The Contributor: Aug. 5, 2020 by the-contributor-live

Buy this paper with Venmo! Include your Vendorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Name & Badge #:

w w w . t h e c o n t r i b u t o r. o r g

Volu m e 14

| Nu mber 15 | Aug u st 5 - 19, 2020

The Systems How Nashvillians get into housing BY HANNAH HERNER

IN THE ISSUE

Contributor Board

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

GRATIS

Agosto

4 Vendor Spotlight Keith D. has been selling The Contributor since 2011. He also grows amazing produce in his huge garden.

12 COVID Evictions US eviction bans are ending., which could worsen the spread of coronavirus, says this piece from INSP..

2020 Año 18 - No. 311

Siempre

L a N ticia 18

Escanee esta imagen para ver La Noticia newspaper edición bilingüe digital

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

www.hispanicpaper.com

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

Nashville, Tennessee

Recordando a Gil Veda: Músico Latino dejó marca en la Ciudad de la Música

encuentro que me faltan las palabras para describir el sentimiento de perder a un ser querido. Y no debo ser el único en pensar que Gil viviría aún más de los 200 y tantos años que decía solía ya tener. Su partida, la madrugada del Por Yuri Cunza jueves último, tomó a La Noticia Newspaper muchos por sorpresa, Editor in Chief amigos y conocidos que cultivó en sus 58 años viviendo en nuestra ciudad. Sin duda un tesoro de Nashville, talentoso y prolífico artista visual, cantante / compositor, editor de libros, un hombre de una gran sabiduría 'fuera de este mundo' y aún mayor generosidad, un voluntario incansable, un buen amigo sobre todo, y el primer artista hispano en cantar en el prestigioso Ryman, nuestro querido Gil Veda nos está mirando desde arriba. Descansa en paz, amigo, hasta que nos volvamos a ver, siempre te recordaremos.

Moving Pictures

Sepúlveda 86, falleció pacíficamente por causas naturales el 30 de julio de 2020. Fue visitado y consolado por miembros de la familia en el Hogar del Veterano del Estado de Tennessee, en Murfreesboro.

Gilberazo, siempre serás así Gilberazo! - Por Eunice Loraine Segovia Paz

Beloved visual artist and music commposer Gil Veda presents the 2007 NAHCC Hispanic Heritage Month Music Achievement Award to Country Music artist Rick Treviño at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.

La Noticia + The Contributor

Una de sus mayores pasiones era la música. Por eso adoraba tanto a Nashville.

El fotógrafo retirado Dan Helland tuvo una amistad de 25 años con él.

“Nos conocimos en una recepción en Music Row. Creo que tenía una oficina en el mismo edificio ”, dijo Helland.

Sepúlveda fue pionero e hizo historia en la Ciudad de la Música. Fue la primera persona hispana en actuar en el Auditorio Ryman y le encantaba pintar y dibujar. Usando el nombre artístico de ‘Gil Veda’, a menudo dibujaba retratos de personas notables, desde músicos hasta políticos y retratos creativos.

“Cuando ves a alguien que habla tu idioma que puede comunicarse contigo, que puede entender las dificultades por las que pasas.Que es capaz de ver las necesidades de tu comunidad ... puedes empatizar con esa persona y conectarte con esa persona, para mí, eso muy importante ", dijo Segovia Paz.

A new Gordon Lightfoot La Noticia, one of the documentary, (Streaming leading Spanish-language online through the newspapers in the nation, Conoce tus derechos: Belcourt Theater!) is less ¿Que hacer enbrings content to caso de unaSpanish redada? glitter and more gold. The Contributor. Sepúlveda nació el 13 de diciembre de 1933 en Puerto Rico. Sirvió en la Fuerza Aérea de los EE. UU. durante la Guerra de Corea.

“Gilbert era alguien muy, muy único. Tenía esta manera de agarrarte. Llamar tu atención. Y tenía muchas historias sobre su vida y todos sus logros y todo lo que ha hecho en la vida ", dijo Loraine Segovia Paz.

Mientras la familia y los amigos se preparan para despedirse, saben que su música, su legado y su huella en la ciudad de la música vivirán a través de su voz y de cada retrato que haya hecho.” Envíenos sus sugerencias por e-mail: news@hispanicpaper.com

Con tus Fishytales, tu música, tus innumerables historias, con tu camisa amarilla que no te querías poner porque el color negro te gustaba más, pero pienso que si te quedaba muy bien. Vuela en los espacios siderales de tu música, canta y baila al son de tu canción, anda al encuentro con tus peces en los mares creados de tu imaginación y diles cómo se vive la vida. Guíalos al sistema planetario de Mosquito Joe y canten todos al unísono una Malagueña con tonos sureños de estas tierras de montañas verdes, azules, jaspeadas y ese concierto lo oiremos desde aquí. Sigue el camino Gil que tu Cristo Azul te espera al encuentro. Aquí yo seguiré siendo peligrosa viéndote en cada color de tus pinturas y las notas musicales de tu voz. “Nope, I am not going to put up with anybody.” Un último abrazo amigo, #Gilberazo #GilVeda

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.

w w w . j u a n e s e . c o m

Contributors This Issue

Amanda Haggard • Linda Bailey • Hannah Herner • Ridley Wills II • Michelle Conlin • Adrees Latif • Jen A. • Joe Nolan • Mr. Mysterio • Vicky B. • Jamie W. • Don N. • Victor J. • Lindsey Forshaw • Deanna H. • June P. • Yuri Cunza

Contributor Volunteers Joe First • Andy Shapiro • Michael Reilly • Ann Bourland • Patti George • John Jennings • Janet Kerwood • Logan Ebel • Christine Doeg • Laura Birdsall • Nancy Kirkland • Mary Smith • Andrew Smith • Ellen Fletcher • Richard Aberdeen • Shayna Harder Wiggins • Pete MacDonald • Robert Thompson

Cathy Jennings Executive Director Tom Wills Director of Vendor Operations

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

Hannah Herner Staff Writer Jesse Call Housing Navigator Raven Lintu Housing Navigator Barbara Womack Advertising Manager

The Contributor now accepts Venmo! Scan the QR Code to the left , or find us: @The-Contributor! Make sure to include your vendor’s badge name and number in the description. If you bought this version digitally, you can still leave your regular vendor a tip or donate to the vendor relief fund to help vendors affected by COVID-19. Email Cathy@thecontributor.org for more information or with questions!

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

The Contributor P.O. Box 332023, Nashville, TN 37203 Vendor Office: 615.829.6829

Proud Member of:

Printed at:

Follow The Contributor:

PAGE 2 | August 5 - 19, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

YOU CAN SUBSCRIBE ONLINE TO THE CONTRIBUTOR FOR JUST $99 A YEAR. YOUR ISSUES WILL BE MAILED MONTHLY AND YOU CAN DESIGNATE A VENDOR TO RECEIVE THE PROFITS â&#x20AC;&#x201D; AND EVEN LEAVE A TIP FOR YOUR VENDOR! VISIT THECONTRIBUTOR.ORG TO SIGN UP peoplesparty.org

August 5 - 19, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 3

VENDOR SPOTLIGHT

Keith D. cultivates positive change IMAGES AND STORY BY HANNAH HERNER When Keith D. started selling for The Contributor in 2011, he was almost out of money. A bit of inheritance was keeping him afloat, but for the first time in his life, he was having trouble getting hired. That’s when he overheard some people with Contributor badges talking amongst themselves on the bus. He asked them where to go to become a vendor, and he’s been with The Contributor ever since, selling at Hamilton Church Road and Murfreesboro Road. In 2011, Keith didn’t know the positive changes that would follow. Your housing situation has changed a lot since you started with us. Can you tell me about that? I had roommates when I first started selling the paper, but they were all drinking and using drugs a lot. I figured I’d rather camp instead of being in that situation. After a few weeks of that, my landlord now was wanting a roommate just to help with bills. He started building this apartment that I live in now and he let me rent it. He said ‘you sell a paper, how are you going to pay rent?’ You know, it’s been over 300 weeks and I’ve never been late once. You mentioned a bit about having struggles with drinking. Do you want to talk about how that changed for you, too? I was getting established on the spot that I have now. I remember too, it was March 14, 2012. It was in the 80s already. I had bought an 18 pack of beer and I was going to drink six a day for three days. Well I drank all 18 beers, plus probably some more. I went to my spot on the 15th with fumes rolling off of me, sweating. I just said right then, ‘go home and don’t drink ever again.’ Because I didn’t want anyone ever to see me buying beer after I’d been out selling papers. Somehow I quit. For 34 years I drank, and I’d quit for a few weeks. Then I’d get drunk for three, four, five days in a row. Lose jobs left and right. July 15, 2020, was my 100th month of not drinking. What was your life like growing up? I grew up in Michigan and it was a real bad family situation. I was put in a mental facility along with my sister when I was 13 and she was 11. They decided I didn’t need to be in there, that actually my step mother needed to be in there, not us. I went to a group home for three years. It was kind of an unusual situation. It was three houses in a semi-circle on a big piece of land and it had house parents that worked in shifts. It was boys and girls, black and white, all mixed together in these houses. The little town where I was growing up in Michigan, there weren’t that many black people. So we were fighting for our friends in school because they got picked on a lot. The manager of that group home embezzled the funds and since I had nowhere to go, I was put back in the mental facility for about two weeks in 10th grade.

