slate of more than a dozen courses are open for registration. Students can register late, without missing anything. And this is a small enterprise, not a large bureaucracy.

Lindsey says that messages left on the websites contact link go directly to him. So if you have a question, send it on.

Offerings are available for interests broad and specific. There are five sessions on Latin jazz, ranging from introductory concepts to fullblown studies of Brazilian drumming. There are sessions on jazz composition, electronic media, master classes for sax and piano and varied approaches to harmony and improvisation.

There is also Tracy’s “Listening to Jazz” course, which sounds like an old-fashioned listening party where great music is played — and then discussed in the detail by a critical ear.

See the full list of offerings at jazzanywhere. com. •

NEWS & ANALYSIS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6

protesters and revelations that Kentucky State Police training materials contained quotes from Adolf Hitler have also impacted how she thinks about reform.

Sen. Carroll, the sponsor of SB 80, seems to have been influenced by this year’s protests against police brutality, too. He did not respond to a request to comment from LEO, but he did speak at a committee hearing about his bill.

“You all know over the past year it seems law enforcement in the United States has been under attack like never before in the history of our country,” said Carroll. “These attacks have been based on the action of a few officers.”

This philosophy, that police reform is a matter of rooting out the “bad apples,” is a popular one. But, Kulkarni said that this approach doesn’t get to the root of the problem.

“There is something very fundamentally wrong with the way we police our communities,” said Kulkarni, “and that is going to require reaching into the why we have such disparate treatment of Black and brown communities.”

Even with organizations and legislators publicly saying they’re supportive of reforms, though, some bills are having trouble getting anywhere.

THE BILLS AND THEIR PROGRESS

This summer, Sen. Stivers started drafting a bill to regulate no-knock warrants. He said he hoped that it would be a priority for the General Assembly.

But, Stivers has not publicly addressed the bill since the session began. He also did not respond to a request for comment from LEO. Rep. Scott, meanwhile, pre-filed Breonna’s Law before the session started.

In addition to banning no-knock warrants entirely, her bill would require law enforcement agencies to release body camera footage to the public in the event of a misconduct complaint (and no privacy concerns) and require drug and alcohol testing for officers involved in a “deadly incident.”

Scott told LEO she was too busy to be interviewed for this article and referred comment to her co-sponsors, Rep. Kulkarni and Rep. Lisa Willner.

Kate Miller, the advocacy director for the ACLU of Kentucky, which has endorsed Breonna’s Law said that, typically, bills that have Republican sponsors are more likely to pass.

Breonna’s Law only has Democrat sponsors and has yet to be assigned to a

committee.

Such is the case for additional bills that Scott, Kulkarni and other House Democrats are co-sponsoring, including a “demilitarization bill,” HB 244, that would ban police departments from receiving surplus military equipment, require de-escalation training, limit the use of crowd-control weaponry at protests and ban a tactic called kettling, which involves boxing protesters in. Another bill, HB 245, would reinforce existing law that allows the public to record police officers.

The police reform bills that are making progress are bipartisan. SB 80 is sponsored

by Republicans and Sen. David Yates, a Louisville Democrat. And, SB 52, the bill outlawing officers from sexual activities with those in custody, is sponsored by Democrats with the exception of Sen. Westerfield. (It also mirrors a bill sponsored in the House by Reps. Scott and Kulkarni.)

SB 80 would expand the kinds of offenses that a Kentucky police officer could be decertified for, adding excessive or deadly force; interference in the fair administration of justice; and engagement in a sexual relationship with a victim, witness, defendant or informant in a criminal investigation. Officers would no longer be allowed to resign or retire before internal investigations are complete, which can be done currently to avoid decertification.

Finally, the bill would require officers to intervene if a colleague was using excessive or deadly force.

But, the legislative session is not over, and neither are hopes for more progress on police reform bills.

The deadline to file legislation for this session has been extended to Feb. 23. Cain said he was told by the Kentucky Sheriffs’ Association’s legislative committee that Stivers’ no-knock legislation might still be introduced.

