The Contributor: October 9, 2024

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Learn More about Zero Tolerance Policy for Sexual Misconduct at MNPD

Disclaimer: This column includes descriptions of sexual abuse and misconduct and may trigger some readers.

It was a chilly winter night during the 2019/20 season. I was stationed at The Salvation Army’s staging area for Metro’s cold weather overflow shelter. As the director of Metro’s Homeless Impact Division, a position I held until 2021, I was used to people sharing their personal stories with me.

The room was hot, and people grabbed a coffee while waiting for the departure of the bus that would take them to the overflow shelter. A woman, whom I estimated to be in her mid-to-late 50s, sat next to me. She was double-checking with me to ensure she would get to the same shelter location she had previously been. After I confirmed that, she shared with me some of her physical ailments and what a rough winter she’s had.

I was thinking how hard it must be for her, especially since she was using a walker and clearly struggled with her health. Then she added a sentence that has haunted me since. She told me that the worst of living outside for her was the constant sexual abuse she faced there.

Having worked in this field for a long time, I was aware of the vulnerability of women experiencing homelessness. I had read multiple studies about the victimization of women living outdoors, such as the following excerpt of an article by Lindsey Zirkle published in the Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law & Policy in 2022.

“Women experiencing homelessness are at an increased risk of becoming victims of sexual violence. Such women are particularly vulnerable to multiple forms of interpersonal victimization, including sexual violence at the hands of acquaintances, strangers, sex traffickers, and intimate partners while on the street, in dangerous housing situations, or in shelters,” Zirkle wrote.

But hearing it from the woman next to me, who was clearly physically struggling to move around and was trying to get out of the freezing night, just hit me like a bolt of lightning.

At the end of August, this experience came to mind as I attended the Metro Council’s Women’s Caucus meeting and was deeply disturbed by the presentation of the Nashville Community Review Board (CRB).

During the report, one of the CRB presenters mentioned a complaint about a “sexual relationship” between a police officer and a young woman living in an encampment. At home, I looked up the CRB’s Policy Advisory Report: Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) Zero-Tolerance Sexual Misconduct Policy, which on page 5 includes an incident summarized as follows.

The CRB received an anonymous complaint at the end of 2022 from a social work-

BY JUDITH TACKETT

er about “an ‘ongoing sexual relationship’ between an unhoused young woman and an MNPD officer who was assigned to do homeless outreach.”

The social worker reported that the young woman shared images of her and the police officer, “stating they would ‘hook up’ in his MNPD vehicle.”

The young woman seemed to be under the impression that this was a consensual relationship. However, the social worker felt obligated to file the complaint “given the ‘high potential for abuse’ and the clear power imbalance between the two individuals.”

Now, what clearly bugged me is that for one, according to this report, the officer allegedly was assigned to do homeless outreach. It also mentions that he bought the young woman meals and gave her rides while on duty.

What happened after the social worker filed this complaint? According to the CRB report, “When notified of this complaint by the CRB, the director of the Office of Professional Accountability (OPA) stated that she would initiate an investigation of the case herself. Unfortunately, the unhoused woman was unwilling to provide the name of the MNPD officer or report his actions for ‘fear of losing her love,’ limiting the information provided in the complaint. Indeed, OPA shared in August of 2023 that they had not been able to identify the victim or evidence of any wrongdoing against the officer involved, and therefore had decided to close the investigation.”

This raised a bunch of questions for me. For one, there are a limited number of officers assigned to do homeless outreach. Second, I am familiar with police culture as I am married to a former MNPD officer. They talk amongst each other. It is amazing how much police officers know what’s going on within this city — and especially within their department. I have a tough time understanding how MNPD could not identify this particular officer.

Thus, this incident demonstrates what is termed as the “Blue Wall of Silence,” which refers to an informal code of silence among police officers about a colleague’s misconduct or even crimes. If an officer breaks the blue wall of silence and rats out a fellow officer, there will be some form of retribution. When I was hanging out with my husband’s buddies, I even heard about officers who had broken the Blue Wall of Silence. At best, they were mistrusted for years to come. All this means that officers do not come forward easily. They fear retaliation. It also perpetuates a culture that makes women on the force who are exposed to sexual harassment and misconduct by fellow officers vulnerable.

Back to the initial story I shared about the extreme vulnerability of women experiencing homelessness. That woman wait-

ing to access the cold weather shelter also shared with me that life is easier when she is with a man. In other words, if she has a partner, he functions as a protector and other men leave her alone.

What if the young woman in the encampment considered the police officer as her protector? Yes, in her view, it may have seemed like a consensual sexual relationship. But life certainly would have become easier for her with a law enforcement officer in her life who also bought her meals and drove her places she needed to go.

The CRB’s proposed Zero-Tolerance Sexual Misconduct Policy for the MNPD draws on best practices and guidelines developed by two organizations: the International Chiefs of Police (IACP) and End Violence Against Women International (EVAWI).

EVAWI defines sexual misconduct in law enforcement as, “including sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual battery, and any inappropriate or unwanted sexual behavior committed against a member of the community or fellow employee by agency personnel. It also includes any sexual act committed by agency personnel while on duty, or while acting under the color of law, or any sexual act committed while off-duty but involving agency or government equipment, or within agency/government property or vehicles, involving the use of a service weapon, or information obtained through law enforcement activity or databases, or secured through threat of taking or denying official action. Consent is not an affirmative defense when engaging in sexual misconduct. The term ‘agency personnel’ is an inclusive term including all law enforcement agency employees, sworn and non-sworn.”

By that definition, an officer on duty having sexual interactions with an unhoused person in his car would definitely be considered sexual misconduct.

In 2020, former Mayor John Cooper established a Policing Policy Commission, which included a recommendation to create a zero tolerance policy around sexual assault and sexual harassment. But so far, no such policy has been created yet. I also want to point out that the CRB calls for a sexual misconduct policy, which would be more expansive but still cover sexual assault and sexual harassment.

The Metro Council’s Women’s Caucus has clearly heard the CRB’s concerns, and the full Metro Council recently passed a resolution that requests the MNPD to “implement a zero-tolerance policy for sexual misconduct in line with the policy recommendations set forth by the Nashville Community Review Board in their August 26, 2024, policy advisory report.”

This resolution passed despite recommendations for deferral from the Council

committees that vetted it. Thus, Nashville’s elected officials on the Metro Council sent a strong signal to MNPD leaders that they want to see change.

When I reached out to the MNPD’s communications team, I received the following response, “Any allegation of sexual harassment or discrimination is taken very seriously, investigated, and, if founded, the offending employee is sanctioned, up to and including dismissal, based on the facts determined by the investigation.

“This police department does have a zero-tolerance policy. Quoting from the Manual at the introduction to the chapter on harassment and discrimination, in part: It is the policy of the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department that all employees have the right to work in an environment free of all forms of harassment and discrimination. The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department will not tolerate, condone, or allow harassment or discrimination by employees or of employees. The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department considers the harassment and discrimination as a form of serious employee misconduct. Therefore, this department shall take direct and immediate action to prevent such behavior, and to remedy all reported instances of harassment and discrimination. A violation of this order can lead to discipline, up to and including termination. Repeated violations, even if “minor”, will result in greater levels of discipline as appropriate. MNPD employees are also bound by Executive Order 23 AND by Civil Service Policy 3.1-I(3).”

However, a recent article by Steven Hale published in the Nashville Banner on Sept. 27, 2024, strongly indicates that consequences for officers engaged in sexual misconduct may be minimal. Meanwhile, it seems that Mayor Freddie O’Connell has tasked Metro Human Resources to review the CRB policy. In the statement the MNPD sent me, they also mentioned that they are in ongoing discussions with the CRB regarding the policy recommendations.

