The Contributor: April 28, 2021 by the-contributor-live

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Volu m e 1 5

| Number 9 | April 28-May 12, 2021

IN THE ISSUE

Contributor Board

Tom Wills, Chair Cathy Jennings, Bruce Doeg, Demetria Kalodimos, Ann Bourland, Kerry Graham, Peter Macdonald, Amber DuVentre, Jerome Moore, Erik Flynn

LOCALES - POLÍTICA - INMIGRACIÓN - TRABAJOS - SALUD - ESPECTÁCULOS - DEPORTES Y MÁS...

Abril

L a N ticia

Año 19 - No. 328

“DONDE OCURREN LOS HECHOS QUE IMPORTAN, SIEMPRE PRIMERO... ANTES”

GRATIS

2021

OPINIÓN: “No a los pasaportes de salud”

Imagínese la sorpresa de los diplomáticos estadounidenses que aterrizaron en China y fueron sometidos a pruebas de hisopado anal para detectar Covid19. El gobierno chino se disculpó afirmando que los Por Dr. Rolando diplomáticos estaToyos, MD ban exentos de esa Contribuidor prueba específica. Pero también afirmaron que la prueba de frotis anal es más precisa y para garantizar la seguridad de sus ciudadanos, los visitantes podrían ser sometidos a esta prueba en el futuro. Seguramente se esté diciendo a sí mismo en este momento que no tiene planes de viajar a China. Bueno, estos diplomáticos no sabían que esta prueba se usaría para ingresar al país. Olvídese de China, ¿y si esto le sucediera en las vacaciones de sus sueños en París? Imagine, ya ha gastado el dinero, se ha tomado un tiempo libre y acaba de aterrizar. No sabía que tendría que hacer ciertas pruebas, pero al igual que los diplomáticos, simplemente levantas las manos y dices, ya estoy aquí. Los científicos dicen que esta es la ma-nera de mantenernos todos a salvo, así que te sometes a la prueba y sigues tu viaje con un extraño recuerdo de París: C’est la vie.

Vendor Spotlight

In Memorium: Joseph Davis

“I didn’t know how to communicate... It’s helped me a lot to stand up for myself, stop letting people run over me, use me.”

Joseph had large, serious eyes that always kept me on my toes. Hanging out in the office... he knew how to cut straight to the point.”

www.hispanicpaper.com

Los proponentes de los Pasaportes de Salud afirmarán que para no tener estos malentendidos en el aeropuerto se puede obtener un Pasaporte de Salud que certificará que se ha vacunado y está “Libre de Covid”. La dosis se administra para que su propio cuerpo pueda producir anticuerpos neutralizantes contra el virus. La ciencia muestra que la reacción a la vacuna muestra va-riabilidad y no significa que esté libre de Covid o que

Foto: Yuri Cunza

Dr. Toyos: Health Passports for the vaccinated will not protect a nation from Covid-19.

no lo vaya a contraer. En el “Journal of the American Medical Association” pu-blicado este año, La concentración de anticuerpos de unión y neutra-lización después de una dosis única de vacuna en trabajadores de la salud previamente infectados con SARS-CoV-2, los pacientes que fueron previamente infectados con Covid antes de la vacuna mostraron concentración de anticuerpos más altos que pacientes que no estaban infectados. Un artículo en el New England Journal of Medicine NEJM, SARS-CoV-2 Infección despues de la vacunacion de trabajadores de la salud en California, demostró que aún podría infectarse con Covid incluso después de la vacunación. Incluso si ha recibido la vacuna, ¿cuánto duran los anticuerpos contra el virus? En otro artículo de NEJM, Durabilidad de Respuesta de Vacunación Despues de SARS-CoV-2 mRNA 1273, mostró que los anticuerpos neutralizantes disminuyen con el tiempo. Utilizar la vacunación como base para un pasaporte de salud no logrará el resultado de proteger a una nación del Covid-19.

El deseo de los defensores del pasaporte de salud es crear seguridad en los viajes. Los países también están preocupados por la carga financiera y de recursos de cuidar a un turista enfermo. Un plan de prueba mejor, pero no completo, sería aumentar las pruebas. Tenemos una prueba rápida de Covid-19 que podría detectar a algunas personas infectadas antes de que viajen. La prueba tiene algunos falsos negativos y es posible que no detecte todas las variantes del virus. Pero la prueba podría detectar y evitar que algunos pacientes infectados suban a un avión. En un artículo publicado en la revista Nature, los tratamientos con anticuerpos contra Covid se muestran prometedores para prevenir enfermedades graves y demostraron que tener anticuerpos puede prevenir hospitalizaciones y la muerte. Si un país está preocupado por la carga de salud de un viajero, podría requerir una prueba de anti-cuerpos antes de volar. Estas pruebas tienen más sentido que una Pasaporte Sanitario para vacunados.

Nashville, Tennessee

La Noticia + The Contributor

Se nos ha dicho desde el comienzo de la pandemia que sigamos la ciencia. No existe una base científica para un Pasaporte Sanitario. Podemos utilizar nuestra tecnología avanzada para hacer que los viajes internacionales sean más seguros, con suerte, sin llegar a extremos incómodos y embarazosos. A todos nos gustaría volver a la normalidad, pero no debemos tomar decisiones de política pública irracionales que tengan implicaciones duraderas.

Para obtener más información, puede obtener mi libro, Optimum Health in the Pandemic Age. Todos los ingresos se destinan a la atención médica para los desatendidos.

1. Mantenerse callado 2. Sólo dar nombre y apellido 3. No mentir 4. Nunca acepte/lleve documentos falsos 5. No revelar su situación migratoria 6. No llevar documentación de otro país 7. En caso de ser arrestado, mostrarla Tarjeta Miranda (llámenos si necesita una)

Basados en la Quinta Enmienda de la Constitución, los derechos de guardar silencio y contar con un abogado fueron denominados Derechos Miranda luego de la decisión de la Suprema Corte de Justicia de Estados Unidos en el caso Miranda vs. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, de 1966.

Vendor Writing

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/o ptimum-health-in-the-pandemic-agerolando-toyos-md/1136988654

La Noticia, one of the leading Spanish-language Conoce tus derechos: ¿Que hacer en caso de una redada? newspapers in the nation, brings Spanish content to The Contributor.

por

Escanee esta imagen para ver La Noticia newspaper edición bilingüe digital

In this issue, vendors write about God, health, epidemics, and one pens a letter to Ridley Wills, author of our History Corner.

Envíenos sus sugerencias por e-mail: news@hispanicpaper.com

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Contributors This Issue

Hannah Herner • Linda Bailey • Amanda Haggard • Joe Nolan • Ridley Wills II • David Pineros • Alvine • Maggie Youngs • Yuri Cunza • Mr. Mysterio • Christopher W. • Jen A. • John H. • Jamie W. • Maurice B.

Contributor Volunteers Joe First • Andy Shapiro • Michael Reilly • John Jennings • Janet Kerwood • Logan Ebel • Christine Doeg • Laura Birdsall • Richard Aberdeen • Marissa Young • Robert Thompson

Cathy Jennings Executive Director Tom Wills Director of Vendor Operations Hannah Herner Staff Writer

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

Jesse Call Housing Navigator Raven Lintu Housing Navigator Dymin Cannon Housing Navigator Carli Tharpe Housing Navigator Barbara Womack Advertising Manager

The Contributor now accepts Venmo!

