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Volu m e 1 5
| Nu mber 14 | Ju ly 7-21, 2021
IN THE ISSUE 4
14
13
Contributor Board
Tom Wills, Chair Cathy Jennings, Bruce Doeg, Demetria Kalodimos, Ann Bourland, Kerry Graham, Peter Macdonald, Amber DuVentre, Jerome Moore, Erik Flynn
15
In Memoriam
Moving Pictures
Nonprofit Spotlight
Vendor Writing
Contributor vendor Anthony Gunter, who passed away last month, will always be a part of the paper’s legacy.
Marvel Studios’ Black Widow welcomes superhero movie fans back to theaters and the MCU. (P.S. it's also on Disney+)
"...[T]o reestablish a sense of identity and purpose in homeless men by housing them and training them in the culinary arts."
In this issue, vendors write about affordable housing, lemonade, and how one vendor found her way to see Garth Brooks.
Contributors This Issue
Hannah Herner • Linda Bailey • Amanda Haggard • Ridley Wills II • Alvine • Anna D'Amico • Donald Whitehead • Angela Yuriko Smith • Joe Nolan • Mr. Mysterio • Vicky B. • Loum O. • Jen A. • Daniel H. • Tyrone M. • Norma B. Contributor Volunteers Joe First • Andy Shapiro • Michael Reilly • John Jennings • Janet Kerwood • Logan Ebel • Christine Doeg • Laura Birdsall • Richard Aberdeen • Marissa Young • Robert Thompson
Cathy Jennings Executive Director Tom Wills Director of Vendor Operations Hannah Herner Staff Writer
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!
Jesse Call Housing Navigator Raven Lintu Housing Navigator Dymin Cannon Housing Navigator Carli Tharpe Housing Navigator Barbara Womack Advertising Manager
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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. The Contributor reserves the right to edit any submissions. The Contributor cannot and will not endorse any political candidate. Submissions may be emailed to: editorial@thecontributor.org Requests to volunteer, donate, or purchase subscriptions can be emailed to: info@thecontributor.org Please email advertising requests to: advertising@thecontributor.org
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PAGE 2 | July 7-21, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
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July 7-21, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 3
IN MEMORIAM
SELLING THE CONTRIBUTOR ANTHONY GUNTER Published in 2019 Selling the paper is fun to me. I am amazed at the people I meet. I face 70 percent rejection, but that’s OK. The 30 percent that buy make up for them anyway. I got blessed in all kinds of ways, from 100 dollar bills to honey baked ham. People give you tips for the work that we do. If you don’t think it’s work, follow me for a week back and forth downtown to reload my bag. Then I get to my spot and put on a smile. Two dollars a paper, one paper two bucks, help a vet. I have to live, too. Put the paper in the bathroom. Read it through and through. If you run out of paper, you’ve got some to use. That brings on a laugh and they think I’m a fool. They buy my paper and I smile too. If you see me on the street please come my way. I’m the pretty black man on the scooter. Hope to meet you someday.
HOLIDAYS ALONE
Contributor vendor Anthony Gunter will always be a part of the paper’s legacy
ANTHONY GUNTER
Published in December 2019 Wandering around with nowhere to go. Everywhere you look people are aglow. They walk around with a smile on their face. At night they go home because they have their own place. I’ll find me a place, maybe a heated grate. I’ll stay as long as I can until the police run me away. The mission is not an option to me. There are junkies, drunks, and there’s always some thieves. You can’t close your eyes, you are afraid to go to sleep. So you get a little rest so you can face the next day. Wandering around trying to find somewhere to stay. One day this will all be over to my heavenly father I pray. Affordable housing Nashville will have some day.
BY AMANDA HAGGARD Longtime Contributor vendor and poet Anthony Gunter died in mid-June. He would have been 60 years old in October. Until he passed away, Anthony sold The Contributor for the whole time the paper had been printing. “Anthony had an indefatigable spirit in the office and on his corner,” said Cathy Jennings, executive director for The Contributor. “His outgoing love of life carried him through his disability and hard times. Customers loved him. He chose everyday to see the positive and he loved that he could write for The Contributor and share that spirit.” When Connie Britton from the show Nashville visited The Contributor’s offices, Anthony dressed in a suit and tried throughout the encounter to deliver his best lyrics to her. He was always looking for his next big break. Volunteers at The Contributor called him “part of the legacy” of the paper and many said he would be remembered for his laugh. Anthony penned more than 100 poems for the paper in his tenure writing — his poems were often in a lyrical style and al-
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most always about romance. He would attend writers’ workshops for the paper and offer suggestions to other writers, sometimes sparking debate by bringing up hot topics. “Anthony was always interested in what we thought about his work,” said Amanda Haggard, co-editor of The Contributor. “He always came in with multiple pieces of writing to turn in and would come back with new versions when you hadn’t printed something he’d turned in.” During the pandemic, Anthony took to selling papers at one of the only places that people were still going: a grocery store. He would sell in his motorized scooter outside of the grocery store, Osborne’s Bi-Rite, on Belmont Boulevard in Nashville. In a feature The Contributor wrote for The Big Issue Japan, Anthony was interviewed. He was happy to have found a place to sell the paper successfully, but also lamented that “all his other honey holes are closed down.” At that time, he said he had been making more money than usual. He was feeling confident. He died in housing, having lived a long portion of his life on and off the streets.
NASHVILLE HISTORY CORNER
THE MCNAIRYS AND THE LADY FROM BOSTON BY RIDLEY WILLS II
In 1847, Dr. and Mrs. Boyd McNairys’ mansion on Sumner Street had the reputation of being “Nashville’s guest house.” That year their guest was Miss Dorothy Lynde Dix of Boston, “America’s most distinguished woman.” Her visit to Nashville in the closing months of 1847 was her third visit to Nashville. On all her visits she helped Dr. John Sims McNairy improved living conditions for inmates in the Tennessee Lunatic Asylum of which McNairy was superintendent. The asylum had opened in 1832. Miss Dix discovered that many of the cells housing patients were underground and without proper ventilation. Those above ground were found by her to be inadequate because they were not heated properly. She told the Tennessee State Legislature the asylum was “wholly unfit for the habitation of human beings” and that they should appropriate the necessary money to build a new hospital, which she said should have at least 200 acres of land and be accessible by good roads. The House of Representatives unanimously voted to thank Miss Dix for her tireless work and approved the purchase of a large piece of land on the Murfreesbroro Turnpike six miles southeast of Nashville, and the erection there of a new and costly hospital. Unfortunately, Dr. McNairy did not live to see the hospital completed. He died at age 35 in August 1949, during a cholera epidemic. The day after his death, Gov. Neill S. Brown named John Sims McNairy’s father, Dr. Boyd McNairy, superintendent of the new hospital. Dr. and Mrs. McNairy moved to a home built for them on the asylum grounds, leaving their Sumner Street mansion vacant, until March 1, 1852, when Dr. McNairy, at age 67, passed asylum responsibility to a younger man, Dr. William Archer Cheatham. At that time, Dr. and Mrs. Boyd McNairy returned to their beloved Sumner Street home. Dr. McNairy, a distinguished citizen, generous man, fine physician and a skilled violinist, died Nov. 21, 1856. Dr. W. A. Cheatham’s personal credentials placed him among the social and intellectual elite of Middle Tennessee. In 1947, he married Mary Emma Ready, a daughter of Charles Ready Jr., of Murfreesboro. They had two children, Martha, born in 1853, and Richard, born in 1855. When Dr.