A girl at school heard about what happened and asked her mom and dad if they could take me in. They took me in for three years. They had never had a foster kid before, and I was not a good kid. I was a teenager with issues. When I graduated high school, I went right into the Army because I didn’t have job preparation or anything like that, and I stayed in the Army for my two years. When I came out, my foster mother gave me like $1,600. She was getting paid a little bit for having me and she used that money to buy my clothes, but she didn’t keep any of it. That’s one of the lessons I learned about giving when you can. If I’m behind someone at McDonald’s and they’re short on money, I step right up. Whenever I can do something like that I try to do it. They’re the ones that taught me a lot about giving. Something we at The Contributor love about you is your positive attitude. Is that how you’ve always approached life? No, when I quit drinking my attitude changed. It didn’t come in a day, it came gradually. The more I was not into myself, the more I became aware of others. Eight years ago, I wouldn’t have cared. But now I can instinctively tell when something needs to be done to help somebody out. I’m pretty good at figuring it out. When we used to be able to hang around in the Contributor office, I’d see 20 vendors go in and out buying papers. But the certain two or three, I would have a feeling. They’d be coming in and scraping $1.50 together to get three papers, and I’d just say ‘give ‘em 13’ and I’d pop a five dollar bill down. I knew when it was time to do something like that. Tell me about your garden this year. This year I planted triple because of COVID-19, and I was not going anywhere. I knew I would have time to take care of it. This year, the squash and zucchini grew so good I harvested roughly 170 to 180 pounds and was able to give over 90 percent of that away to mostly elderly people, like my elderly customers, that wish they could have a garden but can’t. I also have some low-income people who come by me. So I always have bags of stuff. It’s going to be even more when the tomatoes get ripe. I’m going to have three or four bags a day for somebody. It always works out where who I hoped would come by, would come by and get their bag of stuff. What is your gardening philosophy? My gardening philosophy is to hope and pray and be grateful when it turns out good. And don’t get mad if it doesn’t because there’s always going to be another time. And share, share, share! I have people that tell me, ‘I’ll buy some.’ I’m not selling a thing. I think it would be bad karma. If I have enough to give, I’m going to give.

PAGE 4 | August 5 - 19, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

NASHVILLE HISTORY CORNER

Why Johnny STILL can't read? 3 out of 4 children in Tennessee cannot read at grade level.

E. GRAY SMITH AND HIS EARLY CAR DEALERSHIPS BY RIDLEY WILLS II In 1910, when he was 18 years old, E. Gray Smith sold his first car. He sold it to the city’s engineering department for $3,000, “without the top and without the windshield.” From 1910 to 1922, Smith handled the Winton line of automobiles. In 1924, after Winton quit manufacturing cars, Smith got the prestigious Packard automobile franchise in Nashville. In 1957, when ref lecting on the early days of automobiles in Nashville, Smith said, “we had auto shows a lot like the horse shows of today. We showed the cars in a ring at the state fair and at all the surrounding county fairs, too. Each car was graded on three points-the skill of the driver, the looks of the driver and the car itself. We took special care to pick out a pretty gal

who could drive well.” In early 1928, Smith employed Carlton Brush Architects of Nashville to design a handsome building in the 2400 block of West End Avenue, in the middle of an exclusive Nashville residential neighborhood. In addition to the showroom that faced West End, Smith had offices with glass partitions looking over the showroom, a large parts department and a large service area. A second showroom, with large glass windows, faced Elliston Place. It was for used cars. The new dealership’s Grand Opening was on Sept. 2, 1929. For the next two and one-half decades, Smith sold Packards from this location to many, perhaps most, of Nashville’s wealthiest people. E. Gray Smith moved out of its 2400 West End Avenue Building early in

1956 when Rich, Schwartz & Joseph relocated there. In October 1955, Smith said he would open a new Packard agency, but that he would not announce his plans at that time. Instead, he closed his Packard dealership in 1956 and became Nashville’s Rolls Royce and Bentley dealer with his showroom and service department on Broadway. After being in the business for 69 years, the E. Gray Smith business closed in 1979. After serving multiple uses, including that of a record store, the E. Gray Smith Building on West End was torn down in 2012 to make way for the seven-story Homewood Suites Hotel. In their lobby, the hotel displays some of the handsome elements from the E. Gray Smith Dealership that stood there for 28 years.

August 5 - 19, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 5

Find out why at N2Reading. com or check out N2Reading on Facebook.

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

9th Wednesday after Trinity

10th Monday after Trinity

10th Saturday after Trinity

PRAYER in itself properly is nought else, but a devout intent directing unto God, for the getting of good and removing of evil. And therefore, since it so is that all evil is comprehended in sin (either by cause or by being), let us therefore, when we will intently pray for the removing of evil, either say, or think, or mean, nought else and no more words, but this little word SIN. And if we will intently pray for the getting of good, let us cry, either with word or with thought or with desire, nought else and no more words but this word GOD. For in God all is good, both by cause and by being. The Cloud of Unknowing.

OTHERS again, perhaps truly awakened by the Spirit of God to devote themselves wholly to piety and the service of God, yet making too much haste to have the glory of saints, the elements of fallen nature—selfishness, envy, pride, and wrath—could secretly go along with them. For to seek for eminence and significancy in grace is but like seeking for eminence and significancy in nature. And the old man can relish glory and distinction in religion as well as in common life, and will be content to undergo as many labours, pains, and self-denials for the sake of religious, as for the sake of secular glory. There is nothing safe in religion, but in such a course of behaviour as leaves nothing for corrupt nature to feed or live upon; which can only then be done when every degree of perfection we aim at is a degree of death to the passions of the natural man. William Law: Christian Regeneration.

WE run carelessly to the precipice, after we have put something before us to prevent us seeing it. Pascal: Pensées.

9th Thursday after Trinity IT is no base and beggarly shift (arguing a narrow and necessitous heart), but a piece of holy and heavenly thrift, often to use the same prayer again. Christ's practice is my directory herein, who the third time said the same words . . . a good prayer, though often used, is still fresh and fair in the ears and eyes of heaven. Thomas Fuller: Good Thoughts in Worse Times.

9th Friday after Trinity

GOD usually answers our prayers so much more according to the measure of his own magnificence than of our asking that we do not know his boons to be those for which we besought him. Patmore: The Rod, the Root and the Flower. A MARTYRDOM is not the design of man; for the true martyr is he who has become the instrument of God, who has lost his will in the will of God, not lost but found it, for he has found freedom in submission to God. T. S. Eliot: Murder in The Cathedral.

9th Saturday after Trinity IF it be the earnest desire and longing of your heart to be merciful as He is merciful; to be full of His unwearied patience, to dwell in His unalterable meekness; if you long to be like Him in universal impartial love; if you desire to communicate every good to every creature that you are able; if you love and practise everything that is good, righteous, and lovely for its own sake, because it is good, righteous, and lovely; and resist no evil but with goodness; then you have the utmost certainty that the Spirit of God lives, dwells, and governs in you. William Law: The Spirit of Prayer. GOD is all centre as that he looks to all, and so all circumference as that he embraces all. Donne: Sermons.

Ninth Sunday after Trinity LORD Jesus Christ! A whole life long didst thou suffer that I too might be saved; and yet thy suffering is not yet at an end; but this too wilt thou endure, saving and redeeming me, this patient suffering of having to do with me, I who so often go astray from the right path, or even when I remained on the straight path stumbled along it or crept so slowly along the right path. Infinite patience, suffering of infinite patience. How many times have I not been impatient, wished to give up and forsake everything; wished to take the terribly easy way out, despair: but thou didst not lose patience. Oh, I cannot say what thy chosen servant says: that he filled up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in his flesh; no, I can only say that I increased thy sufferings, added new ones to those which thou didst once suffer in order to save me. Kierkegaard: Journals.

10th Tuesday after Trinity THOUGH the devil be transformed into an angel of light and suggest thoughts of a good appearance, the heart will still feel an ambiguity, some agitation in the thoughts and disturbance of feelings. St Seraphim of Sarov. MEN never do evil so fully and so happily as when they do it for conscience' sake. Pascal: Pensées.

10th Wednesday after Trinity THE impurity of ignorance is in none so manifest as in the devout; for they act on their ignorance and fill themselves and others with miserable scruples and hard thoughts of God, and are as apt to call good evil as other men are to call evil good. Patmore: The Rod, the Root, and the Flower. HOLY indignation is a proof that we should do the same thing ourselves, and easy tears are a certain sign of a hard heart. Patmore: The Rod, the Root, and the Flower.

10th Thursday after Trinity EVIL locutions are occasionally hard to distinguish, for, though they dry up the love of God in the will, and incline men to vanity, self-esteem, false humility and fervent affection of the will founded on self-love, which requires for its detection great spirituality of mind. St John of the Cross: Ascent of Mount Carmel. BEWARE of the mid-day fiend that feigneth light as if it came from Jerusalem but does not so . . . I believe that if true darkness has gone before, the false light never comes. Walter Hylton: Scale of Perfection.

10th Friday after Trinity GOD needs no image and has no image: without image, likeness or means does God work in the soul, aye, in her ground whereinto no image did ever get but only himself with his own essence. Eckhart: Sermons and Collations. A DEVOUT man grounds his devotion chiefly on the invisible; he requires but few images, and uses but few. St John of the Cross: Ascent of Mount Carmel.

