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Summer Reading List 15 Books to Read This Summer

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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...

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GRATIS

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Mayo/2

2021

L a N ticia

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www.hispanicpaper.com

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

Año 19 - No. 330

Cómo empezar un negocio en los Estados Unidos

¿Quiere tener un negocio propio? Muy fácil, empiece utilizando los recursos de las agencias federales de Gobierno para averiguar sobre oportunidades de capacitación, financiamiento, beneficios tributarios y cómo evitar fraudes.

Por Yuri Cunza Editor in Chief El primer paso para @LaNoticiaNews comenzar a averiguar sobre los recursos de ayuda que ofrece el Gobierno es utilizar los recursos de la Agencia Federal de Pequeños Negocios de Estados Unidos (SBA). La SBA lo puede ayudar con la planificación de su negocio, y programas de préstamos para pequeñas empresas: Aprenda cómo hacer un plan de negocio La SBA le brinda diversos recursos para elaborar un plan de negocio que se adapte a sus necesidades. Entre estos, puede encontrar:

Vendor Spotlight

Moving Pictures

“Going into beer joints, people feel sorry for you and sometimes give you a dime or a quarter instead of a nickel for the paper.”

Halston is a masterful examination of the three Es that defined his extraordinary life: elegance, extravagance and excess.

Herramienta de asesoría. Este recurso cuenta con un cuestionario para determinar su nivel de capacitación, necesidades y estrategia empresarial.

Cursos de negocios gratuitos. En conjunto con organizaciones sin fines de lucro, la SBA ofrece cursos gratuitos por internet que cubren temas relevantes para los nuevos empresarios; por ejemplo, planes de negocio y marketing, organización del negocio, contabilidad, impuestos y mucho más.

El Programa de los Centros de Desarrollo Empresarial (SBDC) de SBA ofrece ayuda en todas las etapas de la planificación de un negocio. Hay centros en cada estado del país que se enfocan en los mercados locales y las necesidades de cada cliente.

Préstamos para pequeñas empresas: La SBA administra programas de préstamos en conjunto con organizaciones del sector privado. Los programas de préstamos ayudan a cubrir las necesidades financieras de las nuevas empresas; por ejemplo, el capital para empezar o

Trabaje desde su casa

En Estados Unidos más de la mitad de las empresas tiene su sede en la casa del dueño y, por lo mismo, es bastante común que las personas decidan trabajar desde su casa.

Foto: Yuri Cunza

Perla Salas, and parents Yocundo Salas y Lucia Balcazar (background)speak to News Channel 5’s Seena Sleem about her beginnings as owner/founder of Perlita’s Fashion in South Nashville a decade ago. (Photo: 3/1/2020)

expandir una pequeña empresa, los fondos para la construcción o compra de terreno y los micropréstamos. Tenga en cuenta que los préstamos garantizados por la SBA son más favorables que los préstamos tradicionales ya que se pueden ajustar a su capacidad económica, extendiendo los plazos de pago para que sean más cómodos.

minoritarios, incluyendo mujeres e hispanos. Averigüe si es elegible para el Programa mentor-protegido para recibir capacitación y asistencia por parte de empresas exitosas.

Si usted quiere saber cuáles son los requisitos para trabajar desde el hogar y los beneficios tributarios que esto podría tener, consulte con la Agencia Federal de Pequeños Negocios de Estados Unidos (SBA, sigla en inglés). La SBA le entregará esta información y, además, lo ayudará a desarrollar un plan de negocios y marketing.

La Noticia + The Contributor La Comisión Federal de Comercio: (FTC) tiene información básica acerca de cómo poner en marcha un negocio. La FTC cuenta con recursos que le permiten, entre otras cosas, consultar cómo empezar un negocio por internet, cómo comprar una franquicia, aprender sobre estrategias y planes de comercialización que se ajusten a las necesidades de su empresa, e identificar ofertas de empleo fraudulentas.

El Servicio de Impuestos Internos: (IRS) tiene información útil sobre los pasos a seguir para empezar un negocio, para tomar decisiones informadas antes de poner en marcha una empresa. Consulte los siguientes consejos tributarios si está empezando un negocio, como tipos de impuestos y métodos de contabilidad.

La Oficina para el Desarrollo de Negocios de las Minorías forma parte del Departamento de Comercio de Estados Unidos, y también ofrece varios programas y servicios para empresarios en desventaja social y económica.

Consulte el directorio de agencias estatales para averiguar los requisitos que rigen en su estado, ya que a veces pueden existir requisitos adicionales para empezar su empresa.

Consejos para emprender un negocio Lo primero que debe hacer cuando está trabajando en un proyecto para formar una empresa, es elaborar un plan de negocios. Algunas herramientas que ofrece el Gobierno, le pueden ser de gran utilidad.

Inscríbase a entrenamientos gratuitos o busque ayuda de mentores cualificados para evitar cometer errores que retrasen su proceso.

Protéjase de fraudes y estafas

Si recibe ofertas para trabajar desde su casa, antes de aceptar siga las recomendaciones de la Comisión Federal de Comercio (FTC, sigla en inglés).

Empiece haciendo preguntas sobre sus funciones, su salario y los objetivos de la empresa para determinar si el trabajo que le ofrecen es legítimo. Usted también tiene la opción de verificar la reputación de la compañía ante su agencia local de protección del consumidor.

(Con información www.usa.gov/espanol)

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.

Recursos para empresarios en desventaja social o económica: El Programa de Desarrollo Empresarial 8(a) del SBA ofrece ayuda a empresarios de grupos

Haga una cita en los centros de asistencia locales, para que se oriente acerca de los temas relacionados a la creación de una empresa.

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

15

Nashville, Tennessee

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

de:

In this issue, vendors write about their grievances with the governor of Tennessee and support of the Nashville City Council.

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

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Contributors This Issue

Hannah Herner • Amanda Haggard • Linda Bailey • Maggie Youngs • Erica Ciccarone • Ron Wynn • Ridley Wills II • Jen Alexander • Vicky Batcher • Yuri Cunza • Norma B. • Mr. Mysterio • Tyrone M. • John H.

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

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

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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.

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VENDOR SPOTLIGHT

JACKIE GOT TO RETURN TO HIS FAVORITE JOB

BY HANNAH HERNER From the ages of 9 to 12, Jackie L. would book it downtown after school. He went from East Nashville and zipped across the Jefferson Street Bridge, sometimes hitching a ride with a friend who had an electric scooter. He’d pick up 10 copies of the Nashville Banner sports extra edition and hustle up and down Church Street, in the bars and movie theaters that thrived there in the late ’50s. Then he’d return three cents per paper and keep two cents to himself, plus tips.

“Going into beer joints, people feel sorry for you and sometimes give you a dime or a quarter instead of a nickel for the paper. I enjoyed it, I loved it,” he says. “I’d make a quarter or 30 cents a day. Man, that was big time money for me. I was like a king then.”

His next stop would be the chili shop, where he spent the 20 cents on a bowl of chili and a fried wiener sandwich. The rest would go to candy. Then he walked across the newly constructed Victory Memorial Bridge to his family’s home on Howerton Street.

“It was boring, and it gave me something to do, and I just learned to love it. After I done it for two or three years, I just loved selling the paper,” he says.

A profession that used to cure his boredom became a lifeline later in life. When he and his son lost their apartment in a house fire in Dickson, they found themselves living on the streets.

“We run into some bad luck. We were living in Dickson. Our apartment caught on fire and we lost everything. We come to Nashville, piddle around for two years sleeping in old buildings, abandoned cars and everything. Finally I had some luck, got on my feet and started selling The Contributor,” Jackie says.

The Contributor office is just blocks away from where he would get papers back when he was a kid. And using money he makes from selling The Contributor, he’s able to pay for the apartment he secured through a Section 8 voucher in Bellevue. He’s been selling at his spot at Annex Road and Charlotte Pike for seven years now.

Jackie grew up in a Nashville that’s far gone, and stories about the old days spill out easily in his Southern drawl. He’s one of seven siblings, and his father worked at a coal yard for 25 years. The family lived on company property.

“It was a good life. We had it hard, you know. Back then when I was a kid,

times were hard. My father worked at that old coal yard. He probably didn’t make more than 25 or 30 dollars a week. But back then things were ten times cheaper,” he says. “He’d take that ol’ coal truck up to H.G. Hill grocery store and for what he made he’d fill the back of that coal truck up with bags of groceries.”

When he was 15, his father went in front of a juvenile judge and got permission from the juvenile judge to take Jackie out of school so he could go work in the coal yard, too. Because of this, Jackie never finished high school. His coal boss took him over to get his driver’s license and Jackie went right to work hauling coal in a five ton truck, taking over his father’s old route.

“Back then, just about everybody in Nashville bought coal,” he says.

“They had what was called a country run and I drove five ton dump trucks delivering it out to country folks. They had a coal shed out behind the house and they burnt for a heater.”

After the coal company shut down, Jackie did construction work.

He had to retire in 1996 when he got in a severe car accident. The accident messed up his neck, and he’s had three surgeries on it, leaving behind metal plates and screws.

A view (looking west) along Church Street at Fourth Avenue N in downtown Nashville.

Besides an affection for the job, Jackie is driven to get out and sell papers each day to stay healthy. Having had blood clots and stents put in, his heart doctor said the best thing is exercise.

He’s grateful for those who roll down their window to chat at a red light, pull over to a nearby parking lot and come over on foot for more time to fellowship, plus those who give a meal, a ride home, some groceries.

“They’re just the nicest people in the world,” he says.

Jackie says that if he hadn’t started

PAGE 4 | May 26-June 9, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

working at the coal company at such a young age, he’d be working behind a desk making lots of money today.

There’s always been something he likes about the job of selling newspapers, though.

“I love selling The Contributor.

I enjoy it,” he says. “Of course, I’ve never in my life been the type of person who can sit in the house. I gotta get out. I’ve been an outdoor man all my life. I’m going to sell papers until I play plumb out and have to give it up, hang it up. I hope that’s quite a while longer.”

