VOL. 63, No. 35
September 4 - 10, 2014
COMMENTARY
www.tsdmemphis.com
75 Cents
Beale Street fee dead Unpopular move gets axed by Downtown Memphis Commission by Tony Jones Special to The New Tri-State Defender
Kimihiro Hoshino/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
USC’s Black Twitter study draws criticism by Yesha Callahan The Root
Let’s discuss the phenomenon that is Black Twitter. Yes, I’ve capitalized the “b” in black, because it deserves the distinction as a proper noun, especially since there’s currently a study on it being conducted by the Annenberg Innovation Lab at the University of Southern California. According to the study, here’s what the researchers are doing: Developing a multi-method approach to studying public discourse on Twitter that explores both macro and micro-scale activity simultaneously in order to draw out particularly active, engaged “neighborhoods” within the larger population. Among the many different ways that audiences incorporate Twitter into their media ecologies, “livetweeting” is one of the most promising for researchers. “Livetweeting” refers to an open-ended discussion among casual viewers, producers, critics, fans, and anti-fans alike that unfolds in response to television programming, in connection with real-time viewing. From sports events to awards shows to original content, this sort of real-time activity offers a unique opportunity for researchers to listen in on live commentary from thousands of viewers at once. It’s no surprise that Black Twitter is a hot commodity when it comes to market research and advertising. According to recent Pew research, 18 percent of Twitter’s U.S. users are black, and it’s this number that has marketers striving to figure out how to make a profit out of it. Earlier Wednesday, when word got around about the Black Twitter study, most people noticed that the people associated with the study on the site were three white men. That definitely didn’t sit well with those on social media. Many questioned why three white men were involved in a project solely focused on the interactions of black people on Twitter. Then the criticism, jokes and hashtags started rolling in, because, you know, that’s what Black Twitter does, and rightly so. dream hampton @dreamhampton #BlackTwitterStudy #Drapetomania RT @@MissAngelaDavis reads like a study of the covert communication among slaves. zoe samudzi @BabyWasu *starts reading about the #blacktwitter study* *immediately stops because validation of its impact and reach are irrelevant and insulting* CallMeLisa @Lisa1660 There seems to be a new trend of sleep deprivation. May be drug related. They use the hashtag #staywoke as code #blacktwitterstudyresults Jalapeño Business @and1grad SEE TWITTER ON PAGE 2
MEMPHIS WEEKEND FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
H-93o - L-74o H-90o - L-71o H-84o - L-66o PM T-Storms
Scattered T-Storms
REGIONAL TEMPS LITTLE ROCK NASHVILLE JACKSON, MS
Friday H-94 L-74 H-89 L-71 H-89 L-71
Cloudy
Saturday H-91 L-71 H-89 L-69 H-93 L-72
Sunday H-86 L-66 H-81 L-63 H-90 L-70
The $10 fee to enter Beale Street starting at midnight has officially been terminated and Downtown Memphis Commission President Paul Morris says he is just as relieved as anyone else that the $10 surcharge has been axed. The highly unpopular measure was officially killed last week in a meeting when Morris met with Mayor AC Wharton Jr. and District 3 City Councilman Harold Collins. “We felt that if there was a security issue it should be the responsibility of the Memphis Police Department or the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department, that a fee was discriminatory toward African American and certain classes (of society) because it would separate those that could afford to get on the street versus those who could not afford to. Since Beale is a public street that was not legal,” said Collins. “Third, any decision involving Beale Street should have been brought before the Memphis City Council, and they definitely did not come before the council before this fee was put in place.”
Harold Collins
Paul Morris Rolled out in August, the fee setup met widespread disapproval from the public. Still, Morris said it was “an absolute necessity” following two consecutive violent weekends.
“We’ve only done it twice, but we had to do something. First, we had an incident in early August between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. where the street had become dangerously overcrowded
and that led to several incidents of negative public safety. I hate to talk about it because I don’t want to scare people but we had serious incidents of sexual assault, stampeding and other problems during that time,” said Morris. “Ninety-percent of the time Beale Street is completely safe, but at that 1 percent time on Sunday (12 a.m. to 3 a.m.) we had a public safety emergency that arose in those hours.” A disgusting sequel erupted the very next weekend he said. “We had that viral video released on Youtube showing the violent beating of a man on Beale Street. Both of these incidents occurred right before Elvis week and we have out of town visitors and out-of-town media coming in, so we had to do something. That video made world news.” Morris said the commission never liked the fee. “We understand that the fee is bad for business and that it is unpopular. It was pretty strong medicine but it worked. We didn’t like it but we had to do it to address very real problems with overcrowding on the street and we did it quickly and successfully. SEE BEALE ON PAGE 2
It’s a celebration… The New Tri-State Defender’s third annual Best in Black Awards celebration was a community affair that this year expanded into a three-day happening culminating at the Cook Convention Center. Story and photos on pages 8-9. (Photo: Gary S. Whitlow)
Bye George, thanks! George E. Hardin, the first fulltime photographer for the Tri-State Defender (now The New Tri-State Defender), died at his home in Austin, Texas on Saturday (Aug. 30th). He was 80. During November 2011, The ‘Defender’ took note of its 60th year, with Mr. Hardin contributing the story that follows. It ran underneath this overline: “The ‘Defender’ at 60;Then and now – all about the people.” The main headline read: “Newspaper veteran maintains ‘first love’.” This TSD reprint is a tribute to Mr. Hardin and his legacy of excellence, dignity and courage.
George Hardin in 1953
The year was 1953. The NAACP Spingarn Medal was awarded to Paul Williams, the Los Angeles-born black architect – whose parents were from Memphis – who designed the original St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. It was the year when whites in Chicago began rioting after blacks moved into Trumbull Park, a public housing project. James Baldwin published “Go Tell It on the Mountain.” And it was the year that I joined the Tri-State Defender at age 19, two years after the newspaper’s founding, as its first full-time staff photographer. It was instructive and inspirational to work under the eminently qualified Lewis O. Swingler, the newspaper’s first editor. The newspaper’s officers were housed in the Randolph House, a rambling Victorian mansion at Beale and Lauderdale. Born in Crittenden, Ark., Swingler earned a journalism degree at the University of Nebraska, where he helped organize the first Alpha Phi Alpha chapter in 1927. He became editor of the Memphis World in 1931,
and he taught journalism at LeMoyne College. John H. Sengstacke, the Defender’s founding publisher, recruited Swingler as editor when he established the newspaper paper in 1951. L. Alex Wilson, a veteran newspaperman who had worked at the Chicago Defender, was Swingler’s assistant. I had left Tennessee State University after my freshman year. (I would later reenroll.) Upon joining the staff I set up a darkroom with my own enlarger and other equipment, and used my own camera – one I still have and which works although I no longer use it. Not having a car, I had to hitch a ride if a reporter was on the George Hardin in 2011 same assignment; if not, I took a city bus (weekly deadlines were not tight). Sometimes, though, especially at night, I was authorized to call a taxi and get a receipt in order to be reimbursed. Earlier, as a member of the Manassas High School Newsette staff, I had become interested in the Defender since my history teacher, Addie D. Jones, was the newspaper’s first society editor, and often mentioned in class the work she did for her column. The Defender from its beginning mounted an aggressive campaign for black rights and dignity, promoted education and exposed racism, injustice and police brutality. I left the Defender after about a year to work in commercial photography but would return later, first as photographer and again, in 1978, as executive editor. My years with the Defender were among my most rewarding, not only for the feeling that I was helping promote justice, but SEE GEORGE ON PAGE 3