Cheatham assumed responsibility for the new insane asylum, he was only 32 years old. Despite his relative youth, he already had a sterling reputation as a practicing physician in partnership with Dr. W. K. Bowling. Soon after becoming superintendent of Tennessee’s Hospital for the Insane, Dr. Cheaham joined the Association of Medical Superintendentsof American Institutions for the Insane where he became one of its leaders. His asylum also gained a national reputation. All the progress Dr. Cheatham achieved at his institution six miles southeast of Nashville on the Murfreesboro Pike was disrupted by the Civil War. Income from the state and relatives of patients dwindled to almost nothing. Murfreesboro Pike had become a military highway on which armies of both sides passed going between Nashville and Chattanooga. At times, it seemed almost impossible to keep 300 inmates comfortable. In late February 1862, Nashville’s mayor, Richard B. Cheatham, William Archer’s cousin, surrendered the city to the army of Federal General Don Carlos Buell. On March 3, 1862, President Lincoln named Andrew Johnson military governor of Tennessee. In the 1850s, Johnson had served two terms as elected governor of Tennessee. During that period, he knew Dr. Cheatham but they had not been friends. Johnson, who had been economically and and culturally deprived in his youth, resented
those with wealth and social standing. Among those he grew to despise was Dr. William A. Cheatham. It is unsurprising that Cheatham was charged with treason and committed to the State Penitentiary. The ill health of his wife, Mary, resulted in him soon being paroled. On July 25, Gov. Johnson wrote Dr. Cheatham informed him that he had been fired as superintendent of the Insane Asylum and replaced by Dr. William P. Jones, a competent physician. Jones, like Dr. Cheatham, complained of the hospital’s location on a military highway and an atmosphere of tension and unrest which led to staffing problems. During and after the Civil War, the Insane Asylum suffered through hard times as a result of lack of funds and disturbed momentum. After being replaced at the asylum, Dr. Cheatham returned to private practice in Nashville. In December 1862, his sister-in-law, Mattie Ready, married Confederate General John Hunt Morgan in Murfreesboro. The occasion was one of the great Confederate social events. Officiating at the wedding was General Leonidas Polk, who was also an Episcopal bishop. Confederacy President Jefferson Davis attended the wedding as did many Confederate generals. In April 1863, Dr. and Mrs. Cheatham were arrested, accused by Truesdale, the Federal police chief in Nashville, of passing information to General John Hunt Morgan in
July 7-21, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 5
February. On May 14, Dr. and Mrs. Cheatham were ordered to Alton, Illinois prison. On the way, Mrs. Cheatham got sick in Louisville. On May 26, Dr. M. Goldsmith examined her and reported that her condition was such that, if she was confined in a military prison, it would endanger her life. As soon as Mrs. Cheatham was able to travel, she and Dr. Cheatham were allowed to return to Nashville. In December, Mary Cheatham was still quite unwell. The following April, she died. Dr. Cheatham continued the practice of medicine almost to the end of his life in 1900. In 1867, he married Adelica Acklen, mistress of Belmont Mansion and owner of extensive cotton plantations in Louisiana, including Angola, now a notorious prison. Adelicia became an affectionate mother to his children, Martha and Richard. Martha grew up to marry Thomas S. Weaver. Their great grandson, Granbery Jackson, who was my brother-in-law, died on June 27, 2021, at age 75. Granbery was an eighth generation Nashvillian, being a direct descendant of three early superintendents of the Tennessee Insane Asylum, Dr. John Sims McNairy, Dr. Boyd McNairy and Dr. William A. Cheatham. Granbery’s 10-year-old grandson, McNairy Head, proudly carries the McNairy name today. In his parents’ dining room, there is a watercolor of the Boyd McNairy home on Sumner Street.
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LOCAL ACTIVISM
LEFT: The "Party of Socialism and Liberation Nashville " with support from "Middle Tn Democratic Socialists of America" and other social justice activists drop a banner calling on Gov. Bill Lee and the Tennessee Legislature to change their decision to cut all federally-funded pandemic unemployment benefit programs across the state on July 3. BELOW: Nashville residents gathered on Juneteenth to celebrate the holiday, which commemorates the emancipation of enslaved people, and repainted the Black Lives Matter street mural on Woodland Street. PHOTOS BY ALVINE
Activists gathered in front of the Justice A. A. Birch Building to protest the plea agreement accepted by Andrew Delke, the former Nashville police officer who shot Daniel Hambrick, 25, in the back in July 2018. Activists and members of the Hambrick family oppose the agreement, which allows Delke to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter and recieve three years in prison. Delke was set to stand trial in a few days. During the protest, one activist read the names of over 200 black and brown people killed by law enforcement in the last year. PHOTOS BY ALVINE
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NONPROFIT SPOTLIGHT: THE COOKERY
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE COOKERY
THE COOKERY SERVES UP JOB OPPORTUNITIES BY ANNA D’AMICO A small brick building on 12th Avenue South is serving up more than good coffee and brunch. They also serve job opportunities and a way forward for formerly homeless men in Nashville. The Cookery, which opened in 2013, is the brainchild of Terry Kemper and Brett Swayn. Although Kemper died in 2014, those who knew her keep her memory alive at the restaurant. The mission of The Cookery is to reestablish a sense of identity and purpose in men experiencing homelessness by housing them and training them in the culinary arts. After going through the roughly five-month training program, the men are certified and ready to find a job in a Nashville restaurant. “The idea of The Cookery was to introduce resuscitation and hope. So what we do is we offer these guys a five month course and we take care of every need,” said Swayn, the executive director and executive chef of The Cookery.
“It’s a time of consecration. It’s a time where we put them in houses to develop community and we do Jesus: they do morning and afternoon prayer, we serve the poor on Saturdays and they just begin to feel something.” Keeping the program faith-based is very important to Swayn, who underwent his own faith journey several years after moving from Perth, Western Australia to Austin, Texas, in his 20s. Swayn followed a call to Nashville in 2002 with nothing but the clothes on his back and a Bible. He lived on the streets for four months before being offered a job at Fleming’s restaurant, where he climbed to the position of sous-chef and was eventually able to step away to devote his life to those in need. “I began to see God moving amongst the poor and my fear was replaced by love,” said Swayn. The basis of faith is easily seen throughout the décor of The Cookery.