Amanda Haggard & Linda Bailey Co-Editors Andrew Krinks Editor Emeritus

Scan the QR Code to the left , or find us: @The-Contributor! Make sure to include your vendor’s badge name and number in the description. If you bought this version digitally, you can still leave your regular vendor a tip. Email Cathy@thecontributor.org for more information or with questions!

Will Connelly, Tasha F. Lemley, Steven Samra, and Tom WIlls Contributor Co-Founders Editorials and features in The Contributor are the perspectives of the authors. Submissions of news, opinion, fiction, art and poetry are welcomed. The Contributor reserves the right to edit any submissions. The Contributor cannot and will not endorse any political candidate. Submissions may be emailed to: editorial@thecontributor.org Requests to volunteer, donate, or purchase subscriptions can be emailed to: info@thecontributor.org Please email advertising requests to: advertising@thecontributor.org

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April 28 - May 12, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 3

THE BIG PAYB ACK VENDOR SPOTLIGHT

A HAND UP, NOT A HAND OUT ‘Contributor’ vendors share the impact the organization has had on them In 2020, The Contributor was the only street paper in the country to never cease printing. And we had our vendors’ backs in a whole new way through our new C.O.V.E.R. program. With a tiny team of housing navigators, we were able to get more than 50 vendors under their own roofs in the last year. All the while, we continued to provide a low-barrier means of income, and other resources like bus passes, meals, hand warmers and ponchos. Perhaps most importantly, we provided a place for vendors to come and be treated like the business people they are, and an opportunity to connect with neighbors. We are doing more than handing out basic needs, we’re giving a hand up and a path into housing. In this paper, we’ve shared stories of vendors and how The Contributor

has affected them. Here are some of their own words: “When I started working The Contributor, I didn’t know how to talk to people. I didn’t know how to communicate. It’s helped me open up and talk to people, which was real hard. It’s helped me a lot to stand up for myself, stop letting people run over me, use me. I have a lot of customer friends at the store that I’ve gotten real close with. A lot of people that God’s put in my life that’s helping me. And I’ve met them through selling papers.” — June P. “[My landlord] said ‘you sell a paper, how are you going to pay rent?’ You know, it’s been over 300 weeks and I’ve never been late once.” — Keith D. “I thank God every day that He opened my eyes and gave me an opportunity to do something. I just

never have been the kind of person to just sit under the shade tree all day, just idly let my day go by. I get up and find something to do. And The Contributor really give me something to do.” — Pierre T. “You know, I have more information to offer. I just don’t always say, ‘oh, I need this because I’m homeless and giving this to you because I need money.’ No, I say, ‘this has got some interesting articles, local journalists here who write about things that [TV news] doesn’t really cover,’ you know? They cover issues that are ongoing in the community, and they look for things to be improved.” — Wendell J. “When I go out to work and come back, this room and The Contributor has given me a glimpse again of something that I forgot about. At one time I was just a regular guy and I worked

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hard and I had a place to live. This reminded me of something that I had forgotten and circumstances took from me. It’s giving me a glimpse of not only what was but what could be again, if only I can stay the course.” — Carl D. Between May 6 at 6 p.m. and May 7 at 6 p.m., we are joining Middle Tennessee nonprofits in a friendly fundraising competition, The Big Payback. When you give to The Contributor — be it through buying the paper from a vendor or donating to the organization — you’re getting a lot of bang for your buck. You’re giving a hand up to people climbing out of homelessness, giving them a chance to connect with their neighbors, getting them into housing, and helping them stay there. It’s a hand up, not a hand out. Visit thebigpayback.org/thecon tributor to donate.

NEWS

NEWS BRIEFS COVID-19 overf low shelter at The Fairgrounds Nashville to close July 1 The COVID-19 overf low shelter located at The Fairgrounds Nashville is set to close for good by July 1. The shelter opened on March 26, 2020, to serve as an overf low for the Nashville Rescue Mission, to provide space for social distancing and offered separate facilities for those awaiting test results, those who were symptomatic and those who were healthy. The end of overf low shetlers started with the women’s overf low arm located at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium on April 1. Reduced capacity at the main shelter will happen in two phases before closing completely. In the last year, the shelter, which was run by the Nashville Office of Emergency Management, provided 135,526 meals and sheltered 1,313 unique individuals. Metro Social Services staff provided assistance with job searches, obtained necessary documents for housing and found housing itself. They were able to secure housing for 76 individuals through housing vouchers, subsidized housing and reunions with family. Other partners came in to provide services including laundry, mental and physical health care and mail services. When the shelter was originally announced, there was pushback from the Continuum of Care Homeless Planning Council, a 25-member council that serves as the governance board for a collective of organizations in Nash-

ville that serve people experiencing homelessness. In a letter to the mayor’s office, the council criticized a congregate shelter instead of individual housing, and lack of consultation with area service providers and people with lived experience. On May 7, 2020, a man staying at the Fairgrounds Nashville emergency shelter was arrested after fleeing quarantine. He remains the only person arrested on such a charge in Nashville. There was also at least one recorded COVID-19 outbreak at the shelter. Those running the shelter cited a climbing rate of vaccinations as reason for phasing out the shelter. Local low-income clinic chain Neighborhood Health has been attempting to offer access to the vaccine for 100 percent of people experiencing homelessness in Nashville. “There continues to be a higher number of those at the temporary shelter that have been vaccinated thanks to the hard work of the Health Department and other community organizations,” said Dr. Gill Wright, Interim Chief Medical Officer for the Metro Public Health Department. “With vaccinations continuing to increase it is safe to begin shifting services found at the temporary shelter back to the community organizations that serve the homeless, while also monitoring the process over the next three months.” People awaiting COVID-19 test results and people who are COVID-19 positive will be able to remain at the shelter until it completely closes.

Once the shelter closes, the Fairgrounds will take six to eight weeks to prepare the facilities for use again. “The Fairgrounds Nashville has been happy to assist in the care and temporary housing of Nashville’s vulnerable homeless community during the pandemic,” Nashville Fairgrounds Executive Director Laura Womack said. “It’s a good indication that Nashville is on the mend as we begin this transition to decommission the shelter. We look forward to safely resuming events in the near future.” Bill that would have made solicitation, camping a misdemeanor defeated A bill sponsored by State Rep. Ryan Williams (R-Cookeville) and Sen. Paul Bailey (R-Sparta), would have made solicitation or camping “on the shoulder, berm, or right-of-way of a state or interstate highway or under a bridge or overpass” a class C misdemeanor offense punishable by a $50 fine and community service work. It was defeated in a Senate committee on April 13 after Open Table Nashville co-founders Lindsey Krinks and Ingrid McIntyre spoke in a hearing against the bill. “OTN will remain vigilant to ensure this bill doesn’t resurface, and will continue to advocate against all legislation that further criminalizes people experiencing homelessness,” Open Table Nashville wrote in a social

April 28 - May 12, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 5

media post. The bill would have also broadened the language within the Equal Access to Public Property Act of 2012 so that people could be prosecuted not only on state property, but also on all public property across Tennessee. Cooper names new economic and community development director Mayor John Cooper recently announced what the city called a “ jobs creation veteran” as the city’s new Economic and Community Development Director. In a release, Cooper said Courtney Pogue, “brings decades of experience, a track record for 18,000-plus job creation commitments and a specialty in housing development to the role.” “This is a big moment for Nashville, as we embark on a major rebound in our city – including with the largest economic development deal in Nashville and state history,” Mayor Cooper said. “Now, we move forward in creating a Nashville that works for everyone — and Courtney will be central to that work.” Pogue is tasked with developing a master economic and community development plan for the city to help boost “small, micro-and minority-owned businesses; attract and retain quality jobs and leverage economic opportunities to support equitable, sustainable development in all Nashville’s neighborhoods.”