NEWS

NEWS BRIEFS Jefferson Street Bridge camp to be cleared A long-standing encampment located under the Jefferson Street Bridge is set to be cleared out by city officials and MNPD on June 1. A new sign has been put up in the area claiming no trespassing and no encampments on the metro property after June 1, 2021.

A press release from nonprofit homeless service provider and advocacy group Open Table Nashville says that the city plans to move remaining residents to another encampment known as Tent City, where newly announced development plans put that camp’s future in jeopardy.

“At Open Table Nashville, we believe that everyone has a right to safe and dignified housing. It is inhumane to close encampments when there is not enough affordable, accessible housing for those in need. While efforts are being made by service providers to connect residents with housing, it is both cruel and dangerous for Metro to consider moving the remaining residents to another crowded encampment that is also slated for closure,” the statement reads.

Open Table Nashville also shared concern that service providers like The Bridge Ministry, who have been giving resources to people experiencing homelessness there for 20 years, will now be blocked out of the area.

“It is a misuse of public funds to pay for a fence that will prevent Nashville residents from receiving needed services on public land,” the statement reads.

Open Table Nashville suggests offering FEMA-reimbursed hotel vouchers to residents as they wait for housing, creating a Continuum of Care committee to explore the idea of a sanctioned encampment, and investing in housing

Photo under Jefferson Street Bridge. Photo Courtesy of Open Table Nashville. first models, among other ideas, with the money used to clear out the Jefferson Street Encampment.

New fund to incentivize landlords On May 13, Mayor John Cooper announced the formation of the Landlord Risk Mitigation Fund.

Through this fund, money will be available to landlords who accept federal housing vouchers, like Section 8 vouchers, to cover property damages or rent up to $1,000 above the security deposit for a given unit. The money can be applied for after the tenant moves out or is evicted, but is not meant to prevent eviction.

Deon Trotter with Metro Homeless Impact Division told The Contributor in an email, “We are still working through the details and it’s full setup but from my understanding it is once the client

has moved out and have exhausted the deposits and any insurance deductibles.

As we move through this, I do believe there will be future opportunity to assist to prevent eviction for certain damages, but I don’t think we are at that point now.”

According to the manual accompanying the fund, it is meant to “focus on landlord recruitment effort for permanent supportive housing and rapid re-housing opportunities utilizing traditional apartments.”

This fund combines existing federal housing dollars with a donation from The Frist Foundation through United Way of Greater Nashville. In the press release announcing its formation, the fund is described as “designed to get more Nashville families and neighbors into homes.”

"Communit y challenges demand community solutions, and Nashville's affordable housing needs are urgent."

Cooper said. "The Landlord Mitigation Fund is another tool we can use as we create a Nashville that works for everyone."

The city hopes this could convince more landlords like Waddell Wright, CEO of W. Wright Companies, to take on tenants getting housing through government vouchers.

"My experience has been great — it's always been a purpose of mine to create strong viable and sustainable communities," Wright said in a press release.

"We can't forget that we, as property developers, shelter humans, all humans."

May 26-June 9, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 5

Mayor’s budget to put $10M toward affordable housing grants Mayor John Cooper announced the city would put $10 million in affordable housing dollars toward creating 335 affordable housing units and preserving another 90.

“We know Nashville’s affordable housing needs are urgent, and we know solving this problem requires an allhands-on-deck approach,” Cooper said in a release.

These grants, which were bolstered by a $250,000 private-public partnership with the Regions Foundation, will go to the following organizations and projects: Affordable Housing Resources will complete the Lanier Park Townhomes, located near Neelys Bend Road in Madison, for 31 first-time home buyers and seniors looking to downsize.

Be A Helping Hand Foundation will develop two four-bedroom rental units for women and children.

Habitat for Humanity will get funds to support a new development near Brick Church Pike in North Nashville, which will provide homes for 32 families.

Mending Hearts, Inc. will provide transitional living and wraparound services for eight women in the community.

Samaritan Recovery Community will create 195 new units in a mixed-income community on South Fourth Street and Shelby Avenue.

Urban Housing Solutions is slated to redevelop Mercury Courts on Murfreesboro Pike into a mixed-income, transit-oriented community anchor and spur additional redevelopment there.

Woodbine Community Organization will build 67 new units for local neighbors on 40th Ave. N. in West Nashville and Elysian Fields Road in South Nashville.

NASHVILLE HISTORY CORNER

Ben Allen, Nashville’s Mystic

BY RIDLEY WILLS II In the early 1900s, Nashville children would have been terrified at the thought of walking or running by the tall brick home of the city’s mystic, the elegant Ben Allen, at 125 Eighth Avenue South (Rosa Parks Boulevard).

Born in New Orleans in 1855, Ben moved to Nashville with his parents as a small child. His father, Joseph W. Allen, had made a fortune as a cotton broker in New Orleans and in Nashville helped found Third National Bank that later merged with First American National Bank. He also helped organize the Nashville Gas Company. Allen and his wife built their imposing town house with its tall arched windows in 1869 on what was then one of the fashionable residential streets, the part of Spruce Street that lay just south of Broadway. Mrs. Allen was such a perfectionist that she would not allow coal to be brought in the house until the coal had been washed.

Ben, although studious, dropped out of college to pursue his own studies. In 1883, he married a young widow, Susan Dorothy Perkins, eight years his senior.

Later, his parents turned over their big house to Ben and “Miss Sue” and moved to a smaller house. Ben built a workshop in the back of his house where he designed jewelry and engraved silver. Ben Allen joined Nashville’s Scottish Rite, a fraternal organization, while his gregarious wife entertained friends at small dinner parties in their home. Allen became a Mason in 1888 when he was 33. He later rose to the lofty rank of 33rd degree Mason.

Ben Allen was considered a genius.

Starting in boyhood, he delved into scholarly books on philosophy, astronomy, astrology, Oriental history and the history of art. He became a collector of paintings, statues and oriental rugs.

Tall and slender with piercing blue eyes and a carefully groomed beard, Allen was always elegantly dressed, often in white linen. Stories of his mystic powers grew as more and more people attended his seances, which he held three times a week. There, the participants, usually friends or neighbors, sat around a table, touched fingers and waited for messages to come from the spirit world. Strangely, it

was “Miss Sue'' who received the messages.

“The thing” came rushing in, rustling the ladies’s voluminous petticoats. Some participants said “the thing” felt like a large cat rubbing against their legs. It unbuttoned high top shoes, rattled silver and china, and even caused the table to rise and push aside the people around it.

When Robert Love Taylor was governor between 1897 and 1899, he and his wife lived in the Maxwell House Hotel.

Their grandson, Peter Taylor, the author, told the story of the morning when his grandmother Taylor suffered from a terrible headache. She tried to wait it out by sitting on the balcony overlooking the lobby. Without her knowledge, Allen hypnotized her and cured her of the headache.

She was grateful and told the governor what happened. He replied, “I don’t want you to be hypnotized again.”

Once a skeptic at one of Allen’s seances turned on the lights to expose what he considered a hoax. He was followed home that summer night by “the thing” that pulled off his bed covers several nights in a row.

PAGE 6 | May 26-June 9, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

When, Ben Allen, Nashville’s wellbred gentleman of leisure, grew seriously ill at age 53, some Nashvillians thought that he had “brain fever.” When he died in 1910, at 55, the city was stunned. His funeral was held at McKendree Methodist Church. At the stroke of midnight on Thursday, July 14, the eerie ceremony began. The Preceptor, Joseph Toy Howell, the only one wearing a white robe, took his place at the head of the casket.

Four Knights with swords guarded the casket. Allen’s own sword, shining with diamonds, rubies, amethysts and other precious stones, lay on top of the casket.

In the darkened church, Howell asked the Knights several questions, which they answered while kneeling beside the casket.

The Preceptor then showly struck an iron cross three times.

The black-robed Knights then removed Allen’s jeweled sword and other symbols of the riches of the world and solumely left the church in a procession.

The service took an hour. Today, people who travel Ben Allen Road in East Nashville have no idea who Ben Allen was.

May 26-June 9, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 7

SUMMER READING LIST

A Q&A with Lindsey Krinks on ‘Praying With Our Feet,’ a memoir of her call to community and justice in the streets

BY A M ANDA HAGGARD

For Lindsey Krinks, the arc of her work has gone from global to local, first working on global hunger issues and working her way toward issues of collective liberation in Nashville.

“Our work, this book, is hopefully speaking toward that liberation in a local context,” Krinks says.

Krinks, the co-founder of the nonprofit Open Table Nashville, is also a wellknown name at The Contributor. Much of her work is in the paper’s orbit, and her beginnings in the local activist world congealed around the start of the paper, where her husband Andrew was an editor and where she met and formed many relationship’s with the paper’s earliest vendors

like Ray Ponce De Leon. Praying with Our Feet: Pursuing Justice and Healing on the Streets, which was released on Feb. 2 via Baker Publishing Group, presents Krinks’ story of building community in the context of these kinds of relationships.

There’s a thread of vulnerability throughout the book and a sense of being gently guided through some of the most pressing issues in the city. It’s a story of neighbors and friends and what Nashville is up against in the fight for affordable housing. Krinks book centers people experiencing poverty and homelessness — it doesn’t shy away from the harsh truths of living on the streets.

“I hope it shows the dignity and agency

and incredible spirits of the people that I've come to love over the years,” Krinks says. “I am just so in awe of the stories of people that have allowed me to accompany them over the years and have taught me so much in the process. I definitely want it to come across that they are the heroes of my story.”

The book came out right on the heels of this large-scale traumatic event.

Talk a little bit about planning the release during this past year.

I actually finished the first draft of the book two days before the tornado hit. And then, of course, like the next week was the safer at home order — safer at home for

PAGE 8 | May 26-June 9, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

all those with homes. So I had finished it largely before the pandemic hit, but was doing the editing work and kind of revision work with the editors through all of this. Basically homelessness is one long endless cycle of and crisis. And so people on the streets have already lived through so many terrible tragedies and crisis situations. This was just another one and it was just another huge one, you know, that was global in scale. It was just a really difficult year for everybody.