Images of Jesus and Bible verses adorn the walls. A Giving Tree with requests from people in need greet customers inside the door. A sitting area invites guests to hang prayer requests and praises on the wall- hundreds of slips already hold words of hope from past customers. To date, 26 men have completed The Cookery’s culinary training program. The cost adds up to roughly $5,000 per student, covering everything from the cost of living to their culinary training. The funds for training come from café revenues and donations. Ryan Ferrari is one of the men who completed the training program. He came to The Cookery in March of 2019 expecting nothing but a cooking certification course, he said. “Originally when I came here, someone just told me about cooking,” Ferrari said. “But this place right here was the leading point- not necessarily working in the kitchen but being able to
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explore your identity through Christ." After completing his program, Ferrari chose to stay with The Cookery to share his story with and train other men who come through the door. He’s also pursuing a technical degree in restaurant and hospitality management in order to continue his career. A wall in the dining room features several black and white portraits of program graduates. Swayn looks upon them fondly and easily recalls where each came from and where each went upon completion of the program — even those who decided kitchen life wasn’t for them. The Cookery has stayed true to the mission set forth by Swayn and Kemper many years ago, guided by the Bible verse that started it all. Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
COVER STORY
RED ZONES Where can sex offenders live in Nashville? BY HANNAH HERNER
F
or the next two years, all of the men, women and children who go to Nashville Rescue Mission for shelter will be staying in the same building on Lafayette Street. The 40 men in the recovery program will be moved to the basement and the women and children will be taking their place on the second floor while their old home, the women’s campus on Rosa L. Parks Blvd. is demolished and rebuilt to the tune of $20 million total construction and operating costs. “Basically, we’re out of space. We’ve been out of space for a long time,” says Nashville Rescue Mission spokesperson Cheryl Chunn. Communications manager Michelle Sanders Brinson added that the current women’s campus cannot accommodate the increasing need they’re seeing, and the new building will up the number of women and families they can serve. According to the organization’s count, least 20 people will have to leave — those on the sex offender registry. A search of Nashville in the state’s sex offender registry finds a total of 1,468 living in the city. The Contributor counted
256 listed as homeless. The question is: Where can they go? “It's a toughie, though, because this has been their home, many of them,” Chunn says. “Because they can’t either afford to find a place or people are unwilling to allow them to rent their places. So it's a tough population.” This challenge of finding a place to stay is nothing new for people on the registry. But with Nashville Rescue Mission closing its doors to them for the next two years, one of the few options — and the only non-treatment-based and free one — will be crossed out. Cory, whose name was changed for this story, is one person affected. “All I was trying to do was ride it out until I could save up a little money and get a place, you know? And that was taken away from me, right as the pandemic broke,” he says. Cory was staying at Nashville Rescue Mission to save for a security deposit on an apartment. Over the nine years since he was added to the registry, The Mission served as a safety net, when he couldn’t afford to rent a hotel room. A few hundred dollars a month goes
toward probationary fees (weekly classes, twice yearly polygraph tests, and registration fees) regardless. And now, having to pay for a room by the week for a total of to $1,400 a month, he can’t save much for a down payment for an apartment, if he can find an apartment to rent to him at all. Because of laws that prevent people on the registry from being within 1,000 feet of schools, daycares, parks, playgrounds, public swimming pools, arcades and amusement parks, the Tennessee Department of Corrections’ map of the city of Nashville is heavily shaded by “red zones,” or places where people on the registry are not allowed to live or work. Cory reached out to the Open Table Nashville resource line, who gave him a list of places to look to stay. He says the same list was given to him by Nashville Rescue Mission when he met with them to discuss housing options. “There really were none. Especially when it comes to The Mission, they were like ‘well, you guys are hard to place.’ I’m like ‘tell me something I don’t know,’” he said.
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This exhaustive list is short, with a few extended stay hotels, efficiency apartments (some on waitlists), a couple of names and numbers of boarding house owners to call, and a handful of halfway houses and hotels. People on the sex offender registry are not allowed to live in public housing, or utilize most other federally funded housing assistance, like a Section 8 voucher. “It's just the housing situation, not just in Nashville, but across the country, it's usually very landlord favored and they get to make a call on who they're renting to, whether that looks like, what their criminal charges may look like or their income, or what type of income even,” says India Pungarcher with Open Table Nashville. Nashville Rescue Mission said organizations they worked with to help place people on the registry in housing often wish to remain unnamed. Room In the Inn is one organization that allows people on the registry to live in its onsite apartments, which opened in 2010, though they’re not solely occupied by those on the registry. Executive Director Rachel Hester says consequences are already in
COVER STORY
place for people on the registry, and the organization seeks to offer a fresh start. “I think it's important that we are open to serving everyone,” Hester says. “We're a 501(c)(3) religious not for profit, just like a church. I don't know who sits next to me at church. But I know that we're coming for the same thing, and that's a belonging, you know? And it's out of our spirituality that we serve.” Once people get into one of the just 38 apartments there, they tend to stick around, so openings are rare, Hester says. A few people who had to leave the Nashville Rescue Mission opted to come to Room In The Inn's transitional housing and recuperative care programs, and others opted not to stay. Plus, a few of the people who have to leave the Mission have high needs, physically or mentally, that RITI is not equipped to serve, Hester says. Public defender Jessica Dragonetti says placement on the registry has less to do with how a trial or plea deal went, and more to do with the nature of the crime. The registry includes people who are convicted of a variety of crimes related to sexual conduct,
which can include indecent exposure and possession of porn with a minor in it, as well as physical crimes including kidnapping with the intent to harm and rape. The nature of the crime and how many crimes committed separates people into two categories, sexual offender and violent sexual offender. The former has to register yearly and the latter has to register quarterly with the police department. People who are homeless have to register monthly, and pay $15 per month for an ankle monitor. Being on the registry itself is one of the hardest parts of the sentence, Dragonetti says. “Even if somebody can successfully serve out a jail sentence or do well on probation, it's really challenging for the at least 10-year period that they're looking at to kind of dot all the i's and cross all the t's because there are so many ways you can mess up,” she says. In June, area housing navigators created a work group that meets bi-weekly to try and find housing solutions for people on the registry. The plan is to divide up and call some of the landlords at the addresses listed by people on the
registry and see if they have openings, or look for the patches of space on the TDOC map where people on the registry are allowed. “It's one of those populations that, in terms of housing, it's a little under the radar. You know, you're not going to find any landlords who are advertising the fact that ‘we rent to people who are on the sex offender registry.’ And so that's, I think, part of what makes it so difficult to identify those resources,” says Jeremy Gartland, manager of housing partnerships for Park Center and member of the work group. Park Center cannot house people on the registry onsite because it is located in a red zone. Gartland says he’s glad to see collaboration across organizations, as they were all “hitting a brick wall” when it came to housing this population. “I think people are afraid to have that conversation with people on the registry, because it's such a taboo and stigmatized thing but it's like ultimately, if we want to end homelessness in Nashville that includes for people who are on the registry,” he says. Cory is on the ball — he hasn’t
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missed any of his payments or checkins with his probation officer since he was convicted and added to the registry as part of his sentence. He did miss a couple of the weekly classes he’s had to take due to work, but said the judge threw it out. His goal is to get a house and a car next. With a steady job, he’s in a better position than others on the registry. “They know I'm gonna be there every day. I do a good job. They know my situation. Which, that's the hardest part is explaining to somebody you know? You have to bite the bullet and say, ‘listen, eventually, you're gonna find out so I might as well tell you.’ I work for some people that say, ‘well, we don't care what's in your past,’” he says. For those less savvy or making less money than Cory, additional misdemeanors, and even felonies, plus jail time, pile up when they fail to pay the fees. Their options become even more limited when the city’s only daily shelter can’t host them anymore. “Man, we get punished every day of our life. Just under the circumstances we have to live in,” Cory says.