NASHVILLE HISTORY CORNER

First Flight Around the World BY RIDLEY WILLS II Many Nashvillians know about John Harding, the founder of Belle Meade Stud; of General William Giles Harding, his son and successor at the plantation; and of William Hicks Jackson, the Confederate cavalry general, who married General Harding’s daughter, Selene, after the war, and who ran the farm following his father-in-law’s stroke in the early 1880s. Few people know about John Harding Jr., the son of William Giles, who was called “Smiling Jack.” Harding was one of a small group of army aviators who made the first flight around the world. About dawn April 6, 1924, four army planes took off from Sand Point Flying Field, near

Seattle. One of the planes, became an early casualty when it crashed on the Alaskan coast. It took the crew 10 days to reach civilization. A second, known as “The Boston,” came down in the North Atlantic while trying to reach Iceland. They were rescued by a navy cruiser. The crew transferred to a new “Boston,” which came out from Nova Scotia and rejoined the two remaining planes for the final leg of the flight. The three planes completed the vast circuit in the teeth of Canadian blizzards, and Alaskan gales. While enroute, Harding mailed a postcard to his old prep school headmaster, Sawney Webb. It read: “Mr. Webb, I’m not

driving a quarter horse. I’ve got one that takes the same gait all the time.” From Alaska the three Douglas biplanes flew over Japan, China, India, across Europe, England, Iceland, Greenland and finally to Boston, where they were welcomed by President Calvin Coolidge. From there, they f lew across the North American continent to the starting point, Seattle, which they reached Sept. 28, 1924, having flown a distance of 26,345 miles in 371 hours flying time, averaging about 75 miles per hour. Those making the f light were Lieutenants Lowell Smith, flight commander, and Leslie Arnold in “The Chicago;” Lieutenants Eric Nelson and

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John Harding Jr. in the “New Orleans” and Lieutenants Leigh Wade and Henry Ogden in the two “Bostons.”The young flyers were hailed as national heroes, and the six were given distinguished service medals. John Harding Jr. was presented with a chest of silver by the City of Nashville as an expression of pride in his share of the great achievement. The presentation was made by Maj. E.B. Stahlman. Harding’s feat was also acclaimed in a resolution adopted by the state legislature. After his world f light, Harding went on a lecture tour with Lowell Thomas, and later founded an airline in Florida. He died in La Jolla, Calif., in 1968, 44 years after his historic flight.

April 28 - May 12, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 7

IN REMEMBRANCE

JOSEPH DAVIS WAS HARD-WORKING, QUICK TO OFFER ENCOURAGEMENT AND ADVICE BY HANNAH HERNER Contributor vendor Joseph Davis passed on April 12 at the age of 65 after fighting cancer. He sold The Contributor for more than 10 of the paper’s 13 years. Vendor of f ice ma nager a nd co-founder of The Contributor Tom Wills said Davis had quite the following at his spot on Hobbes Road and Hillsboro Pike. “Joseph had large, serious eyes that always kept me on my toes,” Wills says.

“Hanging out in the office, eating a meal he knew how to cut straight to the point.” Executive director Cathy Jennings remembers that even when Joseph was ill, he was always diligent and determined to keep his map badge. “He was friendly, smiley, and so courageous in the face of his illness,” she added. Michael Reilly and other volunteers got to know him well with how much

time he would spend in the vendor office. “Joseph was an outwardly crusty, but really a jovial guy,” Reilly says. “He enjoyed interacting with staff and other vendors in the office and, back when it was possible, was one of our office campers. He’d eat lunch and trade jokes and give tips to new vendors. Glad he’s done with pain.” Volunteer Logan Ebel added, “He was a very kind man, even when he was struggling with health issues in the

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moment, he did his best to be grateful and friendly.” Former office manager and current co-editor Linda Bailey was affected by Davis’ encouraging words. “Joseph always called me ‘boss lady,’ which meant a lot to me because I felt like I never really knew what I was doing, but I genuinely felt like he believed in me,” Bailey says. “I remember Joseph as friendly, strong, fashionable and professional. I’ll miss him a lot.”

LOCAL ACTIVISM

Community members gathered at Nissan Stadium ahead of a Nashville People's Budget demonstration on April 13.

April 28 - May 12, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 9

I M AG E S B Y DAV I D P I Ñ E R O S

COVER STORY

GIVE AND TAKE

Artist Wayne Brezinka conjures the Bible’s most long-suffering soul in response to 2020 in Nashville BY JOE NOLAN

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COVER STORY

2020 Disrupted: A Re-Assembled Life opened with a reception on April 24 at CreatiVets art studio at 1125 12th Avenue South, Unit B. The installation will be on view in the studio through Memorial Day.

Wayne Brezinka (on left) shows his installation, “2020 Disrupted” at CreatiVets studio. From the side, the sculptural elements of the piece stand out. PHOTO: DAVID BRAUD

ccording to the King James Bible version of the Book of Job, Job was both morally righteous and materially wealthy: Job “was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.” Job had seven sons and three daughters, and “His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.” Job had it going on. Until he didn’t. Just like in the Book of Job, many of our neighbors lost their livelihoods, their assets, their homes and their loved ones to the varied catastrophes Nashville endured in 2020. A new installation by local artist Wayne Brezinka re-imagines Job and his trials through a contemporary, local lens. This ambitious and vivid multimedia display combines sculpture, painting and even digital video monitors to cast the recent suffering of our city in the story of the Bible’s most long-suffering soul. At first the comparison seems simplistic, but as the piece reacquaints viewers with the Job story, the analogy is surprisingly, unfortunately, painfully accurate. For better and worse, we Nashvillians have become pros at disaster: We regrouped and rebuilt after the tornado outbreak that scrambled our city back in 1998, and then we did it all again when we were hit by the flood of 2010. But in just the last 13 months we’ve been hit by another tornado, blasted by a bomber and washed out by another flood during a period of social unrest in the middle of a global pandemic. The most important thing

about Brezinka’s installation isn’t that it reminds us of our capacity to endure, but that it reminds us of just how hard it’s all been. And just how plain numb many of us have actually become. “In this new work, I am exploring the pain and anxiety of massive disruption and how we are changed by it. This is my attempt to bring a re-imagined 21st century Job to life in a way that encapsulates not only his experience, but also our own,” writes Brezinka in a post on his website (waynebrezinka.com/ disrupted-process-gallery) where he details the process behind the installation. The Job of the Old Testament is stoic in the face of his tragic losses — he’s cleareyed and resolute. Brezinka’s Job is stunned: his head is lifted; his wide unblinking eyes search for God in the sky; his mouth hangs wide open. Brezinka used his father-in-law as a model for Job, painting his protagonist from the dramatically lit photographs the pair staged together. The dramatic pose and Brezinka’s use of light in his portrait nods to the Biblical paintings of Caravaggio, and it’s a fun stylistic nod to bring to a cardboard painting with an eye-popping contemporary palette. The artist’s late father-in-law was a Navy veteran who operated a youth homeless shelter in Colorado Springs, CO. 2020 Disrupted: A Re-Assembled Life is being displayed at CreatiVets studio in the 12th South neighborhood where one of Brezinka’s father-in-law’s paintings is on display. The Contributor’s readers might know that homelessness disproportionately affects military veterans: According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, on a single night in January, 2020, almost 40,000 Ameri-

