The Contributor: May 13, 2020 by the-contributor-live

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Al cierre de esta edición, el número total de casos de coronavirus en nuestra ciudad es de 3,460 con 28 de estos reportados en las últimas 24 horas. De acuerdo a la alcaldía, son 1,751 hombres, 1,530 Por Yuri Cunza mujeres y 179 de La Noticia Newspaper Editor in Chief sexo no determinado. De todos se han recuperado ya 1,810 y son 35 los fallecidos, mientras el total de casos activos se mantiene en 1,615. Todos estos números nos dan a entender como está afectando la pandemia a nuestro medio pero no nos dice por ejemplo que comunidades por etnia estan siendo más afectadas ya que los reportes solo indican los codigos postales donde la incidencia de casos es mayor. Anecdoticamente podemos observar también algo preocupante: los reportes de gobierno muestran actualizaciones diarias, pero al parecer nuestra comunidad hispana, gracias a reportes de medios en español, sufre una cifra más alta de muertos mientras que las cifras de gobierno se mantienen de alguna forma estables o con incremento moderado. No sólo esto, los reportes de personas hispanas portadoras del virus que no exhiben sintomas es también una variable que escapa a la estadística oficial.

González ingresó en el hospital, Escobar nunca volvería a ver a su pareja con vida. Escobar dice que tuvo problemas para obtener información sobre la condición de González en parte porque no estaban legalmente casados. Se enfrentó a más problemas para encontrar a alguien que pudiera hablar su idioma principal, el español, ya sea en Metro General para hablar sobre la condición de su pareja o en sus propias interacciones con el personal de Metro cuando ella misma dió positivo. La única vez que habló en español con alguien, dice, fué cuando alguien en el hospital la llamó para decirle que Manuel había muerto.

IN THE ISSUE Nuestra comunidad hispana está sóla en la batalla contra el coronavirus, al ser la espina dorsal que mantiene en pié a nuestro sistema a través del trabajo laboral esencial, sumandose esta a otros obstáculos como el idioma, el estatus migratorio y un sistema económico esclavista. Hace unos dias, el semanario en inglés, Nashville SCENE publicó un articulo sobre el impacto de COVID-19 en las poblaciones inmigrantes escrito por el

Izquierda: Manuel de Jesús González Pineda a pocas horas de llegar al Hospital General el 28 de marzo pasado para hacerse el exámen de coronavirus. De acuerdo a su esposa fué internado para poder ser atendendido por el exceso de fluido que parecía tener en los pulmones. “No estaba tan mal, entramos caminando” dijo ella. Quince dias después fué notificada del fallecimiento de su pareja. Derecha: Rosa y Manuel junto a Jaison, fruto de su relacion de 8 años.

periodista Stephen Elliott. A contiuación compartimos parte de este contenido con permiso de los editores.

“Activistas buscan llevar recursos de apoyo a raiz de COVID-19 a comunidades inmigrantes

Funcionarios de salud han identificado disparidades entre comunidades de inmigrantes y minorías.

Rosa Escobar y Manuel de Jesús González Pineda habían estado juntos durante ocho años, aunque nunca se casaron formalmente.

Estos dos inmigrantes hondureños residentes en Nashville planearon remediarlo con una ceremonia en abril. Pero su plan quedó en suspenso cuando el coronavirus interrumpió los servicios de la iglesia y otras grandes reuniones. Entonces, ambos contrajeron COVID-19. Manuel, de 41 años, cayó enfermo y murió, dejando atrás a

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

su pareja de muchos años y a su hijo Jaison de 4 años.

"Era un buen esposo, un buen padre para mi hijo", recuerda Escobar en español, a través de un intérprete. Manuel también la guió en la fé cristiana, dijo ella.

González trabajaba para una empresa de excavaciones en la ciudad. Sin embargo, Escobar dice que no conoce a nadie de su trabajo o círculos sociales que haya dado positivo a la enfermedad, por lo que no está segura de cómo la contrajeron. Cuando González comenzó a sentirse enfermo a fines de marzo, una clínica del vecindario, no identificó correctamente su enfermedad. Pocos días después, su estado había empeorado y una radiografía mostró líquido en sus pulmones. Fue dirigido a Metro General Hospital, donde permaneció hasta su muerte dos semanas después. Después de que

Es un problema que los funcionarios de salud pública y los proveedores médicos reconocen y están tratando de resolver.

Después de que Metro identificó una cantidad elevada de casos alrededor de Antioch, donde vive un número desproporcionado de inmigrantes, la ciudad dijo que coordinaría con la Coalición de Derechos de Inmigrantes y Refugiados de Tennessee para contratar a trabajadores comunitarios que cumplan la tarea de cerrar la brecha de comunicaciones existente exacerbada por la pandemia.

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El estado también ha identificado casos elevados dentro de grupos étnicos y, según la comisionada de salud Lisa Piercey, está trabajando "de manera culturalmente sensible para mitigar cualquiera de los problemas que puedan estar teniendo". Las autoridades de salud estatales han establecido un grupo de trabajo sobre disparidad de salud que está lanzando una campaña de servicio público esta semana dirigida a diferentes comunidades minoritarias en todo el estado.” Con contenido publicado el 28 de abril cortesía de Nashville SCENE. Envíenos sus sugerencias por e-mail: news@hispanicpaper.com

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

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.

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Beginner Birdwatching

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Advocates organized a car caravan on May Day to show support and demand protection for for essential workers.

As we all look toward new entertainment outlets, look out your window and read this helpful guide to beginner bird watching.

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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

5th Wednesday after Easter

6th Monday after Easter

Friday after Ascension Day

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

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

BUT what does this mean, what have I to do, or what sort of effort is it that can be said to seek or pursue the Kingdom of God? Shall I try to get a job suitable to my talents and powers in order thereby to exert an influence? No, thou shalt first seek God's kingdom. Shall I then give all my fortune to the poor? No, thou shalt first seek God's kingdom. Then shall I then go out to proclaim this teaching to the world? No, thou shalt first seek God's kingdom. But then in a certain sense it is nothing I shall do. Yes, certainly, in a certain sense it is nothing; thou shalt in the deepest sense make thyself nothing, become nothing before God, learn to keep silent; in this silence is the beginning, which is, first to seek God's kingdom. Kierkegaard: Christian Discourses.

5th Thursday after Easter THE hatred of evil things is for a man to hate his own sins, and to justify those of his neighbour. The Paradise of the Fathers. A MAN’S life or death cometh from his neighbour; if we benefit our brother we benefit ourselves, and if we offend him we sin against God. The Paradise of the Fathers.

5th Friday after Easter GOD’S own work must be done by God's own ways. Otherwise we can take not comfort in obtaining the end, if we cannot justify the means used thereunto. Thomas Fuller: Good Thoughts in Bad Times. FOR twenty years I continued to fight against one thought—that I might see all men of one mind. The Paradise of the Fathers.

5th Saturday after Easter EITHER let us fear the wrath to come, or let us love the grace that is present—either this or that; only be it ours to be found in Christ Jesus unto live, which is life indeed. St Ignatius: Epistle to the Ephesians. MAN has a natural dread of walking in the gloom—what wonder then that he naturally has a dread of the unconditional, of having to do with the unconditional, of which it holds good that no night and "no deepest gloom half so dark" as this gloom and this night, where all relative ends (the common milestones and signposts), where all relative considerations (the lanterns which else are a help to us), where even the tenderest and sincerest feelings of devotion—are quenched . . . for otherwise it is not unconditionally the unconditional. Kierkegaard: Journals.

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

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

Saturday after Ascension Day WHAT is God? No less the punishment of the perverse than the glory of the humble. We may say He is reason and sweet reasonableness directing itself with fixed unchanging aim, and everywhere operative. Any perversity in collision with that must of necessity be confounded. Of course, all swelling pride and unseemliness which dashes itself against that must be broken to shivers. St Bernard: On Consideration.