BLESSED is the man who beareth temptation with thanksgiving. The Paradise of the Fathers. MANY men have attained to a great height of piety to be very abundant and rich therein. But all their's is but a cistern, not a fountain of grace: only God's goodness hath a spring of itself in itself. Thomas Fuller: Good Thoughts in Bad Times.

Tenth Sunday after Trinity TOO late came I to love thee, O thou Beauty both so ancient and so fresh, yea too late came I to love thee. And behold, thou wert within me, and I out of myself, where I made search for thee: I ugly rushed headlong upon those beautiful wings thou hast made. Thou indeed wert with me; but I was not with thee: these beauties kept me far enough from thee: even those, which unless they were in thee, should not be at all. Thou calledst and criedst unto me, yea thou even breakedst open my deafness: thou discoveredst thy beams and shinedst unto me, and didst cast away my blindness: thou didst most fragrantly blow upon me, and I drew in my breath and I panted after thee; I tasted thee, and now do hunger and thirst after thee; thou didst touch me, and I ever burn again to enjoy thy peace. St Augustine: Confessions.

11th Monday after Trinity WHOSO goes seeking God and seeking aught with God does not find God; but he who seeks God by himself in truth does not find God alone: all God affords he finds as well as God. Art thou looking for God, seeking God with a view to personal good, thy personal profit? Then in truth thou art not seeking God. Eckhart: Sermons and Collations. THIS one thing I know, that woe is me except in thee; not only without myself, but within myself: yea, all other plenty besides my God, is mere beggary unto me. St Augustine: Confessions. I BELIEVE what the Church believes; I intend what the Church intends; I desire what the Church desires. Unknown.

11th Tuesday after Trinity BY the fall of our first father we have lost our first glorious bodies, that eternal, celestial flesh and blood which had as truly the nature of paradise and Heaven in it as our present bodies have the nature, mortality and corruption of this world in them: if, therefore, we are to be redeemed there is an absolute necessity that our souls be clothed again with this first paradisaical or heavenly flesh and blood, or we can never enter into the kingdom of God. Now this is the reason why the scriptures speak so particularly, so frequently, and so emphatically of the powerful blood of Christ, of the great benefit it is to us, of its redeeming, quickening, life-giving virtue; it is because our first life or heavenly flesh and blood is born again in us, or derived again into us from this blood of Christ. William Law: An Appeal.

PAGE 6 | August 5 - 19, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

August 5 - 19, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 7

NEWS

POINT-IN-TIME

COUNT 2020

Who is experiencing homelessness in Nashville: a look at a single January night

2,016

individuals were identified as homeless on the night of Jan. 23, 2020. Persons in sheltered situations (e.g., emergency shelters, transitional housing, and Safe Haven beds that are dedicated to serving persons experiencing homelessness) and

The Point-in-Time (PIT) Count is an annual one-night count of people experiencing literal homelessness, specifically as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This total count includes: 2,365

2,337

Persons in unsheltered situations (e.g., staying on the street, encampments, in cars, etc.).

2,298

Note: this count does not include people who are doubled up, couch surfing, living in motels, or in institutions such as jails or hospitals and who were experiencing homelessness prior to entry or admission.

1,986

2,016

1,401

1,432

1,692

1,698

673

639

616

585

584

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

1,682

That's a total increase of 1.5% - or 30 people - from 2019. Over the past five years since 2016, there's been a 15% total decrease in the PIT count.

73%

are men, compared to 48% of Nashville's population.

45%

The unsheltered count has decreased each year since 2016, with a total unsheltered count decrease of 13%. The sheltered count has decreased each year since 2016 except 2020, for a total of a 15% sheltered count decrease.

are Black or African American, compared to 28% of Nashville's population.

in Transitional Housing: 219

2% are Hispanic,

in Safe Havens: 5

Unsheltered: 584

compared to 10% of Nashville's population.

in Emergency Shelters: 1208

Graphic courtesy of the Metro Homeless Impact Division

PIT count offers snapshot of Nashville homelessness BY HANNAH HERNER Nashville’s 2020 Point-In-Time count found 2,016 people experiencing homelessness. The count took place on the evening of Jan. 23 and into the early morning hours of Jan. 24. This count is required by the national Department of Housing and Urban Development for communities across the country. In Nashville, it was led by Nashville’s Metro Development and Housing Agency in partnership with the Metro Homeless Impact Divi-

sion and the Homelessness Planning Council. Seventy-one percent of those counted were staying in shelters and 28.9 percent were living unsheltered. This represents a 15 percent decrease in overall homelessness since 2016, but a 1.5 percent increase since 2019’s count. Thirty more people were counted this year than last. The PIT count also found that 73 percent of the people counted that night were men, as compared to 48 percent of the general Nash-

ville population being men. Forty-five percent of those counted were African American, as compared to 28 percent of the population. Additionally, 82 percent of people who were unsheltered cited lack of income as the main barrier to finding housing. This count is a snapshot of homelessness, and does not include people who are staying at the hospital, couch surfing, living in motels or with relatives, or living in jail. “The PIT Count provides one piece in

PAGE 8 | August 5 - 19, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

our data approach, which, together with our improved data collection through Homeless Management Information System, will help us measure effective interventions with the goal of moving people from homelessness to housing quicker,” said Judith Tackett, director of the Homeless Impact Division. “Our city has received a $150,000 grant from HUD to help improve our HMIS, which will provide us with a full picture of how people move in and out of homelessness in our city.”

NEWS

NEWS BRIEFS Church Street Park temporarily closes beginning July 27 Church Street Park is scheduled to temporarily close to the public beginning July 27 through Aug. 16 for work to be completed in honor of the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment. Historic Capitol Corridor Foundation begins work to compliment local suffrage events Metro Parks and the Historic Capitol Corridor Foundation announced. The work will complement local suffrage events that will be celebrated by the nearby Downtown Public Library, Hermitage Hotel and other organizations. The Metropolitan Board of Parks and Recreation along with the Metro Council approved an in-kind gift from the Historic Capitol Corridor Foundation to make these physical improvements to the park and to provide public programming, staffing and maintenance of the park in the coming months. The park will reopen Aug. 17-19 exclusively for scaled back suffrage-related events that will strictly adhere to CDC guidelines and Metro’s safety protocols related to COVID-19. It will then close again from Aug. 20 through Oct. 5 during which time physical improvements will be made to beautify the park and make preparations for public programming and special events later in the year. Application extended for COVID food benefits Tennessee parents have additional time to apply for a program designed to help them feed their families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Applications will now be accepted online at tdhs.service-now.com for the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer until Aug.14. This extension provides the Tennessee Department of Human Services with more opportunity to continue outreach efforts with community organizations. P-EBT provides parents with $5.70 in benefits per child for each day that child qualifies. These benefits can be used to purchase food at any establishment that accepts EBT or online with Amazon, Kroger and Walmart. To be eligible, children must receive free or reduced meals at school or attend a Community Eligibility Provision school. The program is designed to replace meals lost during the months of March, April, and May due to COVID-19 school closures. “Hundreds of thousands of children currently have access to additional nutritional support through our P-EBT program and we want to make sure more families are aware of this opportunity,” said TDHS Commissioner Danielle W. Barnes. “These families depend on the meals their children

get at school and immediately faced an unexpected financial burden when those schools closed. By providing these families with the support they need now we are taking important steps to build a thriving Tennessee when the pandemic passes.” TDHS initially launched P-EBT on June 12 by providing the benefits to qualifying families that take part in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. These families already have an existing EBT card and P-EBT benefits were automatically applied to those cards. Families who do not currently receive SNAP or TANF need to apply for the program and will receive a P-EBT card in the mail after approval. Approval times can be delayed by inaccurate or incomplete information on the application so families are encouraged to double check all names and addresses to make sure they match what their children’s schools will have on file. COVID-19 curbs seen taking heavy toll on people without internet COVID-19 lockdowns mean poor people without internet access are being further marginalized, researchers and rights groups said, urging governments and telecommunications companies to do more to get them online. From schooling to looking for jobs and applying for state aid, lockdown measures have shifted many key activities online

while also making it harder for people on low incomes to get connected, according to French tech consultancy Capgemini. “The internet has become a basic need. It’s no longer a ‘nice-to-have’,” said Aiman Ezzat, Capgemini chief operating officer. “The lack of it prevents people from having access to public services, to education, to a chance in life. It just limits what you can do.” Nearly one in two people worldwide do not use the internet, according to the United Nations’ internet and telecoms agency. Even before COVID-19, campaigners say they faced bleaker life prospects due to social isolation and reduced employment and education opportunities. Since lockdowns began, libraries and internet cafes that many use to get online have closed, said Helen Milner, who heads the Good Things Foundation, a British charity working on digital inclusion. Others who have a smartphone but struggled to pay for data can no longer access free hotspots, she said. “They have to prioritise other things like food and rent,” said Milner. A Capgemini survey of more than 1,300 people with no internet access in six countries — France, Germany, India, Sweden, Britain and the United States — found 69 percent were living in poverty. More than 40 percent of the people who were offline were aged between 18 and 36, the survey found. The poll was conducted between De-