It made me think about the crisis situations that were unfolding. Definitely made me more convinced than ever that housing is a human right, and that everybody deserves to have safe, dignified

SUMMER READING LIST

Krinks distributed copies of the book to people featured in it. PHOTOS BY LINDSEY KRINKS housing, that all of us are interconnected.

And especially that our health and wellbeing [are] all interconnected together.

It just made me feel even fiercer about it.

It was also exhausting because we also had a baby and we lost our home in the tornado — just a really intense experience.

When you're putting something together that's partially memoir and then also kind of a history of an area of sorts, you get into places where you're showing a certain level of vulnerability where you really have to put yourself out there. Did you struggle with that?

In preparation for writing this I actually read a lot of Mary Karr and other books about writing, but one of the things Karr says about writing a memoir is that you have to be able to tell the stories you're scared to tell. If you're really going to connect and be vulnerable and kind of take off your armor and let people see for who you are. And so I kind of had some trepidation about some of that. I didn't know until I was actually writing the vulnerable stories how vulnerable I would be, but it was liberating to be able to be vulnerable and real and, and say, you know, this is really hard and, and these are the ways that anxiety and trauma manifested themselves.

The thing about doing homeless outreach is that we enter into people's lives in incredibly vulnerable states and to not be able to share our own vulnerability kind of isn't fair, you know, that's what makes us human. That's what helps us connect on a deeper level together. And, and I just, I really believe that there is healing when we can be vulnerable and can open ourselves up. I knew that I would need to be vulnerable, but I wasn't sure what that would look like until I was actually writing it.

It was also really interesting to read about a budding romance between you and your now-husband Andrew,

which obviously must’ve been really different than the vulnerability you show when writing about more traumatic parts of your experience.

I always want to show that being human is being a whole person. Most of us have experiences of love and so to be able — to not deny those places of my humanity was really cool too. I realized when I was writing the book and I say this in the prologue, I think that the story really is a love story. And it's not just a love story between me and Andrew, but it's also between me and me falling in love with the people we work with and the work of homeless outreach in the streets and the struggle for justice. That kind of love is what drives me in the work. It's why I've lasted for 14 years in this work. It’s that love for people and that community and those connections.

And so I definitely knew that I couldn't write my own story and about the work for me without, including those things. So it was really cool to get to. I don't know how to get to process that and write about it and share it because we had been doing this work for so long together and then really started doing it together. So that was fun and felt cool.

You write a lot about Father Charlie Stroble’s mentorship and how forming that relationship that helped you build community. Can you talk about the continuity of movements and leaning on folks like Charlie?

When we're doing this kind of work movement work, when we're doing social justice work, we forget how much we need the wisdom of our elders and of generations that have gone before us and that the intergenerational movements and the intergenerational wisdom and relationships are what gives depth to the current struggles and to the current movement. Charlie is such a special person and a gentle soul and a wise soul. His friendship over the

last 14 years and mentorship has just been so transformative. It’s really helped me deepen my roots. Good mentors don't tell you what to do. They help you awaken to your own agency and strengths and build a kind of discernment for what's needed.

Did you have any moments that really surprised you while writing this?

Flannery O'Connor is the one who said writing is an act of discovery. And that was so true for me in this process. Of course, you know, I had experienced what I lived through, but going back through it a decade later and really trying to be present to it, going back through journals and news articles, trying to think about the smells and what was blooming at the time, things like that — that kind of presence to those stories was really enriching. It had this cumulative effect of connecting me to my roots and helping me to remember that I am always supposed to be on the ground.

I love working at Open Table Nashville, but whatever I do, I need to stay grounded, but also stay connected to the community. That kind of spirituality that's fed me over the years, going back and writing the book reminded me of how important that stretch of valley had been to me in the early days, the early years and through cycles, seasons of burnout and everything. So it was really grounding. I think a lot of us process through writing.

Some of us are external processors, others are internal. I'm an external processor. So writing helps me make sense of things and experiences and traumas. And so it was healing grounding to be able to do that on a larger scale than just journaling, which I've done since that was in elementary school, journaling about crushes, which was also really important.

I wanted to ask about the more religious aspects of the book. Obviously the title is rooted in a Christian

May 26-June 9, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 9

concept and you weave that throughout the book, but talk a little bit about your experience in religious communities in Nashville.

We always try to meet people where they are at Open Table Nashville and doing the education work I do with Open Table, I always try to meet people where they are and spirituality has been something that's been really important to me. Certainly not everybody has that experience, but for people who identify in the Christian tradition, but aren't living in such a way that is good news to the poor, it’s easy to start with that. Basically saying, ‘hey the gospel is supposed to be good news to the poor, it’s literally that.’ In that tradition, in the life of Jesus, he is a God that stands on the side of the oppressed, a God that chooses to work through outcasts and a God that was crucified by the state and by people in power.

I tried to write through stories and I think somebody can’t argue with an experience as much as you can argue with an idea. So I definitely tried to write the book in such a way that it would hopefully meet readers where they were, even if they were coming from a more conservative context to kind of introduce them to a different way of thinking. As a chaplain, I work in an interfaith context, but I have no interest in converting anyone to Christianity other than Christians, if that makes sense.

But there’s a lot of work to do because a lot of folks in the church have gotten really comfortable and the church has come to uphold the status quo, whether that's capitalism or racism or white supremacy, or just a kind of complacency that is a violent complacency. We forget that complacency in a time of injustice and silence is violent.

It's part of our mission is to kind of meet those folks where they are and kind of help them take the next step toward openness and toward compassion for justice. And that's long-term work.

SUMMER READING LIST

Summer Reading List

15 Books to Read This Summer

Deep Delta Justice: A Black Teen, His Lawyer, and Their Groundbreaking Battle for Civil Rights In The South

BY MATTHEW VON METER

Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty

BY PATRICK RADDEN KEEFE

By now, most of us know that the opioid epidemic was brought on by doctors flagrantly over-prescribing pain medication. But how much do you actually know? Patrick Radden Keefe takes us inside the family that is arguably most responsible for the marriage of medicine and advertising that set the stage for mass addiction to opioids. The Sacklers — who own Purdue Pharma, the company that patented OxyContin — sent salespeople to health clinics across the country, hawking the drug with such ferocity that they left whole towns decimated by overdoses. It’s a meticulously researched, captivating read. ERICA CICCARONE

Transcendent Kingdom

BY YAA GYASI

In her stunning second novel, Yaa Gyasi tells the story of a Gifty, a PhD candidate intent on understanding the neural circuits of depression and addiction. Why? Because knowing the scientific basis for the suffering her family has experienced may bring her some semblance of control over her life. Transcendent Kingdom is among the best novels in recent years to uncover the breathtakingly close relationships between siblings that keep families afloat.

ERICA CICCARONE

Though not as well known as other famous cases like Brown v.

Board of Education that eliminated state-sanctioned segregation in schools, or Loving vs. Virginia which shattered the ban on interracial marriage, Duncan v. Louisiana played an equally big role in the fight for social justice and equity. The 1966 case that involved 19-year-old Gary Duncan, who was arrested and imprisoned despite trying to be a peacemaker in a racially charged fight, eventually led to revolutionary changes in judicial procedure and structure affecting generations of poor and disproportionately Black clients accused of various crimes. The case's history, as well as the two-year process it took leading up to the ultimate Supreme Court ruling and its exact importance, are comprehensively detailed in journalist Matthew Von Meter's outstanding volume Deep Delta Justice: A Black Teen, His Lawyer, and Their Groundbreaking Battle for Civil Rights In The South. Van Meter not only outlines its history, but provides multiple interviews, analysis and scope to chronicle a story that deserves far greater exposure and celebration. RON WYNN

The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song

BY HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR.

This companion guide to the recent PBS two-part, four hour series is the latest in acclaimed historian and author Henry Louis Gates' incisive portraits of African American life. The book covers every aspect of the Black church, an institution Gates considers the most powerful and influential in the African American community. He spotlights key figures and events, pivotal denominations, and shows how the church has helped shape Black and by extension American culture in multiple ways.

Gates doesn't overlook problem areas either, most notably the resistance to giving women leadership roles despite their overwhelming prominence and participation in church matters since the beginning. He also examines the music, doctrines, and other aspects of Black spirituality that continue to make the church such a vital part of daily life. This book's wealth of material is a treasure chest for the devout believer, and valuable for everyone. RON WYNN

PAGE 10 | May 26-June 9, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

Detransition, Baby

BY TORREY PETERS

In her fearless debut novel, Torrey Peters disarms our notions of womanhood and motherhood with wit, vulnerability and unforgettable characters. Reese is a trans matriarch — smart and acerbic. Amy is her ex — but since she detransitioned (that is, started presenting as male, which was the gender assigned to her at birth), she goes by Ames. Katrina is Ames’ boss and lover. And they just might raise a child together.

ERICA CICCARONE

SUMMER READING LIST

At the Center of All Beauty: Solitude and the Creative Life Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family

BY ROBERT KOLKER

On the surface, the Galvin family was living the mid-century American dream. But behind closed doors, six of the family’s 10 sons were slipping away from reality and into the throes of schizophrenia, a disease that scientists simply did not understand at that time. Because of the clear role that genetics played in the Galvin boys’ psychology, the family helped scientists not only to understand the disease, but to treat it. Author Robert Kolker’s empathy in telling their story is unimpeachable, and it makes the family legacy one of great hope. ERICA CICCARONE

Girl, Woman, Other

BY BERNARDINE EVARISTO

This book weaves together the narratives of 12 different Black British people, mostly women, and one nonbinary person, in a way that makes it tough to put down. The stories center women and nonbinary people, exploring the relationships, family structures and lifestyles. In an interview, Bernardine Evaristo once said that she first thought she might have 100 Black women protagonists in the book.

“One hundred Black women characters? How can I do that? I need more poetic form. Now there are only 12 main characters.” While only 12 main characters remain, her idea of a full range of life encompassing many paths remains.