6th Wednesday after Easter

Sunday after Ascension Day

NO commandment . . . is kept if, upon pretence of keeping that commandment, or of the service of God, I come to an uncharitable opinion of other men . . . This abundant and overflowing charity is the persuasive and antidote against the woe of this text, Woe unto the world because of scandals and offences. Donne: Sermons.

CHRIST humbled himself: not—was humbled. Oh, the infinite sublimity of whom it may be said with categorical necessity: neither in heaven, nor upon earth, nor in the abyss is there any one who could humble him—he humbled himself. There we see Christ's infinite qualitative difference from every other man: that he must unconditionally give his consent and approbation to every humiliation he suffers, his willingness to submit to the humiliation. That is the infinite superiority to suffering, but at the same time the more intense suffering. Kierkegaard: Journals.

IN every particular man there is some reason why he should be more afraid of God's judgements than another man.

Donne: Sermons. SOLE Victor from the expulsion of his foes, Messiah his triumphal chariot turned. Milton: Paradise Lost.

Ascension Day THIS Ascension Day is properly the most solemn feast of our Lord Jesus: for this day first in his manhood he began to sit on the Father's right hand in bliss and took full rest of all his pilgrimage before. Also this is properly the feast of all the blessed spirits in heaven: for this day they had a new joy of their lord whom they saw never before there in his manhood. And also for that day began first to be restored the falling down of their fellows, and that in so great multitude and number of blessed souls of patriarchs and prophets and all those holy souls that this day first entered into that blessed City of heavenly Jerusalem, their kind heritage above. The Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ, (translated by Nicholas Love). THE Church is an excellent state, when it is sustained by God only. Pascal: Pensées.

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Monday after Ascension Day WHATSOEVER hath its being for God's sake endureth and abideth for ever with those who are true. The Paradise of the Fathers. HE who has the fire of love in this world need not fear the fire of the sword in the other. St Ambrose: On Psalm cxviii.

Tuesday after Ascension Day "WHO hates his neighbour has not the rights of a child." And not only has he no rights of a child, he has no "father." God is not my father in particular, or any man's father (horrible presumption and madness!), no, he is only father in the sense of father of all, and consequently only my father in so far as he is the father of all. When I hate someone or deny that God is his father—it is not he who loses, but me: for I then have no father. Kierkegaard: Journals.

PHOTOS FROM THE TENNESSEE VIRTUAL ARCHIVE

NASHVILLE HISTORY CORNER

ABOVE LEFT: Program for the Nashville Equal Suffrage League’s MayDay Demonstration at Centennial Park in Nashville, Tennessee on May 1, 1915. The 19th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution granted women the right to vote. When the Tennessee General Assembly passed the ratification resolution on August 18, 1920, it gave the amendment the 36th and final state necessary for ratification. Suffragists and anti-suffragists lobbied furiously to secure votes during that intense summer in Nashville. The ratification resolution passed easily in the Tennessee State Senate on Aug. 13, but the House of Representatives was deadlocked. When young Harry T. Burn of Niota changed his vote to support ratification of the 19th Amendment, he broke a tie in the House of Representatives and made history. ABOVE RIGHT: A photograph of Elizabeth Fry Page, of Nashville, Tennessee, who was a charter member of the Tennessee Woman’s Press and Authors Club as well as the Nashville Equal Suffrage Association. She also gave a talk called “Why Professional Women Want to Vote” at the 1914 May-Day Celebration at Centennial Park in Nashville. LEFT: View of school children in open truck during a May Day parade in 1924. The float is comprised of a May pole and poster stating “Health in Play.” Dr. Harry Mustard worked in Rutherford County, Tennessee, during the 1920s on behalf of the Rockefeller Foundation’s Commonwealth Fund. He took photographs as part of a five-year study of health and sanitation conditions of rural children. Dr. Mustard went on to become a very prominent public health administrator. May 13 - 27, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 5

LOCAL PHOTOS

May 1. International Workers Day. A day to celebrate worker power and laborers everywhere. This year the stakes are high as the spread of COVID-19 is putting essential workers’ lives on the line to keep our city going. And the crisis is illuminating how some companies are putting their profits over the safety of their workers. Frontline workers in Nashville and countrywide are fighting for personal protective equipment, fair wages and hazard pay, paid sick time off, health insurance and basic protections to ensure their safety and dignity. The pandemic has shown that it’s the underpaid, often underappreciated workers that are truly essential. So on this May Day, Workers’ Dignity led a caravan of more than 50 cars through 15 miles of Nashville streets with two goals. First, to show support for frontline workers that are providing our community with the services we need.

And second, to call on employers and companies to step up and do more to protect their workers now. Cheering for workers on May Day and telling them thank you in and of itself is not going to put food on the table or provide protective equipment to keep workers and their families safe from the coronavirus. But the caravan was about more than just saying thank you — it was an act of solidarity by and for workers, showing them that they are not alone. There is a whole community backing people who are fighting for their safety and dignity. The COVID crisis is far from over, and as workers, we must stand together and exercise our collective power and rights. If you are ready to improve conditions at your workplace or support others in their fights, reach out to us at 615-669-6679 or info@workersdignity.org.

OUR LIVES ARE ESSENTIAL! MAY DAY CARAVAN PHOTOS BY ALVINE, CAPTION BY ASHLEY BACHELDER, INTERIM CO-DIRECTOR OF WORKERS’ DIGNITY

PAGE 6 | May 13 - 27, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

NEWS

COVID-19 HITS NASHVILLE HOMELESS SHELTER SYSTEM BY HANNAH HERNER Seven days after testing positive, most of the 115 people experiencing homelessness staying in quarantine on the Fairgrounds Nashville emergency shelter premises were released on May 7. At that time, 21 people remained in the designated “sick” building. Those who recovered were given the opportunity to go where they pleased, and were not retested before being released, in accordance with

Tennessee Department of Health guidelines. The Nashville Rescue Mission main campus Downtown was closed from April 30 to May 7 due to the cluster of COVID-19 cases that hit the homeless population in Nashville. Any person released from the Fairgrounds Nashville shelter who has chosen to go back to Nashville Rescue Mission will spend three additional days in isolation, per CDC

guidelines, says Glenn Cranfield, CEO of Nashville Rescue Mission. On May 4, the mayor’s office announced that more than 100 people staying at homeless shelters throughout the city tested positive for COVID-19. A combined 115 people were quarantined in the “sick” building at the Fairgrounds Nashville emergency shelter. This included a number of people who were already staying at the Fair-

grounds as well as those who were staying at Nashville Rescue Mission’s downtown campus and at The Salvation Army. At the fairgrounds, there were originally 19 positive and 206 negative results. At Nashville Rescue Mission there were 395 tested, with 100 positive, nine indeterminate, 12 still pending and 274 negative. The Salvation Army had six guests who tested positive and were sent

to the Fairgrounds Nashville emergency shelter for medical care. In a press conference on the morning of May 4, Dr. Alex Jahangir, chair of the metro coronavirus task force, said four positive cases at the Fairgrounds Nashville prompted comprehensive testing of all those staying there as well as at the Nashville Rescue Mission main campus, which was serving as a gothrough to the Fairgrounds shelter.

