THE READER - EL PERICO OMAHA JAN 2021 by PioneerMedia.Me

JA N UA RY 2021 | vo lUME 27 | I SSUE 11

Year in [P]Review JOBS: the Career Ladder NEWS: PROTESTERS WEIGH NEXT STEPS NEWS: Future of Nebraska Democratic Party DISH: Dining Predictions MUSIC: Industry PULLED Together in 2020 ART: The Show Must Go On HOODOO: 2020 Blues FILM: WORST/BEST of 2020 SERIES: MORE SERVICES PRE-PLANNED HEALING: The (New) Roaring â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;20s OTE: SOOTHSAYING INDIE MUSIC PLUS: COMICS & PUZZLE

402.496.0220 402.496.0220 402.496.0220 www.huberchevy.com www.huberchevy.com “Your “Your Way! Way!Under Underthe theExpressway!” Expressway!” 11102 West Dodge Rd. • Omaha, NE 68154 “Your Way!Dodge UnderRd. the Expressway!” 11102 West • Omaha, NE 68154 11102 West Dodge Rd. • Omaha, NE 68154

JANUARY 2021

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JANUARY 2021

JOBS: Climbing the Career Ladder for a Brighter Future

NEWS: The Road Ahead for Protesters in 2021

NEWS: What Is The Future of the Nebraska Democratic Party?

DISH: Dining Predictions 2021

MUSIC: An Industry in Dire Straits, Pulls Together in 2020

PICKS: Cool Things To Do in January

ART: The Show Must Go On: Visual arts venues planning for varied return in 2021

HOODOO: Singing the Blues through 2020

FILM: 10 Best, 5 Worst Films of 2020 / This Year Blew; Some Movies Didn’t

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47 50

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CROSSWORD: One Puzzle, Two Answers 63

healing...............Michael Braunstein info@heartlandhealing.com arts/visual.................... Mike Krainak mixedmedia@thereader.com eat.................................. Sara Locke crumbs@thereader.com film.................................Ryan Syrek cuttingroom@thereader.com hoodoo................. B.J. Huchtemann bjhuchtemann@gmail.com music..................... Houston Wiltsey backbeat@thereader.com over the edge..............Tim McMahan tim.mcmahan@gmail.com theater.................... Beaufield Berry coldcream@thereader.com

IN MEMORIAM: Gone But Not Forgotten

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

FEATURE IV: COVID Galvanizes More To Plan Ahead

publisher/editor........... John Heaston john@thereader.com graphic designers........... Ken Guthrie Albory Seijas news..........................Robyn Murray copy@thereader.com lead reporter............... Chris Bowling chris@thereader.com associate publisher.... Karlha Velásquez karlha@el-perico.com creative coordinator...... Lynn Sánchez lynn@pioneermedia.me

OUR SISTER MEDIA CHANNELS

34 01 4

COMICS: Ted Rall, Jen Sorensen and Garry Trudeau

Una mirada hacia el 2020 a través de los líderes comunitarios de Omaha

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HEARTLAND HEALING: The (New) Roaring 20’s

La escalera de las profesiones para un futuro económico

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OVER THE EDGE: Music Visions for 2021 OUR DIGITAL MARKETING SERVICES

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Eric

Francis

Dr. Ross Davidson, UNMC, Photo by Eric Francis, @covidchronicles402 “In my home, with my wife and two young children, we often feel imprisoned, unable to socialize with our neighbors and friends. Back at work, the thoughts of my family’s own struggles seem petty as I explain to a patient that they need a breathing tube to survive and they should take this moment to video chat with their family, because we don’t know if it will happen again.” — Dr. Ross Davidson, Third Year Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellow UNMC

JANUARY 2021

O M A H A

J O B S

Climbing the

Career Ladder

for a Brighter Future by Karlha Velásquez Rivas (Spanish version in El Perico)

n December, El Perico held a Zoom Round Table discussion with an employment counselor and several experts from different institutions. They discussed ways for the Hispanic community to acquire the necessary skills to improve opportunities to find jobs with livable wages.

Hope for adults Alejandra Sinecio is senior program director of the National Able Network (NAN), an organization that helps with training and education in Douglas, Sarpy and Washington counties. She spoke about helping adults find economic opportunities, focusing on low-income families, many of whom find it difficult to enter the job market. The high demand for skilled labor means some companies require more than a simple high school diploma, she said. She encouraged job seekers to apply for short-term programs such as trade schools where they may acquire skills quickly and find gainful employment faster.

Finish your high school education The General Educational Development (GED) test is an expeditious alternative for those who have not completed high school. There are several pro-

grams, including one at the Latino Center of the Midlands, that assist students in learning or reviewing materials for the four GED subjects; Social Studies, Literacy, Math, and Science. Aida Lamelas, coordinator of Adult Basic Education at the Latino Center said, “97% of companies accept people who have the GED to start a career.” Lamelas is concerned that over 20% of Omaha’s Hispanic population does not complete high school. She urged the community to take advantage of this opportunity to acquire the GED certificate. A GED also helps students bridge into community college.

Career Navigator Marie Hélène André helps guide students as they prepare for such careers through MMC’s trades programs, including construction and culinary. MCC offers both specialized programs and general education classes so that students get a well-rounded education. MCC classes are more affordable than many schools at $64 per hour. They offer credit or non-credit classes, and there are several financial aid options even for undocumented students.

High school Omaha Public Schools emphasizes preparing young peo-

The Trades and College Over the span of a career, an Metro Community College graduate with an associate degree can expect to earn around $396,000 more than a worker with only a high school diploma. It is possible to earn up to $40,000 per year with an associate degree that provides on-the-job skills. Metropolitan Community College

January 2021

ple for working life with Career Education. School Counselor Gabrielle Rickley of Bryan High School highlighted the benefits of this program designed to help young people prepare for working life with an economically secure future. Rickey said that OPS also assists students who want to continue to higher education apply for financial aid or loans such as FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid.) Another option presented is a military career. There are a wide variety of options with Career Education including technical trades. “They have to attend classes in Personal Finance to learn how to manage money, pay taxes and create a business plan,” said Rickley. However, she stressed that they always focus on the interests of the students and knowing their goals.

Gallup, Inc.

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You will be responsible for leading a team of .net Application Developers in the design, development and implementation of software applications, write application code in the Microsoft .net environment according to functional specifications defined, develop unit testing around said code, and participate in team meetings discussing the architecture of the system. Responsible for managing large development tasks, disseminating to other programmers on the team, and participating in and leading code reviews. Minimum Requirements – Master’s degree in computer science, MIS or related or foreign equivalent and at least 2 years’ experience as a Software Applications Developer. Minimum of 2 years’ experience with C#, ASP.NET, MVC, Web API, React, Javascript, Entity Framework, TypeScript and the .NET Framework and SQL Programming. Gallup is an EEO/AAP Employer-Minorities/Women/Disabled/Veterans. Please apply online at http://careers.gallup.com or mail resumes to Lisa Kiichler, 1001 Gallup Drive, Omaha, NE 68102.

ProKarma, Inc.

Software Engineer

ProKarma, Inc. Software Engineer #669303

ProKarma, Inc. has mult. openings for Software Engineer in Omaha, NE; travel and/or reloc to various unanticipated locations throughout the U.S. is required. Responsible for designing/ programming/ coding/analyzing new computer programs & data structures in accordance with specifications and user needs. Req. a Bachelorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Degree in Computer Science/Engineering (Any)/ technical/analytical field that is closely related to the specialty, plus 5 years of experience in an IT/Computer-related position.

ProKarma, Inc. has mult. openings for Software Engineer in Omaha, NE; travel and/or reloc to various unanticipated locations throughout the U.S. is required. Responsible for designing/ programming/coding/ & analyzing new comp. prgms & data structures in accordance with specifications & user needs. Correct errors by making appropriate changes & rechecking the program to ensure that the desired results are produced. Req. a MS degree in Comp Sci/Engg (any)/or any technical/analytical plus 2 yrs of exp in an IT/Comp-related position.

To apply, send Resumes to

To apply, email Resumes to

postings@prokarma.com

with Job Title in the subject line of the email.

with Job Ref #669303 in subject line.

ProKarma, Inc.

Quality Assurance Test Engineer #714452

Quality Assurance Test Engineer #693845

ProKarma, Inc. has mult. openings for Quality Assurance Test Engineer in Omaha, NE; travel and/or reloc to various unanticipated locations throughout the U.S. is required. Responsible for the development of automation performance scripts using Load runner and JMeter. Req. a MS degree in Comp Sci, Engg (any), or related tech/analytical field, plus five (5) yrs of exp in an IT/Comp-related position.

ProKarma, Inc. has mult. openings for Quality Assurance Test Engineer in Omaha, NE; travel and/or reloc to various unanticipated locations throughout the U.S. is required. Responsible for providing technical expertise to plan activities concerned with the development/application & maintenance of quality standards. Req. a MS degree in Comp Sci, Engg (any), or related tech/analytical field, +2 yrs of exp in an IT/Comp-related position.

To apply, email Resumes to

postings@prokarma.com

with Job Ref #714452 in subject line.

with Job Ref #693845 in subject line. January 2021

N E W S

The Revolution Has Only Begun:

Failures, Successes & The Road Ahead for Protesters in 2021 Story and photos Chris Bowling

he geometry of the police headquarters’ exterior juts overhead as “Bear” Alexander Matthews steps through the snow. Since the summer, Matthews, 24, has organized demonstrations just blocks away in the Old Market and spent a night in the Douglas County jail nearby. In November, he and others shouted “Defund the police” on these steps after law enforcement shot and killed a Black man in a traffic stop. “I don’t think the officers inside like me very much,” said Matthews, an organizer with protest leaders ProBLAC. Since Minneapolis police killed George Floyd in May, protesters in Omaha haven’t kept quiet. Officers have fired tear gas and pepper bullets at them, elected officials have shamed them and the county jail has swelled with them during mass arrests. But some wonder what good it all did. “The police weren’t defunded,” Matthews said. “We failed tremendously in those regards. We didn’t organize enough in Omaha.” In 2020, Omaha’s police got an increase in spending and a new union contract despite protesters’ pleas. Community members begged a state committee of the Nebraska Legislature to address racial injustice. Instead, a few weeks later, a petition to bring back college football during COVID-19 gathered more senators’ signatures

than a bid to form a special session to address policing. But even though it’s hard for protesters to call anything in 2020 a win, the movement has just started. Community advocate Ja Keen Fox said elected officials have never had to be this accountable. Members of the Omaha City Council, Mayor Jean Stothert and Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine were all big targets. With city elections set for May 11 — with 30 taking a petition to run for city council and 11 for mayor — many hope to see fresh faces. “2020 was a reminder that we haven’t made any gains of consequences for Black people and the rights we have as human beings,” Fox said. “And there needs to be radical change that really speaks to the urgency of our issues and that there have to be people who are willing to enact that radical change.” But it’s going to be an uphill battle. City leaders have said protesters are unwilling to work with them. Others say Omaha has one of the most innovative and conscious police departments in the country and the city government listens and cares. But this new wave of protesters is looking for more. They want results. “I’m 32 years old,” Fox said. “Nothing has changed in the way that I can feel relaxed or at peace

January 2021

here in Omaha. Is that the life they’re asking us to live?”

Rising from the Streets Matthews remembers the feeling he had after the first night of protests on May 29. Disgust. He wasn’t there, but he watched on his phone as people held signs through the smoke of tear gas. “I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror,” Matthews said. “It was always in my mind. ‘Why weren’t you out there? Why weren’t you out there? Why weren’t you out there? Why weren’t you out there?’” This summer, a lot of people took their first steps in protesting. Teenagers, parents with kids, young professionals, they all marched together. Many didn’t have experience, but the more adversity they faced, the more they codified. “I can’t help but feel incredibly hopeful,” said Calvin Graeve in late July after he was arrested with about 120 other people. “I feel like what they did was they awoke a sleeping giant.”