So where did I land in all of this? While I am sympathetic to the complexity of police officers’ daily work, I also strongly feel there needs to be a zero tolerance statement that shows clearly where MNPD leadership stands. Whether it is to protect fellow officers from sexual harassment or vulnerable citizens, it should be unacceptable for officers to cover up misconduct among their ranks.

In short, I do not understand why MNPD leadership has not leaned in more proactively years ago to adopt an additional policy that will protect them, their officers, and the community.

It seems to me that the Blue Wall of Silence in Nashville continues to hold strong.

Adriane Harris has deep roots in Nashville’s planning community. She worked for the Metro Planning Department, the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency (MDHA), The Housing Fund, and as the Director of Housing in the Mayor’s Office. In 2018, she left Nashville and settled in Baltimore to gain national experience.

Now, as an urban planner and affordable housing guru, Harris is back in Nashville to work alongside ThinkTennessee as a researcher, advisor and facilitator of affordable housing conversations. Harris is also the principal and owner of HarCo Consulting, LLC, a consulting firm that is connecting people, projects, and communities to resources, which she founded in 2022.

“That might mean I work with organizations to think about housing policy or if they received some recent funding, how to structure it in a way that it feeds back into the communities in which they serve,” Harris explains. “I also coach housing and community development leaders across the country. So folks who are deep in the weeds of how to do housing, how do we make sure that they are staying visionary and imaginative in their approach to addressing affordable housing.”

You are working with ThinkTennessee, which has done some significant research on housing. What is ThinkTennessee and how do cities benefit from them?

ThinkTennessee is a nonpartisan results-oriented think tank that uses research, advocacy, and engagement to build a state where all Tennesseans are civically engaged and economically secure. We might research best practices and there's a “State of our State” dashboard that comes out every two years that assesses how Tennessee ranks compared to other states across the country. But then also this year, for the first time, there was a “State of our Counties” dashboard. Now you can also take a look at all the county data to see where the counties rank across different topics. So, ThinkTennessee provides data and evidence-based policies for organizations and cities across the state.

You were part of a summer series ThinkTennessee co-lead called the Nashville Faith & Housing Initiative. What was that series about and did it achieve its goals?

We think we were able to achieve its goals by providing resources.

Amazon is a recent addition into the affordable housing market in Nashville and as a part of their investments across Nashville, the Puget Sound region, and the DC area, they began some research with the Urban Institute in each of those places. The Urban Institute in Nashville focused on how institutional land can be a contributing factor in affordable housing.

In November of last year, the Urban

Q&A with Adriane Harris

BY JUDITH TACKETT

Institute in partnership with ThinkTennessee and Amazon released a report on institutional land and how that could be used for affordable housing development. The report focused on faith-based institutions, healthcare institutions as well as academic institutions. Essentially, the question is, how can all of that land that is owned by institutions be used for greater use?

During the research phase of the report, the Urban Institute and ThinkTennessee hosted meetings with different groups throughout Nashville, including the faith-based community. We noticed that there was quite a bit of interest from those faith-based institutions to understand how they could contribute to affordable housing development, and how they could use their land in a different way.

Earlier this year, ThinkTennessee, the Urban League of Middle Tennessee, and Holland & Knight developed the Housing Resource Guide that's available on ThinkTennessee and Urban League’s websites. That guide defines common affordable housing terms. There's also a deeper dive on what the legislation is that supports faith-based institutions, the real estate development process, and it includes some context information.

The Housing Resource Guide, or 101, is one part of this series that we were working on. The 201 guide is about helping faith institutions think about some of the land context and how it could be a contributing factor for that particular community. Lastly, the 301 [offers] a deeper dive on how to have the conversations with faith leaders.

The next step is really to provide them with the technical assistance they might need going forward.

Compared to those in other states, Tennessee cities have been extremely limited when it comes to promoting housing development that is affordable. Do you see that trend changing?

I'm an optimist. I always say that yes, I see that trend changing. It may take a little while for it to change, but I do see it changing. I'll say that because I do think that folks are starting to recognize that housing is a human right. I think that communities hopefully will recognize that no longer can we say, “Not in my backyard!”

It has to be, “Yes, in my backyard!” if you want all of the different amenities to operate as they are. In order for Nashville to be a successful city, it needs the hospitality industry, it needs tourism. The people that work in those industries need somewhere to live. So, when we think about Nashville as Music City, we have to really be thinking about who is creating the music. How do we make sure that they have an easy way to be accessible for that particular industry. But also, our neighbors deserve to live affordably. Hopefully, communities can see how important it is

for all of us to live together and not be segmented by race, class or whatever the divisions might be.

My hope is that over time people will see that affordable housing is not a bad word. It’s just basically saying we need housing that’s affordable for people to live, work, play, and provide all of the amenities that we take for granted in Nashville.

You have worked in the Mayor’s Office and lead and promoted collaborative efforts to address housing needs. What do you think cities are doing well, and how do you think private partners need to come alongside to make a dent in the affordable housing crisis?

There are some cities that are doing some incredible work. [Let’s start with] Nashville, I do think Nashville is doing a great job continuing to focus on the Barnes Housing Trust Fund. That is one way in which nonprofits are really taking a lead in the affordable housing work that's needed. Then there is the [new] Nashville Catalyst Fund. It is a public-private partnership to some degree, including philanthropy that allows for developers to have a fund to use to acquire property and also preserve affordable housing in Nashville. So, Nashville is really thinking above and beyond of how to make sure that there are funding opportunities and increasing the toolkit for future housing development.

When we look across the state, Memphis has done a really good job with the missing middle and figuring out how there can be housing opportunities between home ownership and rental. I think in Nashville there are multifamily units, and then there's homeownership. But there's not the duplexes, the quadruplexes, the opportunities that are kind of in the middle that allows folks to also take advantage of affordable housing development. And then there is Chattanooga with their ADU (Accessory Dwelling Units) development. They allow for ADUs [to be built] across many different zoning districts, which allows for people to really think about how they can have an ADU in their backyard and also charge reasonable rent for folks to be able to access affordable housing. Those are great examples across the state that each one of them can learn from.

But when we think about what's happening across the country, a lot of places are looking at Montana as the gold standard. By the governor outlining what he sees as the future for affordable housing for his state, it sets the tone for the state and for local jurisdictions in that state to really think about what some policies and some things are that they can do on a local level that would allow for greater affordability.

So, I think there is some opportunity for the state of Tennessee to think about what their goal is in working with local jurisdictions to expand their housing tool

kit and to work with communities to make sure that there is more affordable housing across cities.

How, in your opinion, can the built environment influence how communities like Nashville address poverty and homelessness?

This is my opinion only. To go back to the whole NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) piece, poverty and homelessness is more than what we have considered homelessness to be in the past. There are people who are living paycheck to paycheck, and we hear this all the time. If something goes wrong with them that month where they have more bills than they have income, they may not have a home to go back to. This is testing families. And if we were to look at the numbers, you can see an increase in family homelessness.

And so, there is a serious and grave issue at play with folks who are not even at the extreme low income level. This is happening for middle income as well. This is affecting a lot of people.

If we were to think about it from that perspective, communities can think about what would actually work for our community that allows for us to still have the market value that we want for our homes, but also recognizes that there is some value in having different people and different types of housing in our neighborhoods. I often talk about this just being a spectrum of housing. If I grew up in a neighborhood, I go off to college, I come back, and I want to live in the neighborhood in which I grew up in, could I actually afford it now? Could I actually buy a home in that community and also have my children live there? There should be some continuum of housing in the community that allows for every type of person to enter across that community. So [I’m talking about] apartments, mixed middle units, while also having home ownership opportunities that are not at the highest level but also allows for first time home buyers – having that amount of diversity in housing is incredible.