The Great Outdoors, Pt. 3: How to Begin Birdwatching BY HANNAH HERNER As we stay at home, birds get to go on with their lives outside the home office window, blissfully unaware of what is going on in the world. It’s an opportune time to move beyond just looking at birds, and start bird watching. For the third and final part of this series on getting outside during the pandemic, we talked to Sandy Bivens, staff member at the Warner Parks bird research program, about how to get started in bird watching. As it turns out, going to walk on greenways presents a great opportunity for bird watching, and planting native plants in your yard helps bring more birds to you. (Read the previous installments of this series to learn more about these topics.) Warner Park Nature Center is host to a bunch of bird research projects throughout the year. Biven and her team of trained volunteers catch the birds in nets that resemble hairnets and put little bands on their legs so they can keep record of where they’re born, how long they live, where they go and what routes they take. Bivens recommends a free app eBird, to help beginners identify birds. In a normal spring, Warner Park invites people to observe this banding process, and hosts lots of bird programs for all ages, from school field trips to guided bird hikes. In the meantime, one can start learning about birds in their own backyard. Is there a bird that you’re particularly fascinated with? I guess I’m particularly fascinated with bluebirds and hummingbirds. Warblers, too. One that we catch every year is the Kentucky warbler, and that’s a special bird that we look forward to. It nests on the ground, it’s small, it’s bright yellow and has black around the face — it’s beautiful. The wood thrush is another one that we have lots of records of. It has the most beautiful flute-like song. You don’t always see them — they’re camouflaged pretty well — but if

Providing habitats for insects is critical to having birds in your backyard. You could avoid using pesticides and plant some native plants. You could put up a feeder, and that could be just a stump and you put black oil sunf lower seed on it. It doesn’t have to be a fancy feeder. You could put some on the ground, because some birds are ground feeders. Don’t put out too much seed because you could attract mammals at night to eat it. Water is a great thing to attract birds, too, like a bird bath. You could hang up a hummingbird feeder, and they’ll come to backyards in very urban areas, or even your apartment. We do recommend that you don’t put feeders too close to windows because birds do fly into windows.

PHOTO BY HEATHER GALLAGHER you walk in Warner Park in the summer you can hear it. And it sings all day long even if it’s 90 degrees and miserable. I’m especially interested in the song, too. I think people like birds because they’re colorful, because they fly, and because they’re so available to see in your own backyard. In the spring they’re all singing at once. But once you learn one, and you get another, and another, it gets easier to pick them out. In the fall and winter they’re not singing like they are in the spring. This is peak time. But any day is a good day to start. What are some good places to bird watch? Warner Parks is especially known for having a lot of species. There are different habitats and it’s a large natural area. Radnor Lake State Park may be the most famous in Nashville for birding because it’s got the lake and that attracts more species. Shelby

Bottoms is also really good, Bells Bend Park has a different habitat, and Beaman Park has woods and the plateau, so it has different species, too. What should I do to attract more birds to my yard? The first thing to do is to look for how many different kinds you can see, what’s already there. You might be amazed at what’s in your own yard. In migration, a lot of those birds migrate at night. When you wake up you have no idea what could have landed to spend the day there, eating and storing up more fats so it can fly the next night. Even in a little backyard you could have some amazing migrants during spring. If you want to have birds in your yard, it’s important to have insects, because they eat lots and lots of insects. Even hummingbirds, insects are the main part of their diet.

May 13 - 27, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 7

What makes someone a successful bird watcher? Just enthusiasm for learning, wanting to be open and listening, and not giving up. I think anybody can do it, but you do have to be kind of inquisitive. Especially with song and identification, it’s not easy, and that’s what makes it fun. You can keep a record of what you see in your yard. You could take pictures or draw. Just become familiar with what’s out there. I think it’s really fun to become familiar with the behavior of the birds. I’ve seen some male cardinals feeding females as part of their courtship. You see lots of parents feeding hungry babies. You might see them collecting grass or mud in the yard to build nests. I think, in this time, too, it’s therapeutic. Just like being in nature and taking a walk can be good for you, I think seeing the cycle of nature with birds, it’s kind of just nice to know that we’re safer at home but the birds are still flying. Those cycles keep going. It’s just been inspiring that they’re back and they seem to be fine. At least for me, to see them coming back this spring, it was good.

COVER STORY

PHOTO COURTESY OF NASHVILLE FOOD PROJECT

How The Nashville Food Project has pivoted to keep its mission alive By Jennifer Justus There’s nothing like a pandemic to help us realize how often food is served in community settings — the church potlucks, the bustling restaurants, the barbecues with friends. At The Nashville Food Project, our mission is to grow, cook and share nourishing food with the goals of cultivating community and alleviating hunger in our city. So of course, we also shared many of our meals — preCOVID-19, anyway — in communal situations from passed pans and platters to buffets and other lively, convivial places where people gather for meals. When the coronavirus came, and more of our neighbors lost jobs and wages, we knew the need for food would be greater

than ever, but it also needed to be grown, prepared and served as safely as possible. That means more individual portions made from fewer hands and then delivered widely and safely. By the second week of March, we knew we needed to suspend our volunteer program for safety concerns. It usually brings 380 people through our spaces to generously offer their time and talents. Meanwhile, a few frontline staff continued working to turn out thousands of meals. Then to increase our production, we partnered with Henley Nashville, the Midtown restaurant at The Aertson Hotel, to serve as a satellite kitchen. With funding obtained by Henley from Buckingham Foundation, some of the

restaurant’s staff have been able to keep working while also preparing meals for our partners and allowing us to say “yes” to more people needing those meals. The coronavirus has no doubt caused conundrums to so many of us — and then creative solutions out of necessity. So in this story, The Nashville Food Project would like to shine a light on a couple of our community partners who have made pivots of their own during this time to help us distribute meals in the community. Homeless Impact Division Metro Nashville’s Homeless Impact Division has been taking the lead in matching ser-

vices like The Nashville Food Project’s meals to people experiencing homelessness. As coronavirus hit our communities, many of the communal-style meals usually available to those living on the streets had to end. “It became harder for people experiencing homelessness to obtain food,” says Sally Lott, coordinated entry manager with the division. But rather than let that void go unfilled, the Homeless Impact Division and outreach workers made a plan to encourage social distancing among the homeless population by taking food to homeless encampments in addition to other hot spots. The Nashville Food Project now prepares 300 weekly

PAGE 8 | May 13 - 27, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

meals (and thousands more to other partners) through the Homeless Impact Division. The meals break down to 50 hot, individually packaged meals prepared Tuesday through Fridays for sharing in encampments. Then an additional 20 meals for Open Table Nashville, Monday through Friday, for distribution at hot spots like Centennial Park and other locations. Chef Director Bianca Morton includes fresh produce as often as possible in the meals, which have included chicken pot pie, lasagna and stir-fry, for example. “One outreach worker told me that a gentleman was so excited to have vegetables,” Lott says. But it’s an effort that takes

COVER STORY

PHOTO COURTESY OF LEGACY MISSION VILLAGE

a community to serve community. In addition to the scratchmade prepared meals, folks also have been receiving food boxes in places where they’re more able to prepare their meals. Glencliff United Methodist with the help of Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, has been distributing about 300 boxes per week. “A lot of people,” Lott says, ‘contributed to a lot of different pieces to make this work.” Legacy Mission Village Legacy Mission Village is an organization founded by refugees for serving refugees. It’s not a resettlement agency, though, but rather a collection of services based on the founders’ experiences coming to the United States following the1994 Rwandan genocide. The group aims to focus its efforts on all individuals in the household— from diapers distributed free every month in partnership with

the Nashville Diaper Company to a kindergarten program, a high-school tutoring program to adult education classes focusing on literacy. “Unfortunately, once this pandemic hit,” says Director of Operations Tim Mwizerwa, “it made it very difficult for us to conduct classes or programs we typically conduct.” Workers immediately started checking in with families to assess needs during the disruption. “The first thing we kept hearing was food, food, food,” he said.” Even the families who had not lost their income.” And so, they pivoted. “We turned offices and classrooms into a pantry,” he said, as well as a diaper distribution center. “We just had our first drive-thru diaper day yesterday. We distributed about 20,000 diapers safely to families in about 2 hours.” As for the food, the organization already had a relationship with Second Harvest,