Throughout the year, protesters were arrested and harassed with unnecessary citations. Mayor Jean Stothert publicly called out Fox. He lost his job as he organized 36 days of protests outside Kleine’s West Omaha home. The Douglas County Attorney declined to press charges against Jake Gardner for shooting and killing James Scurlock during a protest on May 30. But the movement didn’t stop. The Nebraska Democratic Party agreed to a resolution stating Kleine perpetuated white supremacy, which Fox pushed. The ACLU of Nebraska sued the City of Omaha and OPD on the behalf of ProBLAC for the July mass arrest. But one date was circled in everyone’s calendar. Aug. 18: the Omaha City Council’s vote on the city budget. When the day came, the building tension deflated. A proposed amendment to block the police department’s $153.7 million budget failed. Councilmember Vinny Palermo, of District 4, said OPD probably needed more than the proposed

N E W S $1.96 million increase, that its 902 sworn officers were driving rusty cars around a sprawling city they didn’t have the numbers to adequately police. Councilman Ben Gray, of District 2, said OPD didn’t deserve to be the scapegoat. “Prior to COVID-19 [OPD] was one of the best in the country. There’s no question about that,” Gray said at a Nov. 24 Omaha City Council meeting, stating the department had reduced police-involved shootings, adopted body cameras, diversified its leadership and listened to feedback. “And for people to try and lump this department in with other police departments around the country is simply unfair.” While protesters are upset with every city council member, Gray, who did not respond to requests to comment on this story, particularly drew their ire. The former KETV journalist turned politician has long pushed for racial equality. So when he sided with the city over protesters, it hurt. And Gray is not the only established Black community leader who protesters feel did not come to their aid. “Right now what the police are doing is siphoning money from the community and taking it for themselves,” Matthews said. “That’s neglect. And any Black man that supports the neglect of their community has turned their back on their community.”

Why Not Here? Protesters didn’t have to look far to see where activism like theirs won. Minneapolis, Austin, Portland, New York, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and other cities made cuts to their police budgets. To protesters here, it felt like Omaha leadership ignored them. But to OPD Chief Todd Schmaderer, it felt like officers couldn’t get a break. “There is a group that will not talk to us on any level,” he said in November. “I wish we could break ground…but it doesn’t seem likely at this point.”

“Bear” Alexander Matthews stands at the corner of 11th and Howard streets in the Old Market. Matthews organized protests here, at a location protesters called Liberation Square, throughout the summer and fall. Schmaderer declined to talk for this story. There might be something to that exasperation, said Justin Nix, an associate professor of criminology and criminal Justice at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Nix, who studies law enforcement agencies across the country, said it’s hard to find a department doing more community engagement than OPD. Programs like Omaha 360, a weekly meeting for community members and OPD officers to hash out issues, is not typical. However, this summer showed there are still gaps. “More and more it seems like we shout into our echo chambers and nothing ever gets done,” Nix said. “I read all this old sociological literature from the ‘60s and ‘70s and the people who wrote it, I’m like, could they see into the future, or do things never change?” One of the chief obstacles is transparency. The 79-page report OPD released about its response to pro-

tests, which cites instances of people throwing bottles, bricks and pipes at officers as well as a need for additional training within the department, didn’t satisfy protesters. It’s still the police investigating themselves, they said. While the new police union contract makes it easier to file complaints, the Citizen Complaint Review Board has been ineffectual. The new committee tasked with overseeing police reprimands has no citizen input. “At the end of the day this is a democracy and policing in this country is by consent,” Nix said. “We empower the police to do their jobs so they do ultimately answer to us.” But elected officials have been unwilling to consider protesters’ demands, especially when it comes to defunding the police. “If you want more social programs, you have to have them up and running and successful and effective before you ever cut down on police,” Stothert said in August. “You can’t cut down on a quarter

of the police department and hope these programs work.” Stothert said protesters didn’t have a plan. Fox balked at that. He said people are doing their part to voice their opinions and elected officials need to figure it out. But Matthews of ProBLAC said she has a point. “That resonated,” he said. “She was 100% right.” In 2021, ProBLAC is making its own budget, scanning through hundreds of pages of the city’s revenues and expenses to find where they can move funds around. Having your own plan helps, but Nix said decisions about decreasing policing have to be a community conversation. While cutting back works for some, other cities have seen increases in violence, with a debatable root cause. In Baltimore, when police pulled back after the death of Freddie Gray in 2015, people who lived in neighborhoods where protesters said police needed to leave actually wanted for more protection.

January 2021

N E W S “It’s easy to look around at other cities and see what they’re doing rather than seeing the clearest path forward, to me, which is what’s going on in Omaha,” he said. “What’s broken and needs to be fixed?”

The Path Forward The sun’s shining in San Diego, California, but Jahne’ Maddock’s mind is back in Nebraska. Though she moved out to California for law school, which she recently graduated, she still wants to advocate for racial justice in her home state. But she’s doing it a little differently than many others. “A lot of the focus right now is on policing, which is a huge problem,” she said, “but when you think about racial justice and justice reform, it starts with policing and it ends with the courts.” Maddock is the policy director for Racial Justice Coalition of Nebraska, which is lobbying the state to pass the Racial Justice Act, giving incarcerated people the opportunity to challenge racially biased sentencings. Fox has also pivoted in his fight against systemic racism. Instead of

Ja Keen Fox stands in front of the home of Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine on Dec. 17, 2020. Fox organized 36 days of consecutive protests here in the summer after Kleine declined to press charges in the shooting death of James Scurlock. organizing protesters, Fox has begun organizing politicians. With city elections coming up, he and others want to clean house in the Omaha City Council and mayor’s office. “Omaha systems, like the police, like the mayor we have now, they didn’t learn anything [from

2020],” Fox said. “And that’s really scary to see.” Danielle Conrad, executive director of the ACLU of Nebraska, said disparities in Nebraska, and plans to fix them, will be front and center on many voters’ minds come city elections.

“It’s fair to say that if elected leaders are not going to chart a new course and are resistant to the realities that exist in our community, it’s time to explore new leadership,” she said. Fox said he’s acting as a liaison between the community and candidates, helping newcomers build better platforms that focus on racial equity. He’s also working on a package of racial equity policies for the Nebraska Legislature. The change isn’t happening as fast as many want. But this summer has had an indelible impact on its trajectory. “One summer can’t change everything, but it has [made an impact],” Fox said. “The way people look at accountability, the way people are responding in the areas where they do feel more powerful. They’re paying more attention and they’re acting in ways they haven’t acted before.”

Simret Habte and Lauren Anderson stand on the steps of Omaha Central High School where they held a rally in July of 2020.

January 2021

In addition to organizing its own city budget, Matthews said ProBLAC is building a food pantry service and implementing a cop watch. They’re also canvasing residents in predominantly Black and brown neighborhoods to see what issues are important to them. While protesting is still vital, Matthews

N E W S said ProBLAC realized it needed to branch out. But that doesn’t mean they stop pushing.

o Emphasize Black history in the curriculum, including the Black history of Omaha.

“So many times America has shown you can not morally compromise with them, because they believe in order rather than justice,” Matthews said. “And once you believe in order rather than justice, you’ve already lost any compromise you can progress with at the end of the day.”

o Diversify honors, advanced placement and international baccalaureate classes.

Simret Habte adopted that mindset as a senior at Omaha Central High School. Last year, she helped organize What YOUth Can Do, a student organization to fight systemic racism in Omaha Public Schools. On July 11, a crowd gathered on Central’s lawn. Facing Dodge Street from the building’s staircase, Habte and others, including her friend Lauren Anderson, read a list of demands through a megaphone: o Cancel OPS’s contract with OPD. o Focus on prevention instead of reaction when it comes to school safety. o Invest in schools and mental health resources for students.

Ultimately they hit dead ends when too few members of the school board or administration wanted to talk about their proposals. But they’re still moving ahead. “[We realized] we shouldn’t be relying on administration to back us up on all of this,” Habte said. “Because it’s a big thing to ask school districts to get behind this right away, and we found that if we do rely on them our message would get a little convoluted.” Habte and Anderson are still in Omaha, but they’re college students now, taking classes remotely for universities in Los Angeles. It’d be easy to give up, but they can’t. The movement’s grown beyond just them. At their weekly meetings, they’re attracting students from across the district, including middle schoolers who already see racism influencing their education. It’s a mixed feeling for Habte.

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“I don’t think teenagers should have to worry about a lot of these things,” she said. “But this is just the life we live and the world we’re in. And that makes me sad to think that middle schoolers and even younger are burdened with all of this. “But also I feel a lot of hope for our future,” she continued. “If they feel this strongly and passionately right now, I can’t imagine what they’re going to do when they’re older.”

Here to Stay Bear Matthews walked through the snow past the memories of protests. It’s plain how much has changed. His hair’s longer. His beard’s fuller. But still, so many things are the same. Despite calling last year a failure, Matthews is just as quick to add a caveat. “We haven’t seen anything change policy wise or politically wise from ProBLAC demands... [but] we wanted to instill a culture of resistance,” he said. “We wanted to get people used to protesting, we wanted to get people used to

holding our political leaders accountable instead of just regurgitating whatever they feed us.” For Fox, there’s optimism that things can change by building new relationships and systems. But there’s also an exasperated question: How long will it take? “The sense of hopelessness is valid because these things are daunting,” Fox said. “The sense of hope and pride in what people have done is valid because it was necessary and the moral thing to do.” If there’s a single thing that does give people hope, it’s how far the message has spread. Habte used to dream of leaving Omaha. But this summer she saw a side of the city that didn’t seem to exist before and now she’s thinking about staying. “Even with everything that’s happened and with how upsetting a lot of things in Omaha are, I think I saw a lot more good than I ever have in all the time I’ve lived here,” Habte said. “I think I like Omaha a lot more.”

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January 2021

N E W S

What is the Future of the Nebraska Democratic Party?

After Key Losses in 2020 and Growing Friction in the Party, Nebraska’s Democrats Have to Face What Kind of Party They Want to Be by Alex Preston

he sun set on a cold Election Day in Omaha. As the polls closed, Kara Eastman surrounded herself with friends, family and volunteers, waiting to see if years spent sacrificing, fundraising and campaigning would pay off. It did not. On Nov. 3, Eastman lost by more than three times the number of votes Rep. Don Bacon beat her by in 2018. Eastman and her husband, Scott, watched as nearly every other Democrat trying to unseat a Republican across the nation suffered the same fate. “One by one, they had all lost,” Eastman said. “I went into our war room, and I said to my team, ‘It’s like The Hunger Games. All of our friends are getting murdered around the country. It’s a bloodbath right now for Democrats.’” Eastman’s loss was part of a string of defeats for Nebraska Democrats on Election Day. Republicans held all three of Nebraska’s congressional seats. Sen. Ben Sasse won re-election. If there was one bright spot for Democrats on Election Day, it was Joe Biden winning an electoral vote from the congressional district that encompasses Omaha and its suburbs. However, the single vote proved inconsequential in Biden’s hefty victory. It was also likely carried more by suburban centrists who disliked President Donald Trump than ardent Democrats who liked Biden. Trump carried Nebraska’s four other electoral votes. “The results of the election tell us that we’ve got some problems here, and we need to completely re-tool,” said former Douglas County Democrats Chair Crystal Rhoades, who was reelected as a public service commissioner. Statewide, the Nebraska Democratic Party is grappling with questions about its future, even as

it’s slowly gaining ground in fielding more candidates and closing lop-sided results in most races. Faced with bridging moderates and progressives, it’s struggled to solidify political approaches on issues like racial justice while keeping people interested in a party that has lost voting power in every single Nebraska county since the turn of the millennium. The tension has also strained relationships between the state party and the Douglas County Democratic Party, which has nearly 40% of all registered Democrats in the state. Party leaders on every level believe the key to success is improving turnout and running on widely supported policies. “The Democratic Party’s job, first and foremost, is to elect more Democrats. I think we do that by connecting with voters more on issues,” said NDP Chair Jane Kleeb. But leaders are finding it hard to please everyone. While some, like Kleeb, who rose to prominence in the party through her work protesting the construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, want to embrace new voices, others say the party needs to stay in the center. Activists say it shouldn’t have to be a choice if Democrats want to be the more inclusive, moral political party. “We have the opportunity to prove that we’ve listened to vulnerable communities and that we’ve listened to Black and Brown communities,” said community activist Ja Keen Fox. The next test for Democrats will be citywide elections in Omaha on May 11. The lineup is deep with 11 mayoral candidates and 32 people who’ve requested petitions for Omaha City Council. That test had an early stumble when Democrat Colleen Brennan was selected by the City Council

January 2021

to serve the remainder of Councilman Rich Pahls’ term on Dec. 22. Pahls currently holds the southwest Omaha District 5 seat and will begin his term in the Nebraska Legislature in January. The selection of Brennan turned controversial when the World Herald reported on her personal blog, over 60 posts, some indelicately stumbling through a range of topics from race relations to the COVID pandemic. Brennan suggested the response to her posts has been “blown out of proportion,” and at the time this story goes to press, she still plans to keep the seat and to run for the District 5 seat next spring. Mark Hoeger, former CD2 chair and school board member for the Learning Community of Douglas-Sarpy Counties, believes the city elections still represent an opportunity for Democrats. “It’s all about the down-ballot races,” Hoeger said. “That’s where we can make real progress.”