can veterans had no place to call home in the country they fought for, and may have been injured – or even disabled – defending. The hardships faced by veterans are Job-like in their compounding relentlessness. Like any Nashvillians our military veteran neighbors spent 2020 navigating the hardships of our city’s lack of affordable housing on top of the myriad challenges of the past year. Add to these the burden of impacts that come from multiple deployments — including traumatic brain injury and PTSD — and Brezinka’s Biblical allusions must be uncomfortably familiar to the unsung former warriors struggling to survive on Nashville’s streets. CreatiVets empowers military veterans to heal through art therapy. By participating in guitar and songwriting classes, and painting, drawing and sculpting lessons, CreatiVets’ artists can overcome their own Job-like struggles while connecting through the shared-experiences of supportive peers. 2020 Disrupted is covered in Brezinka’s colorful, almost a little cartoon-like painting, but the project is thoroughly sculptural. Job’s constructed out of several pieces of cardboard which are fitted-together against another separate background layer. Job is “sitting’’ on an actual garbage can and it serves as a kind of ironic throne for Job as a king sitting on top of a mountain of trash: tires, clocks, wooden posts, empty plastic bottles and disposed-of egg containers. Brezinka’s also embedded video monitors into the garbage, which piles-up at the bottom of the installation. The screens scroll through slideshow images which Brezinka solicited from our Nashville neighbors. Nashvillians also donated all the objects piled up in the wreckage that’s left from

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Job’s worldly losses. Some of the video images picture healthcare workers and some are portraits of patients. There are smiling selfies at protest marches, and scans of old faded photos of family members who were lost in this last sad, strange year. All this discarded stuff might have been strewn across East Nashville after the tornado last march, or it could’ve been choking a creek in South Nashville just a few weeks ago after the spring floods that destroyed homes and businesses and took even more of the lives of our neighbors after a full year of quarantining against a global pandemic. The pile of broken, blown-apart stuff might have been swept up off of 2nd avenue after the Christmas morning bombing that shook our already-limited holiday celebrations with paranoia and confusion. Of course, the original story of Job — and Brezinka’s painterly re-telling — both serve as allegories for perseverance in the face of overwhelming hardship. And all of Brezinka’s broken, bashed-apart bits also represent less material things like lost jobs, lost opportunities, lost sense of purpose and dreams deferred. Brezinka’s installation has an almost theatrical feel with its backdrop-style background and its “base” spilling away from a wall at the CreatiVets studio, creating a sense of a fourth wall between viewers and his weary protagonist. Of course, a theatrical production of Job might follow the structure of a Greek tragedy — if not a Darren Aronofsky film — and Brezinka has populated this painterly “play” with a pair of birds that each serve as separate choruses, echoing the competing themes of Job’s story. One of the coolest constructions in Brezinka’s built-out scene is a large vulture which sits on a bare branch above Job’s head. Job’s desperate eyes are watching for God, but his vision is blocked by this bloated and raggedy scavenger. The artist fashioned Job’s bald, unblinking antagonist out of layers of painted cardboard, textiles and actual feathers, achieving a look so greasy and weather-beaten you can practically smell the roadkill it had for breakfast. But, fluttering its wings below the buzzard, just a little too low to catch Job’s shock-brimming eyes, is a beautiful bluebird. Brezinka fashioned this flitting flier out of cardboard, paint and feathers just like the turkey vulture. But, this bird’s signature blue back and orange-gold belly stand-out from the grim palette of the rest of installation, and its wings are thrown-back wide at a dramatic angle. The black vulture is indifferent, staring into the distance as if Job’s ultimate failure is a foregone conclusion — who could possibly endure all of this? But the little bluebird keeps flapping furiously singing a defiant song of hope and insisting with unlikely optimism that all is not lost.

LOCAL ACTIVISM

Advocates from Workers’ Dignity / Dignidad Obrera (www.workersdignity.org) gathered at 7 a.m. outside the Opryland Holiday Inn Express on April 10 to demand justice for Bernardo. Bernardo renovated the bathrooms at the hotel in February of 2020 and was never paid by the contractors that the hotel hired. PHOTOS BY ALVINE

Several organizations including Worker’s Dignity, Black Lives Matter Nashville, Free Hearts, Gideon’s Army, No Exceptions Prison Collective, PATHE, and Southerners on New Ground (SONG Nashville) have create the Nashville People’s Budget Coalition. They are aiming to build, “a Nashville where public safety includes communities with fully funded education, access to housing and health care, and freedom from policing and jails... We know that Nashville can be a city where every community member has access to the tools and resources they need to thrive if we are committed to investing public dollars into social goods and divesting from social control.” PHOTOS BY ALVINE

PAGE 12 | April 28 - May 12, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

NONPROFIT SPOTLIGHT: THE BRIDGE

The United Streets of America: Memphis ‘The Bridge’ is a street paper run by college students BY MAGGIE YOUNGS The Bridge, a student-run nonprofit street paper in Memphis aims to empower those experiencing homelessness in the city. The paper was founded in 2013 by three Rhodes College students: Evan Katz, Caroline Ponseti and James Eckenstedt. Inspired by The Contributor, they saw a problem in their community and wanted to be a part of the solution. They connected with Israel Bayer, director of the International Network of Street Papers, who helped them navigate how to best translate a street paper model in Memphis. They also met with Tom Wills, co-founder of The Contributor, and other volunteers there to better understand the organization’s infrastructure and operations. The Bridge officially gained its 501(c) (3) status as a nonprofit organization in April of 2014 and is currently the only fully student run street paper in the world affiliated with the International Network of Street Papers. The organization strives to engage in and serve the Memphis community while also creating an opportunity for students to grow in their writing, business and leadership skills. The paper is currently run by a team of 25 students at Rhodes College and led by a core executive team, including fourth-year student Emma Figarsky. The Contributor talked with Figarsky about running the paper. How did you get involved with The Bridge and what is your current role? I got involved with The Bridge in the fall of 2018. I had been a part of student run newspapers in high school and was really intrigued by the mission of The Bridge. I was excited to be a part of a newspaper that had such an impact on the community. I started in the marketing department of the group and later became the head of marketing. I currently serve as a co-executive director alongside Ellen Lemm. How does The Bridge differ from other street papers? The Bridge is run completely by student volunteers. Because it is a student organization, there are more turnovers in leadership than with other street papers. This can create challenges, but it also gives students an opportunity to gain a lot of experience. Additionally,

although The Bridge is a student organization, it doesn’t receive funding directly from Rhodes, and so students are also responsible for fundraising to continue the operations of the paper. How has The Bridge had to pivot over the last year given the pandemic? When the pandemic hit, we had to stop printing the paper. At the time, we had been printing a new issue every month. It took us a minute to figure out how we were going to adjust. Early on in the summer, we had a fundraiser that allowed us to create care packages for vendors. The care packages included a stipend, masks, gloves and resource packets, including basic information about COVID and local pantries, but we knew this was only a temporary supplement. We also tried to maintain contact with vendors through a phone hotline, assessing vendor needs and making them aware of the community resources available to them. We wanted to further support the community, but felt the pressure of being a student organization required to follow school health protocols. However, although we had to stop our monthly issues, we pivoted to posting weekly articles online to continue creating awareness of homelessness and the organization. What has been the biggest challenge of The Bridge over the last year? Not being able to be face to face with vendors changes everything. It’s been really difficult to maintain connections with vendors throughout the pandemic especially since many don’t have consistent access to phones or computers. We have a hotline phone number, which we have been able to use to talk with many of our vendors, but the limited physical contact has made connection difficult nonetheless. What are the current plans for The Bridge moving forward? We plan to release our first paper since the pandemic at the end of May and anticipate that the papers will then continue rolling out again. We hope to distribute The Bridge to vendors at St. Mary’s Cathedral, a church that is central to the homeless community here in Memphis and where we have held

distribution in the past. The energy of our student volunteers has been both promising and relieving, full of excitement to train new vendors and begin

April 28 - May 12, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 13

selling again. We’re hopeful for what this summer will bring for The Bridge and the homeless community here in Memphis.