AMANDA HAGGARD

When Helping Hurts

BY FENTON JOHNSON

A vendor and writer for The Contributor sent me this book at the beginning of the pandemic — a time when the thought of solitude while sharing a house with a toddler and husband seemed insane.

But that made the reading of it more interesting — Fenton Johnson’s characters, folks he pulls from history to muse on their solitude, range from Emily Dickinson to Zora Neale Hurston. Johnson can get off track with the memoir that weaves in and out — it seems he’s trying hard to cement his place among the solitaires. But parts of it work, and it’s worth a read.

AMANDA HAGGARD

BY STEVE CORBETT AND BRIAN FIKKERT

The Fire Next Time

BY JAMES BALDWIN

James Baldwin writes with a clear, sensitive voice. He begins The Fire Next Time with an intimate letter to his nephew then continues on to describe formative influences on his life. From his time as a "boy preacher" to an uncomfortable dinner at the mansion of Elijah Mohammad, Baldwin offers us a meaningful glimpse into the pitfalls, pain and pride of existing while black in 20th century America. JEN ALEXANDER

What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat

BY AUBREY GORDON

Discrimination against fat people is the final social-justice frontier. In a frank 166 pages, Aubrey Gordon makes the case that it’s high time we unlearn anti-fat bias. She marshals evidence from scientific studies, pop culture, her own experience and more to unveil the white-supremacist roots of the BMI, the failure of the “body positive movement,” the faulty assumptions of healthcare workers and more. Everyone should read this book. ERICA CICCARONE

When Helping Hurts provides biblical and practical framework for how individuals and the Church should interact with poverty. Addressing ways in which the Church has often failed to serve communities, it encourages readers to both address their own brokenness and sustainably engage in the brokenness around them. MAGGIE YOUNGS

The Desiderata

Such a Fun Age

BY MAX EHRMANN

BY KILEY REID

I first read the Desiderata at the age of 10, hanging in the entryway of my home. It would be a piece I would add in my home.

A poem written in 1927 by Max Ehrmann, an attorney in Indiana, it would later be turned into a song in 1971 by Les Crane. It made it all the way to No. 8 on the Billboard charts. It speaks of love, patience and humanity, how we should live our lives. “You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars, you have a right to be here.” He also wrote: “I should like, if I could, to leave a humble gift — a bit of chaste prose that had caught up some noble moods.” I find it helpful every day.

VICKY BATCHER

The Nickel Boys

I Am Not Trying to Hide My Hungers from the World

BY COLSON WHITEHEAD

BY KENDRA DECOLO

Colson Whitehead weaves together multiple true stories to draw this fictional, harrowing tale of cruelty and injustice perpetrated against young black boys condemned to a corrupt reform school in the Jim Crow South.

This carefully worded and paced novel highlights the lasting harm that is done when we allow our social systems to operate without oversight or humanity for the sake and profit of white America.

JEN ALEXANDER

Nashville poet Kendra DeColo’s latest collection of poems casts motherhood as heroic and brutal, joyful and defiant. In one poem, she’s pumping her breast milk by hand into a public sink. In another, she’s chatting with other mothers at the playground, feeling “worn out and hollowed.” She pauses to muse about Nicolas Cage, to send Hillary Clinton well wishes for a good lay, and to consider popular memes. The poems in this sexy, hilarious collection make one thing clear: Motherhood is hardcore.

ERICA CICCARONE

May 26-June 9, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 11

An examination of white privilege and fake wokeness, Such A Fun Age follows a young Black nanny caught up in a series of problems after working for a well-intentioned white woman. Many parts of the book feel ripped from nonfiction headlines: a viral video makes life harder for people and an influencer (the aforementioned white woman) tries to exploit the video for her own purposes. It’ll all seem very familiar. This is Kiley Reid’s debut novel and the writer is already looking to put it to film.

AMANDA HAGGARD

NEWS

FOR MANY NASHVILLIANS, WITHOUT HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA, WAGES ARE LOW Adult education providers give more opportunity to students

BY HANNAH HERNER

Over 41,000 Nashvillians do not have a high school diploma, according to the 2020 Community Needs Evaluation put together by Metropolitan Social Service Commission.

Mayor John Cooper’s opening letter points out that the high number of people without their diploma means many are working low-wage jobs.

“Some 41,000 Nashville residents lack a high school diploma. The result is that far too many residents work jobs that pay far less than the living wage,” it reads. “Nearly 39,000 Nashvillians work full-time jobs paying less than $12 an hour. Yet a living wage for residents with children in Nashville-Davidson County is $22.87 an hour. Increasing average wages in Nashville will require sustained investments in education and workforce opportunity — investments that I will work with the Metro Council to make, along with additional investments in community safety, housing, transportation and infrastructure.”

Area Adult Education centers seek to remove some of the barriers to education, which can in turn, remove barriers to getting higher wage jobs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that people with a high school diploma make an average of around $8,000 more per year than those without one.

The 41,000 number didn’t come as a surprise to Megan Godbey, systems manager of GOAL Collective, a collective of adult education providers in Nashville.

In fact, she had been working off of a higher number.

Godbey says only about a third of students end up keeping with the program until graduation the first time they try.

More likely, they attend a few classes, and then life circumstances get in the way. Taking care of family, holding down a job, transportation to class, or just feeling discouraged with the difficulty of the work can stand in the way — often the same circumstances that led them to leave school to begin with, she says.

“Adults really want to know, for everything, like, what's the cost? And what's the timeline? And we can't blame them,” Godbey says. “I mean, they're negotiating that against all the other priorities in their life. But many adult learners are coming to us with gaps in

PHOTO COURTESY OF GOAL COLLECTIVE

their learning that we can't quite identify.

The answer about like, 'how long is it going to take me?' doesn't have a straight formula to it.”

A report from GOAL shows that the pandemic actually removed some of the barriers to people getting their diplomas. With the imposed remote learning, students could be at home with their kids and work on their own time, around their work schedules. They didn’t have to worry about gas or bus fare to get to class, either.

Margareth Caballero started classes with Begin Anew in May 2020, all online, and is well on her way to getting her diploma. As a single mom, doing school work from home with her daughter works well.

“I always had it in mind, but you know I got pregnant, so I couldn't. But I always liked school. My parents were poor, we had to move from Texas to Tennessee, so I had to wait. And then I just started living by myself, you know, and things like that. I figured I wanted to be a good example for my daughter, so that's pretty much why I decided to do it now and not later,” Caballero says.

But moving online was a challenge for both the tutors and students who weren’t initially tech-savvy like Margareth, who has a computer and wifi to

work at home as well. Out of Russel’s site of 25 students, 22 of them did not have computers, and the libraries weren’t an option. So they got textbooks in hands and tutors called to help over the phone.

Through a grant, some were able to be loaned laptops. Some students needed basic digital literacy skills to learn, like using a mouse, creating an email and an online account for the curriculum.

And even some of the teachers were only accustomed to pen and paper.

“Their comfort level with acquiring those digital skills became a stumbling block to making sure that we can match them with students to tutor,” Godbey says. “So we ended up kind of grappling with the fact that we're all really adult learners, teachers, managers and volunteers alike.”

With adult education in Nashville, each classroom does things quite differently — the curriculum, teaching style — and there isn’t a place for learners to evaluate what all is available for them.

Because of this, figuring out what the best place to learn for a given student is can be a barrier in itself. GOAL seeks to compile all the solutions while helping organizations that offer classes figure out their strengths.

The 2019 American Community Survey Data found that for people over 25 in

PAGE 12 | May 26-June 9, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

Nashville, the higher the education, the lower the rate of poverty, and it’s always a higher rate of poverty for women.For women without a high school diploma, the rate is 33.5 percent who live in poverty, while 23.5 percent of men do. Furthermore, that rate drops to 18.3 percent of women and 13.8 percent of men once a diploma is obtained.

In Russell’s experience with her students, some jobs don’t even take applications without a high school diploma.

“It really hits you in the face when these students come in and you know they're willing to work and they want to work, and they're just not afforded that opportunity because of the decision they made when they were 14, you know, and it's just sad,” she says.

A handful of graduates from Begin Anew will go on to higher education, and now that they have their high school diploma, they can take part in the Tennessee Promise education. But for adult learners as a whole, it tends to be about more holistic goals, Godbey says.

“When we talk to adults about what they want for their life, the majority of them don't say, I want a college degree or I want to hold that diploma, what they say is, I want to read to my child, I want to have a better job so I can spend more time with my family. I want to be able to have a safe house,” she says.

Caballero works as a receptionist today, but hopes to get into the beauty industry or be a surgeon in the future.

In the midst of recovering from COVID and preparing for her daughter’s second birthday in December, she passed her reading and writing tests on the same day.

“Then it just took me almost a year to take the algebra test. So, I've never been good in math. So when I got to a point on doing algebra, I felt like I wasn't going to continue anymore,” Caballero says. “But again, I mean, my daughter, my goals, I have immigrant parents, I'm an immigrant too, so I didn't want to disappoint my parents or my daughter and I wanted to prove that whatever you want to do in life, you can still achieve it.

Even if you're a single mom, a teenager, immigrant, doesn't really matter. I want to be an example for other people. So that's what keeps me motivated.”

MOVING PICTURES

New York period piece NETFLIX’ HALSTON IS THE FIRST FABULOUS STREAMING SERIES OF THE YEAR

BY JOE NOLAN, FILM CRITIC

When Roy Halston Ferwick was born on April 23, 1932, in Des Moines, Iowa, there was probably no reason to believe he’d revolutionize American fashion and achieve world-wide celebrity.

But by the end of the 1970s Roy Ferwick became one of those rare mononymous American icons who transcend their personal histories and careers to assume a legendary place: Dolly, Elvis, Madonna, Halston. An eponymous new biopic series about the designer just started streaming on Netflix. Halston is a masterful examination of the three Es that defined this eccentric American’s extraordinary life: elegance, extravagance and excess. Halston crackles with sharply cut dialog and shimmers with electric performances, and it’s here to kick off 2021’s best-of-television race in style.