Democrats Divided On Sept. 26, more than a month from Election Day, members of the state Democratic party gathered for a vote. On paper it may have seemed inconsequential. A resolution that didn’t change policy or shuffle leadership. But it set a rift in motion, legitimizing a building tension in the party. The proposal, passed by the NDP’s State Central Committee, said Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine had perpetuated white supremacy, which Fox saw as a simple acceptance of fact. Kleine, who is white, had declined to press charges against Jake Gardner, a white downtown bar owner, after he shot and killed 21-yearold James Scurlock, who is Black, during a protest on May 30. After

a grand jury investigation yielded manslaughter charges, Kleine publicly attacked the special prosecutor, who is Black. “Don Kleine was asked a tough question about race that he couldn’t answer,” Fox said, referring to the Sept. 26 resolution. “Because of this he decided he wanted to become a Republican and vote for Donald Trump.” The ideological split widened when Brad Ashford, a former Democratic congressman from Nebaska’s 2nd Congressional District, endorsed Rep. Don Bacon. Eastman, who has called for more progressive ideals, had beaten both Ashford and his wife, Anne, who ran on moderate campaigns, in primaries. “That was very disappointing for us,” said Kleeb. “I made it clear to Representative Ashford in several phone calls that his endorsement hurt the party.” Dr. Paul Landow, a professor of political science at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, thinks part of the problem is Democrats have placed bad bets. He says they need to pivot to more moderate candidates. “Eastman was out of touch with the district. She ran too far left,” said Landow. “The party has to recruit candidates that are more moderate and have a broader appeal.” Meanwhile, progressives want the party to do more to shield progressive candidates from Republican attacks. Eastman says Democrats shouldn’t jump to the conclusion that she was too far left for the district. She points to the fact that she got a higher percentage of votes than moderate candidates in other races, such as Senate candidates Sarah Gideon in Maine, Theresa Greenfield in Iowa and Amy McGrath in Kentucky.

N E W S As the NDP chair, Kleeb has to help the party move past its internal conflict. But she sees the party’s ideological diversity as a strength to be embraced. “My mantra is always that all shades of blue are welcome in our party,” she said. “When you have moderate, progressive and conservative viewpoints at the table, your solution is going to be stronger. State Sen. Tony Vargas has long tried to bridge the gap between moderate and progressive ideals. In the Nebraska Legislature, he’s worked across the aisle on a number of issues, but he often stands with the body’s small number of progressive senators. “We need to be more OK with having differences of opinion,” he said. “At the end of the day our job is still to stand up for working families and do everything to support each other as Democrats.” For Hoeger, while this time feels acrimonious, it’s just another incremental step in a long evolution. Since 1976 when Jimmy Carter ran for president, he’s watched the Democratic Party bicker, fight and change. This is nothing new. “That’s a problem that every political party has had for the last 400 years,” Hoeger said. “That’s part of the process, the debate and discussion. That’s how the party evolves.”

Reckoning with Race: NDP & BLM When Black Lives Matter protests filled the streets in Omaha, Lincoln and more than a dozen other Nebraska communities this summer, NDP leaders were forced to think about their role in challenging structural racism. The party has tried to incorporate activists’ calls for better representation. In 2018 leaders created a Candidates of Color Fund. “We heard loud and clear from activists that Black, Latino, Native American candidates did not have the same access to donor databases as their white counterparts,” Kleeb said. Black Caucus Chair Precious McKesson said the fund is already having an impact, making it more possible to have a diverse slate of candidates who can encourage voters of color. “You’re starting to see more candidates of color that are run-

ning, and you’re seeing more resources allocated to those candidates,” she said. But not all the party’s efforts to incorporate new opinions go smoothly. Landow thinks the party’s decision to denounce Kleine’s actions as perpetuating white supremacy backfired on Democrats in the election. Republicans and Democrats spoke out against the resolution. The Douglas County Board of Commissioners passed its own resolution denouncing the party’s denouncement. Some Democratic voters left the party saying this was the last straw. “The Don Kleine resolution did serious damage to the party’s standing in the state by criticizing their own elected county prosecutor,” Landow said. “Where does it say that political party leaders should criticize their own elected officials?” Douglas County Democrats Chair CJ King did not see eye to eye with the state party on this matter. He said he thought the resolution denouncing Kleine was counterproductive and “short sighted.” “We had a good chance to make changes in the party without calling out an individual and declaring he was perpetuating white supremacy,” he said. “That’s a harsh statement to make about anyone, and I don’t think the party is well served by doing that.” But while some members of the NDP think the party went too far with the resolution, others believe it still has more work to do. McKesson said if you’re not uncomfortable, then you’re not doing your job right. Kleeb said the party needs to be a gathering place for these types of opinions. “It’s not the party’s role to lead movements, but when it comes time to passing resolutions and platforms, that’s when we have the activists’ backs,” she said. Fox said the NDP has been responsive, but initiatives like creating a Black Lives Matter platform, which they added in 2018 to outline the party’s commitment to fighting systemic racism, lack teeth if they don’t engage activists, organizers and community members. Fox said he believes the NDP’s response to racial justice issues is inadequate, which he says is particularly frustrating because of the

Democrates Have Lost Footing in Every Nebraska County

Republican Support Decreases Slightly across Nebraska

Nonpartisan Support Grows in Nebraska

January 2021

N E W S overwhelming support that Black voters give to Democrats in every election. “We’re being taken for granted in a way that we should not be,” he said.

Winning on the Issues Though there’s much that NDP members disagree on, there are several issues where they find common ground. And they’re not the only ones. Despite Nebraska Democrats losing across the board on Nov. 3, several ballot measures on NDPbacked policies passed by wide margins. Removing constitutional language on slavery, capping payday lender interest rates, authorizing gambling and others all won with more than 60% support from voters. “As a Democratic voter it’s frustrating to see that we can win statewide on issues like casinos, Medicaid expansion, minimum wage with 60% to 65% of the vote,” Kleeb said. “We often ask ourselves as Democrats, ‘Why can’t a Democrat win statewide with those margins?’” For King, it comes down to messaging. While people support these issues, it still takes some political footwork to get them in the door. “People want a lot of the Democratic ideals, but they want to hear what the reasonable solution is. Then our message needs to be on point and not distracted by what Republicans say,” King said. “We can’t allow ourselves to be characterized by what they say.”

Many attribute Eastman’s loss this time around to pro-Bacon advertisements that labeled her a socialist. A more offensive advertising campaign could have made the difference, some think. One solution could be earlier fundraising that could allow organizers to control the messaging and narrative around these issues. “As Democrats, we tend to get money late in races, and candidates don’t have the ability to reframe the narrative that the Republicans already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars calling them a socialist and all these other negative things,” Kleeb said. For Sen. Vargas, it comes down to authenticity. If Nebraska Democrats lead by focusing more on issues that are important to voters, he believes Democrats can begin to break through in a state long controlled by Republicans. “People vote on the issues, period,” he said. “People vote for policy initiatives that are typically part of the Democratic Party’s platform by big margins, and that’s very encouraging for me.”

Trouble with Turnout One lesson from the 2020 election that Nebraska Democrats agreed upon is voter turnout efforts were insufficient. They attribute it largely to the COVID-19 pandemic limiting the field operations of campaigns. But many Nebraska Democrats still think other voter outreach efforts could have helped boost turnout. “The nuts-and-bolts work of turning out voters didn’t hap-

Statewide Support for Democrats Grows, Republican Support Dominates

January 2021

pen at the rate we needed it to,” Rhoades said. “We need to focus on that singularly, putting all of our money and resources into voter outreach and turnout.” In fact, Democratic control in Nebraska is in dire straits. Since 2000, Democrats’ share of registered voters has shrunk in every Nebraska county. Statewide their share of registered voters has dropped by nearly 20%. The number of registered Republicans has also slipped by 3% in the same time period. Meanwhile, the share of nonpartisan voters has grown by 50%. Despite declining registrations, Democratic turnout has increased over time. However, it’s far from matching the number of registered Republicans or the number of people who vote for Republican candidates. Still, Kleeb says she’s encouraged by the turnout she’s seen in rural and urban communities. While organizers are still a long way from getting to turnouts that would lead to statewide victories, it’s still a positive improvement, she said. “The trend is definitely going in our direction.” King said he’s also encouraged by the trends among rural voters. But at the same time he hopes that doesn’t mean the state party takes urban votes for granted. “I give Jane credit for pushing hard to make inroads in rural communities, but to some degree I worry that her focus on rural communities might be to the detriment of Omaha and Lincoln, where we have a lot more Democrats. I believe in building the party, but there has to be some balance there,” King said. Despite the criticisms about turnout problems, Kleeb still believes the organizational strength of the party is improving. During her tenure as NDP chair, she says her goal has been to build a permanent volunteer infrastructure, making sure the party is staying engaged in the community outside of election season. The Block Captain Program is one example of how Kleeb has worked toward her goal of building a permanent volunteer base. Those who sign up for the program are given a list of 50 voters in their community, including Democrats and independents who lean

Democrat. The volunteers must make contact with these voters every year, even when it’s not an election year. Kleeb believes this program will be the key for the party’s success in future elections. “We started with 200 block captains, and now we have over a thousand,” Kleeb said. “That’s a real, lasting legacy. When I’m no longer chair someday, it’ll be a stronger Democratic Party that we pass on.”

Plan for Partnership: Uniting the Party As the NDP seeks to build a bridge between its ideological wings, activists are already working to bring the establishment and grassroots to the table together. Included in the Sept. 26 NDP resolution, submitted by McKesson on behalf of Fox, is a commitment by the party to work more closely with activists. In what Fox calls his “plan for partnership,” he proposed improvements to the party’s platform and messaging, as well as increased training and resources for activists who want to run for office. “There’s a real opportunity to create a strategy in partnership with activists and organizers who do the groundwork 365 days a year, not just during election season,” Fox said. One of the key components of the plan is diversity training. Kleeb said that’s something they’re working on for this year, thinking of it as a tool that can build better policy, candidates and community relations. And it doesn’t stop there. Kleeb said Democrats can’t ignore movements. “I think there is clearly a role for activists in our party, moving towards the goal of electing more Democrats,” Kleeb said. “There’s a place for their voice and their skills.” For many, accepting that change feels like a critical piece of the NDP’s future. Getting the establishment and activists to put their disagreements aside and work together is a crucial first step toward the party’s goal of electing Democrats. “This time allows us to become the best versions of ourselves that we’ve talked about being, but never accomplished because of the fear of change,” Fox said.

Lives We Lost More than 1,630 Nebraskans have died during the pandemic, these people are members of our community. Local media across Nebraska are collecting this information so we can remember our neighbors.

Do you know someone? Let us know at TheReader.com

January 2021

D I S H

Dining Predictions

2021

e thought this was going to be #TheYear, and in its own way, we suppose it was. It was the year small, locally owned spots found out just how “SupportLocal” Omaha really was, or wasn’t. It was the year we learned how delicate our food supply chain truly is. It’s the year we ordered more takeout than ever before. It was the year to reassess how we are doing so many things. While this may not have been that year, hindsight is always 2020, and while looking back at a dumpster fire is tempting, we are more than ready to look forward. Let’s take a look at The Reader’s predictions for what 2021 holds for Omaha’s Culinary Culture.

Pantry items As many diners brushed the dust off of their pots and pans last year, restaurants found a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between fine dining and their clientele’s cooking skills. Providing pantry items like signature sauces, house-made pastas, jams, and soup mixes can make home-cooking less scary, not only for the new home-chef, but for their victims… er. Family.

by Sara Locke

Expect to see more packaged pantry items being made available from your favorite local spots.

Meal kits Somewhere between dining out and DIY lives the until-now underappreciated and under-utilized meal kit. Subscription boxes were a good idea, but chefs putting their signature sauce on the package is a great idea. Expect your favorite local restaurants to

start offering build-your-box options for varying skill levels. That means anything from heat-andeat to a gourmet recipe box with prep instructions.

While the current method of delivery is deplorable, it’s also been an integral service to maintain the accessibility of restaurants amidst the fluctuating directed health measures. But rather than lament its failures, this is a perfect time to address where these services could improve. I predict a revolution in delivery methods, and innovations between patrons and restaurants to make it happen. Look for delivery co-operatives and in-house options in 2021.