LA NOTICIA “The Contributor” está trabajando con uno de los principales periódicos en español La Noticia para llevar contenido a más lectores en Middle Tennessee. Nuestros vendedores de periódicos han pedido durante mucho tiempo que nuestra publicación incluya contenido que apele al interés de residentes de habla hispana en nuestra comunidad.

“The Contributor” is working with one of the leading Spanish-language newspapers La Noticia to bring content to more readers in Middle Tennessee. Our newspaper vendors have long requested that our publication include content that appeals to the interest of Spanish-speaking residents in our community.

LOCALES - POLÍTICA - INMIGRACIÓN - TRABAJOS - SALUD - ESPECTÁCULOS - DEPORTES Y MÁS...

L a N ticia 2021

GRATIS

Abril

Escanee esta imagen para ver La Noticia newspaper edición bilingüe digital

www.hispanicpaper.com

Año 19 - No. 328

“DONDE OCURREN LOS HECHOS QUE IMPORTAN, SIEMPRE PRIMERO... ANTES”

OPINIÓN: “No a los pasaportes de salud”

Foto: Yuri Cunza

Dr. Toyos: Health Passports for the vaccinated will not protect a nation from Covid-19.

Conoce tus derechos: ¿Que hacer en caso de una redada? 1. Mantenerse callado 2. Sólo dar nombre y apellido 3. No mentir 4. Nunca acepte/lleve documentos falsos 5. No revelar su situación migratoria 6. No llevar documentación de otro país 7. En caso de ser arrestado, mostrarla Tarjeta Miranda (llámenos si necesita una)

por

ww w.ju ane se.c om jua ne seUSA@gmail.com

PAGE 14 | April 28 - May 12, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

Nashville, Tennessee

Cada día aprendemos más sobre Covid-19 y sus efectos fisiológicos. Mi viaje personal es un ejemplo de la cambiante visión científica de este virus. Desde el principio se pensó que después de la infección o la vacunación los anticuerpos disminuían con el tiempo, pero yo soy la prueba de que no siempre es así. Me infecté en febrero de 2020 y he estado midiendo mis niveles de anticuerpos desde ese momento. Mi última prueba de anticuerpos realizada hace dos semanas mostró un aumento en mis niveles de anticuerpos que fue 6 veces mayor que los niveles en 2020. Mi teoría es que como profesional de la salud estoy constantemente expuesto, lo que hace que mi sistema inmunológico continúe produciendo anticuerpos. Pero se necesitan más estudios para determinar por qué algunas personas reaccionan de ma-nera diferente a la infección por Covid-19 y a la vacuna. Se nos ha dicho desde el comienzo de la pandemia que sigamos la ciencia. No existe una base científica para un Pasaporte Sanitario. Podemos utilizar nuestra tecnología avanzada para hacer que los viajes internacionales sean más seguros, con suerte, sin llegar a extremos incómodos y embarazosos. A todos nos gustaría volver a la normalidad, pero no debemos tomar decisiones de política pública irracionales que tengan implicaciones duraderas. Para obtener más información, puede obtener mi libro, Optimum Health in the Pandemic Age. Todos los ingresos se destinan a la atención médica para los desatendidos.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/o ptimum-health-in-the-pandemic-agerolando-toyos-md/1136988654 Envíenos sus sugerencias por e-mail: news@hispanicpaper.com

The New Christian Year Selected by Charles Williams

Charles Walter Stansby Williams (1886–1945), the editor of the following selections, is today probably the third most famous of the famous Inklings literary group of Oxford, England, which existed in the middle of the 20th century, and which included among its ranks the better-known and longer-lived Oxford Dons J.R.R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis—but he was arguably the most precocious and well-read of this eminent and intellectually fertile group. He was also known to have influenced Dorothy Sayers, T. S. Eliot and W. H. Auden. Lacking a proper degree unlike his fellow Inklings, this genius Cockney-speaking author, editor, critic, and playwright was eminently well-versed in both philosophical and theological writings of the remote past as of the present day (the mid-20th century) and used this familiarity to good effect in his poetry, supernatural fiction and his lesser-known devotional selections designed for the spiritual benefit of the faithful in the Church of England. This series of profound quotations, encompassing all walks of life, follows the sequence of the themes and Bible readings anciently appointed for contemplation throughout the church's year, beginning with Advent (i.e., December) and ending in November, and reaches far beyond the pale of the philosophical and theological discussions of his day. It was under his hand, for instance, that some of the first translations of Kierkegaard were made available to the wider public. It is hoped that the readings reproduced here will prove beneficial for any who read them, whatever their place in life's journey. — Matthew Carver

4th Wednesday after Easter

Fourth Sunday after Easter

THE nobler things are, the commoner they are. Love is noble, because it is universal. Tauler: Sermons.

I WAS still under great temptations sometimes, and my inward sufferings were heavy; but I could find none to open my condition to but the Lord alone, unto whom I cried night and day. I went back into Nottinghamshire, and there the Lord shewed me that the natures of those things which were hurtful without, were within, in the hearts and minds of wicked men. I cried to the Lord, saying, "Why should I be thus, seeing I was never addicted to commit those evils?" and the lord answered that it was needful I should have a sense of all conditions, and in this I was the infinite love of God. I saw also that there was an ocean of darkness and death, but an infinite ocean of light and love which flowed over the ocean of darkness. In that also I saw the infinite love of God; and I had great openings. George Fox: Journal.

I KNOW the power obedience has of making things easy which seem impossible. St Teresa: The Interior Castle.

4th Thursday after Easter GOD must act and the soul must suffer; for him to know and love himself in her, for her to know with his knowledge, love with his love; and since she is far happier in his than hers it follows that her happiness depends upon his work more than on her own. Eckhart: Sermons and Collations. NOTHING is due to any one, except on account of something already given him gratuitously by God. Aquinas: Summa Theologica.

4th Friday after Easter TOO little doth he love thee who loves anything with thee which he loves not for thee. St Augustine: Confessions. IT was not by the dialectic that it pleased God to save his people; "for the kingdom of God consisteth in simplicity of faith, not in worldly contention." St Ambrose: Of the Faith.

The Feast of St Philip and St James THE Church belongs not to the present, but has existed from the beginning; the Church which is spiritual is now manifest in the Flesh of Christ. St Clement: Epistles.