Kulkarni, too, said she is weighing the possibility of introducing another reform bill she thinks might have bipartisan support: Legislation that would provide funding and consistent policies for police body cams across the state.

To ensure holistic reform, Kulkarni said she hopes to see work on police reform continue after the session ends — in the interim, before the next convening of the General Assembly.

“It’s the time when you’re not voting on bills but you can have discussions and you can have real, in-depth analysis of what bills could be introduced… what are the real issues,” she said. •

A.

CATEGORIES:

Literary Literary Lite WRITING: (1) Short Fiction (up to 1,000 words) (2) Poetry (up to 48 lines) CARTOON: (3) A single-page cartoon. Can be either a single or multiple panel cartoon.

PHOTOGRAPHY: (4) Color Photography — a single photo (5) Black-And-White Photography — a single photo

LEO LEO LE On March 17, 2021, we’re turning LEO over to you, all of our creative readers.

B.

Do not include your name or other personal identification in the file name or meta-data.

Submission Fee: Free!

Literary Literary Liter Literary LEO is accepting submissions at leoweekly.com from Monday, Jan. 4 at noon until Monday, Feb. 8 at noon.

Monday, Feb. 22 at noon.

So get to writing, shooting and drawing!

THE RULES (please read carefully):

LEO LEO LE

C.

PHOTOS: Files must be submitted as a .JPG and in a resolution of at least 200 dpi, with 300 dpi preferred.

Picture your picture on the cover of LEO.

SHORT STORIES AND POEMS: Text must be submitted in one of these formats: Word (.DOC or .DOCX) or Rich Text (.RTF). For all entries, the title on the document must match the file name. For instance, if the poem is called “Roses,” then the file name will be “Roses.” If the piece does not have a title, then use “untitled” in the file name and on the document.

Imagine your fiction, poetry or cartoon published in our pages.

CARTOONS: Must be submitted as a .JPG and in a resolution of at least 200 dpi, with 300 dpi preferred. The title on the document must match the file name.

Literary

Literary

Lite

LEO LEO LE Yep, here it is — the call for the 2021 Literary LEO, our annual writing and photography contest.

Winners will be published in the Literary LEO issue.

D.

You may submit one entry in a single category or in all of them. Do not include your name or any personal identification on your submissions. Stories, poems or photos with names or personal identification will be disqualified.

By submitting material, authors grant LEO one-time print publishing rights, including permission to publish material on LEO’s website. LEO employees and regular freelancers are not eligible. Winners will be published in the March 17, 2021 issue of LEO Weekly

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

Go to leoweekly.com to find the submission form. The link will also be pinned to the top of our Facebook and Twitter pages.

LEOWEEKLY.COM // FEBRUARY 17, 2021

23

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | ART

FORMER SPEED MUSEUM EXEC IN A RACIST PICKLE AT NEWFIELDS IN INDIANAPOLIS

By Erica Rucker | leo@leoweekly.com WHEN the Speed Art Museum decided to undertake a major renovation and expansion, Charles Venable was at the helm. Before the completion of that project, in 2012, Venable left Louisville for Indianapolis Museum of Art-Newfields. Now IMA, which is officially known as Newfields, is embroiled in a controversy over a racist job listing.

During a call on Saturday with The Indianapolis Star, Venable, who is the CEO of Newfields, said that the use of the words “traditional, core, white art audience” in a job description for a new director was intentional. Listed under “other responsibilities,” the job description read: “... maximize unique programmatic opportunities, working closely with the curatorial, education and public programs divisions to animate the permanent collection galleries in innovative ways that attract a broader and more diverse audience while maintaining the Museum’s traditional, core, white art audience.”

In the conversation with the Star, Venable admitted that he understood how the statement could be misconstrued.

“I think the fact you can read that one sentence and now reading it as a single sentence or a clause, I certainly can understand and regret that it could be taken that way. It certainly was not the intent at all,” Venable said.

Herein lies the issue: Venable and the decision-makers at Newfields didn’t want the “traditional, core, white art audience” to feel they would be abandoned as the museum also claimed to be seeking diversity in the same job listing. You can’t have it both ways.