Ethical food delivery

Mindful munching

A few years ago, we predicted food delivery would take off, and we were absolutely psyched. 2020 was exactly the year for delivery services to boom, but it’s true what they say. Never meet your heroes. What we didn’t, and likely should have predicted, was how quickly the practice would become predatory. While food delivery apps target vulnerable workers for quick, no-contract work, they take advantage of both the drivers and the restaurants they serve. Not only are drivers making a pittance, customers are often unaware that much of the tip they add is cut directly back to the service, and not the driver. And incredibly problematic, many of the

January 2021

restaurants were virtually bullied into joining by services who named them on the app without ever actually contracting with the restaurant themselves. This left the restaurant to either submit to service (and lose often upwards of 30% on each transaction) or to be inundated with complaints about orders placed through the app but never delivered.

The connection between our health and our habits has become blindingly clear over the last several decades, but has perhaps never been more evident than now. While there is so much outside of our control, minding the aspects of our health we do have a handle on feels more critical than ever. I expect to

D I S H see an influx of “mindfulness” brands touting smarter snacking options, but better than that, I expect a little more personal accountability.

Twists on distance dining We’ve seen the first whispers of innovation this year, as some establishments introduce “dining bubbles,” but those are proving to do more harm than good. Expect to see improvement as we become more spatially aware, as well as becoming more spoiled by the prospect of not having to sit so close to strangers on uncomfortable Tinder dates. We anticipate the introduction of tiered dining, alternate hours, and a re-imagining of outdoor eating areas.

Tipping like you mean it Humanizing the people who make and serve your favorite dishes has been on The Reader’s short list of goals for decades, but this year did a lot of that work for us. We have watched as the subject of your local gripegroup Karen’s tirade has become her only link to the food she couldn’t cook herself. While your local Yelp Yodeler often took restaurant staff to task for his order being seven fries short of a super value, he’s learning to eat what he gets or be satisfied snacking on his words. We hope that the consideration diners are suddenly feeling for the service industry isn’t a flash in the pan, and that tipping reflects the respect these “essential workers” deserve. We are thankful for the lessons we learned in 2020, and for the community that kept so many of our restaurants above water. We want to extend the most gratitude to the teams who went above and beyond to make dining safe through this roller coaster of a year. We are thrilled to see what can become of the potential 2021 holds in store. Welcome to the future.

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O M A H A

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W PICKS W

Jan. 9

Bright Lights Barnato Lounge 225 No. 170th St.

(Village Pointe Bentley dealership) Heather Dawn Bright, stage name “Bright Lights,” is an American pop singer-songwriter, DJ and record producer whose big voice and poetic compositions make her an electronic music diva. Bright has been Grammy-nominated for her songwriting on Justin Bieber’s “Somebody To Love” and Fantasia’s “Even Angels,” and has also written for Britney Spears, Usher and Beyoncé. Her catalog has amassed over one billion streams worldwide. Her debut single “Runaway” (Feat. 3LAU) has climbed the charts, her music video “Put It Down” reached one million streams in a week. She’s composing work for her own fulllength album. Bright’s Omaha gig is part of the Barnato EDM (Electronic Dance Music) Series presented by JPS Productions. The reduced-capacity show requires masks and a temp check for entry, and is in compliance with all CDC and state/local Covid guidelines. For tickets, call 402-964-2021 or visit barnatolounge.com. — Leo Adam Biga

Michelle Troxclair and Paul B. Allen IV were not on. And throughout the week, more voices from the low-power station went silent as well, including 101.3 The Beat Show, Lives! with Stuart Chittenden, The Doug and Meeka Show, Omaha Ghost Radio, Funktropolis and JazzNite. A representative of the Malcolm X Memorial Foundation board said in an email, “The Malcolm X Memorial Foundation currently does not have the capacity to continue all of the programs in their current state especially during the pandemic and therefore decided to pause all of our programs.” 101.3 Mind & Soul still offers automated, music-only shows. The Morning Show team, who also programmed the station, continues their mission of covering Omaha from a District 2 perspective, and has already hosted a soft launch of their new digital channel’s Facebook page, 1st Sky Omaha News. A 1st Sky Omaha digital radio channel, website, apps and Youtube channel are slated to launch at 7 a.m. on Jan. 4, 2021. The 1st Sky team will continue engaging the community with The Morning Show and many of the aforementioned recorded shows and podcasts. They will be posting instructions and official announcements on Twitter @1stskyomaha. The new channel allows the group to create more entertainment content and expand their news reach. Partnering with outlets such as Bayou Blue Radio, an established and popular station based out of France, 1st Sky Omaha content will be available not just locally, but worldwide. — Paul B. Allen IV

Jan. 4

Radio Show Moves

Jan. 23

All Heart Workshop

M&S Morning Show Now 1st Sky Omaha Radio Hot Shops Art Center, If you tuned in to Mind and Soul 13th & Nicholas St. 101.3 FM on December 11 to get your Morning Show fix, you might have noticed the voices of the “Three A-Grios”, Buddi3 Da Gawd,

Feeling crafty? Serial creatives Kelli Sweet (Hibernate & Create) and Brianna Mohr (Crafty Craft) fa-

JANUARY 2021

cilitate this all-things-heart art and craft workshop that promises participants: “We will hammer, paint and glue until our hearts are content.” Projects include a hammered heart necklace, a string art heart sign and a wool felt flower embellished frame. It’s a chance to get hands-on in creating some love-themed gifts from the heart for Valentine’s Day. Lunch, gifts and supplies are included in the $115 registration fee for the all-day – 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. – workshop. The heart-themed workshop is in Studio 317 at the Hot Shops Art Center. Limited spaces, so register early. In the event of inclement weather or need to reschedule due to COVID-19 concerns, the class fee will be fully refundable or transferable to the rescheduled date. For tickets and questions, email Kelli Sweet at: hibernatecreate@gmail. com. — Leo Adam Biga

Jan. 22 - Feb. 21

How to Build an Ark:

Searching for

Joel Sartore The Rose Theater

Omaha playwright Ellen Struve (The Dairy Maid-Right) has fashioned a charming story around National Geographic wildlife-nature photographer and Nebraska resident Joel Sartore’s “Photo Ark” project. His years-in-progress archival mission documents in images the world’s endangered species before they disappear. In Struve’s fanciful piece, a young girl named Vita, inspired by Sartore’s photographs, sets off on a magical quest to ask him which species he finds most interesting on Earth. Along the way she’s befriended by bears, frogs, sea turtles and other creatures and discovers a much bigger truth about the role humans play as stewards

of the planet. This Where the Wild Things Are for a new generation is a one-hour-on-stage adventure in which eco-system and conservation lessons meet imagination and passion. The original play is making its world premiere. NOTE: At the time of publication, performances are live onstage at The Rose, following audience Covid safety protocols. Tickets must be purchased online or via phone prior to showtime. Call 402-345-4849 or visit www.rosetheater.org. — Leo Adam Biga

Jan. 28

Jeremiah Johnson Stocks n Bonds, 8528 Park Dr.

The Blues Society of Omaha presents this established star on the American Roots Music scene. His sound grew out of the St. Louis-Mississippi River area, where he spent his youth, and from Texas, where he relocated for several years. After making waves at regional and national blues challenges, breakout success came when the Sirius XM channel B.B. King’s Bluesville picked up the Jeremiah Johnson Band. His music is featured on Touch Tunes Jukeboxes in bars-clubs across the nation and on radio stations around the world. In 2014, Australian producer-director Gary Glenn filmed a doc-concert featuring Johnson, Ride the Blues, at the historic Capitol Theater in downtown Burlington, Iowa. The live music video charts Johnson’s rise to prominence. His subsequent recordings “Grind” and “Blues Heart Attack” expressed more of his musical shadings. Since signing with Ruf Records in 2018, his “Straightjacket” and “Heavens to Betsy” releases have soared on the blues charts and exposed his work to a wider audience via streaming platforms and world tours. For tickets, visit www.omahablues.com. — Leo Adam Biga

very becoming Seven make good impreSSion in g1516’S firSt ‘emerging artiStS’ group exHibit By Kent Behrens at the former’s location at 16th and Leavenworth. Amplify Arts’ Program Director Peter Fankhauser offered this as the venue’s definition: “Artists in the early stages of their creative development, with 2 to 10 years of generative experience, a focused direction and goals, a developing artistic “voice,” who have yet to be substantially celebrated within their field, the media, or funding circles.”

VIEWABLE IN PRINT ONLY

TalberT Reflection of PoweR, 2019

Searching the term on the web only confounds the issue; it appears that arts writers and curators are in little agreement about this somewhat new and seemingly overused label. What they do agree on, mostly, is these artists evolving presence and reputation.

The exhibit, which takes good advantage of G1516’s excellent space, features the work of seven local contemporary artists at varying levels of experience and renown. Gallery 1516’s Assistant Curator Suzi Eberly tapped into Amplify Arts extensive roster to serve as guide through the forest of those transpiring from unknown to known. Together, they assembled a group of local talent, as described in the show’s accompanying pamphlet, “that reexamines and rewrites traditional artistic narratives.”

One possible enlightenment is the recent collaboration of Omaha’s Gallery 1516 and the art center Amplify Arts which resulted in an exhibit, appropriately titled Emerging Artists, which opened Sept. 13

Gallery Director Pat Drickey said the show was “put together as a kind of precursor and complement to the upcoming Spring 2021 Biennial.” In addition, it satiates the recent virus-induced dearth of art

ave you ever found yourself asking “What exactly is an emerging artist?” Is it as obvious as it sounds or is there more there than meets the eye?

Neil Griess BluRRed landscaPe, 2019

shows; group shows have always been a good way to show more work to more people. Prior to the completion, Eberly moved away, but still consults with the gallery. Subsequent curation and installation was then taken up by the staff at 1516. This transient collaboration yielded a group of seven artists at different stages of their careers: Camille Hawbaker Voorhees, Shawnequa Linder, Jenna Johnson, Neil Griess, Tom White, Patty Talbert, and Anne Dovali. Depending on your frequency of gallery visits in the area, a few of these names may be new to you, and

INTRIGUING, ISN’T IT?

OCTOBER 2020

shawNequa lindeR scotch and soda, 2020

The Show Must Go On Visual arts venues planning for varied return to action in 2021 by Janet L. Farber

don’t miss Mike Krainak’s A-List of 2020 Art Exhibits & Events, available at Thereader.com (in January 2021)

dismal year, it is especially rewarding to anticipate seeing things through the lens of a new season. So here are an array of must-sees in the upcoming months to draw you out of your winter doldrums. Joslyn Art Museum has gotten back full force into the exhibition business and promises a site-responsive installation by Wendy Red Star in its Riley CAP Gallery (1/30-4/25). The Portland, Oregon based artist is known for her recontextualizing investigations into her ApsáaWhite Swan, looke (Crow) heritage, explorFrank Rinehart ing intersections between Naooking forward to some- tive American ideologies and thing feels pretty good colonialist structures. For this right now, doesn’t it? Be- show, she will be reframing the cause, with apologies to the 1898 Indian Congress that took “Best of” reviews highlighting place at the Trans-Mississippi achievements in an otherwise Exposition in Omaha, utilizing the Omaha Public Library’s extensive Frank Rinehart photographic collection as part of her visual source material.

FRED Otnes

On February 5, Gallery 1516 opens its next installment of its MoNA2Omaha collaborations with the solo show Fred Otnes: A Collage. The late illustrator, painter and collage artist was based in Redding, Connecticut, but hails from the Midwest and whose budding interest in graphics began with a teenage stint as artist for

January 2021

Juan Sanchez

Photo by Joseph Carter

the Lincoln Journal. Beginning in the 1940s, he created illustrations for national publications including The Saturday Evening Post and Collier’s. Otnes later developed compositional techniques utilizing photo-overlay that informed his commercial and personal work. In response to covid activity in the area, the show’s dates may be fluid; check the organization’s social media pages for updated opening and closing dates. Last autumn, Kaneko opened its Community season with an evolving roll-out of artists on view. Although they have closed again in response to rising COVID cases, they are preparing for the show’s continuation featuring Juan de Dios Sánchez Arce and the Tessellation project, hopefully this month. The former is the Mexican ceramic artist’s first US exhibition and showcases his collaborations with Jun Kaneko

on revolutionizing large-scale raku-fired ceramics. The latter is the Kaneko’s global, publicly-sourced digital art project comprised of submitted images on the theme of isolation. For the gallery, images have been printed and curated into a large-scale mural. Check the venue’s social media pages for reopening notices. Among Omaha’s smaller venues, Project Project has rolled out its slate of winter shows, all of which open on the second Friday of the month. January brings the sculpture of Minneapolis artist Allison Baker, beneath whose colorful and exuberant mixed media creations lie such weighty considerations as hegemonic femininity, working-class aesthetics and environmental illness. February features Omaha’s Casey Callahan. Expect a vivid mixed media, multi-sensory experience from this artist whose work traverses

MAM gallery

TAKEN Dec 9, 2020

intersections of object, memory and technology in the definition of personal identity. Look for Omaha painter Will Anderson in March and Lincoln sculptor Sophia Ruppert in April. Settling into its new home in Blackstone, the Little Gallery kicks off January with Heimweh, a show of Jeanne Pittackâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s black-and-white photography (1/8-2/27). Her first show in 20+ years, it dives into personal myths and memories as a way to connect with self and loved ones. March/April features Celtic Footprint, an Irish-themed duad of differing takes on myth and heritage pairing painter Linda Leahy with her son, the mixed media artist Chad Leahy.