5th Monday after Easter GOD impeacheth not Caesar, nor God's due Caesar's right . . . In the high and heavenly work of the preservation of all our lives, persons, estates, and goods, in safety, peace, and quietness, in this his so great and divine benefit, he hath associated Caesar to himself. Lancelot Andrewes: Sermons.

5th Tuesday after Easter HE does much who loves much. He does much who does what he has to do well. He does well who serves the common good rather than his own will. Thomas à Kempis: Imitation. UNLESS Moses had been gathering together sheep into the fold he would never have seen Him that was in the bush. The Paradise of the Fathers.

5th Wednesday after Easter JESUS is at all times assailed by false witnesses, and while wickedness remains in the world is ever exposed to accusation. And yet even now he continues silent before these things, and makes no audible answer, but places his defense in the lives of his genuine disciples. Origen: Against Celsus.

Freely we serve Because we freely love, and in our will To love or not; in this we stand or fall. Milton: Paradise Lost.

4th Saturday after Easter

5th Thursday after Easter

GOD Almighty, Eternal, Righteous, and Merciful, give to us poor sinners to do for thy sake all that we know of thy will, and to will always what pleases thee, so that inwardly purified, enlightened, and kindled by the fire of the Holy Spirit, we may follow in the footprints of thy well-beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. St Francis of Assisi. WHAT then is God? That without which nothing is. A thing can no more be without him than he can be without himself. St Bernard: On Consideration. LOVE is the divine substance; for John says God is Love . . . Thus substantial love gives accidental love. St Bernard: On the Song of Songs.

THE hatred of evil things is for a man to hate his own sins, and to justify those of his neighbour. The Paradise of the Fathers. A MAN’S life or death cometh from his neighbour; if we benefit our brother we benefit ourselves, and if we offend him we sin against God. The Paradise of the Fathers.

5th Friday after Easter GOD’S own work must be done by God's own ways. Otherwise we can take not comfort in obtaining the end, if we cannot justify the means used thereunto. Thomas Fuller: Good Thoughts in Bad Times.

FOR twenty years I continued to fight against one thought—that I might see all men of one mind. The Paradise of the Fathers.

5th Saturday after Easter EITHER let us fear the wrath to come, or let us love the grace that is present—either this or that; only be it ours to be found in Christ Jesus unto live, which is life indeed. St Ignatius: Epistle to the Ephesians.

MAN has a natural dread of walking in the gloom—what wonder then that he naturally has a dread of the unconditional, of having to do with the unconditional, of which it holds good that no night and "no deepest gloom half so dark" as this gloom and this night, where all relative ends (the common milestones and signposts), where all relative considerations (the lanterns which else are a help to us), where even the tenderest and sincerest feelings of devotion—are quenched . . . for otherwise it is not unconditionally the unconditional. Kierkegaard: Journals.

Fifth Sunday after Easter NOTHING is so easy to men of goodwill as goodwill itself, and this is all that God requires. Every act of goodwill permanently and sensibly increases goodwill. Trifling acts of goodwill are often more efficacious in this way than great ones. A flower given in kindness and at the right time profits more, both to the giver and receiver, than some vast material benefit in which the goodwill is hidden by the magnitude of the act. Some little, sensible individual touch from the hand of our Lord may convert the heart more than the contemplation of His death for us. Patmore: The Rod, The Root, and the Flower.

6th Monday after Easter REMEMBER: he who despises and mocks a mental gift in another, calling it pride and selfishness and sin, mocks Jesus, the giver of every mental gift, which always appear to the ignorance loving hypocrite as sins: but that which is a sin in the sight of cruel man, is not so in the sight of our kind God. Let every Christian, as much as in him lies, engage himself openly and publicly, before all the world, in some mental pursuit for the building up of Jerusalem. ` Blake: Jerusalem.

6th Tuesday after Easter IT may fortune thou wilt say, "I am content to do the best for my neighbour that I can, saving myself harmless." I promise thee, Christ will not hear this excuse; for he himself suffered harm for our sakes, and for our salvation was put to extreme death. I wis, if it had pleased him, he might have saved us and never felt pain; but in suffering pains and death he did give us example, and teach us how we should do one for another, as he did for us all; for, as he saith himself, "he that will be mine, let him deny himself, and follow me, in bearing my cross and suffering my pains." Wherefore we must needs suffer pain with Christ to do our neighbour good, as well with the body and all his members, as with heart and mind. Latimer: Sermons.

Sponsored by Matthew Carver, publisher

April 28 - May 12, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 15

FUN

HOBOSCOPES TAURUS

You’re getting your own spinoff, Taurus! The Zodiac Extended Universe just greenlit a series starring you! You’ll be the protagonist making all the decisions and watching the results of your actions play out in real time. No need to go it alone though, you’ll have a couple of zany sidekicks, maybe that lovable Virgo and, the crowd-favorite, Capricorn. Honestly, Taurus, I can’t wait to see what you’ll come up with. If you’re ready, you can start today. Begin by focusing on the consequences of some actions you’ve already taken.

GEMINI

Don Giovani is considered one of Mozart’s greatest operas. Some even say it’s one of the greatest operas by anybody ever. The night before Don Giovani premiered Mozart realized he had never written the overture. He needed to compose an opening orchestral piece to set the tone for the entire evening. So, before he went to bed, he sat down and wrote one. He finished just in time–and it was brilliant. You’re one of my favorites, Gemini, but only Mozart is Mozart. Maybe you don’t have to wait until the absolute last minute to get to work on your overture.

CANCER

Did you just get a haircut, Cancer? It looks great! I’m probably about due for one myself, it’s been...quite a while. It’s amazing how changing something so small can make you feel so much different. Like, this morning I cleaned out the fridge, and now I’m seriously considering cleaning the bathroom. You can take your haircut-energy and build on it. What other small changes could add up to something big?

LEO

Sometimes when I drive around town I think about my great great grandfather Balthazaar Melchior Mysterio. He used to live around here. I wonder what he would think if he could see this city today. Would he shake his head at the divisions that continually keep us from treating each other with love and decency? Would he shudder to realize that with all our technological advancements we still allow poverty to exist and spread? Or would he just stand on the side of the road staring at one of those digital billboards where the picture changes every 10 seconds, trying to figure out how it works? The truth is, Leo, it doesn’t matter what our great great grandparents might think of us. The only person you have to impress is you.

VIRGO

It’s hard to get the ratio just right. You pour in the cereal. Then you pour in the milk. You eat the cereal but then you’ve still got some milk left. Better pour in some more cereal, Virgo. Actually, that’s a little too much. You’ll need just a tad more milk. But as you take another spoonful, I can already see, you need just a dash more cereal if you want it to come out even. You know, Virgo, they say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but sometimes it’s more important to finish something than to get it just exactly right.

LIBRA

Teenagers are about to invade your neighborhood, Libra! Seventeen year old flying insects to be specific. They’re probably crawling up out of the ground right now, all red eyed and hopped-up on tree-root juice. They had a very sheltered childhood but now they’re ready to cut loose, shed their skins, and fly around screaming and looking for a mate. I mean, you remember what it was like to be seventeen, right, Libra? You used to roll down your window and turn up your favorite song, throw back your head and hit the gas. Maybe you could use a little more of that energy this spring. But maybe don’t roll down your window, a cicada might fly in.

Sit in that quiet and give those problems the attention they deserve. They might not go away, but, at the least, you’ll understand them better.