Anything else you would like to add? I do think that this housing issue is not a conversation that should just happen with nonprofits or with just the philanthropic community. This is starting to affect the employers. They may not be able to recruit and retain the level of employees that they want because there's simply not enough affordable housing. In order for this to get solved, it's going to require all hands on deck from the public to the philanthropic to the private sectors. The more that we can make sure that folks are educated about the need and what it will take, the better they can jump into the conversation. It’s for all of us to try to figure out how everybody can add to solving the affordable housing crisis that is happening in Nashville and across the country.

When books take to the streets

BY SIMON BOLDUC

If you’re walking down the street and someone stops you to ask if you’d like them to read you a book excerpt, don’t worry, it’s not a scam. Chances are, it’s a volunteer from Le Liseur Public, a mobile reading project that aims to bring the world of books to places where it’s least expected.

The scene is striking. Young adults in job training programs are being read to in the middle of a woodworking factory in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. All the machines are paused, and a large circle of chairs has been formed. Some apprentice woodworkers sit frozen, silent, and questioning, while others react to every phrase of Marie-Andrée Gill's poetic Chauffer le dehors (Heating the Outside). Once the reading is finished, the reader asks who would like to take the book home for free. A shy young woman stands up, grabs the book, and tucks it away in her locker at the end of the session.

Or consider this: a family is eating at Chic Resto Pop community restaurant when they are politely interrupted: "Would you like me to read you an excerpt from a Quebec comic book?" asks Marie-Josée Gonthier, an animator for Le Liseur Public. The family, initially hesitant, finish their dinner with smiles and a table full of books to take home.

These groups of people, who frequent community organizations in eastern Montreal, are starting to get used to the presence of public readers. For five years, they have wandered through organizations for families, fathers struggling with their children, and special needs classrooms, as well as into the streets for the general public, at outdoor events, in retirement home courtyards during the pandemic, and at homeless shelters. The modus operandi is always the same: offer a reading aloud, question the audience, and give away the book at the end.

In the small office of Le Liseur Public, located at the Carrefour jeunesse-emploi Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, a local youth employment center that oversees the project, a ton of books clutter the desk. Marie-Josée Gonthier constantly receives and purchases books by Québécois authors. She also has to read them to present them to her team of volunteers for the next scheduled outing. An hour before going to read in public, she and a few volunteer readers prepare excerpts from

the books on the table that they will read to their group.

"I spend a lot of time reading the books we receive and buying the ones we'd like to share," says the project coordinator. "We adapt the works according to the people we meet. We tailor our approach, especially for groups that may have several preconceptions about what reading is. We try to play with that."

Beyond sharing literature, public reading moments often lead to unforgettable encounters, explains Gonthier. She recalls a young man who confided in her about starting to read in prison. He cited a book by writer Jean-Christophe Réhel that was his introduction to the world of words and pages. Touched by his testimony, she dropped off the author's other books a few days later at the address where the young adult was working.

She also recounts the time when, emotionally, she read an excerpt from Martine Delvaux's book, J'en ai jamais parlé à personne (I never spoke about it to anyone), which recounts stories of abuse in the wake of the #MeToo movement. "We were at the corner of Ontario and Pie-IX streets, at the bus stop," she says. "The woman was elderly, and she agreed that I read her an excerpt. She told me after that she had just learned that her granddaughter had been raped."

These impromptu moments of sharing can lead to all sorts of reactions and emotions. That's the experience of Le Liseur Public. In 2019, project founder Olivier Courtois, trained in theater, had a small project in mind that he eventually presented to the CJE Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. Initially a pilot project, Le Liseur Public quickly gained recognition, particularly for its ability to adapt during the pandemic and lockdowns. With this visibility and more resources to grow the project, Le Liseur Public was quickly integrated into the Montreal Book Fair before joining the provincial network of book fairs more broadly. For the past two years, what was supposed to be a temporary project operating in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighborhood has multiplied in other youth employment centers in Quebec. Today, there are teams of readers in Quebec City, Drummondville, Saint-Jérôme, and Trois-Rivières.

Courtesy of L’Itinéraire / INSP.ngo

PHOTO CREDIT: LE LISEUR PUBLIC

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.

El festival se llevará a cabo en algunos de los principales lugares artísticos de Nashville, como el Belcourt Theatre, el Regal Green Hills y el histórico Franklin Theatre. Los asistentes no solo podrán disfrutar de proyecciones de películas, sino también de discusiones profundas con cineastas, paneles de desarrollo profesional, eventos sociales y más.

Un punto destacado del festival es la Conferencia de Creadores de NashFilm, que se celebrará del 20 al 22 de septiembre en el Hilton Green Hills, donde profesionales de la industria se reunirán para paneles y oportunidades de networking.Los boletos para películas individuales y eventos ya están disponibles para su compra, y las credenciales VIP ofrecen la mejor experiencia del festival.

El Papel de NAHCC en la Celebración del Cine Hispano

Durante los últimos 15 años, la Cámara de Comercio Hispana del Área de Nashville (NAHCC) ha presentado el Premio NAHCC a la Mejor Película Hispana en el festival. Este prestigioso premio honra las películas con temas hispanos que reflejan la rica diversidad y la vibrante cultura de las comunidades hispanas y latinas. El premio reconoce películas que fomentan la inclusión y amplifican las voces de los cineastas hispanos, promoviendo una comprensión más profunda de sus experiencias culturales.

La ceremonia de entrega de premios se llevará a cabo el domingo 22 de septiembre a las 4 PM en el Hilton Green Hills, donde también se presentará un premio artístico especial del renombrado artista hispano José Vera González. Esta colaboración destaca la resiliencia de las comunidades hispanas y su contribución al cine.

Películas Hispanas Destacadas

Border Hopper (Cortometrajes Narrativos): Sigue a Laura, una cineasta latina, mientras navega los desafíos de inmigración mientras se esfuerza por dirigir un comercial para el Super Bowl. Sábado 21 de septiembre, 4:00 PM @ Regal Green Hills Theater 16

Solo Otra Día (Cortometrajes de Tennessee): Muestra el día a día de Jaime, un inmigrante hispano de mediana edad, mientras trabaja para mantener a su familia. Sábado 21 de septiembre, 11:30 AM @ Regal Green Hills Theater 2

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)

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.

In the Summers (Nuevas Directoras): Un drama familiar que sigue a las hermanas Violeta y Eva durante cuatro veranos con su padre impredecible en Nuevo México. Domingo 22 de septiembre, 11:00 AM @Regal Green Hills Theater 15 Ángel y Perla (Cortometrajes Narrativos): Una agente inmobiliaria

neurótica idea un plan loco para evitar separarse de su pareja. Domingo 22 de septiembre, 12:00 PM @ Regal Green Hills Theater 3

The Masterpiece (Cortometrajes Narrativos): Una pareja adinerada se encuentra con dos chatarreros, lo que lleva a un giro inesperado de los acontecimientos. Sábado 21 de septiembre, 2:00 PM @ Regal Green Hills Theater 15 Sobre el Festival de Cine de Nashville: Fundado en 1969, el Festival de Cine de Nashville (NashFilm) es uno de los festivales de cine más antiguos de los Estados Unidos, celebrando la innovación y las múltiples voces del espíritu humano a través del cine. El festival ofrece más de $100,000 en premios y brinda a los cineastas la oportunidad de competir por la elegibilidad para los Premios de la Academia® en las categorías de cortometrajes.Con su vibrante mezcla de cine, música y cultura, el Festival de Cine de Nashville sigue conectando y atrayendo a cineastas y audiencias, consolidando su lugar como un evento cultural emblemático en la ciudad.