In order to support artists while maintaining their public profile, the Union for Contemporary Art and Benson First Friday expect to continue their varied community-focused programs. Despite having their building closed, the Union is celebrating its 10th anniversary by concentrating on the theme of Joy this year and has extended its artist fellowships to a new cohort of five Black, women artists and will soon announce commissions for the Wanda D. Ewing Gallery; its Undesign the Redline project also continues to expand. Installed from February through June, Benson First Friday is sponsoring 16 new banners for the Benson business district designed by artists identifying as Black, Indigenous and/or People of Color.

My Body Below, Jeanne Pittack

intimate and immediate kind of studio-style arrangement of hanging and stacked art. It opens the year with new pieces from Larry Roots, Jennifer Homan, Stephen Dinsmore, Kenneth Adkins, Martha Horvay, Graceann Warn and David McLeod. With the uncer t ainties of planning events, several venues are still working to arrange their schedules. UNO plans to keep on keeping on with the usual array of faculty and student art. The Bemis Center has elected to extend its current show, Intimate Actions, until April 24. Similarly, Garden of the Zodiac Gallery is keeping Panopticon on view until further notice. And many galleries are simply not ready to announce names and dates at this time. Keep your eyes peeled for future programs at Anderson Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien Fine Art, Generator Space, Garden of the Zodiac, Petshop, the Roberta and Bob Rogers Gallery, among others.

At least one gallery has signaled that its successfully revised business model may be its path forward. Modern Arts Midtown has been open by appointment only and, rather than organizing exhibitions, has been working with selected artists to present their new Understandably, some venworks in a more ues remain on hiatus until fur-

Allison Baker ther notice. Creighton University has closed its campus to visitors, hence no shows at the Lied Art Gallery. With its limitations on visitors, the Omaha Public Library has suspended shows at the Michael Phipps gallery for the nonce. Similarly, there are no immediate plans to program spaces at the Fred Simon Gallery, the Hoff Family Arts and Culture Center, or Hot Shops, though it is guaranteed that each would hope to welcome art lovers later in the year. As has become necessary, do check all venue social media and web pages for updated information on show dates and any visitation requirements. And then get your art on!

January 2021

T H E A T E R

Theater Continues Navigating

Uncharted Waters by Leo Adam Biga

Omaha Community Playhouse’s signature cash-cow A Christmas Carol went totally remote

ecause of COVID-19, live theater shut down from Broadway to Omaha to Los Angeles. As marquees and footlights remained dimmed and auditoriums empty through the spring-summer, the scramble to secure sustaining funds became more fraught than ever and remote programming responses emerged in lieu of in-person events.

one-offs or entire runs. The possibilities of online theater gives the old adage “All the world’s a stage” new meaning. The TriFaith Initiative commissioned Omaha playwright Beaufield Berry to write One More Seat as a remote performance piece for the virtual grand opening of its Tri-Faith Center last fall.

“We’re learning new ways to make and share theater and to respond on a moment to moment basis,” said playwright and Great Plains Theatre Commons Community Connector Ellen Struve.

The venerable Omaha Community Playhouse’s signature cash-cow A Christmas Carol went totally remote in recognition of the fact massive crowds could be a super-spreader event. The show’s antiseptic digital run ends Jan. 31.

Streaming is how most experience theater now, both as

A sign of the times is evident in the Omaha Entertainment &

Ellen Struve, Matt Gutshick and Susan Clement-Toberer

January 2021

Arts Awards (OEAA). Nominees for outstanding actor, director and play from this past season are mostly for work produced in 2019 since few 2020 productions actually made it to the stage. The OEAA award show takes place Jan. 17 – virtually, of course.

We re-imagined our lineup. We shifted to one-person and smallcast shows. We implemented rigorous in-theater safety precautions. And when COVID cases began to surge, we closed our doors and moved our productions online.”

The Playhouse, Rose Theater and Bellevue Little Theatre managed some in-person shows by the fall, enabled by large performing spaces conducive to social distancing and all manner of precautionary protocols to reduce potential infection exposure,

OCP’s spring schedule:

Each has a full winter-spring slate. “One of the primary reasons The Rose decided to attempt in-person work was to continue investing in professional artists in our community,” said Executive Director Matt Gutshick. “We are proud we kept all our full-time jobs and have continued to pay artists for their time and talent through the pandemic. We need more organizations to similarly invest in our local artists, who have seen many of their regular gigs simply come to a stop.” The Rose starts ’21 with How to Build An Ark: Searching for Joel Sartore by Ellen Struve on Jan. 22. Its run ends Feb. 21, followed by Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus: The Musical (March 19-April 25) and Disney’s Descendants (May 28-June 20). The Playhouse is also focused on the local arts eco-system. “We’ve done everything in our power to keep our art alive during a global pandemic,” said the theatre’s director of marketing Allyson Wagner. “We moved productions outdoors. We offered free online content.

The Last Five Years Jan. 15-Feb. 7 Gutenberg! The Musical! Feb. 12-March 14 Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express Feb. 26-March 21 In the Heights April 16-May 9 Clybourne Park May 7-30 Roald Dahls Willy Wonka May 28-June 27 Opera Omaha got off to a rousing start with the return of Jun Kaneko’s Madama Butterfly production before COVID concerns forced postponement of the ONE Festival. The company’s adaptive responses since then included Miranda, “the world’s first live virtual reality steampunk opera” in September in collaboration with LUMA, Tri-Cities Opera and Enhance VR. Executive Director Roger Weitz said, “It re-imagined world-class theater for a socially distanced age by bringing online audiences faceto-face with highly detailed 3-D avatars controlled in real-time by opera singers performing in a studio in Binghamton, New York.” Instead of a traditional season the first half of 2021, Weitz said, “We will present Opera To Go neighborhood pop-up

T H E A T E R CATS

RED SUMMER

new theater works featuring small casts and performed on the theater’s back patio, with audiences warmed by fire pits. BB’s Bonfire Series: All That Fall by Samuel Beckett. An auditory experience without precedent. Blindfolds optional. Before After by Knapman and Price. A musical about a second chance to get things right the first time.

concerts. Look for new, largescale outdoor programming in late spring.” A Jan. 8-16 virtual offering, Modulation, is a digital co-presentation of Prototype, Carolina Performing Arts, L.A. Opera and Opera Omaha. “This self-guided exploration of these distanced times created by 13 of the most provocative and diverse voices in the contemporary music idiom will lead viewers through the themes of isolation, identity and fear – all connected by breath.” All Omaha Performing Arts Broadway touring shows in ’20 were canceled, which Associate Director of Marketing Kelly Bartnick said “has had a significant impact on OPA and the artists we present.” OPA’s 2021 openers: To Kill a Mockingbird April 20-25 Cats May 18-23 Tootsie June 22-27 Fiddler on the Roof July 20-25 The Black Lives Matter social justice movement has prompted arts groups to issue statements of support and to adopt diversity-inclusion measures. Just as stage companies and presenters rely ever more on social media platforms to connect with audiences, they utilize social capital to gain agency in this pandem-

ic-ridden and conscience-woke time. Thus, OPA launched Voices AMPLIFIED – a multidisciplinary remote series on arts and social justice. One session explored themes in August Wilson’s Fences with a panel discussion by local actors. “In solidarity with the BLM movement, Opera Omaha curators Melanie Bacaling and Chabrelle Williams introduced a new community panel discussion series, Amplifying the Black Experience (ABLE), in conjunction with the digital premiere of the new chamber opera dwb (driving while black),” said Weitz. The pandemic forced cancellation of the annual Great Plains Theatre Conference’s PlayFest in May, but served as a restart for the organization’s new identity as Great Plains Theatre Commons. GPTC’s added programming included the Connect series. Everything’s remote-based for now. GPTC anticipates hosting the daytime PlayLab portion of its spring conference online. Any in-person events are on a waitand-see basis. Meanwhile, the still homeless Shelterbelt remains in “a holding pattern,” said executive director Roxanne Wach. It nearly signed a lease for a new home before the pandemic. “COVID has kept us from producing for longer than I hoped,” she said. UNO Theatre is delivering performances on different virtual platforms. It’s added a familiar artist, Hal France, to lead its new musical theater

Buffalo Women by Beaufield Berry. Juneteenth, newfound freedom. A Black cowgirl musical comedy. Escaped Alone by Caryl Churchill. A most deranged tea party as imagined by this noted playwright. program. Creighton University Theatre adapted its fall production of Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost to a virtual format. The Blue Barn Theatre and Brigit St. Brigit Theatre Company enjoyed a banner 2019 (Red Summer and Bernhardt-Hamlet, respectively) before dropping the second-half of their seasons. They remain closed due to small venues that make safe social distancing impractical. They anticipate a strong 2021 once health-safety conditions permit. Blue Barn producing artistic director Susan Clement-Toberer sent a message to members-donors expressing what’s at stake and in store during this dissonant, adapt-or-die time. “For these wild times, we have imagined adventurous new ways to bring the power of story back into all our lives. We have also dreamed up better ways to harness your Blue Barn membership to extend the reach of our art and sustain the lives of artists. In the very real uncertainty of the coming year, our season accepts disruptions and adaptations to shifting circumstances as givens.” Blue Barn’s new Bonfire Series, sans dates yet, is referred to as “the shape of things to come” with its sampler of both old and

For Black Trans Girls... by Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi. A choreopoem. A fantasia. Love and justice for a new generation. R33 by Sarah Brown, after Shakespeare. What would you sacrifice to overcome tyranny? Brigit St. Brigit expects to mount God on Trial and Extra, Extra on a TBD basis in 2021. The Circle Theatre and Radio Theatre Omaha are active but their work is only streamed for now. Anastasis Theatre Co. is conducting story circles over Zoom. “We are working with a group of formerly incarcerated people to develop an online piece telling their stories.” said co-founder Haley Piper Haas. “We hope to adapt Stories on the Brink online in the spring. We hope to return to in-person theater next fall.” Performing Arts Repertory Theatre and SNAP! Productions remain on hiatus, as does the Performing Arts Collective at the Union for Contemporary Art. With COVID still raging and mass vaccine delivery months away, theatermakers and goers continue adapting as conditions warrant. Check theater websites and social media for updates.

January 2021

M U S I C

An Industry in Dire Straits, Pulls Together in 2020 by Tim McMahan

efore I began writing this annual music year in review article, I glanced back at last year’s reflections on 2019. It was mostly gripes. Music sales have dried up. Touring has become an expensive, money-losing proposition. And with the constant exodus of talent moving away from Omaha, who was going to play on all these stages (with even more planned in the coming years)? I even complained about the lack of quality touring indie bands coming through town. Oh woe is us. After the year we’ve just been through, you have to laugh at those comments. What spoiled, entitled, jaded brats we’d become. We didn’t know how good we had it. Well, we know now. The Year of Our Lord 2020 — the Year of COVID-19 — needs no explanation to any of you. We each have our own pandemic story. You were lucky if you weren’t struggling to stay alive or to keep someone alive or to pay your rent or feed yourself and your family. You were lucky if being bored was on top of your list of worries. That said, life without live music — for those us who love it — can be pretty boring.

I miss it. To the point where, when I watch concert footage online or on TV and see the shots of dark, crowded clubs or jam-packed arenas filled with maskless faces, I literally am in awe, and wonder if it will ever be like that again. It will be. Eventually. If there’s one thing I’ve learned through all this it’s how much live music and the local music scene has become part of my personal identity — the music, the bands, the venues and, above all, the people. How strange it is to lose it, if only for a year. How much more strange it must be for those who make a living from it.

Their message throughout has been that independent venues were the first to close and will be the last to fully reopen. Their dire warning is that 90% of independent venues will close permanently over the course of the coming months without federal funding.

They could have sat home alone and pouted, but instead musicians and venue owners looked for ways out of the darkness, and will emerge from the pandemic stronger for it.

In fact, so far two Omaha venues have closed permanently at least in part due to necessary COVID-19 clampdowns — The Lookout Lounge on 72nd Street and The Barley Street Tavern in Benson — and more may be on the verge of falling off the financial cliff. Club owners from The Slowdown, The Waiting Room and O’Leaver’s have been among the most vocal local members of NIVA pushing since this summer for legislation and asking their patrons to write lawmakers and prod them to sign on to Save Our Stages legislation.