CAPRICORN

I hardly ever remember my dreams, Capricorn, but sometimes I remember yours. This morning I woke up with a hazy memory that there was water pouring in the windows and out of the cabinets and coming in under the door. Listen, if you’re feeling flooded and like you can’t stop everything that’s coming your way, take a deep breath and sit still for a minute. You might not be able to stop the water, but you don’t have to do it all alone. Fill up a bucket and pass it down the line. You’ll find another set of hands and another. Tonight I’ll even see if I can dream us up a raft.

AQUA RIUS

Already time to mow the lawn again, Aquarius. That’s the main thing with lawns. You mow them down and then they pop right back up again. I used to find it exhausting. The repetition. The never ending maintenance. But now I find it downright inspirational. No matter how many times I chop it down, the grass never gives up. It always gives it another shot. I guess we owe it at least that much in return.

SCORPIO

Make a list of all the things you need to get done this week, Scorpio. Not just the big things, all the little ones too. Washing your dishes, brushing your teeth, ordering dill pickles in bulk from restaurant supply websites, checking your oil, renewing your subscription to Dill Pickle Aficionado magazine, vacuuming the stairs, building a storage shed in the backyard for emergency dill pickles. These are, of course, just examples of things I assume most Scorpios do in an average week. Once you’ve written it all down, I think you’ll feel a little less out of control and a little more ready to take on the days to come. Maybe celebrate with a nice, crisp dill pickle.

SAGITTA R IUS

There’s a slight ringing in my ear. I don’t notice it very often, but when things get very quiet it’s always there. Just a high pitched single note that sits on top of the silence. You might find that as things get quieter for you, problems that you’d forgotten about reemerge. It’s not that they ever really went away, you just had enough noise to ignore them. But this is a great opportunity, Sagittarius.

PISCES

Remember that pizza place where you had your 9th birthday party and Greg Loter unscrewed the cap on the red-pepper shaker and then your dad spilled red-pepper all over his salad and he blamed the waiter who got so mad he dumped his pitcher of Diet Rite on the animatronic gorilla that played drums in the animatronic band so that when they played Louie Louie he didn’t really wave his drumsticks around anymore he just sat there and slowly blinked his animatronic eyelids? It just reminds me, Pisces, how one small action can lead to unexpected, but amazing, consequences.

ARIES

Everybody thinks the goal is to get to the center of the labyrinth and climb the tower and defeat the minotaur. Sure, that’s one way to get by. But I think you’re doing alright, Aries, just walking around the edge, trimming up the topiaries, counting the cracks between the cobblestones. There’s more than one way to defeat a minotaur. One of the best is to never encounter one in the first place.

Mr. Mysterio is not a licensed astrologer, a registered dill pickle aficionado, or an animatronic gorilla. Mr. Mysterio is, however, a budding intermediate podcaster! Check out The Mr. Mysterio Podcast. Season 2 is now playing at mrmysterio.com. Got a question, just give Mr. M a call at 707-VHS-TAN1

PAGE 16 | April 28 - May 12, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

VENDOR WRITING

SUBSTITUTE ME BY CHRISTOPHER W. Substitute me As John would say Let it be I would say Put it on a shelf And substitute me Is beside myself I went one time Up on a hill Found Riding Hood’s pill Big bad wolf Up in a tree What’s so amazing How you can see Try as you can Do what you must Look out man You’re going to dust Substitute me Let’s me callow Substitute me Is my shadow

THEME: SESA ME STR EET

THEY’RE BACK SATURDAY AFTERNOON BY JEN A.

I go to the window When I hear them Report Marching in formation Through the park Their ultraviolet capes Sway as they proceed

ACROSS 1. Scarecrow stuffing 6. Observe 9. Kind of ski lift 13. “Fear of Flying” author Jong 14. Madame Tussauds’ medium 15. Fervent 16. Never say this? 17. You to are is as thou to ____ 18. Skylit lobbies 19. *It isn’t easy “bein’ green” for him 21. *First bilingual Sesame Street puppet 23. Flower precursor 24. Rental on the links

25. Rowing prop 28. Banana remnant 30. Besmear 35. Poker variety 37. Away from wind 39. Like helium gas 40. Coconut fiber 41. Like an iPhone 43. Singular of #33 Down 44. Per ____, or yearly 46. Guesstimate phrase, 2 words 47. Raise, as in child 48. Bob Marley’s music 50. TV classic “____ Make a Deal” 52. Hi-____ monitor 53. Oscar Wilde’s Dorian ____

55. *Sesame Street’s Meryl Sheep 57. *Every starred clue in this puzzle 60. *Self-described as lovable, cute and furry 63. One born to Japanese immigrants 64. Be in the red 66. He had no cause? 68. Thin mountain ridge 69. Local area network 70. Unmanned flyer 71. Hospital statistics unit, pl. 72. NaOH 73. Church assembly

The gold trim Glistens in the sun These old eyes

Down 1. D.C. V.I.P. 2. “Star ____” 3. Either Gauche or Droite in Paris 4. Like a lemon 5. Beginning of a workout 6. Special law enforcement unit, acr. 7. Elephant’s distinguished feature 8. Uncredited actor 9. Lake ____caca, South America

Can’t see the detail Of their faces But I sense Their resolve

April 28 - May 12, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 17

10. *Ernie’s roommate 11. Diva’s delivery 12. Swedish shag rug 15. “____ your seatbelts” 20. Think tank output 22. Eyeball shape 24. “I can see ____ now the rain has gone...” 25. *Trash can dweller 26. Be sorry for one’s wickedness 27. Repenting 29. *He avoids pronouns and speaks in falsetto 31. Gloomy 32. More competent 33. Arm bones 34. *Mama, Papa, Baby and Curly 36. Chemical cure 38. Gaelic tongue 42. Load carrier 45. Crow’s cousin 49. Old English for before 51. Arya Stark’s Needle and Jedi’s Lightsaber, e.g. 54. Lagoon wall 56. Each and all 57. Bog down 58. From a second-hand store 59. Four-legged friends 60. Autry or Wilder 61. Jet black 62. Nevada city 63. Pick up, as in suspect 65. Modus operandi 67. Light-emitting diode

VENDOR WRITING

Hey Ridley! BY JEN A. I’ve wanted to write for some time to tell you how much I genuinely appreciate the articles you place in The Contributor. But after reading your piece in the last issue, I decided I shouldn’t wait any longer. Over the past year we’ve all had a chance to reflect and look critically at our lives. You write masterfully about a decision you made long ago that changed the trajectory of your

life and the lives of your family. But quite honestly, I don’t think you’re giving yourself enough credit. I wasn’t born in Nashville. I wandered into town broken and desperate about ten years ago. And while I wouldn’t exactly say I’ve thrived, thanks in large measure to your illuminating histories of the people, places, and events that made Nashville your family’s home; I’ve found

my home. It’s always refreshing to read the true history of a place delivered without pretense. Few writers can reach past the hype to the truth as you do so elegantly. Everyone has to make tough choices in life. Probably no one knows that better than Contributor vendors. Every one of us has come to a place where we’re pretty much out of options. And when we got to

that dark, frightening place, there was your son, Tom, eager and willing to take us by the hand. He gives us purpose and a way up from the very bottom of the ladder. He’s both saved and changed lives in his own special creative way. Do you think the son of a driven-to-succeed, money-grubbing, profit-at-any-cost insurance executive would have done that? I wonder.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, I think you’ve done alright for yourself and your family, Ridley. Your work is a great credit to the place you and generations of your family before you have called home. You’ve made me know and understand how Nashville came to be the quirky, wonderful town it is. I’m grateful to call the Nashville of Ridley Wills II and his family my home.