Either museums (of all stripes) want to be halls of knowledge or repositories of beauty, truly reflecting the societies in which they are situated, or they want to preserve a fiction that coddles white supremacy.

As a former employee of Newfields, Kelli Morgan told the Star, “The entire job description is chock full of diversity language, but it’s completely disconnected from what that language actually means because if you were invested, if you care, right, if you were knowledgeable about all this DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] language that you’ve got up and through this job description, that sentence would have never been there.”

What need is there to indulge white anxi-

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LEOWEEKLY.COM // FEBRUARY 17, 2021

eties about diversity?

Museums, like many other colonized institutions and systems, have made white people believe they are the only people that matter. They’ve tended to a fiction for so long that too many white people still truly think, it is their gaze, their witness to these pieces of art or these historical records, that makes them important or relevant and that allowing alternative perspectives and imagery somehow cheapens this.

We’re also talking about dollars, here. A particular brand of white dollars feeds museums like Newfields, and they don’t want to risk upsetting the money bags.

But, we’re in a conundrum in America.

We have claimed to want equity, have made steps toward an America for everyone and yet, an issue like Newfields pops up, and we’re back at square one because we realize that the idea of equity hasn’t actually taken root.

We’ve potted a plant by simply sitting it on the soil, exposed roots and all. It’s true that some plants will root themselves and others will die. Which kind of plant is this?

While Venable and Newfields are concerned with protecting the “traditional, core, white art audience,” one of the criticisms that has been levied in their direction claims that Venable has turned “a grand encyclopedic museum into a cheap Midwestern boardwalk.” This excerpt, from Kriston Capps’ section of a 2017 Bloomberg article, “Your Entire City is an Instagram Playground Now” claims that Venable has gone for cheap tricks to keep the museum viable instead of purchasing art or funding scholarship.

This criticism seems fair, though there is something unique and wonderful about a Midwestern boardwalk. The truth is many museums have opted for selfie-worthy props instead of improving and adding diversity to their walls, and funding a diverse set of scholars who could shift the narrative away from the thinking that only white audiences are the core of a museum’s patronage, improving the ability for museums to truly reach diverse audiences. Now, Venable is stuck between his cheap Midwestern Boardwalk and his “traditional, core, white art audience.” Neither will improve Newfields and neither will sustain it.

A few years back, LEO ran “Open-

ing galleries and museums to race and inclusion,” a story about museums in Louisville trying to be better.

Louisville museums have been actively working to change the idea that museums are only for a white audience.

KMAC states in their mission that they are “connecting people to art and creative practice.”

Curatorial Director Joey Yates said that “KMAC is committed to the core value of providing art experiences that are accessible to everyone. We are an inclusive space, continually working to provide a sense of belonging and purpose to all who come Dr. Charles L. Venable, CEO at Newfields in Indianapolis in contact with the museum. Our exhibitions and programs over work by the commitments laid out in our the years are evidence of this dedication and first annual Racial Equity Report, including inclusiveness.” ongoing antiracism/bias trainings for our One of their current shows, “Land Is: staff, our Board of Trustees, our Board of Parks, Cultures, Stories,” was created and Governors, and docents,” he continued. curated by Black textile artist Ramona This is a positive change and the report Dallum Lindsey. The project includes work does show incremental improvements and

by Black photographers looking at ideas sur- yet, it’s still disappointing that we’re only rounding public lands. now seeing these changes. Again, are we Like Newfields, the Speed Art Museum is planting the roots or just sitting a plant on also seeking a new director. Stephen Reily, top of dirt? the departing director had this to say when Changing museums (read: changing asked about Venable and Newfields, “I can’t America) is about changing the very funcsay anything specific about the Newfields tions of systems that were created without situation but since both they and the Speed consideration of anyone other than white are going through searches for museum individuals. These systems too often act directors, I can share that the Speed’s search in ways that exclude and actively punish committee went through implicit bias trainthose of color. Newfields said the quiet part ing itself and has consulted with a national loud and now Pandora’s box is open. It is organization that advances leaders of color not an issue that will disappear. Change in the cultural field to ensure that our search has to happen. As of Tuesday, nearly 1500 aligns — like all of our work — with our signatures have been collected on a petimission to ‘invite everyone.’” tion asking for culpability from Newfields “At the Speed, we continue to guide our including the removal of Venable. •