NIVA

Ingenuity

For the first time, live music entrepreneurs joined together — more than 2,900 independent music venues and promoters — to form the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA). Their mission: To lobby Congress to pass legislation that provides recovery funds and tax credits to help venues survive the pandemic.

Meanwhile, artists found new ways to stay engaged with their audiences. Within months of the national shut-downs and tour cancellations, bands began to take to the internet for live-streamed performances. Suddenly Zoom sessions — as quiet and distant as they felt — became the new normal.

January 2021

Without income from live performances, some artists turned to Patreon, an online platform that connects musicians with fans by offering membership tiers that provide perks such as premium content and early exclusive access to new work, all for a monthly fee. Among the artists with Patreon accounts are Ben Folds, Circa Survive and ‘80s indie legend Lloyd Cole, whose offerings include everything from private-streamed concerts to online guitar lessons. Despite being sidelined from performing, 2020 still ended up being another strong year for new releases from both a national and local indie perspective. Last month, The Reader published links to more than 40 Nebraska-based artists who released new music during the pandemic, all available on the usual streaming services as well as Bandcamp, the online digital music store that has become the central marketplace for new and independent bands. Which brings us to my list of favorite albums of 2020. Here they are, in no particular order: • Waxahatchee, Saint Cloud (Merge) • David Nance, Staunch Honey (Trouble in Mind)

M U S I C • Christian Lee Hutson, Beginners (Anti) • Nation of Language, Introduction, Presence (self release) • Porridge Radio, Every Bad (Secretly Canadian) • Criteria, Years (15 Passenger) • No Thanks, Submerger (Black Site) • Phoebe Bridgers, Punisher (Dead Oceans) • Sufjan Stevens, The Ascension (Asthmatic Kitty) • Disq, Collector (Saddle Creek) • HAIM, Women in Music Pt. III (Columbia) • Digital Leather, New Wave Gold (No Coast) • Those Far Out Arrows, Fill Yer Cup (self release) • Fontaines D.C., A Hero’s Death (Partisan) • Bright Eyes, Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was (Dead Oceans) This is where I usually list my favorite live performances from the past year. It would be unfair to forget the concerts that took place before COVID-19, such as: Susto at Slowdown Jr., Feb. 24 — A night of story-telling rock reminiscent of the late, great Jim Croce. PUP and Screaming Females at The Waiting Room, March 4 — PUP’s Stefan Babcock remarked that the set was a disaster, but it sure sounded great from where I stood, and certainly the fist-pump-fueled crowd loved it.

was all set to see Nap Eyes at The Waiting Room March 15, but it was cancelled along with everything else — including this year’s Maha Music Festival — as one by one venues closed down beginning in March. Favorite livestream performances included Mike Schlesinger and Rebecca Lowry streamed from The Sydney March 27; No Thanks, Little Brazil and Noah’s Ark Was A Spaceship streamed live from The Slowdown May 21 and 23, and Glow in the Dark streamed live from Low End at the Bemis Nov. 12. And there were a couple outdoor concerts — Petfest Aug. 15 behind Petshop in Benson, featuring killer socially distanced performances by And How and Those Far Out Arrows; and Slowdown’s 3-day outdoor festival held in the parking lot behind the club Oct. 1-3. I even snuck into one indoor live club show when local bands Dead Letters and Las Cruxes played at the newly remodeled Reverb Lounge Sept. 19. But that was it. By the time fall came ‘round, live indie rock shows evaporated as everyone hunkered down for the next wave of COVID-19. As I write this, a second vaccine is being approved by the FDA, and shots are being fired into arms of healthcare professionals and first responders throughout the country. They’ll eventually get to your arm, too, and masks will become a thing of the past, but now I’m getting into 2021 predictions, and you’ll have to turn to page 36 for more of those.

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January 2021

H O O D O O

Finding Healing & Joy A look at some of the challenges for our roots musicians during 2020’s shifting pandemic landscape. by B.J. Huchtemann

o get some context on creative life and challenges during the pandemic, I reached out to a few local and national folks. I started with Scott Scholz, who is the librarian at the Polley Music Library in Lincoln. Polley is a public music library on the second floor of the Bennett Martin Public Library in downtown Lincoln, with an extensive collection of music histories, biographies, sheet music and instrumental learning methods for all kinds of musical styles. Omahans can borrow from Polley if they have an Omaha library card. Books must be picked up and returned at the Lincoln library. “The most popular home music format in 1918 was still sheet music,” Scholz said of how people passed the time during the last pandemic. “And Tin Pan Alley was largely writing original music that went straight to music stores and into peoples’ homes to be played. So musicians in 1918 didn’t have a lot of options when performance venues were shut down.” “Now, musicians are living in a golden age options,” Scholz said. “Perhaps this can be a wake-up call where artists don’t have to accept the touring-for-money paradigm as the final answer where recordings are concerned.” Here are some observations that conversations with artists brought into focus. “Financially it’s been devastating,” Davina Lozier, bandleader of Minneapolis’ Davina & The Vagabonds said. “Being an income [source] for my household and also four other musicians has been placed on a complete halt.” “We all had to get extra creative,” Omaha’s Aly Peeler noted, “Many of us could not get extra assistance or unemployment during this pandemic. I couldn’t prove loss

of income,” she said, despite postponements and cancellations of bookings, a fall tour and a planned studio project. Peeler has used the internet to teach online ukulele lessons for Arts for All. California-based blues harmonica player Dennis Gruenling already had an online presence selling vintage mics, amplifiers and related merch. He has focused on further developing his online income stream with regular webinars. Gruenling’s biggest challenge has been “to allow myself some (or any) time for creative outlets such as writing and jamming while I need to completely shift focus on supplementing my income and being creative in THAT way during this time.” Boston-based Kit Holliday echoed what many of us feel. “There’s a sense of grief, for sure,” she said. “I keenly feel the loss of musical kinship to the disparate musicians and bands with whom I’ve played. I’m also burned out from a thousand (okay, seven) screens glaring at me all day, every day, [while working my corporate job]. I don’t even want to try to make online connection / performance a thing.” “This whole ordeal has made me realize how truly wonderful it is to play live music for a living. I will never take it for granted,” Lincoln’s Josh Hoyer shared. “The economic systems we have don’t seem to really value the creative class…you’d be hard-pressed to find a creative that was helped through PPP loans or other disaster grants. Spotify ain’t paying the bills.” But he added that fan purchases of music and merch during this year have certainly helped him and his band members. Former Omahan Heather Newman, now living in K.C., saw her first European tour cancelled along with most area shows.

January 2021

“Once shows are able to happen again, because many venues I know and have relationships with have been shut down, that means that I will have to work harder to make new connections with people and venues who have never worked with me before,” she said. “This may mean a reduction in the amount of money venue bookers think I am worth.” Omaha’s Kris Lager also saw his very active touring schedule halted. He’s recently built a green-screen video studio in his basement to enhance his weekly livestream shows. He’s also started working on Patreon to develop a new income stream. “I’m still optimistic,” Lager said. “I’m enjoying being more stationary than I ever have been in over 20 years and being home so much has its perks.” Livestreaming music seems to be a better fit for some artists than others. Some, like Austin’s Bonnie Whitmore, quickly committed to regular online performances. “My weekly residency that was at the Continental Gallery in Austin was put onto a Zoom platform,” Whitmore said. “Which has helped me have some consistency. That’s allowed me some access to my music community. But there hasn’t been any relief from it and the fatigue is wearing on me,” Whitmore said. “I was able to release my latest record and have written a lot over the past nine months.” She’s also finally had time to work on a “sisters” record with her sister Eleanor Whitmore (from The Mastersons and Steve Earle & the Dukes). Many expressed hope. Omaha’s Virginia Kathryn wrote and recorded two albums so far during the pandemic. “Live music is a collective ritual experience that brings us together

Minneapolis-based Davina Lozier is one of the artists who shared thoughts with us on the pandemic’s dramatic impact on the roots music industry as 2020 came to a close photo by Grinkie Photography

in a shared physical space.” Kathryn said. “We can try to replicate it in the virtual realm, but that sense of community is not the same. I have hope that live music will return with a bang. People crave that sense of community.” “I remind myself of how lucky I am to still have music, my voice, my fans, my Vagabonds, and my family,” Lozier observed. “My heart is full even though my wallet isn’t.” “We are in the business of creating space for healing and joy,” Hoyer said. In addition to the above artists, Live from Mars House and Lincoln’s Basement Creators Network provided thoughts on the livestreaming opportunities they have developed. You can read the text of their comments and the full responses of all the artists at the end of the January Hoodoo online at thereader. com.

B O O K E D

Not So Nebraska Nice You’ll Never Believe What Happened To Lacey by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar REVIEW by Beaufield Berry

nce in a while a book comes along that you read voraciously. You can’t put it down and you want everyone to read it too. Recent books that come to mind; Untamed by Glennon Doyle, How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi and White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo. You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey is one of those books. A delicious mixture of memoir and storytelling and it doesn’t hurt that it’s hilarious too. I want everyone I know to read this book. Especially everyone I know in Omaha. You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey is a compilation of true stories about racism. Omaha-based racism, at that, with a few outliers. And although the names have been changed, the book itself leaves all else exposed. What’s more is that all of these experiences (a literal book’s worth) happened to one Black Omahan, Lacey Lamar. Lamar is the Omaha-based sister of Amber. Ruffin’s best known for her work on SNL, The Late Show with Seth Myers and her newest venture The Amber Ruffin Show, currently streaming on Peacock. Most of the stories are told by Amber using the same entertaining, matter-of-fact tone that made her a comedy star. Lacey jumps in sporadically for commentary, memories and comic relief. The sisters’ banter and chemistry gave me loud laughs and showcased their close relationship while highlighting the difference in their experiences with racism both geographically and professionally. Amber adds in a few of her own stories for contrast. Stories of how racism is swiftly called-out, shot down

or fired in comedy work in larger cities. Meanwhile, in Lacey’s many jobs in the Midwest, it’s largely protected and accepted if not outright encouraged. It truly is a different world. Many of the pair’s most outrageous stories actually take place in Lacey’s professional settings, often ending in her termination for calling it out. Or in one case — being punched.

gorized by how racist they were or who was involved. Some of my favorite and most satisfying moments involve Lacey and Am-

Throughout the book the sisters harken back to the title “You’re never going to believe this...” But sadly, I believed every word. I have had happy hours with my Black girlfriends dedicated to the asinine amount of Nebraska Nice racism we’ve faced while on the clock. So much so we were compiling our own stories for a book. When we heard about Amber and Lacey’s book and we said, “Oh, this is going to be good.” Other encounters range from your all too normalized midwestern micro-aggressions (hair touching, wondering if Black people eat salad, etc) to all out showdowns with racial slurs and a shotgun—at the time of that incident Lamar was eight years old. And of course the ever-present racist go-to, the N word—all of which are censored in the book—because even when you talk about hundreds of racist incidents you want to protect your Black readers from more trauma. (Thank you ladies). The chapters are broken into sections where events are cate-

ber’s mother, a master at putting racists in their place in the most above-board, scathing way possible ala Claire Huxtable. One of the most welcome surprises was the use of pictures to help highlight a few points. Early on, Lacey is mistaken for Whoopi Goldberg (I know) and the subsequent pages are shots of Lacey AS the famous women she’s been mistaken for, including Whoopi. I laughed out loud, wishing this was unique. (I invite you to Google me and know that I have been told I look like Oprah Winfrey AND Lauryn Hill.) I WISH I could’ve recorded my immediate reactions to so many pieces in

this book. I laughed, I groaned, I cringed, I covered my mouth, I clutched my proverbial pearls, and mostly, I nodded adamantly and knowingly. For this is the Omaha I have known. So many of my own experiences were brought to the surface that I had to stop reading sporadically and start a list of my own. Ones that I had brushed under the rug and tried to forget and some that have kept me up at night over the years. I read this book voraciously, I couldn’t put it down, and in 220 pages it was a pretty quick read. My suggestion though, would be to take your time with it. Let the memories come and give the stories space. Because when I was done rapid reading, it all hit me at once. Underneath all of the laughter and the tenacity, and the joy of reading this book—there is still a sickness in this city and that’s gonna be a hard pill to swallow. You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey is the book we need. It shines a light on the publicly acceptable, “benign” stealth racism that Black people face everyday. It highlights bizarre responses to Blackness by white people in a way that I NEED my white friends to read and reflect back on. And it gives permission to laugh at it, while also giving space to the utter exhaustion of it all. Black people and white people will read this book with very different points of view, but it is a must-read for all.