What a Day

Thankful to be alive

BY JOHN H.

BY JAMIE W.

It’s Thursday, April 21 at 7 a.m. What a beautiful day. Gotta go across town to take a shower, come back to this side to do a few things before I can get my day started. All these things sound familiar to me. I’m used to them. Many of us are not accustomed to such things because we never had to live it. What about that person who has a home, never had any worries what-so-ever in life. I guess the bad part of it is, walking by seeing the activity of a person’s life every day and never wondered or tried to do anything to help. In God’s word it was the example of a rich man who watched a poor man, and never tried to do anything to help. In the end the poor man went to heaven and the rich man went to hell.

Many of you here in Nashville are very wealthy, not saying you don’t see these things every day, but there is a way you can help. Donate to The Contributor. They helped me and many others find a place to live. But the thing of it is, they need more finance and more resources. I think it’s a good thing. People who have hearts to care about the poor and less fortuned. Gotta have one hell-of-a-heart to go out and be this type person, (for free) because they certainly don’t get paid. What a brief relief, a home and insurance in case of I get ill. So if you can find it in your heart to have a love for the poor, please donate to The Contributor. Go online at thecontributor.org

About one month ago I was telling my husband that my chest was hurting, but at the time I was not thinking about a heart attack. I thought it was anxiety or stress or something and then I started getting very dizzy and I felt like I was fixing to fall out. I was hoping I was not fixing to fall out on someone’s car. But anyway, when I got done selling papers I walked up there to the emergency room. They did an EKG that came back OK. They did an x-ray of my heart and they said I had to stay in the hospital. I

felt bad becasue I did not leave any money with my husband, and I told him to get your brother to bring you up there and I would give him bus fare, whatever. They did my procedure about 11 a.m., but thank God I did not have any blockages and I did not need a stint. I’m thankful to be alive. But sure enough, it was a mild heart attack and they went on my right wrist. They said it was MINOCA, Myocardial Infarction in the absence of obstructive coronary artery disease. Anyone with heart trouble, you better have it seen about.

How Has This COVID-19 Epidemic Affected Me? BY MAURICE B. Within looking and accepting the many episodes within my 50 years of living, I diligently examine many of them by placing them on the scales of life’s challenges and changes. I was once informed to tie a knot at the end of my rope and hold on because “God” is never through. I am allowed to still take that peace of admiral advice deeply to mind and heart, even though many of life’s ventures while holding on have become a terrible task. Being taught through the firm beliefs of logic and facts whereas the mathematical equations are basically either add or subtract, I observe that the episodes that occur in this earthly life only come from the Insan “mankind’s” rational thought processes. Our forefathers and their forefathers relied upon rational and logical

patches of paths to make it through the teachings of man made viruses — such as the longest one ever: racial tension — which come in all forms and fashions of one believing that they are better than the next. In 2016, I, Maurice B., aka The Bucketman, had been instituted within a better way of living even though the environmental move from Texas to Nashville, Tennessee. But I had the “homeless virus.” Another epidemic. The God of my understanding rose me up out of that situation two years later by providing me with the blessings of salesmanship where I am a legalized street- vendor of the Contributor paper off 46th Avenue & Charlotte Pike, where God has also blessed me with an enormous amount of people that I can call on like family

as well as business associates within the two communities of Richland & Sullivan Parks. The mathematical equations of showing up and allowing the God spirit of smiling and waving to assure that it’s ok “regardless” of the circumstances and/or situations that we occur through life’s many miraculous ventures if the free gift that comes daily. Being homeless at one time showed me many many things, but understanding that I do have the option of choices of those many things allows me today to decide what choices I see are fit to move forward. For instance, the racial profiling of the homeless from a certain type of people, which could shut down the opportunities that I have received that bettered and is bettering my

living. I can’t hate it because God doesn’t want us to hate, but I can bring about the power of prayer. We humans plan, but God is the best of planners, and just as He is the Alpha “The Beginning;” He is “The Eternal” whereas all shall answer to Him but we Insan “mankind” are equipped with having an Omega “an ending.” Inshallah, “may it be God’s will,” that The Contributor last through all this man-made virus by individuals coming together and supporting The Contributor & vendors in all areas of Nashville as individuals have during my duration in which through the many viruses God has allowed me to see it through. May we overcome this episode of an Epidemic as God has allowed us all to overcome the many many ones before and possibly to come.

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Just a suggestion to all: Tie a knot in the end of your rope cause God is never through. Also, know His winds are mighty and the rains are strong, but after the rains come the sun and then the beautiful rainbow. Just examine the power of our Almighty mighty God. He is the creator of everything good, and we Insan “mankind” believe that we can only make all things better. To make things better for the homeless in Nashville I suggest the way I have done things by becoming a legalized street-vendor. Be consistent in showing up to make sales and utilize The Contributor office resources for matters such as housing, foods, and clothing. They are connected and network with the resources needed to assist homeless individuals.

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Must We Suffer From The Future? What are the signals you watch? There is a new report called the “Carpenter Index” that I find interesting. The simple idea is, can the carpenters that build the house afford to live in it? It is formulated on a 3:1 ratio of income to home buying power. Many apartments in Nashville have a like expectation, you must make three times rent. This extends the goal that housing should be roughly 30% of income. This reality is rarely found in a US city. You can review a market to see if the rough scheduled hospitality work has less disposable income than the panhandler. In the 1818 report by The Society of Pauperism, the committee recognized that if the pauper begging on the street realized more flexible income than the carpenter then it was economically rational to beg for money. This failure of an economy can be forecasted. While serving in Florida, we expected that for every 10 luxury condos 1 family member would be served by The Salvation Army with housing or addiction recovery. It wasn’t an exact science, but an effective community narrative.

LIFNAV

SalvationArmyNashville.org

We know that housing prices are going up due to both demand and costs of construction. We know that the buying power of the service industry is diminishing in the shadows of the professional salaries coming to our region. And we know that there are many examples of smaller living units that can be built throughout the region to increase housing stock and quality of life. And very importantly we know that HUD, Department of Housing and Urban Development, is strongly pushing against overnight shelters and for small independent living units. So Tennessee, Nashville, will we suffer from the future that is before us or come together for new solutions? How do we get the professional developers to lend their expertise to gain housing units? It will require us to stop demonizing them for building developments. Whose office do we have to march to in order to get public land zoned with a reduced cost to reputable housing groups?

Watching cities like NYC, Seattle, Denver, and Atlanta, we can see the signals of policies that are likely to increase street level living and those policies likely to spark a market response to affordable housing.

One of the greatest indicators of future success in reducing the experiences of homelessness are community goals and expectations. Can we expect a Nashville, a Tennessee, with rapid response teams to encampments and streamlined paths to housing?

A favorite quote is from Peter Drucker, “The best way to predict the future is create it.”

Our post pandemic policy response is pivotal to our community quality of life. Will we be suffering or designing?

Can we create the future or must we suffer from it?

~Major Ethan Frizzell, The Salvation Army

April 28 - May 12, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 19

The Contributor: April 28, 2021

Articles inside

Vendor Writing

Vendor Poetry

HOBOSCOPES

The United Streets of America: Memphis

In Remembrance

History Corner

NEWS BRIEFS

A HAND UP, NOT A HAND OUT

Give and Take