Envíenos sus sugerencias por e-mail: news@hispanicpaper.com ó 615-582-3757

artist

El 55º Festival de Cine de Nashville regresa del 19 al 25 de septiembre de 2024, presentando una selección diversa de más de 150 películas de todo el mundo.

Escanee esta imagen para ver La Noticia newspaper edición bilingüe digital

Por Yuri Cunza Editor-In-Chief @yuricunza

In The Summers: Sisters (Lío Mehiel, Sasha Calle) navigate their relationship with their troubled father (René “Residente” Pérez Joglar) during summers in New Mexico.

NAHCC representatives and

José Vera González present the Best Hispanic Film Award to Andrés Lira, director of ‘Primero, Sueño’ (not pictured) at #NASHFILM last year.

What to Know About Choose How You Move on the Ballot

BY STAFF REPORTS

On Nov. 5, Nashville voters will have the chance to vote on the "Choose How You Move" Transportation Improvement Program along with their choice in several local offices and the highest office in the nation.

The transit program, which Metro Council voted to put to a referendum this November, focuses on several small-scale pieces rather than attempting to tackle some of Nashville's most pressing challenges through a major effort like light rail. As the city continues to grow rapidly, and transportation and affordable

housing remain issues for residents, the plan hopes to improve mobility, reduce transportation costs, enhance safety, and prepare the city for its expected population growth of 800,000 residents over the next two decades.

Summaries of the plan outlined by Metro focus on housing affordability, noting that in recent years, the cost of housing in Nashville has skyrocketed, with median home prices increasing by 62 percent and average rents by 71 percent between 2020 and 2022. These rising costs, coupled with high transportation

expenses, are driving many residents out of the city in search of cheaper housing, only to face higher transportation costs from longer commutes.

The plan explicitly links housing and transportation solutions: One of the program’s goals is to make it more affordable for people to live near reliable transit options, reducing their overall transportation expenses. The plan includes the acquisition of land near transit centers for future development of affordable, walkable neighborhoods. By providing affordable housing options close to

high-frequency transit routes, the city also aims to help residents cut down on their combined housing and transportation costs, which currently total an average of $2,500 per month.

It’s also designed to increase walkability in the city, giving residents access to more services and amenities without needing to rely on cars. The program envisions a 50 percent increase in walkable neighborhoods and the need to connect affordable housing with accessible transportation options. The following items outline exactly what comes with the vote:

Half-Cent Sales Tax Surcharge

The core funding mechanism for the plan proposes a half-cent sales tax increase, which voters will decide on in the election. This tax is expected to generate over $150 million annually, according to Metro, providing a dedicated revenue stream for transportation improvements. Notably, the majority of the sales tax would be paid by tourists and non-residents, who make up more than 60 percent of Nashville's sales tax revenue. The idea is to leverage the city’s booming tourism economy to help fund the transportation upgrades that both visitors and residents benefit from. The additional funds will be combined with federal grants, state funding, and transit fares to fully finance the 15-year project plan. For a household with a median income of $70,000, the tax increase would result in an estimated additional cost of $70 per year.

Sidewalks, Signals, Service, and Safety Enhancements

One of the key components of this is to

enhance and expand basic transportation infrastructure. This includes installing or upgrading 86 miles of sidewalks to create a more complete and accessible pedestrian network across the city. Additionally, upgrades to traffic signals, intersections, and streets are planned to make Nashville safer and more efficient for all users, whether they are walking, biking, driving, or using public transit. Safety is a major focus, with improvements planned for 35 high-risk intersections identified in the Vision Zero Action Plan. These upgrades are intended to reduce accidents, especially for pedestrians and cyclists, as Nashville grapples with increasing traffic and pedestrian fatalities.

All-Access Corridors

Another major element of the plan is the creation of 54 miles of high-capacity transit corridors, which will include Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) routes and transit-only lanes. These corridors will be designed to support more frequent and reliable public transportation, providing faster travel times for commuters and

making it easier for residents to navigate the city without a car. By prioritizing transit routes, Nashville aims to reduce the reliance on single-occupancy vehicles, which contribute to traffic congestion and longer commutes.

WeGo Essentials

This part of the plan focuses on improving bus stops, transit centers, fleet maintenance, and park-and-ride facilities. The goal is to create a more reliable and comfortable transit system that better serves Nashville residents. These improvements will be coupled with increased service frequency and expanded hours of operation, ensuring that public transit is available when and where it is needed most. The plan aims for an 80 percent increase in total bus service hours, with the introduction of 24/7 routes in key areas.

WeGo Service Enhancements

These include adding new routes, improving service on existing high-ridership

routes, and reducing wait times for buses. The enhancements will connect more parts of the city more efficiently, making public transportation a more viable option for all residents. The plan also calls for investments in express routes, regional connections, fare subsidies, and upgrades to the WeGo Star commuter rail. This will allow more people to use transit for their daily commutes, helping to reduce traffic and improve overall quality of life.

Innovation and Technology

It also proposes several innovations aimed at improving the city’s transportation system through technology. These include fiber-optic signal enhancements, real-time safety and security systems, and an upgraded transit app that will integrate with third-party transportation providers. The TIP also calls for the development of a traffic management center that will coordinate traffic signals to reduce bottlenecks and improve traffic flow throughout the city.

The Equity Alliance, Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, and Stand Up Nashville hosted a Shift coalition kickoff on Thursday, August 29. "Shift Nashville is a coalition of Nashville-based organizations, that are determined to ensure community voice is heard every step of the way of the transit referendum process and prioritized in Nashville's future developments." PHOTOS BY ALVINE

Colors

BY DANIEL K., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

A universal portrait

Your canvas needs more paint. Green vegetations

Blue makes clouds look at seas Red and yellow flowers

Black for abstract

White tells a visual story

P.T.S.D. The Algorithm

BY DANIEL K., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

Not expecting to be compassionate. The need to identify things that are Important to you

Asking to receive support from inspirational sources

Find meaning through the storm. Coming out of the experience.

BY DANIEL K., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

Enough data means boundless resources. Why twist and turn it. Marketing advertising. Earn trillions marginalize it.

COMIC BY DENNIS T., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

The Bracelet: A Reminder Of One’s True Value

BY NORMA B., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

A while back, a truck was stopped because of the light. I told the driver I REALLY liked her hat! Snatching the hat off her head, she said: ‘I’ll bet you REALLY like it now, don’t you?

As it turns out, She was bald, her hair had been taken from her because of the chemotherapy treatments she was undergoing because of cancer.

I apologized saying I had no idea what she had been going through.

I explained I was drawn to the bling on the hat. ANYONE who knows me knows I DO love sparkly things!

I then removed my hat and told her I had been donating my hair for over 30 years!

Her eyes filled with tears and she

immediately pulled into the parking lot. She parked got out of her truck walked over to me, apologized, gave me a hug, and thanked me.

I told her there was no need to apologize, if I gone through what she had, I’m sure I’d have a bit of an attitude too.

In an instant a friendship was forged.

From then on, she’d stop for a visit when she had her treatments IF she felt up to it.

We’d talk , I’d sing at her request occasionally she’d even sing along too.

There have been many ups and downs along the way during the course of her treatments.

Then one day, her partner stopped to let me know she had passed away,

making what had already been a difficult day even harder.

He told me how much they appreciated everything I’d done for her.