January 2021

F I L M

The 10 Best (and 5 Worst)

Films of 2020

This Year Blew; Some Movies Didn’t by Ryan Syrek

ecause 2020 jokes are every bit as tired as 2020 has made all of us, let’s start with a simple celebration. By the time you read this, it will be 2021. The power of an odd-numbered year will cleanse us of our sins, as we will be vaccinated with optimism. Or, you know, things will continue to be pretty awful, only with a “1” now involved. Looking back on the year in film feels like reading a ransom note written by an illiterate kidnapper: Release dates were sloppily cut and pasted, and nobody understands the demands of how millions of dollars should be handed over. Normally, I wait to publish this list until February, after all the limited-run award hopefuls are finally released. Well, F that this year. F stands for “forget,” what did you think? I had to make this list before the debuts of Wonder Woman 1984, One Night in Miami, News of the World, or Promising Young Woman. I missed other movies too, I’m sure, but “missing movies” is kind of a permanent state of being these days. But enough of the sad face and party poopin’. Let’s slap on a glad face and get this party pumpin’! Nothing gets festivities going like talking about crappy films, right?

The 5 Worst Films of 2020 5.) Onward “It’s not that bad,” I thought while watching what would become the last film I’d see in a theater for, I don’t know, the remainder of my life? The truth is that this slapdash Pixar picture is so grotesquely and flagrantly half-assed that we don’t even need to get into the whole “Chris Pratt” of it all.

4.) Godmothered This one was dropped on Disney+, not unlike an anvil on an unsuspecting

loins, should you have managed to preserve any loins to this point.

She Dies Tomorrow

10.) Lucky Grandma

cartoon character’s cranium. Putting Jillian Bell and Isla Fisher together in a “modern take” on fairy godmothers sure seemed like a good idea. But lots of things seem like good ideas, am I right, capitalism? I don’t care that it’s a kids movie, you don’t treat national treasures like Bell and Fisher like this on my watch without a “worst film list” retribution. Justice!

3.) Superintelligence I am sure that Melissa McCarthy’s husband, Ben Falcone, is a genuinely wonderful person who she loves very much. I am also positive that he cannot write and direct a movie to save his life. I know that other things have been as unfunny as Superintelligence, a rom-com about a sentient artificial intelligence that is voiced by James Corden. I just don’t know that you can put all those words in a sentence like that and have it be anything other than the opposite of pleasurable.

2.) The Craft: Legacy How do you so colossally bork a remake of The Craft that I, a person who wants that original soundtrack played at my wake while Fairuza Balk gives my eulogy, hated it? From glossing over the foundational friendship between the witches in a montage to using CGI on David Duchovny in a way that makes alien anal probing seem fun, nothing is worse than the fact that the music is ge-

JANUARY 2021

neric and bad. This is not not the second thing I’d fix about 2020 if given a time machine.

1.) Dolittle I got to see like a handful of movies in the theater this year, and in one of them, Iron Man does butt stuff to animals. I wish it were as hilariously awful as it sounds, but this “dude who talks to wildlife” remake is a goddamn chore to watch. It’s like Willy Wonka without the joy of child torture. Don’t even do it on a dare.

The Top 10 Films of 2020 Not a huge list of honorable mentions this year, but I’m pretty sure you know why. That’s right, 2020 is a year without honor. I loved the punk rock v fascism doc White Riot. The Garden Left Behind is a subtle, somber, simple drama steeped in important Trans issues. Gretel & Hansel damn near made the final cut, what with it basically being a superhero origin story via the Brothers Grimm. I was of two minds about I’m Thinking of Ending Things, but one of those minds had it ranked very highly. No recent documentary surprised me with sincerity quite as much as Circus of Books. Those are the opening acts, but it’s time for the big show. Gird your

I didn’t know that I wanted a movie where a cantankerous Asian grandmother squares off against the mob until I got it. Tsai Chin’s performance is so next level brilliant, I’d trade at least 3 John Wicks to see her face the underworld again. That, or just CGI Keanu Reeves out and swap her in for the next Wick-quel. Hilarious, surprisingly nuanced, and unlike anything else I saw this year, which is pretty much the only cohesive theme spread across this top 10. Seriously, if you find anyone else who included these movies in this order for their “best of 2020,” send me their info. I’ve been looking for that goddamned clone for years…

9.) Extra Ordinary I don’t know how to not enjoy Maeve Higgins, a legitimately brilliant Irish comedian whose dismissive level of “whatever” is somehow just painfully endearing. Playing off an exceedingly well-cast Will Forte, Higgins basically does a one-woman Ghostbuster riff in this horror-tinged comedy that doesn’t hinge itself on only a few big jokes. In a better world, this would be what gets Higgins her own cheeky sitcom. In this world, I guess I’m just happy she exists as a person?

8.) Swallow I didn’t expect to love a movie about the psychological compulsion to swallow stuff that should absolutely not be swallowed. Sure, it’s sex- and gender-based metaphors and messages are more explicit than the first rap album I bought, but that doesn’t stop it from feeling sophisticated AF somehow. A lot of that is the work of Haley Bennett, whose name deserves to be written over Jennifer Lawrence’s on call sheets. If you’re in the mood for some on-thenose feminism and regurgitation, get your esophagus ready!

F I L M 7.) His House The scariest traditional horror movie of 2020 is, in many ways, the fulfillment of the promise that Get Out made. This poetic, allegorical haunted house flick is a relentless promotion of empathy for the plight of refugees that doesn’t sacrifice the spooky. More mythological than urban legendy, His House features two top-tier performances and at least four “Please do not do the thing that I know you’re about to do” moments. It’s so creepy and enlightening, it’s like an NBC “the more you know” PSA presented by the concept of mortality.

6.) Buoyancy Speaking of mortality… At times this year, the tsunami of grim news has pushed the water levels of grief past the walls of our emotional levees. That’s okay. In some ways, it’s just proof you’re still a human. Buoyancy is a firm reminder that, as soon as we can, we need to resume bearing witness to atrocities. Doing so doesn’t make us noble. It doesn’t fix problems like the one in the film, which explores slavery within the Thai fishing industry. But preventing the suffering of others from going unnoticed is a duty we are bound to as creatures with souls.

5.) Da 5 Bloods Hoo boy, when Spike Lee is hot, forget the kitchen, get out of the whole damn house. Da 5 Bloods absolutely sizzles its way through a look at the Vietnam War, a conflict so well-documented it seemed impossible to say anything new through its dramatic use. Ah, right, sorry. So well-documented by white people. Race, family, economics, and pretty much whatever else Lee found lying around his mental pantry got tossed in the pot. The result is something that should win Delroy Lindo his Oscar and may just get Lee another one too.

4.) Bacurau Somewhere between satire and spaghetti Western, you’ll find the town of Bacurau, a small town soon teaming with violence and metaphor. It’s got everything you could possibly want: Udo Kier as a weirdo film director with an ulterior motive, a Brazilian Riff Raff complete with killer mullet, and a message about how solidarity among the oppressed is the only means by which liberation is possible. As sharp as the machetes frequently used in the film,

this genre-defying bit of bonkers was on my best of list from the second I saw it.

3.) Possessor: Uncut I don’t know if the title is Possessor or Possessor: Uncut and what the differences between the two versions of writer/director Brandon Cronenberg’s beautifully ugly “very special episode of Black Mirror” are. All I know is that the film I saw floored me with its Mission-Impossible-as-a-horror-movie approach. Explicitly about a corporate assassin who wears other human bodies from time to time, the film is an implicit condemnation of big tech’s manipulations. It’s hard to call a movie like this “cool,” but the visually thrilling, violent shenanigans is absolutely must-see for those who can stomach it.

2.) We Are Little Zombies Until I sat down to write the list, I thought this film would be at the top. The 8-bit, punk rock, ode to grief and nonconformity is a full-on extravaganza. From its show-stopping songs to its non-cloying take on trauma, writer/ director Makoto Nagahisa’s cinematic riot is a singular experience. Similar movies from Western directors have felt forced and showy, as if they were screaming “look at what a cool, hip outcast I am.” We Are Little Zombies is just legitimately odd, organically complex, and captivatingly playful. This is undoubtedly the movie I’ll revisit the most from this entire list.

1.) She Dies Tomorrow All that being said, 2020 is still a year that I will never dissociate from the brutal honesty at the core of writer/director Amy Seimetz’s masterpiece. The concept is simple: a woman convinced she’ll die the next day spreads her fear like a virus to others. The effect is profound. Is it a horror movie? Sure. Nothing is scarier than a legitimate understanding of mortality’s inevitability. But it is also intentionally funny at times, weird almost at all times, and hallucinatory in a way that doesn’t feel calculated, manipulating, or pretentious. It is purposeful, short, important, and haunting to the point where thinking about it casts a shadow over my thoughts for days. We can’t agree on a definition of art, but this would go in my write-up. That’s my list. What’s yours? Hit me up at twitter.com/thereaderfilm, as we all need something great to watch these days.

Going Full Garfunkel The Sound of Metal Embraces the Sound of Silence by Ryan Syrek

ften, it’s less about the things you do and more about the things you choose not to do. That statement serves as both a literal synopsis of Sound of Metal’s thematic message and also as a figurative analysis of how the film avoided becoming derivative, award-baiting fiddle faddle.

Although writer/director Darius Marder’s character study is a nuanced, thoughtful, surprisingly delicate exploration of the horrifying recalibrations life often demands of us, my goodness there are just so many ways in which it could have sucked. Here are just some of them:  With a plot about a drummer going deaf, Sound of Metal could have either slunk into punk cliches or presented the grimy subculture as too squeaky clean. Instead, Ruben (Riz Ahmed) and Lou (Olivia Cooke) are believable rockers who sport tattoos, self-harm wounds, and vast amounts of empathy and kindness.  Ruben’s initial hearing loss could have been a showy bit of artistic piffle. Instead, Marder lets muffled audio do the muffled talking. Who knows how medically precise that is, but the depiction feels authentic in a way that’s more responsible.  Speaking of showy, Ahmed could have given into the Nicholas Cageian urges most would have surrendered to when playing a recovering heroin addict who goes deaf. His brief fits of outrage don’t feel like grandiose gestures designed to be played as his nomination is read aloud on Oscar night. Instead, they feel pretty believable for a dude losing a life he carefully curated to keep his worst demons at bay.

 The relationship between Ruben and Lou could have been hella gross. Instead, the pathological need to fashion a cis hetero love story as the crux of every tale of drug abuse or disability is actually mostly resisted here. In some ways, the resolution of their shared story reads like an eloquent rebuttal to most of that schlock.  The recovery house in which Ruben learns to both “be deaf” and find peace could have felt forced, artificial, and glossy. Instead, Joe (Paul Raci) is a palpably real sponsor, and the others in the program ooze sincerity. Marder doesn’t hand out a single subplot, but the anguished and restrained strife between Ruben and Joe is gut-punchingly good.  Deafness could have been presented in an insulting, reductive, demoralizing fashion. Instead, not only did Ahmed apparently put in the work to deliver an accurate performance, the film has been praised for its inclusive casting and passionate advocacy for the deaf community. Setting aside all the sidestepped mines, Sound of Metal has a tender, well-earned conclusion that goes beyond grappling with a loss of one key sense. Had Marder probed more into Ruben’s peers in recovery and tightened some of the meandering middle, it would have been among the best films of the year. As it is, Sound of Metal is quasi-profound and should absolutely earn Ahmed the right to lose to Delroy Lindo for Best Actor at this year’s Oscars.

Grade = A-

JANUARY 2021

F E A T U R E

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P a r t

COVID Galvanizes More To Plan Ahead

Steven Brunken, Forest Lawn photo by Josh Foo

by Leo Adam Biga

eath is tough anytime. Dealing with a pandemic that compromises how people gather before and after loss is especially cruel. Then there’s the stark reality of COVID-19 fatalities straining hospital and morgue capacities in some cities. Unchanged is the red-tape bureaucracy of death. The unpleasantness of these cold, hard facts is leavened by tributes memorializing the departed and serene settings bearing their remains. As final destination spots go, Forest Lawn Funeral Home and Cemetery at 7909 Mormon Bridge

Rd. offers rare beauty and historic heritage. Opened in 1885, this 349acre sanctuary is one of the largest cemeteries west of the Mississippi, said Executive Director Steven Brunken. The park-like layout accentuates the natural grandeur of the Missouri River basin’s rolling hills and valleys. It’s a habitat for turkey, deer and fox, plus a large variety of birds and trees. The site is both a state-sanctioned arboretum and bird sanctuary, popular with walkers, nature-lovers and birdwatchers “The history and beauty of the cemetery is probably the

January 2021

main draw for people choosing us,” Brunken said. “The first thing we like to do is take them on a tour up into the cemetery and show them what we have.” It’s the resting site of an impressive gallery of early Omaha icons such as Gottlieb Storz, Peter Kiewit, Herman Kountze and George and Sarah Joslyn. A 40-grave national burial site for military veterans is part of the cemetery. Just to the north is Potter’s Field, where Will Brown, lynched in Omaha’s 1919 Red Summer riot, lay in an unmarked grave until a headstone was installed a few years ago. A historical marker was erected last fall.