August 5 - 19, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 9

cember and February, before most coronavirus lockdowns began, and Ezzat said the pandemic had exacerbated existing problems. Some 1.6 billion workers, representing nearly half of the global labour force, are in immediate danger of losing their livelihoods due to the pandemic, the International Labor Organization said. Milner said that in Britain and elsewhere people with no access to the internet were often unable to get information about the virus, talk to relatives, interview for jobs or asylum applications and access welfare programmes and banking services. From Tunisia to the United States, phone companies in many countries have sought to address the issue with steps such as cutting prices, increasing broadband coverage and removing data caps, digital rights group Access Now said in a report last week. But it said telecoms firms should do more, calling for them to lift all data allowances and waive overage and late payment fees. The report also urged governments to broaden connectivity and lift internet shutdowns in some restive regions such as those imposed by Myanmar and India. “All around the world, decision-makers in government and the private sector have the obligation to step up and fix this problem,” Access Now’s global net neutrality lead Eric Null said in a statement. Courtesy of Reuters / Thomson Reuters Foundation / INSP.ngo

COVER STORY

The Systems

How Nashvillians get into housing BY HANNAH HERNER

Contributor vendor John Henry has been homeless on and off for 30 years. Given this history, it’s hard for him to get a landlord to sign him a lease, let alone pay for market rate rent in Nashville. He’s worked with a social worker, and has struggled to get a sustainable long-term option for housing. In order to get one of the city’s scarce affordable housing units, people like Henry have to show that they’re vulnerable enough to need one. And with the way the system works, living in a boarding house instead of on the streets could actually be hurting his odds. “There are a whole lot of things that they didn’t ask me

that should have been asked,” Henry says. “To help me get housing, that’s fine. But asking me the reason I don’t have housing, they didn’t ask me as much. They didn’t ask me what I could have went through trying to get housing.” Henry remembers filling out a VI-SPDAT with a social worker. This Vulnerability Index-Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool is the front door to getting an affordable housing unit in Nashville. (Usually it’s referred to as the vee-eye-spi-dat). The front door There are three different VI-SPDATs, one for families,

one for single adults, and one for youth. This tool was created to be administered quickly with 27 yes or no answers. In the end, the client will receive a score between one and 17, with 17 signifying the most vulnerable. A higher score puts a person higher on the list to get into housing. Little training is required to use it, as it’s self-reported by the client and the questions are meant to be read verbatim. It’s widely used, in more than 100 communities across the United States, and the world. Cities must use a triage tool that measures vulnerability like this to receive federal dollars from the United States Department of Housing and

Urban Development. HUD also requires that cities use a Coordinated Entry System, a process by which organizations are meant to work together to use the information collected to get people into housing. The VI-SPDAT is broken down into four categories: history of housing and homelessness, risks (mainly of crime being committed against them), socialization and daily functioning and wellness. These categories are divided into 17 subsections. A point is added to a respondent’s score for each question that identifies them as being at higher risk. For example, one of the risks sections asks:

PAGE 10 | August 5 - 19, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

1. Have you been attacked or beaten up since you’ve become homeless? 2. Have you threatened or tried to harm yourself or anyone else in the last year? And if they answer yes to either of these, a point is added to the score for “risk of harm.” The problem with the VI-SPDAT A racial equity analysis released in 2019 looked at six communities’ VI-SPDAT outcomes. “VI-SPDAT subscales do not equitably capture vulnerabilities for BIPOC compared to whites: race is a predictor of 11/16 subscales, and most subscales are tilted towards capturing vulnerabilities that whites

COVER STORY

are more likely to endorse,” the study reads. White people are more likely to get a higher score on this vulnerability assessment than BIPOC. Higher scores help you get into housing faster. Alaina Boyer, director of research for the National Health Care for the Homeless Council suspects this disparity is because of the self-reporting aspect of the tool. One question on the survey reads, “In the past six months, how many times have you … talked to police because you witnessed a crime, were the victim of a crime, or the alleged perpetrator of a crime or because the police told you that you must move along?” “With our current culture, and specifically with law enforcement and those types of things we’re seeing in the Black community, people are not going to be forthcoming on questions of whether or not they had interactions with law enforcement,” Boyer says. “People are not going to want to share whether or not they talked to the police or witnessed a crime or been a victim of sexual assault or violent assault.” Henry recalls filling out the VI-SPDAT. “I didn’t mind answering it, but I get to the point that I hate talking about stuff like that to people because I have to tell the real truth. And the truth hurts people,” he says. “Especially when I say the police, our government, it all hurts — but it’s the truth. It’s really sad how they treat poor people” Note that people who are Black are already disproportionately affected by homelessness. Nashville’s 2020 Point-in-Time Count (another HUD mandated measure) found that 45 percent of people experiencing homelessness that one January night were Black, yet Black people only make up 28 percent of Nashville’s general population. Boyer says it’s the dichotomous nature of the survey that also misses ways that different cultures might communicate. And especially for drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs, it’s typically in the clients best interest to hide their vulnerabilities, she says. But with the VI-SPDAT, answering yes to question 22 “Will drinking or drug use make it difficult for you to stay housed or afford your housing?” gives a point to the vulnerability score. “Our populations have been told for so long: don’t let them

know you have this issue, so we can get you into this program. Now all of the sudden we’re coming with this screener like ‘tell us everything. You have to tell us everything because that’s going to get your score up.’ And that’s a huge conundrum.” Another shortfall of the VI-SPDAT is that the severity of any of these categories is not reflected. Question 16, “Do you have any chronic health issues with your liver, kidneys, stomach, lungs or heart?” would garner the same answer from

where housing navigators and case managers can come and be like ‘I have somebody who is really really vulnerable and this tool didn’t measure that.’ We can advocate in those meetings on a personal level as well. You can’t just determine on paper everything about a person.” What HMIS can and can’t get you The VI-SPDAT is entered into a database called the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). Going through

reach worker for Mental Health Co-Op says access to these resources is crucial for his clients, especially the access to the move-in funds. He uses the database every day to help him reach his goal of housing 20 clients a year, which he says wouldn’t be possible without the VI-SPDAT and HMIS. “I basically tell them it’s a vulnerability index. It measures how vulnerable you are living on the streets or in shelters,” Scarlett says. “It doesn’t matter what your score is, we just need

“Our populations have been told for so long: don’t let them know you have this issue, so we can get you into this program. Now all of the sudden we’re coming with this screener like ‘tell us everything. You have to tell us everything because that’s going to get your score up.’ And that’s a huge conundrum.”

someone with life-threatening cancer or a mild and manageable condition. When someone’s vulnerability score doesn’t accurately reflect their vulnerability, a social worker must go to bat for them at one of the city’s bi-weekly case conferences. “Those are assessment tools that are not perfect,” says Judith Tackett, director of Metro’s Homeless Impact Division.“That’s why we do have care coordination meetings...

this process can get a person experiencing homelessness a specific few things: move-in funds, one kind Section 8 rental assistance voucher, a monthly bus pass, and/or a single-room-occupancy unit (usually a refurbished motel room). And it can only get them those things if they are “literally homeless” by HUD’s definition — this doesn’t include people who are doubled up with friends or family or in danger of being evicted. Nathan Scarlett, lead out-

to do this survey to help you to be eligible for the $1,000 of move in expenses, and also it helps you to gain more access to housing resources.” Outside of HMIS is the whole public housing system, managed by Metropolitan Development and Housing Authority (MDHA). Akin to the process with SROs, rent is based on income. But unlike the benefits you can get through HMIS, people can apply themselves to MDHA waitlists. These waitlists

August 5 - 19, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 11

stretch hundreds long, and no weight is given to people experiencing literal homelessness. A two-year overhaul Also outside of HMIS are a number of area homeless service providers that don’t enter into the system. Privately funded organizations don’t have to use this centralized database. Right now that means it’s not an accurate indicator of the state of homelessness in Nashville, and the resources available, but the city would like it to be. “One major barrier that we face is completeness. [Tackett] has been in conversation with the Nashville Rescue Mission for forever, working on what it would look like, what it would take to get them on board and entering their shelter data into the system” says Rachel Cook, HMIS administrator. “The Mission is not the only one, it’s just the biggest example.” The city of Nashville received $150,000 from HUD in October as part of a two-year grant to improve the HMIS system. Much of this money was spent on training, says Tackett. Until earlier this year, the database was closed to data sharing. Nashville is moving toward an open system, or data sharing system. That said, all of the people entered thus far, will not be open to view by the organizations, just the ones entered since the system was opened. “The bottom line goal for all of this has been — in two years — to be able to have an open functioning system. And when it’s open it’s where we share data safely,” Tackett says. Now organizations can pick up where another left off and share services for each others’ clients more easily. “The whole point of HMIS is not for people to have another piece of documentation to handle and just enter their information into a black hole where it doesn’t go anywhere,” Cook says. “We’re really serious about getting it cleaned up to a place where it can be useful and we can report a lot more back out to the community.” A more well-documented view of people receiving services because they’re experiencing homelessness could be advantageous to Nashville; as could pooling services through a Coordinated Entry database . But until there’s enough affordable housing to go around, these are the systems that one must go through to get housing. How fair can it be?