He then presented me with a gift, a bracelet with the following message on it:

“You Are Beautiful, You Are Valued, You Are Loved” , he explained: ’I had them made for her when she was having a difficult time gong through her treatments.’

He continued on saying ‘I know you’ve been having a bit of a rough time lately, and I figured you could use a little reminder too.’

What a kind and thoughtful gesture! I have worn it nearly EVERY DAY

since then and though several months have passed and the writing has begun to fade, the memories that it brings to my mind each time I look as it will be with me for the rest of my life.

Adding to significance of the gesture I know he was grieving at the time too, which made it even more special that he would take the time to think of me during such a difficult time.

If I may ask, if you know ANYONE undergoing chemotherapy, or ANY other type of ongoing healthcare issue, PLEASE do all you can to be there for them in ANY way you can, you’ll NEVER know how much it means to them in the end, or how much it will add to your life.

Putting Homelessness In Perspective

Perspective becomes a mental exercise in regard to the homeless issue. Let us close our eyes and try it. Try to imagine what 300 people look like. Imagine yourself in the center of a football field. There are now people all around you, shoulder to shoulder. No room to move inside this football field.

All of these people for certain have two things in common, they are financially broke to the point of being broken and have run out of means to sustain themselves. All of these people will need something to do with their time, their hands and their minds to acquire the means to pay for any quality of life.

Therefore we must enable these people by creating work, and productive labor can be used to sustain normality and housing. We all will need sleep, food,

BY MICHAEL M., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

and water and in modern society money. Otherwise (imagine if you will) these 300 people are going to be stuck in that football field with you indefinitely. And the problem is two fold, all these people need to pitch tents, or build shacks. Somewhere. Or sleep right out on the ground because humans have the biological requirement to sleep. And it is a fact that if these people sleep outside that football field, they are stepping on a property that doesn’t belong to them, therefore they are trespassing and subject to this type of persecution anywhere they try to go, to try to sleep. So proper land space must be provided initially in order to be able to pitch a tent to sleep without being subject to trespass. Closed schools, military houses and abandoned factories and warehouse buildings should be used

for the purpose of immediate shelter. At which point we need to determine who is in need of care. I mean in terms of being able to fend for themselves, and at what level. We have people living outdoors because they can’t fend for themselves normally for some innocent reason. And in 2024 we have the medical and psychiatric science to help these people be as healthy and productive as possible. We have nursing protocol and medical ethics that require us to help these people. And it becomes in the interest of human science that we do so. We must learn better ways of helping and treating the ailments that these people suffer from. Johnson vs. Grants Pass being overturned has allowed only cruelty and punishment for those simply needing a place to sleep. Taking people’s possessions and throwing them

in a dumpster is not going to help them.

My grandmother taught me that if someone needs a place to sleep, you give it to them. If someone needs something to eat, you feed them, and anyone who does not live that way is a heathen. And when we allow our elected governments, city, county, state, federal, to treat our country’s citizens in a cruel and inhumane manner, have we then become heathens?

From 2020 to 2024, 620 Americans have died, homeless in the city of Nashville. And look at the money that has been spent. Now open your eyes, and try to understand that we have 1200 homeless in the city of Nashville. How many will die this year? Where will they go? When the city tears down all the encampments where do they have to go? Remember 300 x 4 = 1200, that’s a lot of people.

Why Nashville don’t help the homeless

Why doesn’t Nashville help the homeless? Because they want the homeless to die off and I asked people their feelings about the homeless people and the majority wanted them wanted homeless people to just die off, and that is sad. They’d rather us die instead of helping us. I think we are set up to fail because

BY JULIE B., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

no one cares enough to let us succeed, so what are we supposed to do? Me, I am ready to give up because no one wants me to get a place to live and have a bed to sleep in and a roof over my head. They just say they’re helping you use so you believe them so they can get you off their backs. I called my case worker every

day and they never answer their phone or their text messages so how are you supposed to get their help if they can’t even answer a text message or a call and they’re never in their office and when they are they never see you. That is why I think they want to you to fail. This is why I don’t trust any one especially case

workers. They lie to you half the time. That is why homeless people don’t want to get off the streets because they can’t trust anyone to get them in a place to live. Me if I don’t get the help I need I am giving up on them and finding my own place and I will make sure it is affordable.

THEME: FAMOUS WORLD SITES

64. "Mr. Roboto" band DOWN

1. Recipe amt.

2. Related to ear

3. U.S. space agency, acr. 4. Gram, in Great Britain

5. Walks weary 6. Composer of "GymnopÈdies" fame Erik ____

7. *Machu Picchu empire

8. Twelfth month of Jewish civil year

9. On one's guard

10. Ostrich-like bird

12. Marcel of "Remembrance of Things Past" fame

13. Harden 14. *____ FamÌlia, Spain

19. Autocratic

22. Earlier in time, archaic

23. Use blunt end of pencil

24. Sack fabric

25. Change shoelace knot, e.g.

26. *China's Great attraction

27. *Mt. Everest's northern slope location

28. Tool handle

29. Ranch grazer

32. Poison ivy woe

33. *____ Strait, Alaskan cruise destination

36. *Famous onion-domed cathedral's namesake in Russia

38. Ingratiating behavior

40. Gobbled up

41. Relating to Utah

44. Like exes

46. Violent weather, pl. 48. #13 Across' sacred writings

49. Site frequenters

50. First one on a ship

51. Long narrative poem

52. Loan attribute

53. Heavy metal's Quiet

54. E-commerce website

55. Sylvester, to Tweety

58. Broadway musical about wives of Henry VIII

“Bind up the Nation’s Wounds” Hero?

Written

by Chris Scott Fieselman, Vendor #0015

There are those who just don’t know, Where their life is going? “Bind up the Nation’s Wounds.”

How Callous and Cold can we become? When we don’t really care about anyone. If you’re not worried about somebody else? Then all you’re worried about is just yourself. It takes a lot to begin again.

To start something new and see something end. If not now? Than tell me when? They plan on creating an environment? For the people who need a place to camp, With no other place on this planet to land. I’m willing to fight the good fight for them. I’d rather have them fighting, Right there by my side, Than be constantly fighting against. Teach them to reach them, at home amongst friends. Better off for the experience. What Nashville does? The Nation will see. How many are counting on Music City? It all starts with a part of the, Heart of the Hills of Tennessee. What will we do with those so far below? What’s Considered Poverty?

“Bind up the Nation’s Wounds.”

Make it escapable and then they’ll be able, To have something to offer to others worse off. If Trespassing is a Last Resort?

And a tent and a sleeping bag is all they can afford?

Let’s give those lost souls a goal to shoot for. A life of crime? Or a waste of time? Or something worth so much more? What do we do with so many so poor?

“Bind up the Nation’s Wounds.”

“Saint Cloud Hill” is still now and always will be, Living Proof of the Truth that a Camping Community, Could be planned out and managed successfully. Who’d have guessed?

A “No Trespassing” sign would be the key? To creating a documentary of a past event, lasting legacy. The first time they “Crossed the Line in the Sand” Then after proving they could do it to vagrants back then? Put people through it again and again, And Again... And Again... And Again... “Saint Cloud Hill” is a message that’s sent, From the man they chose to stand against. That really did happen. It wasn’t pretend. What they did to me? They did to my friends. My Fellow Americans...

“Bind up the Nation’s Wounds.”

Every Hero suffers the consequence. The Cost of Courage, The Freedom without Fear, And the Friends who come to your Defense. In a game of chance, Better left in God’s hands, I might not have the money to spend, But I did survive the experience, Caring about my fellow man, And sparing no expense. When it’s not about the money? It’s all about the Truth, And the wisdom to make a difference.