Director Daniel Minahan is no stranger to Halston’s Manhattan in the 1960s-1980s period setting. Minahan wrote the screenplay for the strong 1996 film I Shot Andy Warhol, which dramatized the real-life psychotic spiral of feminist activist and would-be-Andy-Warhol-assassin, Valerie Solanas.

That film demonstrated Minahan’s ear for dialogue and his ability to deliver extreme but believable characters into the capable hands of talented actors — the great Lili Taylor had one of her best turns in her role as Solanas.

Here Minahan teams up with playwright Sharr White to direct another true tale about another extreme character. Minahan’s insightful storytelling and White’s tailored scripting give Ewan McGregor all the runway he needs to take the spotlight in the title role — one of the best performances of his career. McGregor’s Halston is paranoid and proud, driven and destructive. He’s also hilarious and McGregor’s disdainful disses and regal retorts find him stealing countless scenes. But Halston is always likable and McGregor also gets credit for making sure viewers never lose sight of the true artist behind the designer’s questionable choices and bad behaviors.

Halston’s cast also includes a gutsy but off-target take on Liza Minnelli from Krysta Rodriguez, and a perfectly plodding Bill Pullman as one of Halston’s profit-hungry investors.

Halston’s other big stars are the behind-the-scenes experts who bring this New York period piece to life with the same kind of effortless style that Halston evoked with his best designs.

Halston’s hair, makeup and costume teams give us highrise hairdos and hoop earrings, turtlenecks and trenchcoats as well as reproductions of Halston’s own iconic designs for couture caftans, perfume bottles, airplane upholstery and even Jacqueline Kennedy’s unforgettable pillbox hat. Period movies like Halston often lean into their extravagant production designs as if every penny spent on vintage signage and contemporaneous automobiles and interior décor must get as much screen time as

the principle players. Minahan’s camera and his cast are allowed to simply exist in these masterfully crafted spaces and costumes and make-up. This allows viewers to let their guards down and simply believe every line of dialogue, every drape of fabric, every all-nighter at Studio 54.

Halston’s story seems custom made for an American legend, and White’s adaptation of Steven Gaines’ Simply Halston biography reads like American drama 101: an anonymous boy from the middle of nowhere follows his dreams to New York where he takes the world by storm before the same ambitions and exuberance that fueled his climb become his undoing.

Halston took on the world of

May 26-June 9, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 13

fashion and won, but by the 1980s, Halston was suffering both from a cocaine addiction and an AIDS diagnosis. Minahan shows us Halston’s dark side, but ultimately gives us a celebration of a true American original in one of the top television events of 2021.

Halston is currently streaming on Netflix

Joe Nolan is a critic, columnist and performing singer/songwriter based in East Nashville. Find out more about his projects at www.joenolan.com.

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...

GRATIS

Mayo/2

2021

L a N ticia

Escanee esta imagen para ver La Noticia newspaper edición bilingüe digital

www.hispanicpaper.com

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

Año 19 - No. 330

Nashville, Tennessee

Cómo empezar un negocio en los Estados Unidos

Trabaje desde su casa

¿Quiere tener un negocio propio? Muy fácil, empiece utilizando los recursos de las agencias federales de Gobierno para averiguar sobre oportunidades de capacitación, financiamiento, beneficios tributarios y cómo evitar fraudes.

Por Yuri Cunza Editor in Chief El primer paso para @LaNoticiaNews comenzar a averiguar sobre los recursos de ayuda que ofrece el Gobierno es utilizar los recursos de la Agencia Federal de Pequeños Negocios de Estados Unidos (SBA). La SBA lo puede ayudar con la planificación de su negocio, y programas de préstamos para pequeñas empresas: Aprenda cómo hacer un plan de negocio La SBA le brinda diversos recursos para elaborar un plan de negocio que se adapte a sus necesidades. Entre estos, puede encontrar: Herramienta de asesoría. Este recurso cuenta con un cuestionario para determinar su nivel de capacitación, necesidades y estrategia empresarial.

Cursos de negocios gratuitos. En conjunto con organizaciones sin fines de lucro, la SBA ofrece cursos gratuitos por internet que cubren temas relevantes para los nuevos empresarios; por ejemplo, planes de negocio y marketing, organización del negocio, contabilidad, impuestos y mucho más.

El Programa de los Centros de Desarrollo Empresarial (SBDC) de SBA ofrece ayuda en todas las etapas de la planificación de un negocio. Hay centros en cada estado del país que se enfocan en los mercados locales y las necesidades de cada cliente.

Préstamos para pequeñas empresas: La SBA administra programas de préstamos en conjunto con organizaciones del sector privado. Los programas de préstamos ayudan a cubrir las necesidades financieras de las nuevas empresas; por ejemplo, el capital para empezar o

En Estados Unidos más de la mitad de las empresas tiene su sede en la casa del dueño y, por lo mismo, es bastante común que las personas decidan trabajar desde su casa.

Foto: Yuri Cunza

Perla Salas, and parents Yocundo Salas y Lucia Balcazar (background)speak to News Channel 5’s Seena Sleem about her beginnings as owner/founder of Perlita’s Fashion in South Nashville a decade ago. (Photo: 3/1/2020)

expandir una pequeña empresa, los fondos para la construcción o compra de terreno y los micropréstamos. Tenga en cuenta que los préstamos garantizados por la SBA son más favorables que los préstamos tradicionales ya que se pueden ajustar a su capacidad económica, extendiendo los plazos de pago para que sean más cómodos.

La Comisión Federal de Comercio: (FTC) tiene información básica acerca de cómo poner en marcha un negocio. La FTC cuenta con recursos que le permiten, entre otras cosas, consultar cómo empezar un negocio por internet, cómo comprar una franquicia, aprender sobre estrategias y planes de comercialización que se ajusten a las necesidades de su empresa, e identificar ofertas de empleo fraudulentas.

El Servicio de Impuestos Internos: (IRS) tiene información útil sobre los pasos a seguir para empezar un negocio, para tomar decisiones informadas antes de poner en marcha una empresa. Consulte los siguientes consejos tributarios si está empezando un negocio, como tipos de impuestos y métodos de contabilidad.

Recursos para empresarios en desventaja social o económica: El Programa de Desarrollo Empresarial 8(a) del SBA ofrece ayuda a empresarios de grupos

minoritarios, incluyendo mujeres e hispanos. Averigüe si es elegible para el Programa mentor-protegido para recibir capacitación y asistencia por parte de empresas exitosas.

La Oficina para el Desarrollo de Negocios de las Minorías forma parte del Departamento de Comercio de Estados Unidos, y también ofrece varios programas y servicios para empresarios en desventaja social y económica.

Consulte el directorio de agencias estatales para averiguar los requisitos que rigen en su estado, ya que a veces pueden existir requisitos adicionales para empezar su empresa.

Consejos para emprender un negocio Lo primero que debe hacer cuando está trabajando en un proyecto para formar una empresa, es elaborar un plan de negocios. Algunas herramientas que ofrece el Gobierno, le pueden ser de gran utilidad.

Inscríbase a entrenamientos gratuitos o busque ayuda de mentores cualificados para evitar cometer errores que retrasen su proceso.

Haga una cita en los centros de asistencia locales, para que se oriente acerca de los temas relacionados a la creación de una empresa.

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

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.

www.juanese.com juaneseUSA@gmail.com

PAGE 14 | May 26-June 9, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

Si usted quiere saber cuáles son los requisitos para trabajar desde el hogar y los beneficios tributarios que esto podría tener, consulte con la Agencia Federal de Pequeños Negocios de Estados Unidos (SBA, sigla en inglés). La SBA le entregará esta información y, además, lo ayudará a desarrollar un plan de negocios y marketing.

Protéjase de fraudes y estafas

Si recibe ofertas para trabajar desde su casa, antes de aceptar siga las recomendaciones de la Comisión Federal de Comercio (FTC, sigla en inglés).

Empiece haciendo preguntas sobre sus funciones, su salario y los objetivos de la empresa para determinar si el trabajo que le ofrecen es legítimo. Usted también tiene la opción de verificar la reputación de la compañía ante su agencia local de protección del consumidor.

(Con información www.usa.gov/espanol)

de:

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

Whitsun-Week Wednesday THE grace of the Holy Ghost is not bound to any law.

St Gregory the Great: Dialogues.

NATURE makes man from the child and the hen from the egg, but God makes the man before the child and the hen before the egg. God gives the Holy Ghost before he gives the gifts of the Holy Ghost.

Eckhart: The Book of Benedictus.

Whitsun-Week Thursday WHEN a man here on earth is illuminated by the Holy Spirit from the spring of Jesus Christ . . . there comes into his heart and his veins such joy that the whole body triumphs, as though it were in the Holy Trinity, which they alone understand who have been its guests.

Boehme: Aurora.

Whitsun-Week Friday [OF the Cross] This Sign of sorrow and ignominy is the most expressive image of the Holy Ghost.

Léon Bloy: Letters to his Fiancée.

LET us love each other in the way that God wishes and let us not be frightened of the Love which is the very name of the Holy Ghost, and let us thus courageously await the will of Him Who made us for His glory.

Léon Bloy: Letters to his Fiancée.

Whitsun-Week Saturday IT is the knowledge of the All of God that makes cherubim and seraphim to be flames of divine love. For where this All of God is truly known and felt in any creature, there its whole breath and spirit is a fire of love, nothing but a pure disinterested love can arise up in it or come from it, a love that begins and ends in God. And where this love is born in any creature, there a seraphic life is born along with it. For this pure love introduces the creature into the All of God; all that is in God is opened in the creature, it is united with God and has the life of God manifested in it.

William Law: The Spirit of Prayer.

LOVE knoweth not how to keep a storehouse full of possessions.

The Paradise of the Fathers.

Trinity Sunday

1st Monday after Trinity

1st Saturday after Trinity

THE doctrine of the Holy Trinity is wholly practical; it is revealed to us, to discover our high original and the greatness of our fall, to show us the deep and profound operation of the triune God in the recovery of the divine life in our souls; that by the means of this mystery thus discovered, our piety may be rightly directed, our faith and prayer have their proper objects, that the workings and aspiring of our own hearts may cooperate and correspond with that triune life in the Deity, which is always desiring to manifest itself in us.