INTERNATIONAL NETWORK OF STREET PAPERS

US eviction bans are ending. That could worsen the spread of coronavirus BY MICHELLE CONLIN Last month, as the coronavirus was surging in Houston, recently unemployed hospital secretary Ramzan Boudoin got more bad news: She had six days to vacate her apartment for failing to pay the rent. A Texas ban on evictions had enabled Boudoin to keep the two-bedroom place she shared with her daughter and granddaughter while she searched for another job. But that moratorium expired on 18 May. The landlord took legal action and Boudoin couldn’t come up with $2,997 plus interest to settle the judgment. So this month, Boudoin, 46, packed her family into a 2008 Nissan compact and headed to New Orleans, where she moved in with her mother and her sister’s family. In all, nine people share the packed three-bedroom house. Bedouin said her mother suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, a lung illness that makes her particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 in a city where cases are rising at an alarming pace. “Every minute, we are worried someone is going to give it to her,” Boudoin said. As the coronavirus began to shut down large swaths of the US economy in March, spiralling millions of Americans into unemployment, a patchwork of state and federal eviction bans were enacted to keep people in their homes. Now those protections are vanishing. Moratoriums have already expired in 29 states and are in the midst of lapsing in others. A federal stay, which protected roughly one-third of American renters who live in buildings with mortgages backed by the federal government, ran out. As many as 28 million people could be evicted in coming months, according to Emily Benfer, a visiting law professor at Wake Forest University who is the co-creator of Princeton University’s Eviction Lab, a national research centre on evictions. That’s nearly triple the estimated 10 million Americans who lost their homes during the years after the 2008 mortgage crisis. Public health and housing experts say such a massive displacement of renters would be unprecedented in modern history. In addition to the hardship that comes with losing one’s home, they say, the evictions could

A man walks near the Providence at Champions apartment complex, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Houston, Texas, U.S., July 22, 2020. REUTERS/ADREES LATIF lead to a second-wave public health crisis as the newly homeless are forced into shelters or tight quarters with relatives, increasing the risk of spread of COVID-19. Evictions have resumed in cities including Houston, Cincinnati, Columbus, Kansas City, Cleveland and St. Louis, according to data compiled by Princeton University at its Eviction Lab. No single, comprehensive source exists to track US evictions nationwide. In Milwaukee, eviction filings dropped to nearly zero after Wisconsin instituted an emergency 60-day ban on evictions on March 27. But after that order was lifted 26 May, evictions surged past their pre-pandemic levels. Milwaukee recorded 1,966 eviction filings in the seven weeks following the ban’s expiration, an 89 per cent increase from 1,038 notices filed in the seven weeks leading up to the moratorium, the Princeton data show. Dr. Nasia Safdar, an infectious disease physician and the medical director for infection prevention at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, said it’s impossible at this point to establish a scientific correlation between evictions and COVID-19 spread and deaths; diagnosed coronavirus cases are up 150 per cent in Milwaukee, for example, since the eviction moratorium ended. What is not in doubt among public health experts, she said, is that

evictions are dangerous during a pandemic. “A key tenet of prevention in a pandemic is to have the infrastructure that will minimize transmission from person to person,” Safdar said. “Any activity that breaks down that structure...makes containment of a pandemic exceedingly difficult.” A July 17 study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland found that in 44 US cities and counties, eviction filings by landlords have almost returned to their usual levels in places where moratoriums have expired, or where bans were never enacted. That study said evicted tenants are “at greater risk of contracting, spreading and suffering complications from COVID-19” because precariously housed people often are unable to shelter in place, and because they tend to use crowded emergency rooms for their primary medical care. As evictions rise in some coronavirus hot spots, displaced families are doubling up with relatives or moving into shelters, creating conditions for the virus to spread widely, according to Diane Yentel, president of the Washington DC-based National Low Income Housing Coalition, the US’s premiere affordable housing policy group. “In these cases where social distancing is difficult or impossible, the likelihood of them contracting and spreading coronavirus increases exponentially,” Yentel said. A fragile safety net is adding to

the strain. Enhanced $600 weekly unemployment benefits provided by the federal government are set to evaporate next week, at a time when the national unemployment rate is 13.3 per cent. Landlords say the pandemic is a crisis for them as well. Bob Pinnegar, CEO of the National Apartment Association, says eviction is always a “last resort,” but “the rental housing industry alone cannot bear the financial burden of the pandemic.” He said nearly half the country’s landlords are mom-and pop operators who have invested in rental property for retirement income. COVID positive, and facing eviction For weeks, eviction courts across America were shuttered due to COVID-19. Now, over Zoom, conference calls and even in person in some places, proceedings are ramping up again. In Houston’s Harris County, more than 5,100 eviction cases have been filed since the virus upended the US economy in March, according to data compiled by Houston-based data science firm January Advisors. That’s still roughly half of pre-pandemic levels. But it’s worrisome to public health advocates given that Harris County has seen confirmed coronavirus cases jump 500 per cent since Texas’s eviction ban was lifted 18 May, the Reuters

PAGE 12 | August 5 - 19, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

COVID tracker shows. Swapnil Agarwal is the 39-year-old founder of Nitya Capital, one of the largest landlords in Texas and owner of the Providence at Champions Apartment Homes from which Boudoin was evicted. During the pandemic, the company has filed more than 120 eviction notices against renters in Houston, a review of court records found. Houston-based Nitya has $2 billion in real estate assets under management, according to its website. Agarwal said his firm evicted Boudoin because she was behind on her rent and “we realized that there was no intention to pay,” an allegation she disputes. He said Nitya has gone to great lengths to keep tenants in place and has provided $4 million in rent assistance to those who lost their jobs. Meanwhile in Milwaukee, Mariah Smith was served an eviction notice on July 1. A shipping clerk for an aircraft parts maker, she lost her job in May. Smith said she hasn’t been able to pay her rent because she never received her $1,200 federal stimulus check and is still waiting to receive unemployment benefits. Her fortunes have only gotten worse. Smith, 25, last week was diagnosed with coronavirus after experiencing chills, body aches and a sore throat. She said just walking leaves her winded. On Thursday, she faced a court hearing on her eviction. Nick Homan, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, agreed to help. He said he’s handling around 25 eviction cases a week now, more than double his typical load. After contacting Smith’s landlord — a limited liability company named LPT 46 — an attorney representing the firm, Marvin Bynum II, said the company just learned of Smith’s COVID diagnosis. “The landlord is hopeful that Ms. Smith recovers soon, and is confident the parties can swiftly reach a mutually amicable resolution,” Bynum said. The larger issue remains. “There’s nobody in any position of authority to stop eviction right now,” Homan said. “I don’t see anybody making decisions on public health. I only see landlords making decisions about their finances.” Courtesy of Reuters / INSP.ngo

VENDOR SUBMISSIONS

Take it Down — NOW!!! BY JEN A., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR On July 9, 2020, the esteemed Tennessee Capitol Commission, in a 9-2 vote, agreed to allow the removal of the Nathan Bedford Forrest bronze bust from its niche of honor between the chambers of the Tennessee House and Senate. Dissenting were Sen. Jack Johnson, R Franklin, and Rep. Matthew Hill, R Jonesborough, representing what they said was the will of both houses of the legislature. Activists who had repeatedly been set upon by law enforcement as they peacefully called for the removal of the racist relic, cheered the news

of the vote with an enthusiastic call and response, “Take it down — NOW!” But it will likely be some time before ol’ Nathan takes his rightful place on the trash heap of history — if at all. The vote by the Capitol Commission is just the first step in the long and winding legislatively-mandated road to the bust’s eventual removal. The ultimate decision now rests with the Tennessee Historical Commission. And while the commission met the day after the removal vote was approved at the Capitol, the matter was not taken up.

The Historical Commission, which only meets quarterly, was then expected to discuss removal at its October meeting. However, it is now widely reported that the issue will not reach priority until February 2021. Nathan Bedford Forrest still holds sway in the house of all the people of Tennessee. The bust of the former slave trader and first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan has been controversial since it was first placed at the Capitol in November of 1978. Representatives from minority groups offended by the state sanctioned insult

the bust represents implored then Gov. Lamar Alexander to order its removal. He passed the buck and told them it was up to the legislature. There is a photograph in the archive of The Tennessean from October of 1980 that shows a group of men in full Ku Klux Klan regalia standing in front of the Nathan Bedford Forrest bust. It is reported that they were there to make plans for the coming race war. Who would believe back then that 40 years later, in 2020, the war would still be raging? Surely, in all that time, the better angles of the fine citizens of Tennessee

would have wanted to repair this blatant assault of their Black sisters and brothers. So now, the buck has been passed again. It is up to the Tennessee Historical Commission to decide on removal of this offensive hunk of bronze. I hope that there are enough fine Tennesseans who the commission actually cares about who will speak up in support of removal. It’s past time to restore the dignity the past 40 years of state support for Nathan Bedford Forrest has stolen from our Black neighbors. No more passing the buck. Take it down — NOW!