Sometimes I feel like a spoiled rotten child, When I look up and I see God look down and smile. Knowing... Every Hero suffers the consequence.

Not every city has a Street Paper. No other Street Paper, Has got Chris Scott. There’s a Fee, Someone has to sell it, And he’s the man to do it. Chris Scott Fieselman, And the crossword puzzle, Every two weeks. I’m right there beside them, When they read what I speak. A Long Island, New York songwriter, In Nashville, Music City, Tennessee? I consider it a big responsibility. You see?

I can’t sing or play guitar, So I can only take it just so far. My stage is a page in The Contributor. I’m not a beggar, I sell the paper. Someone somewhere out there, Is counting on me, To be the man that I am, And right where I’m supposed to be.

Sometimes I feel like a spoiled rotten child, When I look up and I see God look down and smile. Knowing... Every Hero suffers the consequence.

Such a very bad influence, On those lost souls you touch, Who call you their friend. They know who you are, And they know where you stand. A songwriter who can’t play an instrument, With very little fundage and very big plans. A definite long shot in a game of chance. But then again...

Every Hero suffers the consequence.

Written by Chris Scott Fieselman, Vendor #0015

HOBOSCOPES

LIBRA

The ghost in my kitchen looks a lot like you, Libra. Now they’re opening all the cabinets and sliding the plates onto the floor one at a time. It’s such a hassle to clean up, but I’ve never figured out how to make it stop. It reminds me, Libra, of the things you do to get our attention besides just asking for it. You deserve to be seen, heard, and understood. You shouldn’t have to break any plates to make that happen.

SCORPIO

After a couple of months of surprise car-repairs and emergency vet-bills, I found myself in need of some extra income. Luckily, the Wandering Hills Motor Spa was hiring for their annual Tube of Trauma: Haunted-Carwash Family-Fun Massacre and Scrub. It’s only three nights a week for the rest of this month. The pay isn’t bad and I think it might be fun dressing up and scaring people while they get their cars washed. I know you’ve been needing a change too, Scorpio. And this might be a good time to make a big one. But may I suggest only making it part time? You don’t have to throw out what you’ve got just to try out something new.

SAGITTARIUS

My favorite ghost story is the first act of Hamlet. It’s cold and dark and very late. And now for the third night in a row the guards see the dead king of Denmark walking along the castle walls. They convince Prince Hamlet to come see. He’s afraid, but more than that he wants to solve the mystery. Is it really his father? Is it a demon impersonating a king? But this ghost, like most, tells his own story and sets a deadly plot in motion. By the end his whole family and more haunt these castle grounds. Don’t let the past drag you in, Sagittarius. “Remember me,” it says. And of course you remember. But you don’t have to follow the path the past sets.

CAPRICORN

Bats were the first mammals to evolve flight. They beat humans by about 52 million years. Human flight, of course, involves a lot more heavy machinery and governmental regulation. Bats are far more elegant and use it a lot more sensibly. For instance, the bats in my backyard use flight to eat insects (which were flying for about 300 million years before bats) and then they go to bed. My uncle Balthazaar uses flight to go see the Doobie Brothers in as many cities as possible (he’s up to 41, last I heard) he listens to the music, eats no insects, and then he goes to bed. You were born to fly, Capricorn, and at just the right time. Fly somewhere useful. Fly somewhere you love.

AQUARIUS

Tonight I showed up for my first shift at the Tube of Trauma: Haunted-Carwash Family-Fun Massacre and Scrub. I figured

they’d dress me up as one of the undead firemen who rinse your hood with the hot-wax after the ecto scrub. If not that, I thought I could be the zombie french revolutionary who runs the guillotine-gate-arm where you pay. Or, at the least, they could make me the unraveling-mummy who rolls around on your hood to dry off your car when you’re done. But no. They put me on vacuums. I’m dressed as a regular guy and I walk around and unclog the vacuums whenever they get clogged. If you feel a lack of suction between yourself and your assigned path, Aquarius, you may need to get in there and pull out the clog. Or you may need to find a new path altogether.

PISCES

I see you, Pisces. Walking in the room with nothing but a vicious smile and a mysterious suitcase. And I know you want us all to wonder what you keep in there. Something valuable or something dangerous? Would it glow or shriek or tumble to the ground? I don’t know and I don’t have any guesses, but I’m sure of one thing, Pisces: you’ve never even opened it. You’ve kept your secret so well, you don’t know what it is. So get yourself alone. Close the door. And open your suitcase. Once you really understand what’s in there you can decide if you want to show anybody else.

ARIES

It’s like how the sound of the leaf blower coming from the cemetery across the street makes you feel suddenly and deeply sad — but it isn’t because of all those coffins already in the ground. It’s more about the time when your dad raked up all the leaves in your backyard and you would run and jump into them and laugh and the leaves would scatter and then he’d smile and rake them all up again. And then you realize that none of that stays, that it all separates and blows away, and you kind of just want it to hurry up and end. If it’s all going away, let’s just get it over with. But there’s piles to go before you sleep, Aries. And some of them might even make you laugh. Learn to love the leaves you’re in and learn to let them blow away.

TAURUS

It’s only my second night working at the Tube of Trauma: Haunted-Carwash Family-Fun Massacre and Scrub and I think maybe I just got my big break! They’ve had me working as a vacuum cleaner-cleaner but I decided I want to show them I can do more. So I take the bent coat-hanger that they gave me to de-clog the vacuums with and I pull it up into my sleeve so it looks like an old rusty hook-hand and when customers drive up to the vacuums I wave it around and shout “Could you lend me a HAND? I’ve been under so much pressure!” And then I hold out a pressure gauge and offer to check their tires. Anyway, Armando who owns the Motor Spa heard I was doing great work and I think I might get a promotion! Sometimes, Taurus, you’ve got to improvise with what you’ve got. Sometimes people notice.

GEMINI

I feel like these socially conscious horror movies are getting a little ethically inconsistent. For instance, I was watching Gentrifier IV: The New Neighbors and first the heroine uses a chainsaw to eviscerate the possessed Cyber Truck that’s chasing her through the cul de sac, and in the very next scene she stops the encroaching mud-realtor army by buying carbon offsets for the gasoline she used to burn down the killer WASP’s nest in her neighbors pool. Anyway, Gemini, I think you should live out your principles but stay aware of when you start dehumanizing the enemies who have already dehumanized you.

CANCER

Was it Billy Corgan or Stephanie Meyer who first said, “The world is a vampire?” In any case, Cancer, when I scroll the feed that the algorithm has created just for me, and I see the politicians and the influencers and even the prophets and teachers I know that I’ve been sucked-in. And I think it’s true, this vampire has my attention all day long. I’ve been glamoured and I can’t fight my focus away from this endless stream of blood. But maybe today, for just half an hour or so, we can try. Put the phone down, Cancer. Look at a tree or a duck or somebody you love. You’re not just a rat in a cage. You still get to choose. Jacob or Edward?

LEO

Tonight when I showed up for my shift at the Tube of Trauma: Haunted-Carwash Family-Fun Massacre and Scrub everything was in total chaos. Apparently last night Armando fired Ronnie, the guy who plays Hose-Feratu, which is one of the biggest spraying roles in the whole car wash. Anyway, Armando asked me if I could learn the part, even though I’ve never even been a scrubber, much less a sprayer. The bald-cap fit, so I’ve been trying to memorize my lines and tonight’s first cars are already honking at the gate. “I have waited for you. I have waited too long. Turn off your lights and secure your door lock!” I’m so nervous that I’ll forget my lines and make a fool of myself, Leo. But if I back out now, I’ll always wonder if I could have been great. It’s a good day to step forward into the sunrise and find out who else you can be.