INTERNATIONAL NETWORK OF STREET PAPERS
Executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless: “We need to confront the inequity in the homeless system — with the government’s help” BY DONALD WHITEHEAD “This is no time … to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism." - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr In the long, shameful history of homelessness in the United States, we have never looked over the precipice into such a deep chasm while at the same time having the critical ingredients for bold thinking on housing justice to climb out of this hole. The new administration, a new Congress, and a sense of collective rebuilding after a disaster should provide the raw material to spur development, collective action, and, yes, real solutions. There is a potential tidal wave of evictions after we just lived through the most significant health disaster in a century, along with the unprecedented job losses. Many of those jobs are not coming back, and people will have to look for work in other industries. We all experienced such a shock to the system that we have to come together to right the ship. Since this touched us all, we do not need to rehash the number of people who died because of COVID-19 or the trauma we all experienced with shuttered businesses and offices, or the dramatic changes in the social service safety net. The whole world changed in March of 2020, and for fragile populations, it was often a daily struggle to stay safe, get food, and find a place out of the weather. Many cities stepped forward and de-concentrated the shelters. They had a detailed plan with placing people into hotels and avoided outbreaks among the population. Then there were those already overwhelmed cities having neglected the population for decades that there was no way to dig themselves out during a pandemic. We saw outbreaks in several shelters, and then those who were infected spread the virus to others in their family or among friends living outside. Social service providers could not provide direct contact, and the mental health outreach system virtually collapsed across the United States. We will need to rebuild many social service systems, and hopefully, we will learn from past mistakes. We will need to confront the inequity in the homeless system caused by structural racism. We have learned that Black People, Latinx, and Native American individuals continue to be overrepresented in the homeless system and have borne the brunt of the negative effects of the pandemic. We found through studies that government redlining and government-sponsored segregation have had longstanding and crippling effects on minority communities and persist to this day. We applaud the efforts going on in many communities and the administrations
IMAGE BY ANGELA YURIKO SMITH FROM PIXABAY
to take steps to focus on racial equity in our homeless response. We found that we must do a better job of placing people in healthy communities or the homeless system becomes just another vehicle for redlining. The National Coalition for the Homeless lost family and friends over the last year; despite all the hardships, there are so many reasons to see hope for the future concerning homelessness. We have a new administration in Washington that is committed to reducing poverty in America. Many of the Biden cabinet members have a background in fighting to preserve and expand anti-poverty programs. We have a Secretary for Housing and Urban Development who hails from the continental United States' poorest city; she has a clear understanding of homelessness and poverty. However, more importantly, the administration seems to understand the urgency of the problem and wants to take us back to a time when homelessness received a federal response on a scale with other emergencies, not a bureaucracy to manage. Faith in government has taken a real hit over the last decade, but please give them a chance before passing judgment. Everything changed in January 2017, and we all need a little time to repair and replace the integrity of the government broken after the metaphorical hurricane we lived through.
We have a new Congress that should be more willing to embrace new ideas and fund new strategies. There should no longer be opposition to spending money since our government's last four years embraced reckless spending and tax cuts for the wealthy. We must end the filibuster in its current format in order to move forward with good ideas. We also cannot go back to the way things were in the past. We cannot develop huge shelters in gymnasiums or abandoned schools. They did not serve the needs of most of the population and indeed stripped people of their dignity. Over the last year, we learned the value of hotel/motel spaces and the privacy and empowerment it provides. If shelters are a small part of the solution, they need to be better managed. We cannot allow zoning restrictions and the not-in-my-backyard mentality to slow or halt affordable housing production. Research has demonstrated that outreach to those living outside to be critical to overcoming barriers. We need to have a menu of possible paths available to people struggling with housing, and not one facility that the family who shows up with their dog is not allowed. The pet then becomes homeless or orphaned or the family stays outside with the pet and battles the elements. We must build on these lessons learned during the last year and be honest about our mistakes
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over the last 40 years. The reality is that we saw what the bottom looked like, and we need to kick off the dirt and start climbing. The crisis touched white, black, Native American, elderly, disabled, poor, and yes, even the rich. It was a trauma that we collectively overcame, and much like the victory over the Axis powers in 1945, together, we can prosper. We hope to put aside the hostility and division to rebuild the infrastructure (which includes housing) of the United States. We trust that we will put aside the resentment and fear of the "welfare queen" days to experiment with guaranteed incomes. We look forward to a Justice Department and law enforcement community that will respect the rights of even the poorest among us to restore meaning to the phrase "protect and serve." If nothing else, we have to realize the value of providing accessible health care to everyone living in the United States to keep us from ever going through a national health crisis again. The National Coalition for the Homeless is poised to push our elected officials to reduce poverty and help “Bring America Home”. Donald Whitehead is Executive Director of National Coalition for the Homeless. Courtesy of INSP.ngo
MOVING PICTURES
‘A Movie About Super Women’ MARVEL STUDIOS’ ‘BLACK WIDOW’ WELCOMES SUPERHERO MOVIE FANS BACK TO THEATERS AND THE MCU BY JOE NOLAN, FILM CRITIC
Scarlett Johansson returns to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the eponymous supersoldier in Black Widow. This is the first film in the fourth phase of the MCU, and it also feels like a fresh start for theatrical screenings following the worst days of the pandemic. This story takes place immediately after the events of Captain America: Civil War. The Captain America films are the best Marvel films, and Black Widow compares favorably to the best Marvel movie of all, Captain America: Winter Soldier. Winter Soldier is great because it insists on being a top-shelf spy thriller that just happens to be a tights and capes superhero flick. Black Widow is similar in its embrace of espionage flick tropes and devices, and both films also manage to evoke dark themes and heavy moods while never getting too bogged-down for a breathless chase scene or an acrobatic knife fight. Natasha Romanoff/Black
Widow (Johansson) has appeared in seven MCU films after being introduced in Iron Man 2 (2010). But it’s only in this new film that the title character finally gets her origin story. Black Widow revisits Natasha’s traumatic childhood being raised with Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) by their superspy guardians Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour) and Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz). The family lived an idyllic life in Ohio before being forced to make a dramatic escape to Cuba. There the girls are separated from their guardians and sent to the Red Room where they undergo trauma-based mind control and military training to become the next generation of lovely and lethal Black Widows. Director Cate Shortland handles all this history before the opening credits roll and her pacing is brisk and bracing throughout this globe-hopping action-packed espionage epic. Following the Sokovia Ac-
cords the Avengers have been put under the command of the United Nations. Romanoff and the rest of the team have scattered and gone underground. Yelena discovers a secret antidote to mind control and enlists Romanoff to help her to keep it safe from the relentless Taskmaster — imagine Captain America meets Boba Fett — who’ll stop at nothing to secure the special formula. Shortland is best known for dramas like Lore (2012) and Somersault (2004), but she takes to action filmmaking like a natural. Again, like Captain America: Winter Soldier, Black Widow manages to be an intelligent high-stakes spy flick with fully realized characters in complex relationships. However, it’s also brimming with
gunfights, char chases, helicopter crashes, prison breaks and tons of close-combat fighting sequences. Ray Winstone takes a brutal and brooding turn as the head of Red Room, and Harbour brings a very funny take on Red Guardian, but Black Widow is a movie about super women who are all completely believable as spies, soldiers and world class assassins. I haven’t seen a movie packed with this many great girl fights since the Kill Bill saga. After Black Widow’s sacrificial end in Avengers: Endgame (2019) it’s fun to have her back in a stand-alone chapter of her own. Johansson is mostly known as a glamorous leading lady, but she’s evolved into a legitimate action star in her turn as Romanoff, and she
July 7-21, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 13
leaves Pugh with big shoes to fill as the new Black Widow for this next slate of Marvel films. With Black Widow Shortland, Johansson and Pugh manage to deliver a go-for-broke action thriller infused with a women’s story about familial trauma and the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood.