Dear Mr. Mysterio “Dear Mr. Mysterio, Hi! My name is Jen A. and I’m an avid follower of your “Hoboscope” column that appears bi-weekly in The Contributor. I’m also a vendor of the paper so I suppose you have to know that I’m not looking to your astrological advice to make life decisions. The choices I’ve made are pretty much cast in stone at this point. And on the whole, I have to admit, I’m fairly content. The Contributor has afforded me the opportunity to make a living and I’ve met some very kind, wonderful people along the way. When the global pandemic made landfall in Nashville, I’ ll admit it knocked me off my pins. I hunkered down. I stopped selling my papers and stood for months watching the world through window glass. As I watched; the usual crush of cars on the highway gave way to endless caravans of FedEx and Amazon tractor trailers, and the smokey brown haze of pollution that usually hangs over our town disappeared. Bare trees sprouted lush green foliage and previously unnoticed birdsong greeted me each morning and lulled me to sleep each night. OK, that was a little annoying at first. But then, I ran out of the great unequalizer — money — and developed a serious case of dermatillomania from

the extreme stress that desperation brings. I hadn’t gotten a stimulus check because I don’t make enough to have to file taxes and I don’t receive any type of social security. I was told that I qualified for unemployment but that never materialized. I don’t think that the Tennessee unemployment system was set up to actually help anyone. I wrote to Rep. Jim Cooper to ask if he could help me with the stimulus. All these months later, I’ve only received campaign f liers from him. No help there. I was running on fumes — going down for the third time. I don’t have a television — haven’t for many years. But when I heard on my magic radio box that George Floyd had been murdered, something inside me broke. In the early days of the lockdown, because of a heart condition and my type A blood, I was afraid if I went outside I’d get COVID-19 and die. After the horror of hearing George in the throes of death call out, “Mama”, I was now afraid that I wouldn’t die. I could not remember any event in my life that was more heartbreaking than that. And I’ve had some heartbreak. So I’ve gone back to work. I don’t go out as much as I used to — just enough to pay my bills. It isn’t as much fun as it used to be because my customers are reluctant to take the paper. Having them

drive off with a paper is my favorite part of the sale. I try to protect myself and them as best I can. I’ve designed a notouch device for the exchange of paper and money and encourage them to take it. I guess there just isn’t much trust in America these days. Unfortunately, I understand. All this is to say: now that I’m buying papers again and have ready access to your column, I have a question. I’m usually able to puzzle out your clever astrological anecdotes to fit their wisdom into some aspect of my life that might need attention. You always make us work for our own truth. But this week, with your “Haikuscope”, I was stumped. If I had left the hose on, there would be no build up of pressure. The water would merely run free. Was that the point? Or did you mean that there’s a huge water bill in my future? Just curious. Please be well and take good care. We need you now more than ever! XO, Jen A.”

Hi there, Jen It’s always good to hear from a loyal reader. Better still, a reader who’s willing to share such a profound portrait

August 5 - 19, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 13

of her own life. I feel like I got more from your story of 2020 than I’ve been able to glean from all the wisdom of the skies as of late. I’m so glad you’re able to sell papers again and I hope the fun comes back soon. But, to your question about your haikuscope I would first say that even I can’t always puzzle-out the messages that I receive from The Stars. Sometimes it’s just an idea or a phrase other times it’s an image. I pass on what I can and I have to trust that a thoughtful Aquarius such as yourself can decide if it means anything. What I can tell you that the hose I was picturing when I wrote that ‘scope was the hose in my backyard when I was a kid. On the end of that hose there was a nozzle. My favorite thing was to shut the nozzle all the way off and let the pressure build up for just a few seconds. Then I’d turn it on and blast my unsuspecting sister who was on the back porch listening to the radio and f lipping through magazines. So. The hose is on but the pressure still builds. Maybe it’s just a question of where we point the nozzle when we finally let it out. I don’t recommend aiming it at your sister. She kicks. Thanks for writing. Mysteriously, — Mr. M.

MOVING PICTURES

home for Los Angeles where he studied jazz composition and orchestration at Westlake College of Music. If You Could Read My Mind spotlights Lightfoot’s natural gifts for songwriting and singing, but it also underlines Lightfoot’s music education, his guitar playing chops, and — especially — his discipline and determination as a student of songcraft. “You knew you had to do it,” he explains. “Sit down at the table and actually do it.” It was in a chair at a desk in a basement apartment in Toronto where Lightfoot penned “Early Morning Rain” and “That’s What You Get for Loving Me.” The songs were recorded — and charted — by the likes of Peter, Paul and Mary, Judy Collins and Elvis Presley, and Lightfoot established his reputation as a songwriter who could score a hit. He signed with the infamous music manager Albert Grossman who got Lightfoot a recording contract with United Artists. His 1966 debut album was a flop before “If You Could Read My Mind” became a surprise radio hit. The record was a smash, and the song was subsequently recorded by a slew of diverse artists including Barbara Streisand, Olivia Newton-John and Johnny Cash. The 1960s and 1970s saw Lightfoot win critical and popular acclaim even as he struggled with fame, troubled romantic relationships, and the booze he used to smooth-out the rough patches. His 1976 masterpiece, Summertime Dream chronicled “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald ‘’ and sealed Lightfoot’s legend as one of rock’s greatest poetic songwriters. The tune still engulfs the airways across the industrial Midwest every November when the titular Lake Superior shipwreck is remembered. I was 15 years old the first time I saw Lightfoot perform the song live. For me, it was as important as seeing Michael Jackson moonwalk across the TV screen for the very first time. This movie explains why.

‘If You Could Read My Mind’ A NEW GORDON LIGHTFOOT DOCUMENTARY IS LESS GLITTER AND MORE GOLD BY JOE NOLAN, FILM CRITIC Gordon Lightfoot was the second concert I ever went to as a high school kid in the 1980s. Lightfoot wasn’t a big star for most kids then — his last gold album had been 1978’s Endless Wire. The singer-songwriter struggled through the Reagan years as much as Bob Dylan and the other troubadours of the 1960s folk era, trying to stay relevant in a wake of music videos, piano ties and new wave synth pop. I fell for the second British Invasion as much as any kid in Michigan, but when I started playing guitar at the age of 15 I also fell in love with songwriting and lyrics. And if you were a 15-year-old songwriter in Michigan in the mid-1980s, you held Lightfoot in awe. The new Lightfoot documentary, If You Could Read My Mind is about as close as any of us will get to peeking between the songwriter’s ears, into the inner-workings of his creative process and the struggles in his personal life. The film doesn’t offer many surprises: we’re predictably treated to almost exactly an hour and a half of archival footage, comments from admiring friends and music luminaries, and commentary from Lightfoot himself, who’s energetic, eloquent and even sometimes revealing and vulnerable at the venerable age of 82. How this film works isn’t remarkable,

but what it does feels important, and even necessary: it places Lightfoot and his songs where they belong, alongside giants like Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. And it reminds all of us from south of the Great White North that Lightfoot might be Canada’s most quintessential music icon. Lightfoot grew up in Orillia, Ontario. He

showed musical talent at an early age and his mother’s coaching and encouragement made him into a performer while he was still in grade school. Lightfoot was a soprano in a local church choir before a stint with a pintsized barber shop quartet. By the time he was in high school he was a drummer and singer in a dance band, and after graduation he left

PAGE 14 | August 5 - 19, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

If You Could Read My Mind is now playing online. Buy your streaming ticket through the Belcourt Theatre at www.belcourt.org

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

FUN

HOBOSCOPES LEO

Lately I’ve been thinking about you and Billy Pilgrim. Billy is, of course, the protagonist of Kurt Vonnegut’s 1969 novel Slaughterhouse 5. The reason the two of you have been on my mind, Leo, is that you’ve both become more than a little unstuck in time. Billy, as you know, literally moves from one moment of his life to another–backwards and forwards through the years. You’ve been doing some of that lately too, Leo. I’d just like to encourage you to lean into it. If you start to find yourself in a moment from your past that you hadn’t thought about in years, maybe just hang out. Spend a little while with your old self and see what you might find out about the you that you’re becoming.

VIRGO

If I remember my four noble truths, we start with the idea that life comes with suffering built right in. Then there’s the idea that suffering comes from our cravings. The Buddha’s third absolute is that there is an escape from this endless cycle of desire and disappointment. Honestly, Virgo, I get a little lost after that. But I think the way you’re dealing with your suffering is pretty amazing. I see you out there learning to accept. Learning to let go. Learning to be present. And, whatever that 4th noble truth is, I think you’re on to something.

LIBRA

So, when’s a good time to call this week, Libra? Are you around on Tuesday? Tuesday at 2:00 works for me–and Susan said she could do it. I haven’t heard back from your brother, but he’s usually up for any weekday before 4:00. Should we make it a Zoom? Do you want to loop Robbie in? You’ve probably been surprised, Libra, that all the extra time you thought you would have on the books this summer is getting scheduled. I think this week, when plans start to get made on top of you, you should just schedule right back. Put yourself on the calendar again, Libra. Susan can wait.

SCORPIO

I feel like it’s raining a little more often than it should. I’m not one of those people who wants it to be sunny all the time, I just feel like everytime I think I know what to expect I look up and here comes more rain. And did it always rain so hard? If you think you’re getting stormed on more than is reasonable, Scorpio, just remember that

it’s falling on pretty much everybody. And pretty much everybody would love to talk it over with you. If you have to get wet, don’t get wet alone.

SAGITTA R IUS

A friend of mine used to tell me a story about the time he was driving late at night and was lost. He was afraid of falling asleep and afraid of running out of gas and afraid going further in the wrong direction. Then, in the darkness of the night sky, he saw an enormous white bird. He followed the bird down the highway to the next exit. He got directions and found gas and a place to stay. I think he told that story because he thought it was weird to follow a bird. But all I could hear, Sagittarius, was “Keep going. Follow hope. There’s something better on the other side of the dark.”