VIRGO

Why is smiling creepy, Virgo? Shouldn’t it be the most natural, friendly, expressive thing we do? But sometimes I’m thinking about everything that’s happening in the world right now and then I see an acquaintance and they look at me and they smile and I assume they must not be sane. How could you smile when the world has so much suffering? But I’m trying to look at it another way, Virgo. We smile to lift each other up. We smile because when life is this painful, we’ve got to stay connected. We need to say with our faces what we can’t say with our voices — that even if I feel alone and sometimes hopeless, I’m glad when I see you.

Mr. Mysterio is not a licensed astrologer, a trained vacuum repairman, or a registered hearse. Listen to the Mr. Mysterio podcast at mrmysterio.com Or just give him a call at 707-VHS-TAN1

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. First published in 1941, 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. 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

20th Wednesday after Trinity

LOVE does the work of all other graces without any instrument but its own immediate virtue. For as the love to sin makes a man sin against all his own reason, and all the discourses of wisdom, and all the advices of his friends, and without temptation, and without opportunity, so does the love of God; it makes a man chaste without the laborious arts of fasting and exterior disciplines, temperate in the midst of feasts, and is active enough to choose it without any intermedial appetites, and reaches at glory through the very heart of grace, without any other arms but those of love.

Jeremy Taylor: Holy Living

20th Thursday after Trinity

THEN first do we attain to the fullness of God's love as His children, when it is no longer happiness or misery, prosperity of adversity, that draws us to Him or keeps us back from Him. What we should then experience none can utter; but it would be something far better than when we were burning with the first flame of love, and had great emotion, but less true submission.

Tauler: Sermons

HIS life has been brought into mine, so that I am atoned with Him in His Love. The will of Christ has entered into humanity again in me, and now my will in me enters into His humanity.

Boehme: Signatura Rerum

20th Friday after Trinity

NOW this is the ground and original of the Spirit of Love in the creature, it is and must be a will to all goodness; and you have not the Spirit of Love till you have this will to all goodness at all times and on all occasions. You may indeed do many works of love and delight in them, especially at such times as they are not inconvenient to you or contradictory to your state or temper or occurrences in life. But the Spirit of Love is not in you till it is the spirit of your life, till you live freely, willingly, and universally according to it.

William Law: The Spirit of Love "THUS it must be" —The ground of this necessity is in himself, whereas the ground of the created universe is not in itself but in him.

Doctrine in the Church of England, Report of the Commission

20th Saturday after Trinity

HE made all things in fulness of goodness, and therefore the blessed Trinity is ever full pleased in all his works. And, all this showed he full blissfully, meaning thus: "See! I am God: see! I am in all things: see! I do all things: see! I lift never mine hands off my works, not ever shall, without end: see! I lead all thing to the end I ordained it to from without beginning, by the same Might, Wisdom, and Love whereby I made it. How should anything be amiss?

Juliana of Norwich: Revelations of Divine Love.

JESUS Christ is a God whom we approach without pride, and before whom we humble ourselves without despair.

Pascal: Pensées.

Twentieth Sunday after Trinity

MEEKNESS in itself is nought else but a true knowing and feeling of a man's self as he is. For surely, whoso might verily see and feel himself as he is, he should verily be meeked. Two things there be that be causes of this meekness, the which be these: One is the filth, the wretchedness, and the fraility of man, into the which he must always feel in some degree the whiles he liveth in this life, be he never so holy. Another is the over-abundant love and the worthiness of God in himself; in beholding of which all nature quaketh, all clerks be fools, and all saints and angels be blind. Insomuch, that were it not, through the wisdom of his Godhead, that he measured their beholding according to their ableness in nature and in grace, I cannot say what should befall them.

The Cloud of Unknowing

21st Monday after Trinity

WE would fain be humble; but not despised. To be despised and rejected is the heritage of virtue. We would be poor too, but without privation. And doubtless we are patient, except with hardships and with disagreeables. And so with all the virtues.

Eckhart: Sermons and Collations

HUMILITY is deep enough when God has mortified a man with the man himself, then and not till then is a man satisfied, and the claims of virtue.

Eckhart: In Colllationibus

21st Tuesday after Trinity

IF thou hast not the prayer of the spirit, strive for the prayer of the body, and then shall be added unto thee the prayer in the spirit. If thou hast not humility in the spirit, strive for the humility which is in the body, and then shall be added unto thee the humility which is in the spirit.

The Paradise of the Fathers

BE not humble in thy words only, but also in thy deeds. The Paradise of the Fathers

21st Wednesday after Trinity

LET humility be always at work, like the bee at the honey-comb, or all will be lost. But, remember, the bee leaves its hive to fly in search of flowers and the soul should sometimes cease thinking of itself to rise in meditation on the grandeur and majesty of its God.

St Teresa of Avila: The Interior Castle.

HUMILITY is not insipidity, but it is seasoned, as it were, with salt.

The Paradise of the Fathers.

Feast of St Luke the Evangelist

I was at a stand in my mind whether I should practise physic for the good of mankind, seeing the nature and virtues of the creatures were so opened to me by the Lord. But I was immediately taken up in spirit, to see into another or more steadfast state than Adam’s in innocency, even into a state in Christ Jesus that should never fall. And the Lord showed me that such as were faithful to Him, in the power and light of Christ, should come up into that state in which Adam was before he fell; in which the admirable works of the creation, and the virtues thereof, may be known through the openings of that divine Word of wisdom and power by which they were made. Great things did the Lord lead me into, and wonderful depths were opened unto me beyond what can by words be declared; but as people came into subjection to the Spirit of God, and grow up in the image and power of the Almighty, they may receive the word of wisdom that opens all things, and come to know the hidden unity in the Eternal Being.

George Fox: Journal

21st Thursday after Trinity

A BROTHER asked an old man, saying, "What is humility?" And the old man answered and said unto him, "That thou payest not back evil for evil." That brother said unto him, "And supposing that a man cannot attain to this measure what must we do?" The old man said unto him, "Let us flee and follow after silence." The Paradise of the Fathers.

HE who owes everything to grace in such a degree that he understands he is superfluous must be all the more obedient. True, all that exists is nothing in the hands of the Almighty who created it out of nothing; but that which by coming into existence attains nothing more than to be superfluous must understand most profoundly that is is nothing.

Kierkegaard: Christian Discourses

21st Friday after Trinity

WHEN religion is in the hands of the mere natural man, he is always the worse for it; it adds a bad heat to his own dark fire and helps to inflame his four elements of selfishness, envy, pride, and wrath. And hence it is that worse passions or a worse degree of them, are to be found in persons of great religious zeal than in others that make no pretences to it. History also furnishes us with

Sponsored by Matthew Carver, publisher

instances of persons with great piety and devotion who have fallen into great delusions and deceived both themselves and others. The occasion of their fall was this; it was because they made a saint of the natural man. My meaning is, they considered their whole nature as the subject of religion and divine graces; and therefore their religion was according to the workings of their whole nature, and the old man was as busy and as much delighted in it as the new.

William Law: Christian Regeneration

21st

Saturday after Trinity

JESUS Christ, without riches, and without any external exhibition of knowledge, is in His own order of holiness. He did not invent; He did not reign. But He was humble, patient, holy, holy to God, terrible to devils, without any sin. Oh! in what great pomp, and in what wonderful splendour, He is come to the eyes of the heart, which perceive wisdom!

Pascal: Pensées.

HERE is the root then, the love of the Father, and the tree, the merit of the Son; except there be fruit too, love in us, to them again, both root and tree will wither in us, howsoever they grew in God.