Black Widow opens at theaters and on Disney+ with Premiere Access this Friday, July 9
Joe Nolan is a critic, columnist and performing singer/songwriter based in East Nashville. Find out more about his projects at www.joenolan.com.
PAGE 14 | July 7-21, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
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
6th Wednesday after Trinity FOR there is no pride, but that it may be healed through the meekness of God's Son; there is no covetize but that it may be healed through His poverty; no wrath but that it may be healed through His patience: nor malice but that it may be healed through His charity. And moreover there is no sin or wickedness, but that he shall want it and be kept from it, the which beholdeth inwardly and loveth and followeth the words and the deeds of that man in whom God's Son gave Himself to us into example of good living. Wherefore now both men and women and every age and every dignity of this world is stirred to hope of everlasting life. Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ, (trs. by Nicholas Love).
6th Thursday after Trinity WHOEVER has admitted this tyranny of pride within suffers this loss first of all, that from the eyes of his heart being closed, he loses the equitableness of judgement. For even all the good doings of others are displeasing to him and the things which he has done, even amiss, alone please him. He always looks down on the doings of others, he always admires his own doings; because whatever he has done he believes he has done with singular skill; and for that which he performs for desire of glory, he favours himself in his thought; and when he thinks he surpasses others in all things, he walks with himself along the broad spaces of his thought and silently utters his own praises. St Gregory: On the Book of Job.
6th Friday after Trinity HOW many maggots remain in hiding until they have destroyed our virtues. These pests are such evils as self-love, self-esteem, rash judgement of others in small matters, and a want of charity in not loving our neighbour quite as much as ourselves. Although, perforce, we satisfy our obligations to avoid sin, yet we fall far short of what must be done in order to obtain perfect union with the will of God. St Teresa: The Interior Castle.
his scent. But when he shall appear, then shall we be like him, for we shall see him as he is: as he is, Lord, will our sight be, through the time be not yet. St Augustine: Confessions.
7th Monday after Trinity HOLD fast this short and summary saying—"Leave all, and you shall find all; leave your desires and you shall find rest." Give your mind to this, and when you have put it into practice, you shall understand all things. Thomas à Kempis: Imitation.
BEING to ourselves what God ought to be to us, He is no more to us than we are to ourselves. This secret identification of ourselves with God carries with it our isolation from Him. Barth: Epistle to the Romans.
7th Tuesday after Trinity I HAVE a mind to draw a complete character of a worldly-wise man . . . He would be highly-finished, useful, honoured, popular—a man revered by his children his wife, and so forth. To be sure, he must not expect to be beloved by one proto-friend [best friend], and, if there be truth or reason in Christianity, he will go to hell—but, even so, he will doubtless secure himself a most respectable place in the devil's chimney-corner. Coleridge: Table Talk.
7th Wednesday after Trinity IT is the sign of a reasoning soul when a man sinks his mind within himself and has dealings in his heart. St Seraphim of Sarov. THE enthusiasm for goodness which shows that it is not the habit of the mind. Patmore: The Rod, the Root, and the Flower.
6th Saturday after Trinity
7th Thursday after Trinity
OTHER sins find their vent in the accomplishment of evil deeds, whereas pride lies in wait for good deeds to destroy them. St Augustine: Epistle.
ABSOLUTE poverty is thine when thou canst not remember whether anybody has ever owed thee or been indebted to thee for anything; just as all things will be forgotten by thee in the last journey of death. Tauler: Sermons.
THE impossible is still temptation. The impossible, the undesirable, voices under sleep, waking a dead world, so that the mind may not be whole in the present. T. S. Eliot: Murder in the Cathedral.
Sixth Sunday after Trinity THY word remaineth for ever, which word now appeareth unto us in the riddle of the clouds, and through the mirror of the heavens, not as it is: because that even we, though the well beloved of thy Son, yet it hath not yet appeared what we shall be. He looked through the lattice of our flesh, and he spake us fair, yea, he set us on fire, and we hasten on
7th Friday after Trinity
I AM no companion for myself, I must not be alone with myself, for I am as apt to take as to give infection; I am a reciprocal plague; passively and actively contagious; I breathe corruption, and breathe it upon myself; and I am the Babylon that I must go out of, or I perish. Donne: Sermons.
7th Saturday after Trinity LORD, I perceive my soul deeply guilty of envy . . . I had rather thy work were undone than done better by
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another than by myself! . . . Dispossess me, Lord, of this bad spirit, and turn my envy into holy emulation; . . . yea, make other men's gifts to be mine, by making me thankful to thee for them. Thomas Fuller: Good Thoughts in Bad Times. TO thee, O God, we turn for peace . . . but grant us too the blessed assurance that nothing shall deprive us of that peace, neither ourselves, nor our foolish, earthly desires, nor my wild longings, nor the anxious cravings of my heart. Kierkegaard: Journals. WHAT did He, in loving us, love, but God in us? not who was in us, but so that He might be? Wherefore let each of us love the other, as that by this working of love, we make each other the habitations of God. St Augustine, quoted in Aquinas: Catena Aurea.
Seventh Sunday after Trinity IF you have no will but to all goodness, everything you meet, be it what it will, must be forced to be assistant to you. For the wrath of an enemy, the treachery of a friend, and every other evil, only helps the Spirit of Love to be more triumphant to live its own life and find all its own blessings in an higher degree. Whether therefore you consider perfection or happiness, it is all included in the Spirit of Love and must be so, for this reason, because the infinitely perfect and happy God is mere love, an unchangeable will to all goodness; and therefore every creature must be corrupt and unhappy so far as it is led by any other will than the one will to all goodness. William Law: The Spirit of Love.