“I love how the Nashville community has pulled together,” Tim Mwizerwa says. “Any time we have had a stressful moment where we’re like ‘how are we going to provide for these families?’ A community partner comes in as the missing piece.” which helps provide pantry staples, rice and beans. The Nashville Food Project also stepped in to provide about 200 family sized, scratch-made meals from the satellite kitchen at Henley Nashville as well as fresh produce including vegetables from Growing Together, The Nashville Food Project’s market garden program for farmers who also came to United States as refugees. “They were really craving that kind of sustenance — and traditionally relevant food to them,” Mwizerwa says of his

clients. Not only the freshness but having that respite and not having to make a meal for their kids.” Meanwhile, Mwizerwa and his colleagues also have been helping families who have lost jobs apply for unemployment (a cumbersome process even for native speakers) as well as determining if they can defer mortgages temporarily or apply for food stamps. They’ve also been helping financially with family members who have gotten sick while working in meat packing plants while they’re not able to

May 13 - 27, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 9

collect wages, unemployment or risk leaving their job to find other work. Despite all this hardship, Mwizerwa stays buoyed in partly by volunteers who sign up to safely drop meals off to families, not just in Nashville but in Smyrna too. “I love how the Nashville community has pulled together,” he says. “Any time we have had a stressful moment where we’re like ‘how are we going to provide for these families?’ A community partner comes in as the missing piece.”

COVER STORY

PHOTO COURTESY OF LEGACY MISSION VILLAGE

resources for people needing food • Visit mnps.org/covid19 for distribution dates and locations. Email communityachieves@ mnps.org with questions • Text “summer meals” to 97779 for SFSP info or call 866-348-6479 • Visit www.fns.usda.gov/ summerfoodrocks

Resources for people who want to help with a SFSp Site • Call 615-313-4749 or email tnsfsp.dhs@tn.gov • Volunteer through Hands on Nashville • Make a donation to Second Harvest Food Bank on behalf of MNPS

School’s out, food is ready By hannah herner When some kids are out of school, they’re not getting school lunches that they might depend on. Metro Nashville Public Schools and other community organizations look to fill that gap this summer. MNPS implemented an emergency food box program for families after the March 3 tornado hit. When COVID-19 caused schools to close, they kept it going. Now, they’ve decided to extend it through the summer, and add on an additional bagged lunch meal program for kids. This summer is different from any in the past, says Alison McArthur, director of MNPS’s Community Achieves program. She says even before the tornado and COVID-19 hit Nashville in succession, there were 100,000 food insecure people in Davidson County. “It is different than it’s ever been,” McArthur says. “There is more need in Nashville for food than there’s ever been. On a regular week or month in Nashville, there’s a lot of food insecurity. But you take now, all of the kids are home from school and that’s an extra burden on a lot of families. Also, all of the extra people that have lost jobs that never saw themselves being

food insecure now need help with food.” The food box program gives families a box of produce, meat and dry goods provided by Second Harvest food bank once a week at designated sites around the city like schools and community centers. The meals program provides bagged breakfasts and lunches for any child under 18. This program is funded by the Summer Food Service Program, and is normally used for serving kids at summer school, summer camp, and sports practices. With all of that canceled, MNPS will distribute those meals anyway at school sites and along bus routes. Neither of the programs require that a child be enrolled at a MNPS school to receive food. Even families who cannot get to one of the sites or the bus stops can arrange to have meals delivered to them. The Summer Food Service Program is a statewide program reimbursed by federal dollars that served 3 million meals to Tennessee kids last year. Davidson County is host to more than 200 sponsor sites. Normally kids congregate to eat these meals, but this year, they’ll be picking them up and taking them home.

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“The need is always there,” says Sky Arnold, press secretary for Tennessee Department of Human Services. “The goal of the program, when you look at it across the state — there are families that depend on the meals the kids get at school. And what happens to those kids when the school year is over? That’s really where this program comes in, it fills the gap during those summer months.” Community Achieves is a MNPS initiative in 34 schools. Each school has a coordinator that brings in programming around college and career readiness, family engagement, health and wellness, and social services. “In a normal year the reason we spend so much time collecting food and distributing food is because if you’re hungry, you can’t think about anything else,” McArthur says. In the fall, Community Achieves coordinators hope to get back to the mentoring programs and bringing in extra enrichment to schools. It’s unclear what that will look like with COVID-19 precautions clouding the future, but MNPS and the sponsoring sites start by meeting the basic need for food, so kids have the best chance at success.

COVER STORY

PHOTO BY ALVINE. SEE MORE ON PAGE 6.

Food service worker organization: It’s not safe for workers to return to restaurants By amanda haggard On May 11, doors opened for restaurants who wanted to open at 50 percent capacity. Mayor John Cooper announced the move to begin the city’s first phase of reopening — nonessential businesses will be allowed to open in this phase, but must follow certain guidelines like wearing masks and checking their temperature in order to open their businesses. While many restaurants are choosing to stay closed until they feel safe opening, several restaurants and bars that serve food opened. Some bar owners like Steve Smith, who owns Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge on Lower Broadway, launched protests in the days before Cooper’s decisions saying they should be able to open their businesses since the state had already loosened restrictions before Nashville did. ROC-Music City is a local affiliate of Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, a nonprofit organization fighting to improve wages and working conditions for the nation’s restaurant workforce. Hayden

“[we] cannot afford to just stop drawing unemployment and not have a job. We feel like hostages and the people who should be responsible for protecting us are our captors.”

Smith with ROC-Music City says the organization was horrified when they saw Cooper’s announcement that restaurants were going to be allowed to reopen. “Nashville has come nowhere close to the metrics [Cooper] set in his own guidelines for reopening and the fact that this comes just days after a group of owners protested outside of his office shows he has clearly caved to the pressures of special interest groups,” Hayden Smith says. “It is shameful that not just he, but all of our elected officials have displayed this level of disregard for the lives of our workers.” Hayden Smith points to a few reasons why a full-service dining experience could be problematic:

droplets, so a dish pit is unsafe by any reasonable metric. • Most dish rooms are directly next to the kitchen, so it is very easy to imagine a situation in which these particles, carried by the steam, travel from the dish room to the kitchen.

• Servers cannot stand six feet away from guests as they take orders and deliver food. • Kitchen workers cannot stand six feet away from each other because many stations on a line are shared work spaces. • The virus can be spread through

ROC-Music City formed after the pandemic started and launched a campaign called Safer-At-Work, which started with a petition that asked Gov. Bill Lee to continue unemployment payments for restaurant workers who do not feel safe returning to work.

“We have been doing everything in our power to reach out to workers and have gotten a pretty resounding answer: ‘We’re scared,’” Hayden Smith says. “There are no protections in place for us.” Hayden Smith points out that on the state level there’s no agency to enforce guidelines or for workers to report bad behavior by restaurant owners. “But what’s even scarier than catching a potentially deadly disease is the risk of financial fallout,” Hayden Smith says. “This afternoon, on a webinar hosted by the mayor, a labor attorney told us directly that

May 13 - 27, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 11

infected workers won’t be entitled to worker’s compensation. If someone gets called back and refuses to go it disqualifies the individual from state unemployment and they have made it very clear that any further payouts would be treated as fraud. Our members are people, with lives and families, and too often thinly stretched budget from the rampant abuses that were occurring pre-pandemic. They cannot afford to just stop drawing unemployment and not have a job. We feel like hostages and the people who should be responsible for protecting us are our captors.”