Donne: Sermons

Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity

THE seeking is common—that every soul may have with his grace —and ought to have that discretion and teaching of the Holy Church. It is God's will that we have three things in our seeking: —The first is that we seek wilfully and busily, without sloth, as it may be through his grace, gladly and merrily without unskilful heaviness and vain sorrow. The seconds is, that we abide him steadfastly for his love, without grudging and striving against him, to our life's end: for it shall last but a while. The third is that we trust in him mightily of full sure faith, for it is his will. We know he shall appear suddenly and blissfully to all that be his lovers. For his working is privy, and he willeth to be perceived; and his appearing shall be sweet and sudden; and he will be trusted. For he is full kind and homely: blessed may he be!

Juliana of Norwich: Revelations of Divine Love

22nd Monday after Trinity

SUDDENLY, I saw before my inward eyes these words—God only . . . they were at the same time a Light, an Attraction and a Power. A Light which showed me how I could belong completely to God alone in this world, and I saw that hitherto I had not well understood this; an Attraction by which my heart was subdued and delighted; a Power which inspired me with a generous resolution and somehow placed in my hands the means of carrying it out.

Sister Lucie-Christine: Spiritual Journal

IN the Son of Man I see the Son of God, because Thou art so the Son of Man that Thou art the Son of God and in the finite attracted nature I see the Infinite Attracting Nature. Nicholas de Susa: The Vision of God.

22nd Tuesday after Trinity

IT is nature which teacheth a wise man in fear to hide himself, but grace and faith doth teach him where. Fools care not where they hide their heads . . . But because we are in danger like chased birds, like doves that seek and cannot see the resting holes that are right before them, therefore our Saviour giveth his disciples these encouragements beforehand, that fear might never so amaze them, but that always they might remember, that whatsoever evils at any time did beset them, to him they should still repair, for comfort, counsel, and succor.

Hooker: Sermons

I AM not come to this meaning, or to this work and knowledge through my own reason of through my own will and purpose; neither have I sought this knowledge, nor so much as to know anything concerning it. I sought only for the heart of God, therein to hide myself.

Boehme: Aurora

Father Strobel made a big impression on me. He was a great man. I’m reading his book now. It’s called My Journey Home: Kingdom of the Poor. I’m featured in the book in a few places. He really must have thought the world of me if he put me in his book.

You’ve heard the expression, “people tear up” when reading something sad. Well, there’s no such thing as tearing up. You tear down. And I’ve teared down while reading this.

It ain’t a cry, it’s a sadness. I knew the man well. We sung together. When the Room In The Inn shelter was open for the night, we’d all go up to the big brake room. Well, one time I was singing and here I heard another voice and I said who in the world is singing? He’s good! It was Father Strobel! He liked a lot of the songs I’d sing, so we’d sing a lot together.

When I first met Father Strobel, I was on crack cocaine and homeless. It was in 2007. When I met him he made such a big impression on me. He made my spiritual life more pure, more about helping people. In a way, I’ve never been free hearted. That means giving things away to people who need it. Now, sometimes I’m too free hearted!

When I met him, we had to go through an orientation to go out to a church through Room In The Inn. I was in what they call the Guest House for a lot of time. Then eventually I became a volunteer and started working in the Lobby helping getting folks in the busses. I’d be like the doorman telling people which bus was here, getting people water and other general errands that were called for that I could do because my health started getting bad after so long. Well, about six months before Father Strobel started getting real sick he said, “William, I’m dying.

My Time with Father Strobel

BY WILLIAM B., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

Will you pray for me?” I told him it would be an honor to pray for him. I still think it was an honor because the great man he was asking me? I didn’t consider myself that much at that time at all, but he did.

He seen things in me that I didn’t know, and now I know I got good in me. I know that some of the things I was accused of doing in the past, I didn’t do. To keep from serving a lot of time in prison, I pleaded guilty to some things, and I wished I hadn’t because maybe I could have fought it with a public defender, but they just took me off to jail and prison.

Father Strobel died of Parkinson’s and diabetes, but he never lost his faculties. He wrote this book the last six months of his life. He wasn’t going to. They had to talk him into it. They knew people would love to hear his story. You know, his mother got murdered by a homeless person. He didn’t get what they call a bad attitude though and he didn’t want them to execute the guy that killed her. He protested against it.

He was a very lovable person. I know he is one of the Lord’s angels up there and one of his favorite angels. This man was a true, true Christian. He was Catholic and I loved him to death and I do miss him.

Lee Daniels’s The Deliverance sparks spooky season with supernatural spirit on Netflix

The Deliverance is Lee Daniels’s first foray into horror filmmaking. The director of Precious (2009) and creator of television’s "Empire" has demonstrated a penchant for moody, atmospheric familial drama, and he deploys that skillset in this film. But the addition of gore, a creepy old house, generational trauma, deadly illness and a seemingly endless swarm of flies takes The Deliverance fully into scary movie territory just in time for spooky streaming season. The film’s plot and director of photography Eli Arenson’s camera moves in a slow, rotten creep. The deliberate pacing and intimate camera shots work in service of the movie’s real strength: its characters and the performances that bring them to life. It’s a smart movie that finds Lee keenly trading on his proven talents while clearly having a lot of fun playing haunted house.

Ebony Jackson is raising three kids in their new home in Pittsburgh in 2011. Her oldest son Nate, teen daughter Shante, young son Dre, and Ebony’s mom are all living in the house after several recent

BY JOE NOLAN, FILM CRITIC

moves. Ebony struggles to keep up with the bills with the addition of her mother’s cancer treatments. Ebony has moments where her generosity and warmth shine through, but she’s also an abusive alcoholic and the chaotic center of the family now that her soldier husband is stationed in Iraq.

The Deliverance is based on supposed real events related by Latoya Ammons’s family in Gary Indiana. Ammons and her children claim that they actually experienced some of the movie’s weirdest scenes, and the “true story” aspect of The Deliverance adds another layer to the movie’s horrific happenings. Of course the combination of alcoholism and a haunted house brings Stephen King’s novel, The Shining and Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation of that book to mind. The Deliverance never copycats Kubrick’s masterpiece, but the fact that Daniels’s film reads like a contemporary, black re-telling of the book and the film’s central themes certainly works in its favor. The Deliverance takes its time intro-

ducing its characters and illuminating the tensions — and bonds — between the members of the multigenerational family.

But by the time all hell starts to break loose at Shante’s birthday party, viewers will find they’re already trapped under the spell of this fun and frightening film.

Andra Day plays Ebony, and Glenn Close plays her mother. They’re both great here, with Day able to make audiences care about and connect with the mostly unlikable Ebony. Anthony B. Jenkins’s portrayal of the haunted little Dre and Mo’Nique’s scene-stealing turn as DCS worker also deserve special notice. The Deliverance was written by David Coggeshall and Elijah Bynum and the movie offers that rare combination of a strong cast with a strongly scripted world to inhabit. Daniels does them both justice, delivering the kind of interpersonal dramatics the director is known for, along with demonstrating a hitherto unknown flair for creepy vibes and over-the-top supernatural special effects sequences.

By the time The Deliverance draws

audiences into the home’s spooky basement for its demonic showdown finale, it mostly deals in standard exorcism film tropes, but it’s fine. The movie’s first half elevates itself beyond typical horror fare with everything from its performances to its production design, and the less original sequences in the third act don’t disappoint because what’s a haunted house movie if we’re not going to have a showdown with a demon?

Every year I save up a lot of new horror movies and then binge them all before Halloween. The Deliverance was my first taste of this year’s frightening feast, and I’m not afraid to tell you, it was bloody good.

The Deliverance is now streaming on Netflix

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