8th Monday after Trinity LOVE and the good life are needful to right belief. Wycliffe: Quicunque Vult. THOU hast not commanded us continency alone, that is, from what things we should refrain our love: but justice also, that is, which way we should bestow that love: and, that it is not thy will to have us love thee only, but our neighbor also. St Augustine: Confessions.
8th Tuesday after Trinity BEG our Lord to grant you perfect love for your neighbour, and leave the rest to Him. He will give you more than you know how to desire if you constrain yourselves and strive with all your power to gain it, forcing your will as far as possible to comply in all things with your sisters' wishes, although you may sometimes forfeit your own rights by so doing. Forget your self-interests for theirs, however much nature may rebel; when opportunity occurs take some burden upon yourself to ease your neighbour of it. St Teresa: The Interior Castle.
FUN
HOBOSCOPES CANCER
Famously, pizza is pretty good even when it’s bad. This is not true, however, of peaches. Peaches are perfect when they’re ready. But when they’re bad, they can be pretty bad. Too dry. Too stringy. Too sour. Too wet. You’ve got to find the right peach on the right day. And you’ve been waiting for a while, Cancer, but I think this might be it. I think this might be the time to take a bite out of just what you’ve been waiting for. Stop settling for day after day of mediocre pizza. I think this is the day to give peach a chance.
LEO
It’s not so much the heat, Leo, as the humidity. Well, it’s the heat, too. Really, it’s the whole setup. Heat, humidity, position of the sun, lack of a cold glass of lemonade. All of these factors conspire together to create the very situation we find ourselves in, Leo. I’d recommend tackling your challenges one at a time, starting with the easiest to remedy. Not much you can do about the humidity, but a cold glass of lemonade is probably available if you know where to look.
VIRGO
What’s your favorite dessert, Leo? Mine’s a good thick corner-of-thepan brownie warmed up with a little bit of vanilla ice cream. While we’re at it, what’s your favorite desert? Mine’s the Mojave, but the Sonoran can be really nice, too. It depends on whether I’m in the mood for a joshua tree or a classic saguaro cactus. Maybe we’re not spending enough time with our favorite things, Virgo. We act like favorites are for kids and grown-ups are supposed to just accept whichever dessert or desert we end up with. Spend some time with one of your favorites today.
LIBRA
I was sure I’d planted cucumbers, Libra. The plant grew and a little cucumber appeared. It got a little bigger and then a little more. It was a little too pale and a little too round, but it was getting too big for a cucumber so I picked it. When I cut into it, it wasn’t an overripe cucumber at all. It was a very under ripe watermelon. Make sure you know what you’re picking this week, Libra. You’ll be better off waiting on a watermelon than jumping to cucumber conclusions.
SCORPIO
I don’t always know how I’m feeling, Scorpio. Sometimes I think I’m doing just fine and then I get all choked-up when my computer tells me I’ve “successfully logged in to online banking” and I realize it’s been a really hard week. Have you checked in with yourself today? It might take a little digging, but whatever feelings you’ve got in there, give yourself some time to go ahead and feel them.
SAGITTA R IUS
I heard they’re making a gritty prequel to your life, Sagittarius. It’ll be a study of all the bumps and missteps that you came through before you stepped out as the fully-formed protagonist we’ve all come to know and love. I’m looking forward to it, but what I’m really excited about is who you’re going to be next. Maybe today will be the part where you push past the thing that’s been getting in your way for so long. I guess we won’t know until they release the sequel to the prequel.
rivers. What’s on fire for you this week, Pisces? Sure, you can let it burn itself up and it will go away for a while. But if you don’t get to the source of the pollution, it’s going to come back.
ARIES
Justice is harder than I thought, Aries. Let’s say we’ve both got three grapes. Pretty cool. But what if you squash one of my grapes? I’ll just squash one of yours, right? Is that justice? Well, sort of. But now everybody’s got less grapes. What if you give me one of yours, unsquashed? That seems much more just. But are you even sorry for your squashy actions? Or are you just mad now because I’ve got more grapes than you? So what if we split a grape? I guess two and a half grapes is enough for me if it’s enough for you. But how do I know you’re sorry? I’m starting to think there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for these kinds of problems, Aries. Maybe we start by listening to how everybody feels and what everybody needs. Then we find out what would make it right. Or at least as right as possible with only five grapes left on the table.
CAPRICORN
So, what do you want to know, Capricorn? I mean, I’ll tell you anything about me, but I was thinking more “what do you want to know about you?” Of course, I’m not there to tell you, so you’ll have to get there on your own. I’d start with 7 minutes. Just write down your big question, set a timer for 7 minutes, get real quiet and still and see what arises. You might have to do it a couple of times a day. You might have to do it for a few weeks in a row. But the answers tend to come.
AQUA RIUS
I was so excited to see little green tomatoes on my big tomato plant. But then they started turning black and getting mushy on the bottom. Turns out, I’ve got blossom-end rot. The tomatoes aren’t getting enough calcium. There’s plenty of calcium in the soil, but the plant doesn’t have enough to spare because I let the plant get too big. So I’ve got to prune it back a bit and cut my losses. Sometimes we take on more than we can handle, Aquarius.
PISCES
Sometimes I think about the Cuyahoga river, Pisces, and how it became so polluted in the 1960s that it caught on fire. Burning water. It’s like a metaphor happening live in real-time. Of course, the Cuyahoga fire of 1969 gave a boost to the blossoming environmental movement. It led to a successful campaign to clean up Cleveland's
TAURUS
I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner, Taurus. I literally just saw your text. I think there’s something wrong with my phone. Well, I mean maybe I did see your text when you sent it but I was probably in the middle of something important and I really wanted to give you the thoughtful response you deserve but then the text was marked as “read” and I forgot about it. I was probably driving. Or at work. Or maybe just scrolling social media? In any case, I’m always glad to hear from you and I never want to make you wait or add to your workload by being slow to respond. What was it you were wanting? I can definitely get back to you on it by tomorrow afternoon.
GEMINI
Ok, Gemini, I’ll count to 20 and you go hide. Ready? 1, 2, 3...I hope you’re finding someplace good. 6, 7, 8...of course, I know you’re extra good at hiding lately. And you’ve had good reason to be. It’s awfully hard to stay out in the open when there are so many forces that are out to get you. 10, 11, 12... but maybe you could turn things around. What if instead of hiding from everything and waiting until it comes and gets you, you decided to take a turn at seeking? 14, 15, 16...I think you’d be really good at it, Gemini. You could look for each of those things you’ve been afraid of, tap them on the head and tell them they’re “out.” Maybe you could start now. 18, 19...Ready or not, here YOU come!