LEOWEEKLY.COM // FEBRUARY 17, 2021

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77 Female goat 78 Gloomy, weather-wise 79 Place to surf 80 Haydn’s ‘‘The Creation’’ and others 81 Step on a ladder 82 The Berenstain Bears live in one 87 ‘‘A merry old soul,’’ in a nursery rhyme 89 Crack up, in textspeak 90 Bit of kindling 92 U.S. counterpart to Britain’s MI6 93 ____-Norman French 95 Common call on a 3rd-and-1 96 Not black-and-white 98 Sticker worn in November 99 How some practical jokes go

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I R I S H L I N E N

BY JIM HILGER / EDITED BY WILL SHORTZ

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The New York Times Magazine Crossword

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SAVAGE LOVE

By Dan Savage | mail@savagelove.net @fakedansavage

PANDEMIC PRESSURES

Q: I'm a gay guy living in New York in his late twenties. My boyfriend has really been emotionally impacted by the pandemic having been a frontline worker. I think he is suffering from some mild depression or at the very least some intense anxiety so I just want to preface this by saying I completely sympathize with what he's going through. Before the pandemic we had a really good sex life, but lately he hasn't been interested in sex at all besides a few assisted masturbation sessions. While I know that these aren't usual times, I can't help feeling rejected. Normally, I would suggest opening up the relationship, for the sake of both myself and him, and I think that he might benefit from having sex with some guys where there isn't an emotional investment. Of course, right now that isn't an option. I want to be there for him and we otherwise have a solid relationship, but this issue has been making me feel hurt. I've encouraged him to masturbate without me but I do wish he could include me more in his sexual life. Do you have any other thoughts or advice?

Thanks For Reading A: As much as I hate to give you an unsatisfactory answer—you aren’t satisfied with what you’re getting at home and you’re not going to be satisfied with what you get from me either—the only way to find out whether his loss of libido is entirely pandemic-related, TFR, is to wait out of the pandemic and see if your sexual connection doesn’t rebound and/or if opening up the relationship is the right move for you guys as a couple. But if you suspect the collapse of your boyfriend’s libido has more to do with what he’s witnessed and endured as a front-line worker than it has to do with you or your relationship, TFR, therapy will do him more good than sleeping with other guys or masturbating without you. Urge him to do that instead.

Q: My dad is dying. He had a stroke two days ago and is in a coma with no brain function.

My aunt (his sister) is trying to make me feel guilty for not traveling to see him. Even though I'm pregnant and high risk. I would have to take an airplane across the country and multiple public buses to see him. I would have to risk my baby's life to say goodbye to a man I love with all my heart. She insists that if I don’t, I didn’t love my dad. I'm heartbroken. I keep calling his hospice and they set the phone next to his head so I can talk at him.

He was so excited about my pregnancy and I know he would not want me to risk it. But now not only am I grieving my father, I feel

guilty and selfish. Am I right to be angry? My aunt's brother is dying. She’s sad. Everyone is sad. But this is not the first time she has used guilt to try and control others in moments of trauma.

Crying On My Abdomen A: There has to be someone in your life who would be willing to step in and tell your aunt to go fuck herself. If there isn’t, COMA, send me your aunt’s phone and I’ll do it.

P.S. I’m so sorry about your dad—who is already gone—and I’m sorry your kid won’t get to meet their grandfather. And you have every right to be furious with your aunt for giving you grief when you have all the grief you can handle right now. Don’t get on that plane. And if your aunt never speaks to you again, COMA, just think of all the guilt trips she won’t be able to drag along on in the future.