MOVING PICTURES

Moving Pictures MURDER, MERCY, AND THE MURKY MAZE OF THE CYNTOIA BROWN CASE IN NEW NETFLIX DOC BY JOE NOLAN, FILM CRITIC On the night of Aug. 6, 2004, Cyntoia Brown shot and killed Johnny Allen in his bed at his South Nashville home. Allen had picked Brown up outside of an East Nashville Sonic restaurant. Brown was a homeless 16-year-old runaway at the time the 43-year-old Allen allegedly propositioned her for sex. Brown had been staying in a hotel with her boyfriend/pimp who had threatened her into prostitution. After Brown suggested going to a hotel, Allen insisted on taking Brown back to his house. Brown claims that Allen made a point of displaying an intimidating gun collection, and that when she resisted his advances he reacted with anger and reached for a weapon before Brown used her own gun to kill Allen. Nobody, not even Brown, denies that she killed Allen. But the context and the circumstances that lead to the murder created years of hearings and incarceration for Brown before Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam granted her clemency in 2019. The new Net-

flix documentary Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story isn’t a deep dive into the specific circumstances of the night of Allen’s murder or the evidence and arguments that lead to Brown’s conviction. It’s worth noting that Brown said on social media that she did not authorize the documentary and did not have anything to do with its production. “While I was still incarcerated, a producer who has old footage of me made a deal with Netflix for an UNAUTHORIZED documentary, set to be released soon,” she wrote on Instagram and Twitter. “My husband and I were as surprised as everyone else when we first heard the news because we did not participate in any way.” Contemporary true crime fans used to sifting through the forensic minutiae of a crime scene or re-examining the testimony of an expert witness in a 20-year-old cold case might find the documentary to be lacking in sensational details and whodunit tension. To its credit, Murder to Mercy

is unique in contemporary true crime storytelling, and it makes up for its lack of microscopic focus with broad contextualizing and generations-deep personal history. The film demonstrates how perspectives about that night in 2004 have changed over time, and how those changes made the case a cause célèbre for stars like Rihanna and Kim Kardashian West before Brown was freed in 2019.

Moving Meals Most of us are cooking more than ever. Here are four affordable and accessible meals you can add to your recipe rotation.

Director Dan Birman’s Me Facing Life: Cyntoia’s Story was screened at the Nashville Film Festival back in 2010, and his new film is an updated version of the earlier work that brings Brown’s story full circle. Many contemporary documentaries come complete with a mission or a point of view, but, again, Birman’s film thankfully upsets expectations by letting the violence and chaos of Brown’s past speak for itself

1. Chop the cucumber and avocado into bitesized chunks. 2. Thinly slice the green onions. 3. Add everything to a bowl and stir well. 4. Add more mayonnaise or lime juice to taste. 5. Season with salt to taste.

BY SANDRA AMSTUTZ Crock-Pot/Instant Pot Chicken Rotel Dinner This is the dinner to make when you need something incredibly easy to make that will feed the whole family. It also works well as leftovers if you’d like to make a big batch for lunches. Serves 6 to 8 adults. 2.5 lb bag of frozen chicken breasts 1 can of black beans, drained & rinsed 1 can of corn, drained 2 cans of Rotel 8 oz block of full-fat cream cheese 4 cups cooked brown rice 1. Add the frozen chicken, black beans, corn, and Rotel to your Crock-Pot or Instant Pot. 2. If using the Instant Pot, put on the lid and turn the knob to the sealing position. Turn to high on the manual pressure cooking setting and cook for 20 minutes for tenderloins or 25 minutes for breasts. Then natural release the pressure for 10 minutes before doing a manual release.

If using a Crock-Pot, cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. 3. Once the cooking is done, shred the chicken in the pot with two forks. Add the cream cheese to the pot and stir. Put the lid back on the pot to let the cheese melt for about 10 minutes (if your machine has Keep Warm mode, turn it on). 4. Pour rice into the pot and give everything a thorough stir.

Cucumber Avocado Salad This is a fresh and filling lunch for a summer day. Serves one adult as a full meal or 2-3 adults as a side. 1 large English cucumber 1 large avocado 3 green onions 2 tablespoons mayonnaise 2 tablespoons lime juice

Lemon Butter Pasta This is the perfect recipe for when you haven’t made any plans for dinner, and you’re incredibly hungry. It is also great for using up whatever meats, vegetables, and toppings you have in your pantry. It makes one huge bowl for one, but can easily be scaled up or down. 4 Tablespoons butter 4 oz angel hair pasta 2 cups hot chicken stock Juice of one lemon Lots of freshly ground pepper to taste Optional: Shredded parmesan cheese, Grilled chicken, Chopped tomatoes, Basil 1. Melt the butter in a medium pot. Add the pasta to the pot (break it in half if needed to fit) and toss in the butter until it is well coated. 2. Pour in hot chick stock, lemon juice, and lots of ground pepper. Cover and cook over low heat for 10 min (or until all the liquid is absorbed). 3. Add in cheese and toppings. Stir well.

PAGE 12 | May 13 - 27, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

even as he presents the passionate persistence of Brown’s defenders, and the heartbreaking story of generational abuse, addiction and mental illness that contributed to Brown being trafficked for sex when she was barely old enough to drive a car. The biggest break in Brown’s case came in 2017 when a change in Tennessee laws made it impossible for a minor to be considered a prostitute, thankfully reconsidering girls like 16-year-old Cytntoia to be victims of sex trafficking. When a local Fox 17 piece on the change in the law connected it to Brown’s case the clip went viral and a #FreeCyntoia campaign erupted across social media platforms. While ongoing court cases connected to Jeffrey Epstein continue to remind us that global child sex trafficking is systematic and widespread even at the highest levels of wealth and power, Murder to Mercy gives us an intimate look at a particular case that shows us how young people may be victimized right here on the streets of Nashville. The documentary is of particular interest for The Contributor’s readers who are already well-informed regarding the day-to-day vulnerability of kids living on the kids living on our streets. Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story premiered on Netflix on April 29

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

Chipotle Sweet Potato & Black Bean Tacos Taco night is always a fun night. Here’s a recipe for meatless tacos that will still leave you satisfied. Serves 2 adults but can easily be scaled up for a larger group or lots of leftovers. 1 tablespoon olive oil ½ medium red onion, diced 1 medium sweet potato, cut into ¼” cubes ½ cup of canned black beans, drained and rinsed 1 chipotle in adobo sauce & 2 tablespoons adobo sauce (used from the same can) 1 tablespoon honey Juice from 1 lime Corn tortillas Optional toppings: Cilantro, Avocado, Tomato, Cotija cheese 1. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a skillet. Add diced onions and cook until they begin to soften (about 3 to 4 minutes). Add the chopped sweet potato to the skillet and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes. 2. Finely chop the chipotle and mix it with the adobo sauce, honey, and lime juice in a small bowl. 3. Pour the chipotle mixture into the skillet and reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the black beans to the skillet and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes have softened. 4. While the sweet potato filling is cooking, chop up any additional taco toppings you enjoy. Serve in a warm corn tortilla.

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...