Mr. Mysterio is not a licensed astrologer, a trained desert ecologist , or a licensed dessert technician. 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 | July 7-21, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
VENDOR WRITING
More Affordable Housing BY VICKY B. We were once hailed as the, “richest country in the world,” and at one time we were. Today, one in seven Americans live in poverty. That’s 6.5 million people. Six and a half million people calling up a social worker and hearing the all too familiar, “There’s nothing we can do, if something comes up, we’ll call you.” Heard all too often and yet this is told to the poverty stricken, the homeless and the elderly many times a day. It’s a cookie cutter comment that doesn’t fit every situation. A well-known internet homeless advocate screams, “Services Don’t Work,” and some of them don’t. Many are strictly a referral agency that leaves the person feeling frustrated after busing it all over town knocking on every door with the batch of referrals. Days wasted. Bus passes spent. So now they’re going backward. Do these agencies not talk to each other or share information? It doesn’t seem like it. Do services NOT work or do social workers lack the capacity to carefully listen? Far too often they have a million things running through their heads that makes it impossible to truly listen. You sit in their office and answer a million questions about yourself and your family and then, “There’s nothing we can do.” It’s probably as frustrating to say as it is to hear. Services that don’t work need to be dissolved and ended. How many social workers have been homeless before? Lived experience should be in the job description
somewhere. How can book smart workers help street-smart people? One thing I’ve discovered this past year while attending the Homeless Planning Council meetings through Zoom, is that we really are learning from those with lived experience — homeless people. The council listens and implements actions based on some recommendations and conversations. This past year, I've been sitting through meetings talking about solutions to ending homelessness and seeing the solutions implemented. Nashville is doing consistent work in housing it’s homeless population. Helping those living in encampments and working with the city to shut them down can feel like a double edged sword. Individuals and families are getting into housing through a wide variety of resources. Resources that take time to wait through the waitlist. Let’s be honest, we’re behind in affordable housing. All the committees, boards and meetings won’t change that. Action is being taken in talking with other communities and what’s working for them. Recently a program was implemented to work with landlords and to work through some fears that owners of rental property may have. We need more landlords to jump on board on this opportunity. Money is still needed to build more affordable housing. One thing is for sure and that’s affordable housing ends homelessness. I’ve said that so much that I feel like I should get it tattooed on me.
THEME: SUMMER OLY MPICS
Unnamed BY LOUM O. In 2009, I had an opportunity to come to the United States of America from my homeland South Sudan, originally Pajok. The unending war and corruption forced me to move to Uganda as refugee. Then I moved to Kakuma, Kenya, where the great chance of coming to the U.S. knocked on my door. I felt so happy and excited because the U.S. is the greatest country owning everything for anyone in need. So I did my high school and was accepted into Tennessee State University for a bachelor degree in Applied Mathematic with G.P.A. 3.01. My happiness being in America is indeed unexplainable. Even though there are plenty of jobs in Applied Mathematics, I worry too much about my height to teach and to reach the board, because I am only 2.5 feet. As a result, I had no job to ful-
fill my needs as others. However, I found an opportunity of selling newspapers at The Contributor, which earned me with some income (about $400 a month). For more story about me, email me at loumodwar1@yahoo.com. The Contributor is a wonderful newspaper to sell, and it offers me chances to talk with great people who appreciate what I am doing and encourage me to keep going and helps me avoid those being mean haters to me. I got encouraged because my customers write their signatures on my papers. Without Contributor, I am nothing spiritually, friendly and building me with some financially. The biggest one is spiritual need. Look, now through Contributor, I have a church now worshipping God the most high. Thank you and thank you The Contributor newspaper.
ACROSS 1. Welsh dog breed 6. With juice, or au ____ 9. Pirate's yes, pl. 13. What a subordinate does 14. Cigarette residue 15. Chimney cleaner 16. Coffin holders 17. "Sheep be true! ___-ram-ewe!" 18. Poisonous Christmas berry 19. *First U.S. city to host Summer Olympics 21. *Swimmer with most Olympic medals 23. Part of a min. 24. *Field hockey's stick
and ball, e.g. 25. Gayle King's network 28. Capital of Latvia 30. *Canoeing: slalom and ____ 35. Rhine tributary 37. Building annexes 39. A in AV 40. Three-ply cookie 41. *Madison cycling, e.g. 43. *Light ball tap, in volleyball or tennis 44. What hoarders do 46. Not happening (2 words) 47. Half-rotten 48. *Martial art debuting in Olympics in 2021 50. Make a plaintive cry
July 7-21, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 17
52. Short for although 53. Luau instruments 55. Street in Paris 57. *____ horse in gymnastics 60. *One of pentathlon events 64. Kentucky Derby drink 65. Rock in a glass 67. Small Asian ungulate 68. Spy's cover 69. Not a win nor a loss 70. Run off to marry 71. Pat dry 72. Eastern Standard Time 73. Between shampoo and repeat DOWN 1. Corn units 2. Final notice? 3. Rod attachment 4. Greek sandwiches 5. Federal Reserve in relation to U.S. currency 6. *Boxing moves 7. *All-time Olympic record holder in medal count 8. Popular fitness magazine 9. Military no-show 10. Crowd-sourced review platform 11. Mature elvers
12. I do this with my little eye 15. Tibetan mountaineer 20. Slipperier 22. ____-been 24. London's Tyburn Tree, e.g. 25. Kick the bucket 26. Thailand's neighbor 27. Give sheep a haircut 29. A valley in Scotland 31. "Ant-Man" leading actor 32. Dostoevsky's "The ____" 33. Beethoven's famous symphony 34. *2021 Olympic host 36. Civil Rights icon 38. Long adventure story 42. ____ welcome! 45. Tree cutters' leftovers 49. ____ out, as in victory 51. One suffering from tuberculosis 54. Chosen few 56. Food safety threat 57. *Threat to muscles 58. Mixture 59. Source of protein 60. Pedal pushers 61. Golf club 62. Midday slumbers 63. High school club 64. #6 Down, sing. 66. Post-Soviet Union union
VENDOR WRITING
HOMELESS TIME DANIEL H.
You see me, and yet you do not know me. You hear me, but don’t listen
LEMONADE JEN A.
to my cry for help. You reach out to touch the familiar nuances, and hope that others will share
I'm selling lemonade
your experience.
Freshly brewed from lemons
You taste the flavor of
Dropped on our doorsteps
that which others have
By whom, we will never know
not yet experienced.
The roots of the recipe for my
You smell the odor of
Golden healing elixir
what life has not afforded
Can be found in the
others to have.
Notes and calculations of Sir Issac Newton
Here I stand to remind
Who dabbled in medieval alchemy
you I see the potential
In his search for the enigmatic
of what you have to offer.
Philosopher's stone--
I hear you when you
The illusive method for turning
ask me for direction and
Base elements into gold--
are lost.
Now refined over centuries
I cannot share your
The secret recipe can be found
nuance of touch, if you
On bulletin boards at
have not taught me.
Homeless shelters Elementary schools
I wish to taste life as
Community centers
you have only known it,
Street paper offices
but somehow cannot bring myself
And other spaces were
up enough to enjoy it.
Neighbors support each other
I too know the familiar smell
It's a fairly simple formula
of home, food, and family, but
That requires equal measures of
like a dream slowly forget
Compassion, empathy, an open heart
as you hold the only key to
Love, kindness, tenderness
the door you locked me out of.