Q: I am a 26-year-old heterosexual girl. After four years with my boyfriend (and with the pandemic on top of it), we started to experience sex issues. It is mainly from my side, I (almost) never get satisfaction out of sex.

I’m always enthusiastic about having sex but I don’t feel “involved” and I could literally be solving math problems in my head while we have sex. As the situation is frustrating, I talked to him and suggested that more foreplay could help me stay engaged and enjoy the sex. He was puzzled by my “need for foreplay” to reach orgasm but committed to trying. However, after minimal initial effort, he stopped trying and the limited foreplay ceased. He probably got frustrated by the amount of time I require to “warm up” and his efforts dried up and he began rebuffing me whenever I attempted to initiate sex. Recently after he turned my sexual advances down yet again, I decided to masturbate. The result was him being upset and taking offense at my “unpleasant behavior.” Should I feel guilty about masturbating when he turns me down? I am hurt and I very frustrated by this situation.

Masturbation Alone Turns Harsh A: Allow me to decipher the message your pussy is desperately trying to send you, MATH, as you lay there doing math problems while your boyfriend uses treats your body like it’s a Fleshlight: “Wouldn’t you rather masturbate alone and in peace than ever have to fuck this asshole again?” Everyone requires a little foreplay, women require more than men do, it takes women longer to get off than it takes

men (five minutes on average for men, thirteen minutes on average for women), and very few women can climax from vaginal intercourse alone. Any straight guy who isn’t willing to do the work—provide the necessary foreplay and come through with the non-PIV stimulation or concurrent-with-PIV stimulation required to get a woman off—doesn’t deserve to have a girlfriend. DTMFA. Q: I’m a 53-year-old gay man and I’ve never been hornier in my life. I really need to guzzle about a quart of jizz right now. I haven’t been dating anyone and the COVID isolation has intensified my loneliness but it’s the lack of D that’s driving me to distraction. The last time I sucked a dick was the afternoon Los Angeles began its first shutdown. Here’s the thing. I just had the first dose of the vaccine and the second is scheduled in a couple weeks. Is it safe to suck someone’s dick who has also had the vaccine? Everything I found on google only talks about how the vaccine may affect pregnant women. What about us cum whores?

Got the Fever for the Flavor A: Where have you been? I predicted at the beginning of the pandemic—based on what we little we knew about transmission at the time—that we were entering a new golden age of glory holes. Two months later the New York City Health department was recommending “barriers, like walls, that allow sexual contact while preventing close face-to-face contact,” aka glory holes—and that was the harmreduction advice given by health professionals long before vaccines became available. Seeing as you’re vaccinated, your risks are going to be lower. But to play it safe: build your own glory hole, invite a guy over, tell him to keep his mask on, and avoid close face-to-face by staying on your knees on the other side of that barrier.

I wanted to second something you wrote about kinks last week. You said—I’m paraphrasing here—that kinks are hard-wired but some people do manage to acquire them. My husband is into rope bondage. I gave it a try a couple of times at the very start of our relationship and for whatever reason being tied up didn’t work for me. We had great vanilla sex and he had a small stable of bondage boys on the side. A few months after the lockdowns began he started to worry about getting rusty. I offered to let him practice on me. I don’t know what changed, Dan, but when he tied me up for the first time in a decade, I was so turned on! At first I thought it was the pot edible but we’ve done it a bunch of times since, times when I wasn’t high, and I’ve enjoyed it just as much or more. Now I’m the one pestering him to go get the ropes. I somehow acquired his kink and he couldn’t be happier!

Restrictions Of Pandemic Enables Development P.S. I would’ve called in to share our “pandemic sex success story” for your podcast but my mom and both sisters all listen to the show and they really don’t need to know.

Thanks for sharing, ROPED! mail@savagelove.net Follow Dan on Twitter @FakeDanSavage. www.savagelovecast.com

CLASSIFIED LISTINGS EMPLOYMENT Yanfeng US Automotive Interior Systems I LLC (YFAI): Louisville, KY: Quality Engineer.