2020

L a N ticia

Año 18 - No. 305

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

GRATIS

Mayo #2

Escanee esta imagen para ver La Noticia newspaper edición bilingüe digital

www.hispanicpaper.com

Nashville, Tennessee

Pandemia COVID-19: Dramático impacto a nuestra communidad hispana

periodista Stephen Elliott. A contiuación compartimos parte de este contenido con permiso de los editores. “Activistas buscan llevar recursos de apoyo a raiz de COVID-19 a comunidades inmigrantes Funcionarios de salud han identificado disparidades entre comunidades de inmigrantes y minorías. Rosa Escobar y Manuel de Jesús González Pineda habían estado juntos durante ocho años, aunque nunca se casaron formalmente. Estos dos inmigrantes hondureños residentes en Nashville planearon remediarlo con una ceremonia en abril. Pero su plan quedó en suspenso cuando el coronavirus interrumpió los servicios de la iglesia y otras grandes reuniones. Entonces, ambos contrajeron COVID-19. Manuel, de 41 años, cayó enfermo y murió, dejando atrás a

su pareja de muchos años y a su hijo Jaison de 4 años. "Era un buen esposo, un buen padre para mi hijo", recuerda Escobar en español, a través de un intérprete. Manuel también la guió en la fé cristiana, dijo ella. González trabajaba para una empresa de excavaciones en la ciudad. Sin embargo, Escobar dice que no conoce a nadie de su trabajo o círculos sociales que haya dado positivo a la enfermedad, por lo que no está segura de cómo la contrajeron. Cuando González comenzó a sentirse enfermo a fines de marzo, una clínica del vecindario, no identificó correctamente su enfermedad. Pocos días después, su estado había empeorado y una radiografía mostró líquido en sus pulmones. Fue dirigido a Metro General Hospital, donde permaneció hasta su muerte dos semanas después. Después de que

por

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

Idea y Concepto: John Yandall

May 13 - 27, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 13

Es un problema que los funcionarios de salud pública y los proveedores médicos reconocen y están tratando de resolver. Después de que Metro identificó una cantidad elevada de casos alrededor de Antioch, donde vive un número desproporcionado de inmigrantes, la ciudad dijo que coordinaría con la Coalición de Derechos de Inmigrantes y Refugiados de Tennessee para contratar a trabajadores comunitarios que cumplan la tarea de cerrar la brecha de comunicaciones existente exacerbada por la pandemia. El estado también ha identificado casos elevados dentro de grupos étnicos y, según la comisionada de salud Lisa Piercey, está trabajando "de manera culturalmente sensible para mitigar cualquiera de los problemas que puedan estar teniendo". Las autoridades de salud estatales han establecido un grupo de trabajo sobre disparidad de salud que está lanzando una campaña de servicio público esta semana dirigida a diferentes comunidades minoritarias en todo el estado.” Con contenido publicado el 28 de abril cortesía de Nashville SCENE. Envíenos sus sugerencias por e-mail: news@hispanicpaper.com

INSP

1: Pope Francis waves during a visit to the parish of St. Mary Josefa of the Heart of Jesus in Rome, Italy February 19, 2017. Credit: REUTERS/Remo Casilli

POPE FRANCIS SENDS MESSAGE TO THE STREET PAPER NETWORK BY TONY INGLIS

Pope Francis has continued to show his support for the street paper movement and those living in poverty with a special message for the street paper network as it adapts to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. In the personal address, included in the Holy See’s daily bulletin on April 27, the Holy Father expressed his solidarity with all those involved with street papers, especially their vendors. He acknowledged that many of those who sell street papers are “homeless, terribly marginalized, and unemployed”, and that “those most vulnerable, the invisible, those without an abode, are at risk of paying the highest price” as the COVID-19 outbreak continues to impact all facets of society. Pope Francis ended his message with a rallying cry: “The pandemic has made your work difficult, but I am sure that the great network of street papers will come back stronger than ever. These days, turning our gaze to the poorest can help all of us to realise how much is actually happening to us, and what

“THE PANDEMIC HAS MADE YOUR WORK DIFFICULT, BUT I AM SURE THAT THE GREAT NETWORK OF STREET PAPERS WILL COME BACK STRONGER THAN EVER. THESE DAYS, TURNING OUR GAZE TO THE POOREST CAN HELP ALL OF US TO REALISE HOW MUCH IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING TO US, AND WHAT OUR CIRCUMSTANCES REALLY ARE.” our circumstances really are.” Maree Aldam, chief executive of the International Network of Street Papers, responded to the Pontiff ’s message with gratitude. “The International Network of Street Papers is pleased to once again have the vocal support of Pope Francis,” Aldam said. “Especially as the world’s most vulnerable and marginalised people face uncertain times ahead while society fights back against this pandemic. “It is essential that world and commu-

nity leaders of all stripes come together in solidarity to raise up those in poverty, and back the organizations — like street papers — that do such great work in helping those most in need.” Pope Francis has been a long-time supporter of the work of street papers, and has been interviewed by INSP members on two previous occasions. In 2015, Marc, a vendor of Utrecht-based street paper Straatnieuws, alongside the publication’s editor Frank Dries, travelled to the Vatican to interview Pope

PAGE 14 | May 13 - 27, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

Francis. In 2017, Stefano Lampertico, editor of Italian street paper Scarp de’ tenis, and Antonio Mininni, one of the magazine’s vendors, did the same. Both resulting interviews became the most republished street paper stories of their respective years. The Pope’s message comes at a time when street papers across the world are facing unprecedented circumstances, with many having paused print production and temporarily removed vendors from the streets on which they normally sell the publication. Street papers are constantly adapting in order to make sure that their vendors can continue to rely on them for an income while riding out the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. INSP would like to thank its volunteer translators for their tireless work, especially Marta Anna Segit, Lisa Luginbuhl and Shanon Richardson, who ensured Pope Francis’ message was translated into three languages from the original Italian. Courtesy of INSP.ngo

May 13 - 27, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 15

VENDOR WRITING

My Mask

WHAT DA HELL IS GOING ON!!!

BY VICK Y B., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

TYRONE M.

Running to the restroom; shuttered To think, oh my God, why did (WeGo) closed the restrooms! males and females God made them. Where on earth do they think we suppose to go? We pay our money to ride the bus but, when we get downtown — they have locked the damn restrooms on us. They did this the last time when they were remodeling, but, they used portable John then. The reason they gave, was they need to pay more attention to cleaning the building. This is bull!

I’m on the backside of 50 and I remember a lot of the cool things I had growing up. We wore plastic masks on Halloween and I had one that looked like a princess with a big smile. I hid behind that plastic smile because I didn’t receive any Valentine’s Day cards in school and pretended it didn’t bother me. Other times, I’d wear makeup to cover the little imperfections. Masks cover up many emotions that we hide behind. Doctors and nurses use masks for protection, and today we use masks to protect us and others from a deadly virus that is killing thousands. Will the new normal mean that we won’t see people’s smiles anymore behind this mask? I get such joy from seeing smiles at me and returning them. Human contact is so much a part of our lives that without it I break down, have meltdowns and eventually can’t function. Last Thursday I went down to The Contributor

office to pick up some newspapers and see people. I needed those smiles after many weeks without them. What was waiting for me was a total surprise: my very own mask. A mask I could wear — not to hide behind — but a mask to protect myself and others. There weren’t many people downtown but a few vendors and construction workers, but I managed to see a couple of smiles. Rest assured when you see a vendor with a mask that there is still the big smile you’d normally see behind that mask. If you see me with a mask on, know that I still have my smile behind it. A long time volunteer of The Contributor, Christine, has been hard at work sewing cloth masks for the vendors. Our Executive Director Cathy — or “mom” as I think of her — arranged for a very hungry vendor stuck inside to receive some food delivered. That’s love and that’s why I call The Contributor family.

Their slogan is (WeGo) Well, (WeGo) now we need to go!! Older people Younger people And innocent children/babies need to go!! This seem like a health violation to me! Where the (mayor)?! Just think if people start to use the building like they used the restrooms, what then? As my friend - Claudette Booth - would say - Oh well -

MAKING IT VICTOR J.

People now are not sure if they can get through this COVID-19, but God said if he can make it so can you. Just keep your heart right.