William Law: An Appeal.

BUT when does flesh receive the bread which he calls His flesh? The faithful know and receive the Body of Christ, if they labour to be the body of Christ. And they become the body of Christ, if they study to live by the Spirit of Christ: for that which lives by the Spirit of Christ, is the body of Christ. This bread the Apostle sets forth, where he says, We being many are one body. O sacrament of mercy, O sign of unity, O bond of love! Whoso wishes to live, let him draw nigh, believe, be incorporated, that he may be quickened.

St Augustine: quoted in Aquinas: Catena Aurea.

1st Tuesday after Trinity THERE appeared to me, in the profound and clear substance of that great light three Circles, of three colours and of one magnitude; and One seemed reflected from the Other as rainbow from rainbow, and the Third as it were a fire equally breathed from Either . . . and that Circling which seemed to reflected light, after my eyes had gazed some time, appeared in its own colour to be painted with our (human) likeness . . . Power failed from the high vision; but already my desire and my will revolved—like a wheel moving equally—in the Love that moves the sun and the other stars.

Dante: Paradise.

1st Wednesday after Trinity THERE is no one first principle of evil as there is one first principle of good.

Aquinas: Summa Theologica.

CREATION in the creature is only a certain relation to its Creator as to the principle of its being.

Aquinas: Summa Theologica.

IT is this eternal, unbeginning Trinity in unity of fire, light, and spirit, that constitutes eternal nature, the Kingdom of Heaven, the heavenly Jerusalem, the divine life, beatific visibility, the majestic glory and presence of God. Through this Kingdom of Heaven, or eternal nature, is the invisible God, the incomprehensible Trinity eternally breaking forth, and manifesting itself in a boundless height and depth of blissful wonders, opening and displaying itself to all its creatures as in an infinite variation and endless multiplicity of its powers, beauties, joys and glories.

William Law: An Appeal.

First Sunday after Trinity IT is owned on all hands that we are baptised into a renovation of some divine birth that we had lost. ßAnd that we many not be at a loss to know what that divine birth is, the form in baptism openly declares to us that it is to regain that first birth of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost in our souls, which at the first made us to be truly and really images of the nature of the Holy Trinity in unity. The form in baptism is but very imperfectly apprehended, till it is understood to have this great meaning in it. And it must be owned that the Scriptures tend wholly to guide us to this understanding of it. For since they teach us a birth of God, a birth of the Spirit, that we must obtain, and that baptism, the appointed sacrament of this new birth, is to be done into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, can there be any doubt that this sacrament is to signify the renovation of the birth of the Holy Trinity in our souls?

William Law: Christian Regeneration.

1st Thursday after Trinity WE should communicate, not for our souls' benefit, but also to satisfy Our Lord's exceeding longing for us.

Charles De Condren, quoted by Patmore: The Rod, The Root, and the Flower.

IF you are the body of Christ and his members it is the mystery of yourselves that is laid upon the altar. It is the mystery of yourselves that you receive. It is to what you are that you say Amen.

St Augustine: Sermons.

1st Friday after Trinity

WE confess neither a solitary nor a diverse God. St Hillary: Of the Trinity.

IN nature the body makes the place, but in grace the place makes the body.

Donne: Sermons.

IT is not according to times or places that we say that the whole Christ is everywhere, as if He were at one time whole in one place, at another time whole in another: but as being whole always and everywhere.

St Augustine: On the Creed.

ADORED be thou, Lord, through our sister, the Death of our body.

St Francis of Assisi: Canticle of the Sun.

2nd Monday after Trinity WHAT is 'spirit'? (for Christ is spirit, his religion that of the spirit). Spirit is: to live as though dead (dead to the world).

This way of life is so entirely foreign to man that to him it is quite literally worse than death.

Very carefully introduced for an hour or so in the distance of the imagination, natural man can bear it, it even pleases him. But if it is brought nearer him, so near that it becomes, in all seriousness, something required of him: the natural instinct of self-protection rises up so powerfully in him that a regular uproar follows, as with drink . . . And in that condition, in which he is beside himself, he demands the death of the man of spirit, or rushes upon him to put him to death.

Kierkegaard: Journals.

2nd Tuesday after Trinity UNLESS a man saith in his heart, "Only God and myself exist in this world," he will not find rest.

The Paradise of the Fathers.

KEEP thy conscience with thy brother and thou shalt find rest.

The Paradise of the Fathers.

Sponsored by Matthew Carver, publisher May 26-June 9, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 15

FUN

HOBOSCOPES GEMINI

Are you more of a filled-donut person or a ring-donut person? Filled donuts are so mysterious. I mean, what’s in there? Could be raspberry jelly or lemon curd or Bavarian cream.

Who’s to say which one it is until you take a bite. But ring donuts let you know from the outset exactly what’s in the middle. Nothing. There’s just a hole all the way through. No pretense. No mystery. I typically think of you as a filled donut, Gemini, but what could be more surprising than offering no mystery at all. Maybe this is a time to just show the world what’s there. Holes and all.

CANCER

I’m flying home to see my family for the first time in a long time. I think I packed everything I need. I got my toothbrush and extra socks and a book for the plane and...maybe just one more book for the plane would be good. Actually, if I take three books then I’ve got one for the flight out, one for the time at home, and one for the flight back. But it’s hard to pick just three. Actually, I’ll go ahead and take all of these by the bed just in case. And some of this shelf.

How much does it cost to check a 60-pound bag? We like to keep our options open, Cancer, but sometimes having so many options can weigh us down. If you had to narrow it down, which three options would you pick?

LEO

My dad used to read to me before bed. We spent months getting all the way through The Lord of the Rings. Maybe I was a little too young for it, but I was completely hypnotized by the language and the magic. Years later when I read it for myself, I was surprised by an ending that I thought I’d forgotten. It was melancholy and challenging. Not quite happily ever after. My dad told me that he’d skipped that part when he read it to me. That he wanted to leave things off after the big victory and let the good guys have their hard-fought win. Sometimes we assume that when the battle is won, the story should be over, Leo. But there’s always more pages to go. If you feel a little melancholy after your victory, that’s pretty normal. Just keep reading.

VIRGO

We all remember that the Library of Alexandria was the greatest collection of written knowledge in the ancient world. I’d always heard that it was burned down by Julius Caesar, destroying it’s irreplaceable collection. But it turns out that’s not true. The library simply declined over a period of about 400 years. It lost the support of its government.

Scholars became unpopular in the culture and many were exiled. The people of Alexandria stopped caring about the

library and after a while it had fallen into such disarray that it essentially disappeared. Support what you care about, Virgo. Apathy can be as bad as fire.

LIBRA

According to the man at the front of the airplane who’s holding up a seatbelt that isn’t attached to anything and waving around an oxygen mask that won’t inflate, there’s a life vest under my seat. According to the 10 year old sitting next to me “that only helps if we crash in the water.” The kid’s got a point, Libra. It’s good to be prepared, but it’s better to be prepared for the right things. Start by thinking of the outcomes that are likeliest to occur. If you’re flying over Kansas, you might be better off with a parachute.

SCORPIO

People are always recommending self-improvement books to me. (They must see something in me that needs improving.)

But I’ve never been able to get into that particular genre.

I just get bored if there’s no story. Give me a character who changes, or even a character who refuses to change.

I can apply that stuff to my life all day. But “The 7 Secrets of Compassionate Leadership”? That kind of stuff just rolls right off me. If you’re trying to change, Scorpio, I’d recommend fiction. What characters do you resonate with? What would they do in your situation?

SAGITTA R IUS

The first book I can remember reading that didn’t have pictures was about a kid who was a detective. I don’t remember what kind of cases he took on or how he went about solving them, but I remember that he was very smart and I hoped one day I would be smart enough to solve crimes, too. As you know, my life took a different path. But amateur astrology isn’t so different from being a kid-detective. I look for clues and present my findings when the time is right.

I think it’s a good time for you to go looking for clues, Sagittarius. There are some obvious ones that you might have been avoiding. I think this is a case you can crack.

CAPRICORN

A lot of people go for the window seat. I can see why. You’ve got something to look at for the whole flight. I prefer the aisle seat because if I need to stand up I don’t have to ask the strangers next to me to get out of my way. I’ve never met anybody who prefers the middle seat, but that’s the seat 1 out of every 3 people ends up in. Sometimes you get to choose, Capricorn. Sometimes your preferences count.

But sometimes you have to prioritize your preferences.

If your main goal is to get from takeoff to landing, you might have to do it in a seat that’s not your first choice.

AQUA RIUS

When I was in 4th grade I had to write a book report. I don’t remember how long it had to be, but I do remember that the night before the report was due, I hadn’t finished reading the book. I had selected H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine which was written in 1895 so there were parts that were over my head. My mom let me stay awake until 11 p.m. finishing the book and the report. And that’s how I discovered procrastination. Unlike the protagonist of The Time Machine, Aquarius, we’ve only got so much time. If you really want to do it, maybe stop putting it off.

PISCES

Some people just come out and say what they need as soon as they need it. Some people hint-around and poke-around and try not to ask for too much and don’t want to offend anybody and compromise and try to find a way to get by without it and never really get around to asking. I’m usually that second kind of person, Pisces. But I think you have the ability to just come out and ask. Even if you’ve pushed it down and unlearned it, I think you have access to it. And I think you might need it now. And I’m asking you to ask for what you need.

ARIES

I boarded the plane at 6 p.m. It was too warm and the sun was starting to go down.

Four hours later, I’m getting off the flight.

It’s only 8 p.m. here. There’s still some daylight in the sky and it’s getting a little chilly. Disembarking can be disorienting. This isn’t the place you were before, Aries.

This is the new place. It’s gonna take some getting used to. It’s fine if you want to take it slow. Take a few more deep breaths. There’s no rush. We’re glad you’re here.