And a heaping dollop of Selfless generosity
Finally we see each others differences
Can you bear the weight of
and set them aside.
Freely offered blessings?
We listen in turn as our needs
I'm selling lemonade
are addressed.
May I pour you a cup?
We share a moment of touch as we reach to one another in an embrace in hope of lasting friendship. We commune when food is offered in love not desperation. Last I remember again the smell of you who was kind to a stranger and did not judge.
PAGE 18 | July 7-21, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
JESTING AT THE STARS TYRONE M.
Jesting at the stars, I could see images of hidden spirits Silhouetted against the big, bright moon.
Complex moods started to pass through
me like beams of dissatisfaction.
Leaving me hallucinating/
unable to control
or cope with my misty
emotions that were forcing me to have rupture thoughts that
left me very
cold/un-belonging With every shortly glance my watery eyes burned with affliction/
Like emptiness of my borrowed
Faith that has died.
Slowly, like (time) falling through death’s
un-escapable passageway. Slowly, turning away from the stars, I start to jest once moreBut it was very clear I was only staring at a dying sun descending over
the green meadows.
VENDOR WRITING
Shameless: How I Got To See Garth Brooks In Concert BY NORMA B. With the upcoming Garth Brooks concert taking place on July 31, 2021 at Nissan Stadium, I can’t help but reflect on when I got to see him in concert with Trisha Yearwood on Nov. 7, 1991 at MTSU’s Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Even back then, it was clear that the two of them had undeniable chemistry. Though it was almost 30 years ago, I still remember it like it was yesterday! That should come as no surprise as anyone who’s EVER seen one of his live shows can attest they’re ALWAYS memorable events! No one thought I’d get a ticket, but I never gave up! At $25 each, the show sold out in minutes — that hasn’t changed. I tried everything I could think of to get tickets to no avail. Then one day, I was listening to the radio for yet another chance to call in and win. Alas, some guy won instead of me, and he wasn’t even excited! I just couldn’t believe it! As I was complaining about this to my husband, he suggested that I should call the guy who won the tickets and tell him about it (which was my husband’s way of saying he didn’t want to hear anymore about it).- Of course, he was joking. He never thought I’d actually do it. He was wrong! The guy who’d won the contest did have an unusual name — Duncan Kinnerly — and as it turned out like me, he lived in Sumner County,
close by in Hendersonville, Tenn. We lived in the Gallatin/Cottontown area, but that’s crazy, right? Well, call me crazy! I looked him up in the phone book (obviously this was BEFORE they became obsolete.) I worked up my courage and called him. (If I’m honest, there were two or three prank calls before I actually managed to speak.) I asked if he was the guy who had just won the tickets on the radio and he said yes. I said, “if you don’t mind me saying so, you didn’t sound that excited.” I went on to explain how long I’d been trying to get tickets, and to my surprise, he patiently listened. Then I asked him what he intended to do with them. He said he was going to put an ad in the paper and sell them. I figured I didn’t stand a chance to get them. They were going for hundreds of dollars each. I told him how much I REALLY wanted to go to the concert, but that I was poor. I offered to pay the face value of the tickets, and I figured I’d never hear from him again. I pointed out that he would be making a little money if he sold them to me. I mean, he didn’t pay anything for the tickets. A few days before the concert, he called and agreed to sell them to me at face value! (Garth would’ve been SO happy. He HATES scalpers!) He said his wife Carolyn had told him my
husband and I reminded her of them as a young married couple. Thank you, Carolyn! Living in Hendersonville, my mother-in-law agreed to pick up the tickets for us. As it turns out, they knew each other from church. They joked that I should be sold at Steiner-Lift for all the brass I had. Duncan said I deserved the tickets because I had the nerve to call him and ask for them. Seeing how determined I was to go to the show, my mother-in-law even agreed to watch both of our kids overnight! (This was a BIG deal because I’d NEVER left my babies overnight. They were nearly four and two at the time.) Once I got the tickets, I had another problem: the concert was in Murfreesboro, and I lived in Cottontown, which was not exactly bustling with transportation options for someone who doesn’t drive. (Lyft and Uber didn’t exist back then.) Fortunately, I had a friend who was planning to go to Murfreesboro on Friday, but the concert was on Thursday. Ugh! After spending a considerable amount of time explaining why he should go on Thursday instead of Friday, (traffic would be much worse, the increased potential for bad weather — all of which was true), he finally came out and asked me, “Just what is it you want to do in Murfreesboro on Thursday?” I replied, “Since you asked, there’s this concert I REALLY want to go to!” It is worth noting that I probably wouldn’t have done that with just anyone, but John was almost my step-dad on more than one occasion, and he seemed to always be there for me throughout my life when my own dad wasn’t. He asked me how many tickets I had. I said two, and although my husband was the obvious choice as my date, I did offer to take John instead. (Like I said, I REALLY wanted to go to
the show!) He declined and I did end up going with my husband. As much as John loved me, deep down I knew he’d much rather spend the evening with my mom and their mutual friend Zee, so I “arranged” for that to happen. That way everyone got something that they wanted. The rest, as they say, is history. We made it to the show. We had good seats right behind the WSM radio personalities. Although the venue was much smaller than many of his other shows, (attendance was 11,376) I honestly feel that allowed Garth to make a more of a ‘real connection’ with the audience. Ms. Yearwood (as Garth calls her in many interviews) had some “technical difficulties” (sound/microphone) but she just kept right on going — a true testament to the saying, “The show MUST go on.” A genuine professional! All I can say is AMAZING...WOW! The show was GREAT! I was on my feet practically all night, and that’s saying something for me. (As many of you know, I have cerebral palsy.) I sang along, I screamed and hollered until I had absolutely no voice left — a condition that lasted for several days. (At that point, my husband was thoroughly convinced that there was a God, because I was rendered speechless — quite literally — and that doesn’t happen often!) Not everything went according to plan though. After the show, I wanted to try to get an autograph, but my husband said I’d never get close enough to get one, so I left empty handed, but with a wonderful memory that would last for a lifetime! Later, I reminded my husband, “you said I’d never get a ticket, and I did, and you said I’d never get to the show, and I did.” Needless to say, that’s one argument he NEVER won!
You are Invited: July 15th, 2021 Focus on the Future: Supporting Your Child’s Reading Success The Salvation Army invites you to join us for a family night in which area teachers will explain the essentials of reading instruction and arm families with the key “musts” of early reading. Families will also learn about the new, free resources available from Tennessee as part of the state’s Reading 360 initiative, as well as other resources that may be available to your family through the programs of The Salvation Army. Begin your evening at 5pm with a community meal and family games followed by the presentation at 6pm. Immediately following the presentation, an Ice Cream Bar will be open for dessert! Join In Person: The Salvation Army East Campus 611 Stockell St., Nashville, TN 37207
Join Online: If you are unable to join us in person, we encourage you to login for the zoom presentation at 6pm.
Register for In Person Event
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July 7-21, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 19