Love ‘em Anyway BY JOHN H. , CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR Just the other day, I was about to catch the bus and they’ve got a rule where if you take the back door it’s free and if the front door, it’s regular pay. On that day, I asked the driver, “which is it?” He said, “you pay regular fair today.” Cool, that it was. He went on to say that many passengers talked crazy to him and what not ‘til the point he started charging everyone. I was quiet for a minute. The driver stepped off the bus to take a smoke. I looked up and began to step toward the door. Just stood there and looked at him, waiting for God to give me the words to give him. I stepped on out the door and said, “Hey!” looking at him in the eye and said, “You have to love ‘em anyway.” A tear dropped from my eye and I explained, “You know for 10 years I’ve been coming to this area selling papers. And for 10 years I’ve been hated for no apparent reason,

other than the color of skin, but still I love them, and that’s even supposedly Christians. Majority but not all. So how do you think I feel? It’s not my call. On the other hand, I have to be obedient to God’s word. Love ‘em anyway. Don’t ever let another person take your joy or trigger the happiness in your heart. Many times it hurts deep inside, but we must let love continue.” A day later I met a lady driver that complained about the same thing. I told her, don’t destroy your blessings for revenge. Do what God put in your heart. Ya see, that’s the difference between you and them. You have that opportunity of putting God’s wisdom out there to them, but they won’t pick up on it ‘til later in life. But believe-you-me, they’ll remember you, the bus driver, and smile one day. Just plant the seed, God will nourish it. Love ‘em Anyway.

Stay Safe BY MAURICE B., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR While we’re all being carefully reminded to “stay safe,” let’s ponder over the many miraculous recoveries that this whole world has gone through from the beginning of time. Regardless of what story one favors and accepts as the best theory, I believe all creation has been placed upon this world to do one major and certain thing, and within our task of doing that we all become attached to doing “our” own self will. That’s how we actually need to “stay safe” because our will is what shall hinder us. In just about all creation stories there is an afterlife or hereafter, where there is no need to “stay safe.” It’s all about Marvelous and Glorious events

PAGE 16 | May 13 - 27, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

of living. So why worry about man made trials and errors of this world? Because the true keeper of every individual’s time is not up to man and his trails and errors. See, mankind has been striving to control the mass as if power is in numbers. True power lies in the beholder where in time all shall return, may it be His will. To “stay safe” is to stay in His will and not in ours. We’ve tried it our way for so long and look where it has gotten us. Just confirm that His will is better, take a moment, and realize that it was His will that woke us up, and He returned our naffs(soul) back into our control for just today.

FUN

HOBOSCOPES TAURUS

Spring is finally here! Or is it summer? I feel like this year is absolutely flying by, Taurus. I think it’s because some part of me is still waiting for it to start. Nothing’s gone as planned over these past months and it seems like any minute now I’ll be able to get started on all the things I wanted to do in 2020. I’m beginning to think it’s not gonna happen that way. I think it may turn out, Taurus, that we need to just do everything today that we want to do today. Tomorrow is just an idea.

GEMINI

It was at a Little Richard concert in Baltimore in 1956 that the world changed forever. The music from the stage was as thrilling as ever, but that’s not where the innovation would arise, Gemini. The crowd was going wild. They danced, they applauded, they shouted, but then something new happened. For what may be the first time in concert-going history, an excited fan removed her underwear and threw it onto the stage. Nothing has ever been the same. What new ways might you find to express yourself this week, Gemini? I’d suggest playing some Little Richard to see where things go.

CANCER

Of the 12 human beings who have walked on the moon, four are still alive. Still, there are those who say it never happened. That we never went to the moon. That it was all an elaborate fake. Honestly, Cancer, I can’t prove we went to the moon. But I know people who study engineering. And I know people who fly planes. I know people who love science. I know people who run for political office. And one thing they all have in common is that they are terrible, terrible actors. Being a convincing actor is a very specific skill-set. It takes talent, training and practice. Most conspiracy theories fall apart when you watch a politician, pilot, or athlete try to act in a simple comedy sketch. Stick to what you know, Cancer.

LEO

I grew up watching a lot of The Brady Bunch. What is the thing with sitcoms wanting to fit more and more people in a single house? I feel like the premise of every TV show from 1970 to 1995 is just “Wait, now we’re adopting our cousins and both Grandpas just moved in and there are now 23 people living in this modest two-bathroom home.” I think it’s because community is chaos and we like to see it play out. We love it when the people on TV can figure out solutions and get along because it means maybe we can too. I’m not sure if you’ll work it all out this week, Leo, but I know that if Jan and Marcia can get along, you and yours have at least a shot.

VIRGO

My oldest cat has to eat an expensive prescription food for her kidneys. My other cat has perfectly healthy kidneys, but he’s always trying to steal the expensive food. So I have to buy my healthy cat a special food that will distract him from the expensive kidney food. Now I spend way too much time standing and watching my cats eat to make sure they stay in the right bowl. It’s exhausting. Anyway, Virgo, I just wanted to remind you that it’s easy to spend a lot of time and energy on very tiny things and it’s important to look up every once in a while and acknowledge that there’s a whole big world that is amazing and scary and you can only tend to one miniscule problem at a time. But something as simple as a purring cat in your lap can make it all worthwhile.

LIBRA

In 1895, the philosopher William James wrote that there are two ways that people know things. Firstly, you can know something “immediately.” It’s the way you know there are words appearing before your eyes right now. Your senses tell you so. Or you can know things “representatively.” He used the example of tigers in India. James had never been to India, but he “knew” that there were tigers there. It was information from multiple sources that consistently prove to be true. Skepticism can be beneficial when a source is unproven, but when reliable source after reliable source tells you there are tigers in India, Libra, I think it’s OK to believe them.

SCORPIO

First I tried productivity. “I’ll create something amazing!” Then I tried receptivity. “I’ll learn so much!” Then restoration. “I’ll bring peace to my innermost self.” After that I moved to rejuvenation. “I’ll rediscover the things that I love!” That was all the first week. Now I’m just distracted, despondent, decaying and devolving. Sometimes it’s hard to meet the expectations of our intentions. Sometimes we’ve just got to slog through it and sort it out later.

SAGITTA R IUS

The Lone Ranger used to wander the western plains bringing justice to a lawless world. “Who was that masked man?” The rescued townspeople would ask as he rode into the sunset. These days, Sagittarius, justice seems to be a more complicated matter. There are societal norms that have to be broken down. There are generational wrongs that you can’t right with a single dramatic

act. Move toward justice, Sagittarius, but back up and get your bearings first. It’s gonna be a long, long ride before we can head out of this town.

CAPRICORN

So you’re going for more walks than ever, Capricorn. That’s fantastic! Being outdoors and moving around is great for your brain and your body. And here’s the great news: even if your life starts to get a little more structured and scheduled and back-to-normally, you’re still allowed to keep that up. If there’s anything you’ve loved about this weird time, do whatever you can to hang on to it as you move into your new normal.

AQUA RIUS

When I was a kid we got those killer bees. I don’t mean, like, I had killer bees, I just mean they were sweeping the nation. I don’t mean they were actually everywhere. I think they were just in Texas and maybe Florida? But we were scared of them even though we never saw them. Of course we all get scared of things we can’t see, Aquarius, and sometimes rightly so. But we can only spend so much time focussing on those fears. There’s other things to see out there, Aquarius. Flowers and trees and normal little bees making it all happen. Take a minute and stare at one of those today.

PISCES

It’s warming up out there, Pisces. The sun is shining bright. This time of year, there’s just one place I want to be: in a dark air conditioned room watching a movie. And it’s amazing that with today’s technology, it’s possible for me to spend every waking hour in a dark, air conditioned room doing exactly that. Sometimes I have to remember, Pisces, that I’ve only got so many days to walk in the sun and feel that warmth on my skin. We should probably invest at least a little bit out there every day.

ARIES

Everywhere I look these days there’s a sign telling me what I ought to do and what I ought not to. Stand here. Employees only. No parking. It’s enough to make an amateur astrologer feel like he’s under the thumb of The Man. But then I remember Aries, that most of those signs are about keeping me and everybody else safe and healthy. If I thought of something to keep people safe and healthy, I might make a sign about it, too. Cause we’ve got to look out for each other, Aries. Not everybody can look out for themselves.