Responsible for providing technical knowledge of customer requirements, specs & needs for production and launch activities. Need M.S. in Industrial or Manufacturing and Systems Engineering + 1 yr. of exp. in job offered.

Need auth. to work indef. in the U.S. Resumes to: YFAI, Attn: C. Reichart, 41935 West 12 Mile Rd., Novi, MI 48377.

LEGAL Rayban Sunglasses found on January 29th on Cherokee Loop by Behringer Hill/Overlook Shelter. Sorry for delay! Must identify frames to claim. Contact jacktho@twc.com.

Kavanaugh’s Paint & Body Co. Inc., Louisville, KY 40213. 502-4597302. Is seeking to obtain a clear title to a 2003 Jaguar S-Type Vin#SAJEA01T43FM92904. Owner Norman Lee 818 Muhammad Ali Blvd Louisville, KY 40204. You have 21 days from the first date of this legal notice to notify me and satisfy your debt in full.

Notice is hereby given by Riverport Auto Salvage 8000 Cane Run RD, Louisville, Ky 40258 (502)-937-9806. Owner has 14 days to respond in writing to obtain title to the following: 1986 Chev P30 VIN-1GBJP37W9G3306106.

Owned by John Fleming & Rhonda Fleming 301 Sarah Ln, 23692. Du Quoin, IL 62832 Lien holder Du Quoin State Bank P.O.Box 468, Du Quoin, IL 62832.

MULTIPLE FACILITIES – MULTIPLE UNITS

Extra Space Storage will hold a public auction at the location indicated: Facility 1: 5807 Bardstown Road, Louisville, KY 40291: February 24, 2021 – 1PM Units: B005, D027 Facility 2: 6708 Preston Highway, Louisville, KY 40219: February 24, 2021 – 1PM Units: 238, 547, 709 Facility 3 (ANNEX): 4010 Oaklawn Drive, Louisville, KY 40219: February 24, 2021 – 1PM Units: 9064, 9069, 9108, 9167, 9287 Facility 4: 5420 Valley Station Rd, Louisville, KY 40272: February 24, 2021 – 1PM Units: 169, 175, 200, 227, 260, 358, 528, 640, 722, 760 Facility 5: 8002 Warwick Ave, Louisville, KY 40222: February 24, 2021 – 1PM Units: 345, 819 Facility 6: 4605 Wattbourne Ln, Louisville KY 40299: February 24, 2021 – 1PM Units: 142, 260 Facility 7: 11440 Blankenbaker Access Dr, Louisville, KY 40299: February 24, 2021 – 1PM Units: 238 Facility 8: 6456 Outer Loop, Louisville, KY 40228: February 24, 2021 – 1PM Units: 628, 715, 3001, 6014 Facility 9: 3415 Bardstown Rd., Louisville, KY 40202: February 24, 2021 – 1PM Units: 1028, 1038, 1055, 2009, 2027, 5043, 5076, 6114, 6154 Facility 10: 2801 N Hurstbourne Pkwy, Louisville, KY 40228: February 24, 2021 – 1PM Units: 1146, 2126, 3115 The auction will be listed and advertised on www.storagetreasures.com.

Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.

LEOWEEKLY.COM // FEBRUARY 17, 2021

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GIVE THE GIFT OF MUSIC Innovative Concerts, Interviews and Concert Talks with Teddy Abrams Ensemble performances by the Louisville Orchestra Musicians Solo performances by guest artists, and more!

Watch on your own schedule, or see it live online

75 FOR ON

Teddy Abrams, conductor/piano Sarah Jarosz, guest artist Bob Bernhardt, conductor Byron Stripling, trumpet

The Four Seasons: 19 DEC Classical Pairing: John Adams + WA Mozart 13 FEB Homecomings 06 MAR Abrams Plays Ravel 27 MAR Wailing Trumpets: Ragtime + Jazz 10 APR

GO TO LOUISVILLEORCHESTRA.ORG TO GIVE THE GIFT OF MUSIC WITH THE LOVE SPRING SERIES! 28

LEOWEEKLY.COM // FEBRUARY 17, 2021

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