CAPRICORN

I’ve never understood the heat-index thing. I know there’s a formula to it involving air temperature and humidity percentages and sciency stuff. I just think it’s weird when the weather app tells me it’s 89° but that it “feels like: it’s 96°. How do you know what I feel, Weather App? What if I feel like it’s 86° because I’m thinking about that time at summer camp when it was 86° and I tried to go canoeing with the cool kids but when I got there all the canoes were already gone? Don’t go around presuming that you know how other people feel, Capricorn. Do what you can to find out, just don’t assume you already know.

AQUA RIUS

My dad used to tell me that 80% of success is just showing up. That’s a little harder these days. A lot of places won’t let you come inside. A lot of people are asking you to just stay home. So we have to find other ways of showing up for each other. Other ways of reaching out. Sometimes showing up is just being who you are where you are. I’m glad you’re here, Aquarius.

PISCES

I’ve really been enjoying the outdoors lately. Yesterday, I spent the whole evening sitting in the grass reading my book and then watching the stars appear. It was perfect. This morning I woke up and realized that my legs are covered in big red bug bites. I know what you’re thinking, Pisces.

I should have been more careful. I should have used some repellent and come back inside sooner. But that’s the language of regret. Maybe you didn’t do everything right. But see if you can still cherish the memory of the stars and the grass and not just focus on the bites.

ARIES

When I was a kid, going back to school meant shopping for pencils and rulers and notebooks. These kids today just want masks and face-shields and touchless thermometers. It’s strange how the times change. It’s easy to idealize the way things used to be, Aries, but maybe this is a season to problem-solve for the way things suddenly are.

TAURUS

I’m worn out today, Taurus. I probably just haven’t had enough water. Or maybe it’s all the impending doom shining-out from every readable surface in my life. I look at my phone. It says there’s doom. I look at my computer. Doom. I turn on my TV. Pretty much all doom. Maybe we should take a break from all those doomy surfaces and just have a nice cool glass of water, Taurus. Even if we can’t hydrate our way out of this, we can at least focus on something else for a minute or two.

GEMINI

I didn’t get to go to the beach this summer. Things just got too complicated. My favorite thing to do on the beach is to dig an enormous hole in the sand. The kind you can crawl down in and stick your head out. Come to think of it, Gemini, you don’t have to go to the beach to dig deep. You could start digging right where you are. Find out what’s under the surface. See if the things you remember are still down there. You might be surprised just how deep you can go.

CANCER

I’ve been listening to more music lately, Cancer. Honestly more than I have in years. I used to be obsessed with music. I’d play the same song again and again, like I was trying to solve a puzzle. And things are so stressful lately that it’s hard to start anything new. And it’s hard to finish what you started. But you can just about always finish listening to a song. And then do the next one. If everything is too much right now, try taking it one song at a time.

Mr. Mysterio is not a licensed astrologer, an authorized agent, or a select city. 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

August 5 - 19, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 15

VENDOR WRITING

Changes BY VICK Y B., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR A move to Nashville, a tornado, COVID-19, and hip surgery have all played a role in me getting out there to sell The Contributor. It’s scary to get back out while still being in a wheelchair from hip surgery. I’ve had to change how I sell the paper also. I was hoping to at least be on my walker by now but, I’ve had a really slow recovery. Working on endurance on my own has been slow. To walk from the bus terminal to a place downtown to sell the paper has been a difficult task. It’s a work in progress — and I mean work. Needing to find a place where people walk up to you to buy a paper, leaves downtown as the only possible place for me to sell the paper. I’d love nothing more than to return to Hermitage where I had sold the paper for over six years, however this isn’t in the cards right now. Standing, smiling and waving at cars that drive by isn’t as easy as it once was. I do know that change is good. Going from homeless to affordable housing has been a dream come true. While scary at times, changes have always helped me to grow. During this Covid-19 pandemic, will I contract

THEME: W HO SA ID IT? ACROSS 1. Involuntary twitch 6. World’s oldest national broadcaster 9. Pilgrimage to Mecca 13. Pacific island greeting 14. “____ the ramparts...” 15. Prefix relating to sun 16. Not so crazy 17. Maiden name indicator 18. Greet the day 19. Mentally prepared for something scary 21. *”There’s no place like home” 23. Liveliness 24. Answer to this clue, e.g. 25. Winter bug 28. Hatha or bikram 30. Incense burner, in a church 35. Bubonic plague spreaders 37. Bottle plug 39. Part of TNT 40. Bad luck predictor 41. *”D’oh!” 43. Cleopatra’s necklace 44. Red Cross supply 46. Have supper

47. Female crab, or crybaby in Australia 48. Belonging to Cree, e.g. 50. Byproduct of combing wool 52. Be nosey 53. Spilled the beans 55. Band booking 57. *”I have always depended on the kindness of strangers” 61. *”The caged bird sings of freedom” 65. Acoustic output 66. Polar toy-maker 68. Oodles 69. *”Everyone wants to be Cary Grant. Even I want to be Cary Grant.” 70. “Funny or ____” 71. Tutor’s student 72. Withered 73. Use a Singer, e.g. 74. Not be frugal DOWN 1. Fresh talk 2. Surveyor’s work 3. Excellent 4. Pen dweller 5. *”Don’t worry ‘bout

a thing, ‘cause every little thing is gonna be alright.” 6. *”A martini. Shaken, not stirred.” 7. Samantha of “Full Frontal” 8. Words to live by 9. Submarine sandwich 10. Climbed down 11. Potluck offering 12. *”It’s a moo point” 15. Habituate, like a plant 20. Historical period 22. Tolkien humanoid 24. Global problem? 25. *”Two roads diverged in a yellow wood” 26. Coeur de ____ ____, “Titanic” 27. Embryo cradles 29. Well-behaved 31. Lice eggs 32. “Sesame Street” prominent architecture feature 33. Not right 34. *”Yo, Adrian!” 36. Give the cold shoulder 38. Bingo-like game 42. 1837 to 1901, to Queen Victoria 45. Ronald McDonald or Mickey Mouse 49. ____-di-dah 51. Hanukkah’s eight 54. Must-haves 56. “Faster!” to a horse 57. Tea servings 58. Fishing decoy 59. Month before Nisan 60. Half a golf round 61. “____ ____Good Men” 62. Like the White Rabbit 63. Inviting sign 64. Like a hand-me-down 67. Baron Munchausen’s statement

this deadly disease while trying to sell the paper? So many things to consider before going out. Employees and residents who have tested positive have left me in fear of getting this deadly disease. I’ve been so thankful that The Contributor has changed with the times by offering digital copies and subscriptions. As well as offering aid to vendors in dire need and helping us through this very scary time. Wearing masks and social distancing has been the protocol by many health officials as well as our mayor, but those who don’t follow this put me and many others at risk. Is it worth this risk to sell papers through this or do I wait for a vaccine? These are questions that I ask myself daily. With underlying health conditions such as diabetes, I’ve had to choose to stay at home and have grocery delivered to my home. Those out there still selling are my heroes, those that I look up to and even learn from. I’m not sure when I’ll be out again. I’m so thankful for those who purchase the digital copies and subscriptions that have kept me and many other vendors afloat during these very changing times.

Happy to sell the paper for nine years BY JAMIE W., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR Well, as of Aug. 3, I will have beeen selling the paper nine years. I have my good days and bad days. I love selling the paper because I get to talk and communicate with all kinds of people. I love selling the paper and I love all of my customers. I’m grateful and blessed to have such great customers and if I’m still alive and live to be 90 and if the paper is still around and as long as I’m able, I will still be selling the paper. What can I say? I love doing this Monday through Friday. I get up at 3:30 a.m. and I’m usually done by

noon or 1 p.m. On the weekends I get up at 4 a.m. and am done around noon or 1 p.m. This job is a blessing and I love all my customers. My husband encourages me to get out there and I do. I have seen so much out there in all of my nine years of doing this and I love every minute of it. I do this seven days a week and I just love it. August is a big month for me. Aug. 3 I will have been selling the paper nine years. Aug. 4 me and Tommy will be married 12 years and Aug. 29 I will be 41.

The new normal? DON N., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR Let us hope not. Surely COVID-19 will go dormant in the near future, but we must all do our part and wear the mask. I know they’re bothersome and those with respiratory diseases find it very hard to breathe with them, but they are the best defense and of course six feet social distancing. I myself have been sick for six months now with severe breathing problems and fatigue. I tested negative for COVID-19, but positive for exacerbated COPD. I’ve suffered from severe depression for a decade or more. I am trying very hard to snap out of it. This COVID thing certainly has not helped. Speaking of COVID-19, there are many, many cons to the virus and a very few pros. We all know the cons but let me share some pros with you, hopefully you will agree. It has made us much closer as a family unit. It has brought out the good in a lot of people. It makes us realize how fragile life can be. There are very, very few more. I got so sick in the last two months I was beginning to wonder if I had caught it. I kept checking on my temp., I was coughing. I could not walk barely 30 feet without having to stop and regain my breath, yet

PAGE 16 | August 5 - 19, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

I kept going to the corner to try and make a lil money. I’ve had a nice apartment At Vine Hill Towers going on four years. I got it with the help of Sally B., who used to work at Room In The Inn, and selling papers for The Contributor. I’ve been selling them since 2011. I can’t handle anything else ‘cause of my COPD. I have to pay my rent (wild horses couldn’t pull me away). Of course food and normal day to day items were and still are needed. I did finally get food stamps two months ago, for the first time in my life. Well July 22, I went to the corner, barely making it. Next thing I know, I am in the hospital. Doctor said I passed out in the first lane of 13th Avenue. I do not remember any of it. He also said I was still COVID negative. But I had a bad case of pneumonia. I said OK, thanks Sir, but I will take the prescriptions and go to the clinic and get my regular refills, some antibiotics and a Prednisone shot and tablets. Four days later I feel much, much better. So folks, in a nutshell, let us be thankful for what we have. Hope and pray for what we do not. GOD SPEED!!