TAURUS

Here’s what else you need to know today, Taurus. The Vedas say that in the beginning the Creator was alone. The Creator brought many beings into existence, but they were without understanding, and still, the Creator was alone. Finally the Creator decided “I shall enter within, that they may awake” and becoming one with creation, brought life, understanding, and the end of loneliness into the world. If you feel alone today, Taurus, it may just be that you’ve forgotten your oneness with all beings. Reach out or reach in and you’ll find that it’s there. See you tomorrow.

Mr. Mysterio is not a licensed astrologer, a registered librarian or an certified donutician. 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 | May 26-June 9, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

VENDOR WRITING

Jim Crow Makes a Comeback in Tennessee

BY JEN A. When I was young, on summer vacations, my family would all pile into the car for our annual trip to visit my grandmother in Florida.

My father preferred back roads to the super highway so that we could "experience the real America." I was prone to motion sickness and after a rather torturous stretch of winding mountain road I would throw up.

You could lay money on it. I think my father and older brothers actually bet on how long it would take me to yack up my lunch.

Dad would pull into an old gas station or souvenir shop and my mother would send me inside to get some water to rinse out my mouth while she cleaned up the car. This one time, I went inside and asked the man if there was a drinking fountain.

He motioned to the back. There were two fountains with signs on them.

One sign said, "whites only." The other sign said, "the N word." Even though I was very young, I knew that this was wrong.

I ran back out to the car and dragged my mother inside so that she could see the signs. Looking up at her face I saw a flash of anger move like a bolt of lightning across her eyes. She took my hand and we went back out to the car. She told my dad to drive on; we would find a soda machine somewhere up the road. After that trip we never took the back roads of Tennessee and Georgia again. It was super highway all the way to Florida. America, it seemed, was all too "real" for my mother's young daughter.

This past session of the sex-obsessed 112th Tennessee legislature voted to throw up more humiliating, discriminatory signs for young girls to be horrified by. Their new anti-transgender bathroom law requires that signage be posted in all businesses and government facilities open to the public if they permit transgender folks to use multiperson bathrooms, locker rooms, or changing rooms associated with their gender identity. Who exactly is going to enforce this mandate? Will we all have to drop our trousers or lift our skirts before being allowed into a public restroom?

This buckshot-like spate of discriminatory anti-transgender laws doesn't stop at horrifying signage.

Transgender female athletes will not be permitted to compete in

school sports. (This is a twofer for the legislature. It discriminates against trans athletes AND women.)

There's a new law that will allow for civil penalties against schools that don't bar transgender young people from entering bathrooms of their gender identity; even though it is against federal law for schools to discriminate against transgender students.

There's a law that forbids gender-confirming medical treatment and surgery of prepubescent minors; which isn't even a thing that would be done according to the American Medical Association.

Arkansas is the only other state to enact an anti-transgender medical treatment ban. But theirs applies to anyone under 18. A lot of psychological damage can be done to a transgender person between puberty and 18. Whew! At least we're not as bad as Arkansas.

It is estimated that only one to two percent of the population identifies as transgender. How many trans folks do you know? Not the famous ones like Chaz Bono, Elliot Page, or Caitlyn Jenner, but people who are your neighbors or who attend your church. None? One? So why are Republican legislatures so eager to protect us from this imaginary threat?

Maybe it's because cisgender Christians are the first to judge transgender folks as other and sinful even though the Bible teaches, "Judge not lest you be judged." Many Tennessee Christians are Republicans and there's a gubernatorial election just around the corner. Gov. Bill Lee needs to keep the hypocrites happy.

What better way for him to prove he's on the job standing up for good, wholesome Christian values than by solving a transgender problem that doesn't exist.

Of course he and the legislature don't care about the gross harm they are doing to transgender individuals throughout the state. There aren't enough of them to sway an election.

That's about the most callous, horrific, unsettling, calculated, anti Christian thing I can think of. Jim Crow hate and separation are alive and well in Tennessee. This time they're persecuting transgender citizens. If you let them get away with this hate, maybe next time they will be coming for you!

THEME: FICTIONA L MOTHER S ACROSS 1. *Carole King: "But you're ____ ____ away" 6. "I Thee ____" 9. Ring practice 13. Hacienda brick 14. *Billy Joel: "I love you just the way you ____" 15. What speakers do 16. Leg of lamb 17. Styling goo 18. Spooky 19. *Rod Stewart: "Oh, Maggie, I couldn't have tried ____ ____" 21. *Stevie Wonder: "Very superstitious, writing's on ____ ____" 23. Type of constrictor 24. Can of worms 25. *"____ Cola, what a beautiful drink"

28. Capital of Peru 30. *Carly Simon: "I had some dreams, they were ____ in my coffee" 35. Bad luck precursor 37. Swing seat, possibly 39. Macaroni shape 40. Capital on the Baltic Sea 41. Figure with vertex and rays 43. Venetian magistrate 44. Not fitting 46. Sealed with a handshake 47. Wise man 48. Annotator and commentator 50. Facts and figures 52. Bambino 53. Chinese monetary unit

May 26-June 9, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 17

55. International Labor Organization 57. *The Knack: "M M M My ____" 61. *Sister Sledge: "We are family, get up everybody ____ ____" 65. Last European colony in China 66. Pastrami's partner 68. Sheik's bevy 69. Movie premiere, e.g.

70. Gunk 71. Ancient assembly area 72. Used to be wild?

73. Attila, e.g.

74. Part of mortise joint DOWN 1. Long story 2. War god in Norse mythology 3. Same as fogey 4. J. Robert Oppenheimer's project 5. Reorganize or modify 6. $7.25/hour, e.g.

7. Old fashioned 'before' 8. Nile's mouth 9. Boatload 10. What paralegal and parachute have in common 11. Seed covering 12. Angler's spool 15. Punch buggy car 20. Indian cuisine yogurt staple 22. Drunkard's sound?

24. Enter uninvited (2 words)

25. *Bruce Springsteen: "Tramps like us, baby we were born ____ ____" 26. ____ acid 27. "And Seth.... ____ Enos" 29. *Eric Clapton: "Darling, won't you ease my worried ____" 31. Oldsmobile founder 32. Lusitania's destroyer 33. Grown-up pupper, in social media 34. *ABBA: "Dancing queen, young and ____, only seventeen" 36. Back of the neck 38. Dashing style 42. Spritelike 45. Test (2 words) 49. *Terry Jacks: "We had seasons in the ____" 51. One tritely familiar 54. Frustration, in print 56. Missouri River tributary 57. Old World duck 58. *Creedence Clearwater Revival: "____ you ever seen the rain?"

59. They're hidden up a sleeve?

60. Goes with rave 61. Eon, alt. sp.

62. *Black Sabbath: "I am ____ man" 63. Infamous Roman emperor 64. J. Edgar Hoover's man 67. *Queen: "Scaramouch, Scaramouch, will ___ do the Fandango"

VENDOR WRITING

Giving that Led to an Unexpected Reward

BY NORMA B. I have the best job in the world. Why? Because as Director of The Contributor, I get to be friends with people like Norma B, one of the most authentic, hard-working and funny people you will ever meet. Norma B is a Contributor vendor who, unbeknownst to me, purchased enough face masks and hand sanitizer to be sure that every Nashville council member had one. When they invited her to bang the gavel at their first in-person council meeting, she needed a ride, and called me to ask for one and told me the whole story. I was dumbfounded that she had done this and humbled that I hadn’t thought to be so generous.

The amazement and humility only grew when I wheeled her into the meeting at Music City Center. Dozens of council members had on Contributor face masks.

My heart just exploded and tears of gratitude filled my eyes. Contributor vendors work hard to just maintain what they’ve built in a sometimes very unkind world. To witness this show of respect and support for Norma just pierced my soul. So thanks Metro Council! You all are the best!! And there is more, believe it or not! Read Norma’s article below and discover the rest of the story. - Cathy Jennings

S

oon after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, The Contributor began selling hand sanitizer and face masks in addition to the paper.

Over the course of several months, I collected enough masks for each Metro council member to have Contributor masks of their own, and sent them to my local councilwoman Erin Evans by mail to give to her colleagues. I tried to do the same with the hand sanitizer, but that was not an option as the people at the post office looked at me like I was a terrorist. I’m happy to report Erin agreed to deliver the hand sanitizer as well. She was even kind enough to stop by my spot and pick them up.

Some time later, she stopped by my spot again for a visit, this time to extend an invitation via Vice Mayor Jim Shulman to bang the gavel at the first in person council meeting at the Music City Center since the pandemic on Tuesday, May 4.

I explained that I didn’t send those things to receive any kind of recognition.

I did it because it seemed like the right thing to do in light of the times we’re now living in.

I said it was an attempt to recognize the hard work they do for people in the community that often goes unnoticed — let’s face it, theirs is a thankless job. I mean, no matter what they decide on the issues at hand, they can’t please everyone, and their work has to continue in spite of the pandemic. If my gesture brought about some good will for the paper that it would be a win-win.

Initially I was hesitant to do it, but after thinking it over for a while, and talking with our Executive Director Cathy Jennings, and a few of my valued customers, I decided to seize the opportunity and bang the gavel. I do like to make noise.

I have to say, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was nervous being out of my comfort zone, but everyone there made me feel very welcome! A few council members even bought papers while I was there!

Cathy said, “It was heartwarming to see so many of the council members

wearing their Contributor masks,” and I have to agree.

Erin had even shown me pictures of some of the councilmen and women wearing their masks while out and about working in the communities they serve, and it was very moving! I felt like I’d achieved my goal.

After banging the gavel authoritatively three times as I was instructed to do, I whispered to Jim, “Can I go now?” He said, "No, stay right here." Little did I know, the surprises weren’t over for me just yet.

After telling everyone what I’d done about the masks, paying for them out of my own pocket (a decision that was made easier when they lowered the price to $1) and identifying me as a top vendor of The Contributor, he then presented me with my top 15 medal! Wow!!!

(I’m glad I was wearing a mask so no one could see that I was seriously blushing!)

I never expected any of that! Pretty Cool, right?