Mr. Mysterio is not a licensed astrologer, a trained bee keeper, or a certified NASA engineer. 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

May 13 - 27, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 17

VENDOR WRITING

My Friends the Birds BY PEDRO L., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR I did a terrible thing to a bird when I was little. I shot him with a BB. I shot him in the eye. I was probably about eight, nine years old. That made me sad that I did that. I feel like taking care of the birds at my spot is like redemption. I love birds. I like the cardinals, and the big birds in Florida, they’re white with the real long neck. I don’t know what you call that. In Florida, I would see the birds take a piece of bread and dip it in the water before eating it. That was real weird. Early in the morning, like 7:30 in the morning, I whistle, thinking that they might hear me. Then I put the food out. And they come! I do that in the afternoons too. They know the times too, because they come at those times. Now that I’m not out there, I’m worried about them. There’s two cardinals. I lay food out and there’s a brown bird and a gray bird that wants to chase all the other birds away. So I put food at different spots so the other birds can get it. The cardinal goes up on a high post and makes this weird chirping noise,

letting the other birds know that there’s food there. It’s a loud, piercing noise. They like cheese crackers and peanut butter crackers. They do not like Craisins. I put them on the wall there, and they didn’t touch them. They like pea-

nuts. They do like regular raisins. One other thing they don’t like is cookies, like Oreo cookies. They did not eat the Oreo cookies. They always like bread. I try different things to feed them. You know how people say that when

T H E M E : ACROSS 1. *Like many mythical creatures 6. Second mo. 9. Spill the beans 13. Convex molding 14. “___ the President’s Men” 15. Ankle support, e.g. 16. Make a logical connection 17. *E.T.’s craft? 18. Des Moines native 19. *Fire-breather 21. *Household spirit 23. Tucker of “Modern Family” 24. Antonym of is 25. *Grimm’s Queen ____ 28. Tailor-made 30. Showing on TV 35. “All’s well that ____ well” 37. Golly! 39. Punctuation mark 40. Seaport in Yemen 41. Hitching post? 43. Additionally 44. Poison ivy or Poison oak 46. One more than The Beatles 47. Hold as a conviction 48. *Mrs. Potts or her son Chip 50. Andrew Sean Greer’s 2017 Pulitzer-winner novel

F A I R Y

T A L E

52. Toast choice 53. Jack and Jill’s water jug 55. “____ Now or Never” 57. *Horse’s cousin 61. *One of the seven dwarfs 64. Ascetic holy Hindu 65. HHS agency 67. Relating to #25 Across 69. Banana treat 70. Go bad 71. Australian canid 72. Lou of “Walk on the Wild Side” fame 73. Card in the hole? 74. “The Forsyte ____,” pl. DOWN 1. Wisecrack 2. Like a zealous fan 3. Regular attendee 4. Hipbone-related 5. Cuban music genre, pl. 6. *Half-man, half-goat 7. *Santa’s helper 8. Splotches 9. Arch on a face 10. Croquet turf 11. Popular smoothie berry 12. Well, to Sofia Loren 15. Relating to living organisms 20. Opposite of alpha

PAGE 18 | May 13 - 27, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

you eat peanut butter you can’t whistle? I always wondered about the birds, if they can whistle when they eat peanut butter. I was wondering, is it the same birds that come all the time? Where do they go? Do they leave and go to other states? I was told that whenever cardinals come by you, that’s a loved one watching over you. I believe that. Cardinals come by me all the time. And that’s very rare I think. I’ve never heard anybody say that cardinals come by them every day. That’s why I believe that somebody’s watching over me. I used to put the food on the ground, but the rats would come. So now I put it on top of the brick wall, and any time a cardinal comes by and my customers come by, I point to the cardinal. So they can see it too. Where I’m staying at The Salvation Army I heard a cardinal the other day, but I didn’t see him. There’s big black birds that come by, and they want to eat up all the food. They won’t let anybody have none. I try to shoo them away a little bit. After they get food I say, “don’t be greedy!”

C R E A T U R E S

22. Genetic initials 24. Parents hope to do this with values 25. *Beauty’s beau 26. Empower 27. Dropsy 29. *Big Bad One 31. Yellow brick one 32. Feeling worse than before 33. *Like Curious George 34. *Garden dweller 36. Finger move 38. Moneyed one 42. Pine product 45. Choose not to do

something, 2 words 49. Toni Morrison’s “____ Baby” 51. 1862 plots, for short 54. Prefix for below 56. Old photo color 57. Stalin’s domain 58. Back of the neck 59. Not active 60. Past tense of chide 61. Fill beyond full 62. Sound of passing bullet 63. *Baba ____ 66. *Who Bugs Bunny talks to? 68. Numbers, abbr.

Phase 4: Re-Opening Tennessee

Guidelines for vulnerable Tennesseans so that individual response and community recovery may enhance Tennesseeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s resilience.

Vulnerable Individuals [Homeless Service Sector]

1. Elderly individuals, including persons over 50 years of age experiencing longterm homelessness as per State of Tennessee Health Order for NonCongregate Housing.

1. Data Driven Decisions integrate data from entry to exit of an experience of homelessness, providing the insights that maximize efficiency and the reduction of days of homelessness experienced.

2. Families, with children under the age of 14, experiencing compressed congregate sheltering, un-sheltered homelessness, or long-term precarious housing and homelessness.

2. Prevention-diversion of the housed and precariously housed to reduce the number of persons entering homelessness, sheltered or un-sheltered; with priority for vulnerable persons.

3. Individuals with serious underlying health conditions, including high blood pressure, chronic lung disease, diabetes, obesity, asthma, and those whose immune system is compromised such as by chemotherapy for cancer and other conditions requiring such therapy.

Resilience by Reduction of Harm Activities

Resilience by Decompression and Social Distancing Through Housing

3. Street Outreach invites those un-sheltered and in encampments to participate in the communityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s efforts for rapid re-housing of seniors and families with children in order to decompress shelters and encampments. 4. Rapid Rehousing with navigation support that creates low-barrier entry to public housing, supported housing, and housing market, with in come assistance for a period of 12 months.

Vision for Increased Social, Economic, Environmental, Cultural Quality of Life

1. Shelters should remain decompressed as the concern for a Covid-19 rebound continues, shelters should focus on CDC guidelines for 12 months. 2. Congregate shelters set-up in response to Covid-19 should remain for 30 days post Phase 3 or 30 days post program services of Prevention, Diversion, Street Outreach, and Rapid-Rehousing as funded by the CARES Act, whichever is later; in order to reduce person-to-person solicitation, cross community contact, compression of persons in sheltering, feeding, encampments or other service locations. 3. Encampment & Unsheltered Supports set-up in response to Covid-19 should remain for 30 days post Phase 3 or 30 days post program services of Prevention, Diversion, Street Outreach, and Rapid-Rehousing as funded by the CARES Act, whichever is later; in order to reduce person-to-person solicitation, cross community contact, compression of persons in sheltering, feeding, encampments or other service locations.

Reflecting the quality of community in the lives of others increases the quality of life of all. We must not force our most vulnerable neighbors, with the least resources, into the greatest uncertainty. The strongest amongst us must create the path to a shared future. - Major Ethan Frizzell

May 13 - 27, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 19

The Contributor: May 13, 2020

Articles inside

Vendor Writing

HOBOSCOPES

Vendor Writing

Vendor Poetry

POPE FRANCIS SENDS MESSAGE TO THE STREET PAPER NETWORK

Moving Pictures

The Great Outdoors: Pt. 3

COVID-19 HITS NASHVILLE HOMELESS SHELTER SYSTEM

May Day Caravan

Nashville History Corner

Around the Table

Around the Table

Around the Table