VENDOR WRITING

6:05

THE CONTRAPTION

DON’T GIVE UP

I’ll meet you at the dock at six o five

I crafted a homemade contraption

God gave us many gifts

And we’ll go sailing on the Cumberland

to distance myself from others,

You might not know what

Along her scenic shores of silt and sand

Much like the one my mother

But you will feel his lift

We’ll take the air and let our hearts revive

fashioned for me years ago.

The river rolls along in nature’s way

She sewed a long cone shape

When you wake up every day,

Unlike the stop and go of day to day

with a casing at the open end

God has made a plan

And maybe we will dip a toe or two

From left-over gauze she strained

To let the water heal us through and through

grape juice through,

Give Him a chance

We’ll pack a lunch and make a day of it

Her powerful hands twisting out

He will show you the way

We won’t come back until the stars are lit

every last drop.

When things look bleak

A day of peace and tranquil wandering

I watched with big eyes as her

Don’t give up God’s not weak

Detached from all except our own good cheer

strong, elegant hands

Where there’s no need for somber pondering

Magically transformed a wire

You have strength and power from the Lord

To make fond memories we’ll all hold dear

hanger into a circle with two

Don’t be scared get up from the floor

tines at either end.

He fills your cup

She patiently threaded the wire

He never gives up

JEN A.

BY DEANA H.

through the gauze casing,

THERE IS HOPE, I PROMISE BY LINDSEY FORSHAW

And anchored it all tightly to a

Always believe you will make a difference

bamboo pole.

In someone’s life

Out in the yard,

For all you know

She showed me how to gently

It’s God Himself.

swing it through the air, The demons are whispering in your ears.

By effortlessly scooping up a wild

They say you’re worthless, why are you here?

Swallowtail in carefree flight,

The pain is so unbearable, you can’t see a way out.

Then placed the trap in my chubby,

The only option is making suicide your next route.

little hand

As you slip your head into the noose,

And encouraged me with her

Here comes rushing thoughts of truth.

shining, almond eyes,

Is this really the solution to a painful life?

And a hopeful nod, to follow her

What would this do to your husband or wife?

example.

I know you can’t take the agony anymore.

The contraption and I toddled

This life’s ripped it’s claws into your core.

around the fenced yard all

But, killing yourself won’t fix anythying.

summer long.

It will only leave your loved ones in sorrow and misery.

I relentlessly chased and thrashed

You may not have anyone to count on.

about after my colorful, delicate

But, you never will if your dead and gone.

prey.

Give yourself the chance for hope.

But on the whole, the butterflies

There’s always a light and this I know.

evaded my grasp.

I too have tried to end it all.

I have my father’s hands.

I felt like I was always backed against the wall.

THEY DON’T GET THEIR WAY WITH YOU. THEN THEY START THREATENING YOU. If I’m your friend, I’m there with you, good or bad situation.

when I was going through

You’re not alone in this fight.

DON’T GIVE UP

To begin to see what you can’t currently.

VICTOR J.

The light on the other side of your journey.

People look down on life because they don’t have

Is your final destination because your worthy.

People say you’re friends until

my friends really were,

That jagged blade became my ant-depressant

Give yourself an opportunity.

BY JUNE P.

I really found out who

I used to think about dying every second.

So, please don’t die tonight.

FRIENDS

everything they want or everything they need. But God said don’t give up.

August 5 - 19, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 17

some bad times. Still am and my friends are still there. To help me or just listen to me. Who is really your friend?

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

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

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

L a N ticia 2020

GRATIS

Agosto

Escanee esta imagen para ver La Noticia newspaper edición bilingüe digital

www.hispanicpaper.com

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

Año 18 - No. 311

Siempre

Nashville, Tennessee

Recordando a Gil Veda: Músico Latino dejó marca en la Ciudad de la Música

"Vivir en los corazones que dejamos atrás es vivir para siempre". El viernes por la noche en su segmento “Llamada A La Acción”, la premiada periodista del canal 4 WSMV-Nashville, Caresse Jackman nos cuenta: “Cantante, compositor, poeta y artista son solo algunos de los muchos sombreros que Luis Gilbert Sepúlveda lució bien y lució con orgullo. "Su estilo era exclusivamente suyo, era muy extrovertido, y nunca conoció a un extraño", dijo Dan Helland. Sepúlveda 86, falleció pacíficamente por causas naturales el 30 de julio de 2020. Fue visitado y consolado por miembros de la familia en el Hogar del Veterano del Estado de Tennessee, en Murfreesboro. Sepúlveda nació el 13 de diciembre de 1933 en Puerto Rico. Sirvió en la Fuerza Aérea de los EE. UU. durante la Guerra de Corea.

Gilberazo, siempre serás así Gilberazo! - Por Eunice Loraine Segovia Paz

Una de sus mayores pasiones era la música. Por eso adoraba tanto a Nashville. El fotógrafo retirado Dan Helland tuvo una amistad de 25 años con él. “Nos conocimos en una recepción en Music Row. Creo que tenía una oficina en el mismo edificio ”, dijo Helland. Sepúlveda fue pionero e hizo historia en la Ciudad de la Música. Fue la primera persona hispana en actuar en el Auditorio Ryman y le encantaba pintar y dibujar. Usando el nombre artístico de ‘Gil Veda’, a menudo dibujaba retratos de personas notables, desde músicos hasta políticos y retratos creativos. “Gilbert era alguien muy, muy único. Tenía esta manera de agarrarte. Llamar tu atención. Y tenía muchas historias sobre su vida y todos sus logros y todo lo que ha hecho en la vida ", dijo Loraine Segovia Paz.

Loraine Segovia Paz conoció a Sepúlveda cuando llegó por primera vez a este país. Ella dice que siempre dió de si mismo a la comunidad, sirviendo en la Junta Directiva de la Cámara de Comercio Hispana del Área de Nashville y de la Fundación NAHCC durante varios años. “Cuando ves a alguien que habla tu idioma que puede comunicarse contigo, que puede entender las dificultades por las que pasas.Que es capaz de ver las necesidades de tu comunidad ... puedes empatizar con esa persona y conectarte con esa persona, para mí, eso muy importante ", dijo Segovia Paz. Mientras la familia y los amigos se preparan para despedirse, saben que su música, su legado y su huella en la ciudad de la música vivirán a través de su voz y de cada retrato que haya hecho.” Envíenos sus sugerencias por e-mail: news@hispanicpaper.com

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

w w w . j u a n e s e . c o m

PAGE 18 | August 5 - 19, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

Summer 2020, Pivoting through the COVID Cascading Crisis. By Major Ethan Frizzell, The Salvation Army - 615.933.9305

We have all moved from a New Normal, Now Normal, and planning for the Next Normal. We have all struggled together through this cascading crisis...a health pandemic, economic pandemic, and now a family toxic stress challenge in the midst of the education pandemic. Many now wonder when they might just feel normal again. Within every pandemic is another round of pain, frustration and brokenness. However, within every round of pandemic, there are also public heroes that live as Servants of Hope. Thank you to those who face uncertainty and pain with courage and hope. In April of 1891, a year after The Salvation Army came to Nashville, Professor Ely of John Hopkins University reviewed the popularity of The Salvation Army. While his review was extensive, his conclusion was simple. The Salvation Army lives out what they believe in and for the public. I believe this is also the strength of our Volunteer State. There is a social expectation to live out our shared values and goals. Professor Ely challenged our country during these difficult years, “Self-sacrifice, enjoined by true Christianity is the neglected social force that solves social problems.” While this was noted as an attribute of The Salvation Army and is a continued whisper of history, it can be found throughout our community. Might self-sacrifice, volunteering, speaking, and wearing hope, be the social force that can solve today’s social problems? Each of these actions is courageous and contagious. Let’s be clear, we are all contagious. We can spread the toxic stress of the cascading crisis or the hope that inspires self-sacrifice that can solve today’s social problems. Please Tennesseans, volunteer to spread HOPE.

August 5 - 19, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 19

The Contributor: Aug. 5, 2020

Articles inside

Vendor Poetry

Vendor Writing

HOBOSCOPES

A NEW GORDON LIGHTFOOT DOCUMENTARY IS LESS GLITTER AND MORE GOLD

Vendor Writing

US eviction bans are ending. That could worsen the spread of coronavirus

NEWS BRIEFS

E. GRAY SMITH AND HIS EARLY CAR DEALERSHIPS

POINT-IN-TIME COUNT 2020

Keith D. cultivates positive change

The Systems How Nashvillians get into housing