He then invited me to say a few words.

Again, I wasn’t prepared, but I did the best I could (speaking extemporaneously has never been my thing), but hopefully what I said made sense to all those in attendance.

They said I didn’t sound nervous, but believe me, I was. Honestly, everything’s a blur after that. All I do know is everyone was standing and clapping. It was amazing and a bit overwhelming. I’ve never experienced anything quite like that before.

Then, Cathy, her husband John and I had a nice dinner of Mexican food at Cinco De Mayo near my home, and then we went our separate ways. You’d think that would be the end of the story, but that’s not the case.

Fast forward to Friday, May 7, and Cathy contacted me and said, “The vice mayor called and wants to take us to dinner,” and perhaps the best part is I got to pick and the place! (To some, I know this might not seem like a big deal, but my granddaughter's idea of "good cuisine" is McDonalds or Chick-Fil-A.) A few wonderful things came about as a result of this unexpected invitation.

When I told one of my customers about this opportunity, she took my hands and said how proud and happy she was for me.

Then she noticed how bad my nails were (I’m a chronic nail biter) and said I needed to get them done, because, "I was runnin’ with the big dogs now." I told her, “If you think I’m spending my hard earned money on my nails, you are mistaken.” She pulled out a $50 bill and told me to use hers, and I got a lovely French manicure, which is still holding up nicely.

My daughter Laura fixed my hair, and although I didn’t get a new dress for the occasion (the one I wore was my favorite color, purple), I did get some much needed comfortable new shoes for the occasion.

I picked the Gondola House Pizzeria for dinner. I love Italian food, and we had one of those years ago in Gallatin where I’m from, and it was always good. I’ve wanted to try the one in Hermitage ever since I moved here, but I’ve never gotten around to it. The food was quite tasty! I had the meat lasagna, but I also got to try the spinach lasagna thanks to Cathy, and the pesto Jim had looked pretty yummy too. He even got a pizza for all of us to try, saying, ‘It [was] a pizzeria, after all."

I even got to take all the left-overs home with me! Yay! (That way everybody in my house got to try some.)

As good as the food was, the company was even better. My councilwoman Erin Evans — ­ who’s been an avid supporter of The Contributor and me ­— was there, as

PAGE 18 | May 26-June 9, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

was Cathy Jennings our Executive Director, and of course, Jim Shulman the vice mayor. It doesn’t get any better than that in my opinion.

I have to say, I’ve always thought that those in politics were stuffy and uptight, but that was not the case with the vice mayor. I found him to be approachable, friendly, and very down to earth. He actually listens to what you have to say before offering his thoughts and opinions — an admirable quality for anybody to have, not just politicians.

He even told some pretty entertaining stories over dinner, but I suppose those are his to tell, not mine.

As a perfect ending to a pretty incredible evening, the vice mayor bought the latest edition of The Contributor and an additional face mask for $5. (I’m pretty sure there’s photographic evidence somewhere — Cathy was taking plenty of pictures.)

Thanks to his invitation, coupled with his kindness and generosity, and the warm welcome from the other members of the council, they really made "Norma the nobody" feel like somebody special, and they gave me an experience I’m sure I will never forget, and I think it’s safe to say, I doubt they will either.

If there’s one thing this experience has taught me, it’s how amazing one simple act of kindness can lead to such wonderful blessings!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who made this possible!

VENDOR WRITING

Gov. Bill Lee — (take the (sheet) off your face)

The Right thing to do

BY T YRONE M.

BY JOHN H.

Is that you, Bill? Wait, take the (sheet) off your face. Bill, let me holler at you.

Ever since you faked your way into the (governer’s chair) you’ve been saying and doing some crazy things. For instance, telling the Black Lives Matter folks that if they didn’t stop protesting at the Capitol, you would give them six years in jail and take away their voting rights. You must be (smoking), Bill. That’s a lot of bulls---. You really need to know the law, didn’t no one take you serious. They know you are trying to be an A student of Donald Trump. But you know what? School is out. So go home, no recess for you. You’re ex-de-throned boss Donald Trump is just what he is: ex.

How in the hell did you ever get this job?

They must have expelled you from Lee company. Get a lawyer and get a clue, and please learn something about law and laws.

Everyone in politics and around here know who you are! Stop trying to read and follow Donald Trump’s racist playbook.

You did one blunder after another. First of all the Black Lives Matter people wanted to just talk to you. Now you ran and hide like a scared little child playing hide and go seek. I guess you didn’t have the (brains) to talk to them or just maybe your (sheet) would get in the way, huh? Well guess what, your ex boss, who is perpetuating the (BIG LIE). He hid in some hole in a building

in D.C. The next crazy ass blunder (you did was) buying all those pesticide sock masks. That was a disaster, wasn’t it? Last summer was a complete disaster for you.

If you ever repent of your racist ways, and pull that (sheet) off your face, maybe you could get things done.

Back to the sock pesticide masks, next time get someone who knows about these things to handle it. You know with your limited know-how and governing, you didn’t have a clue about this sort of thing.

All those masks were good for was expelling bugs. People wanted to be protected from the virus, not being sick from those damn masks. Next time, get a clue. Next time you call yourself a governor, make sure you’re in a comedy club. The only thing I see you’re good at is passing stupid laws that do nothing but hurt us and divide us more. I know what you want to be, you want to be another deceased governor like George Wallace.

I got some late breaking news for you, Bill. This is Tennessee in 2021, not Alabama in the 60s. So just stop it. Y’all Republican governor got a call from ex (Big Lie) Trump every two weeks. He schooled y’all on what to do or say during his re-election campaign. Did you get your assignment every two weeks? By the way, why don’t you want the children and teachers and edu-

Re-Naming, Re-Framing because “Homeless” is an Ugly Word

Irish

Elderly Retarded LC-HW Disabled

Nashville can seize this opportunity to Re-Name and Re-Frame “Homelessness.” This is not a call to being politically correct, but culturally correct and should be reflected throughout our policy.

Housewives Christians

Middle Class HC-HW Americans Black Professionals

British LC-LW

Turks

Welfare Feminists Recipients Arabs

Competence

Nashville is leading the nation as a progressive city. The Salvation Army appreciates and applauds Metro’s call for responsible growth, including affordable housing and effective transportation. The City’s many responses to the recent crisis events and collaborative community spirit attest to Nashville’s promising future. Our challenge is to go another step.

What if Nashville used our power of compassionate action to reduce poverty bias through behavioral linguistics. Simply, maybe we should stop calling people names and speak into hope.

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The Salvation Army’s mission is to reduce days, years, and population of persons experiencing homelessness through transformational relationships. This starts by seeing our neighbors as well, neighbors. People who were housed and are yet to be housed again in the neighborhood.

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I walk out my front door, I start to pray Lord please keep me safe as I walk with you today As I sit at Harding & Granny White, for each car that stops by, give me a part of you to give to them to brighten their day and a better way to serve you.

Lord these things I ask in you sons name, Amen.

Ya see in the days we live in now, I can’t just depend on John Henry that I’ll return home safe and in one piece. Statistics say most accidents happen with two blocks from home. So in getting home safe and whatnot I put my hope and all my trust in Jesus.

Many have asked, why don’t you get a real job.

I’ve never told anyone this but the real answer is; Money don’t mean a lot to me. Neither does a car, a apartment, and many of the things many wealthy people have. I worked all my life and the thing I did like was taken away. So I decided to give it to Jesus.

Serving Jesus to me is the most important. Aint getting no younger, may as well let Jesus have whats left.

But what I don’t understand is why would a person even consider such? Where are their hearts? I could never ask someone to stop doing God’s work and go on to something else. It’s worst than putting a gun to a person head and pulling the trigger. There’s no scripture to Justify such a thing.

Does it really make sense, to stop serving God the way he likes and find a ten maybe twelve dollar a hour job which you’ll still struggling. Many don’t know, I made this type money 40 yrs ago. Why should I go back to that chapter? Would love to have my life back. I guess its the way our country designs our way of life, (for some.)

The research is clear: “HOMELESS” is a word that produces a sense of “disgust” and provokes “contempt.” The word is toxic for tourism, business growth, policing, and affordable housing. Most importantly, ”HOMELESS” attaches a debilitating stigma to persons experiencing this state.

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cators to talk about racism in the school?

What are you afraid of? Over 350 teachers, educators, and parents are urging you to veto HB-580/SB-623 bill. Veto the bill, Bill.

Now, about not having a permit to carry firearms is wrong. Ill-advised and plain dangerous. You’re turning this state into a modern day “dark city” where everyone have a gun, even the mentally impaired.

Do you ever watch the news, man? You meeting with your buddies plotting to pass another bill or law that don’t make no sense.

You need to watch the news very carefully before considering passing any other bill or law. What were you thinking? By the way, the NRA, National Rifle Association, are you getting a kickback from them or are you doing this to appease them? Last but not lease, your (racist buddy) — Lt. Cov. Randy MaNally need to also take the (sheet) off of his face. We can see you, Randy. He said, and I quote last summer, ‘if the Black LIves Matter people defund the police and when they call when the police won’t come, then we would come and get you very angrily. Is this racist Lt. Governor threatening people now?

Well what do you expect.? Birds of a feather flock together. Hmmmmmm, we can see you in the dark even though y’all got y’all (sheets) on.

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Figure 2.1 Stereotype content model warmth x competence space mapping social groups, in a representative sample survey of American adults. Source: Cuddy et al. (2007). Reproduced by permission.

FACTS: “The Homeless” experience the greatest bias in the U.S. The bias is low warmth, low competence, and the narrative response is contempt.

A RE-Name and RE-Frame of “HOMELESS” results in a sweeping, transformative change of hearts and minds reflecting the move from “NIMBY” to “Hey, neighbor.”

Nationwide, metropolitan areas are struggling to engage business, social, and capital in this conversation. Re-frame strategies are a powerful leveraging of current resources. They who hold the narrative hold the future. Let’s change the future by changing the story.

Major Ethan Frizzell, Area Commander www.SalvationArmyNashville.org

May 26-June 9, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 19