“Forest Lawn is so unique,” said Family Service Director Angela Erickson, who visited many cemeteries across the nation earlier in her career. “It’s just different here. You’ve got the trees, the wildlife, the expanse. It’s so quiet and peaceful. It’s just beautiful.” Forest Lawn’s historic chapel designed by noted architect John A. McDonald dates back to the early 1900s. The granite, marble and bronze edifice is adorned by mosaics, friezes and leaded stained glass windows. The intimate space normally holds 80 but is limited to half that during COVID.

F E A T U R E With the 2015 addition of a new prairie-style funeral home designed by Frasier-Martis Architects of Omaha, Forest Lawn now has a second, larger (20,000 square feet), dedicated indoor space for services. Its warm design, accented by wood beams and panels, plentiful windows and a large fireplace and hearth embrace death care’s homey origins in people’s parlors. Converted mansions housed early mortuaries, thus the term “funeral homes.” The new structure contains offices, meeting rooms, reception spaces and other amenities. During normal times, its main chapel can hold 200. An enclosed mausoleum under construction (slated to open in the spring) will be a bright, airy, magisterial space with glass-fronted niches for intimate memorial displays. Upon completion, Forest Lawn will join Westlawn-Hillcrest as the metro’s only comprehensive complexes with a mausoleum, crematorium, funeral home and cemetery. A 10-acre garden for pet remains is on the drawing board. “People are more celebratory now in death than they were 40 years ago,” said Brunken. Celebrating the life of the deceased extends to brighter, more colorful and personal memorials, complete with photos, rather than the staid memorial ornamentation of the past. And having everything in one location “is a huge convenience for people,” said Brunken, and an advantage during the pandemic. Besides the splendor of the semi-rural setting, the spacious surroundings offer abundant social distancing. Receiving and preparing bodies for viewing, burial or cremation is the practical work

of funeral homes. But as a funeral director, Brunken noted, “you spend more time with the living than you do the dead,” adding, “The people aspect of it is what really has intrigued me the most – taking care of the people that have needs.” After death, a load of decisions fall on survivors. “Planning a funeral is really no different than planning a wedding,” he said, “except it’s done in a day or two rather than weeks or months.” The details and costs are equivalent, too. And the business of death “doesn’t stop the day of the burial,” Brunken said, “when there are estates to settle.” Most families don’t have a funeral plan. As COVID makes real the fragility of life, he said, “We have seen more people planning now for the inevitable.” “We’ve gotten a lot of phone calls from people saying this has really made us think about our demise,” Erickson said. “It’s brought people out to actually preplan and put things in place.”

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P a r t

helped families through a very difficult time.” Forest Lawn’s laid to rest its share of COVID victims. Its prohibitions inhibiting how death care pros interact with the public can be an endurance test for staff and clients. “Our staff are kind, caring, compassionate people.” Erickson said. “Sometimes families want to give us a hug for helping them through a difficult time and we just can’t do that right now. We can’t even

4 Comforting the bereaved is never easy, but in cases of COVID, the deceased was likely quarantined from family. “It takes a special person to be able to handle that with sensitivity. I don’t know if you actually learn it or if you just have it,” Brunken said. Making it even more challenging is that staff have lives and families of their own also impacted by COVID. As the pandemic drags on, cities and states have contingency plans in place should hospitals and morgues be overwhelmed by COVID deaths. Refrigerated trucks and mortuaries can fill the void when it comes to storing bodies. “The funeral homes in Omaha work very well together in a mass casualty situation,” said Brunken, adding, “It hasn’t come to that here.”

COVID can alter the timeline funeral homes and cemeteries operate under for memorializing or interring remains. Some grieving families are electing to put off services unShe’s seen both til the spring. In cases sides. “Families come where deceased were Forest Lawn Family Service Director, in with services pre-arisolated from family for Angela Erickson ranged – everything safety-health reasons, taken care of. It’s just a shake hands. You can show a a planned direct or immediate matter of getting some autho- lot of emotion on your face, cremation is often postponed rizations. And I’ve seen families but when you’re wearing a to allow relatives time to spend with no plans in place.” she mask you’re not able to express with the departed. said. “They are here some- as much. That makes it difficult. Quoting an old adage, times for hours trying to figure Not being able to do that has Brunken said, “Death doesn’t out what to do. There’s a lot been a big struggle for my staff take a holiday.” Likewise, of of indecision and unneces- because that’s just part of what COVID doesn’t discriminate. sary stress, constantly asking if we do.” All the more reason in this exthey’ve done the right thing.” Over and over, they’ve had traordinary moment funeral Whatever clients choose to adapt and adjust. “Because homes do what they safely can to do, Erickson said, “It’s very we are an essential business we to let families breath, cry, laugh rewarding knowing you’ve know we have to keep going and reminisce, pandemic be damned. forward,” Erickson said.

January 2021

I N

M E M O R I A M

Donald E. Baldwin Sr. July 11, 1930 October 1, 2020 Don Baldwin was devoted to God, his family, his work and many good causes. At 90, he was still active in the Baldwin Carpet Flooring America, which he and his wife Joanne founded in 1969. Originally, the shop was located near 46th & Leavenworth, eventually moving to its current location at 9625 Ida St. He’s pictured in the warehouse there. In 1953, he and Joanne met on a blind date and Don had found the love of his life. They were blessed with six children: Don Jr, David, Teresa, James, Mark, and Mary Susan, 12 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. Don and Joanne traveled the world together, and his favorite place to visit was Las Vegas. He entered many slot tournaments. He loved to play cards, watch game shows, especially Wheel of Fortune, and watch sporting events. The family is carrying on with the business, and four of their children still work there. Don’s niece Regina Pawol Hicks remembered, “The last time Bill and I were in town, we stopped by the store. Uncle Don gave us a tour of the warehouses. He told us that he walked the warehouses every morning and prayed for his family as he walked. There is some comfort in knowing he is with Jesus and other beloved family members now.” Don was a member of the VFW and the Knights of Columbus. He was an inspiration, mentor and coach to so many. He shared his unconditional love with everyone he encountered. Love and kindness, hard work and faith was his legacy.

Benjamin T Nelson, aka “The Gov” April 4, 1980 December 8, 2020 I met The Gov for the first time in April of 2001. I had just returned to Omaha from Portland,OR and was moving into a house with my friend Chris. The house had three bedrooms and

January 2021

Chris informed me that The Gov would be our third roommate. The three of us lived in that house for a year, and while some memories are much clearer than others, I don’t ever remember arguing with The Gov or even being mad at him. I honestly can’t remember a time in the nearly 20 years I knew him that I didn’t truly enjoy spending time with him, and neither can anyone else we know. He was the friend that you never turned down an opportunity to hang out with. My opportunities almost always came on the golf course. Whether it was 6:30 a.m. rounds at Chili Greens before our classes at UNO started, or traveling to Phoenix to see The Gov at the PGA Academy; if either of us was on the course, there was a good chance we were together. I had always enjoyed golf, but playing with The Gov truly brought me to love the game, and it drove me to become better at it. There’s a saying that you learn a lot about a person by golfing with them and it’s true. After 20 years of spending countless hours on golf courses with The Gov, I learned why all of our friends took every opportunity to spend time with him. He had the unique ability to make so many people just feel better. His smile was incredibly warm and his hugs were world-class. He was one of the most genuinely loving and caring people I have ever known. He gave you his full attention and could make you laugh so hard that you peed yourself, many times unintentionally doing so. He rarely said a bad word about anyone, and if he did, they definitely deserved it! As stories have been shared between friends and family since his passing, they all have these same recurring themes. He loved so much and so many people and every single one of them loved him back. It’s the only comfort to take in a life cut way too short. I’m heartbroken that he is gone, but so very very grateful to have had the honor to be one of his close friends for the last 20 years. Thanks for bringing him into the world Tom and Judy! — Neal Duffy

c r o s s w o r d

Join Up

AnswerS in next next month’s issue or online at TheReader.com

Two and two are indeed four

by Matt Jones

Across

1. Starts the golf game

41. Go quickly 42. Muscle that makes things stand upright

8. Steel worker of sorts 15. All pointy and line-y 16. Season division

17. Yell directed at a much-hated portal? 18. Speedo bunch? 19. Org. 20. “Classic Concentration” puzzle type 22. Word before Moines or Plaines 23. Target of crunches 25. “Charlotte’s Web” author White and namesakes 26. In ___ (actually) 27. Voicemail message opener, if you know someone well 30. Georgia airport code 31. One-named comedian and host of “Celebrity Fit Club” 32. “What’ll break if I break up with you” response, for a thuggish couple? 37. Where letters are sent to the mil. 38. Futuristic van Damme flick of 1994 39. Sweet suffix 40. Vegetarian’s “Duh!” response to why they hate their formerly vegan pal? 43. Brit or kiddie follower

23 27

52. Composer Stravinsky

49. Annoy your bedmate, in a way

48. Dashboard

47. Trump’s ex

54. Part of a reversal, maybe 55. Actor Ed in a famous “Tonight Show” tomahawk-throwing stunt

56. Pigsty

58. Phone line invasion 46

50 57

51 58

49 52 60

48. Campus comedy with a cameo by George Clinton 49. Wind dir. 50. Mass ___ (Boston thoroughfare, to locals) 51. Play cowritten by Mark Twain and Bret Harte 53. Prepare the day before

45. Illegal lighting

57. Drink Mencken called “The only American invention as perfect as the sonnet”

46. Early gay rights advocate AndrÈ

60. Library’s attempt at copying milk ads?

44. Actress Jillian

46. Entire range

36. Ultra-bright

AnsweR to last month’s “Mental Blocks”

6. County gatherings

21. Confidential phrase

63. Ripken’s team

7. Like some refills

24. Outdo in

64. He’s a little froggy

8. Lincoln or Grant, e.g.

26. Pt. of ESL

DOWN

9. Not-quite-ready-tofold remark

1. Fanfare noise

10. Tayback who played Mel on “Alice”

2. Deputy played by Michael Weston in the “Dukes of Hazzard” movie

11. Lang. that doesn’t really contain that many words for “snow”

3. They’re stroked but not seen

12. Forest floor growth

4. Sarkisian, for Cher, once

14. Witherspoon who played an angel in “Little Nicky”

5. Gathering dust

13. Blurry area, maybe

62. Like leftovers

65. Keep in check

59. Lance of the O.J. trial

27. “If ___ be so bold ...” 28. Shat this clue has 29. Took on, as a burden 30. Redundant-sounding cash dispenser

AnsweR to last month’s “MRI” by s.e. Wilkinson

31. Dominant figures 33. “___ of Me” (1993 PJ Harvey album) 34. Auction grouping 35. Capital home to a Viking Ship Museum

January 2021

C O M I C S Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau

which deaths matter? by Jen Sorensen

January 2021

TED RALL

H E A R T L A N D

THE (NEW)

H E A L I N G

Roaring Twenties by Michael Braunstein

ome year, eh? Welcome to the new Roaring ‘20s. Since erasing history is a target of this new world order, we should revisit the original Roaring ‘20s to see the parallels with our current decade before they are lost. Then we can dive into a more optimistic vision. 1920: Prohibited! One hundred years ago, at the beginning of the original Roaring ‘20s, big government trampled taverns and bars across America with crippling lockdowns spawned by an ill-advised Constitutional amendment that outlawed manufacture and sales of alcohol. Instantly, bars went out of business, restaurants failed. Iron-fisted, draconian attacks on privacy forced millions of Americans to cower indoors for toasts and celebrations. Sound familiar? Anarchy in the streets. One hundred years ago, anarchists and communists committed the worst act of foreign terrorism in American history previous to the Twin Towers attack. On September 16, 1920, communist anarchists detonated a horse-drawn wagon filled with dynamite, shrapnel and explosives at the intersection of Wall Street and Broad in lower Manhattan. It was a strike against capitalism. There were hundreds of casualties and buildings were totally destroyed. Sound familiar? Urban vs. rural. The 1920s saw the first time in history that more Americans lived in cities than on farms. Conflict between Americans living in rural communities and those crowded in dire urban settings reached a new peak, threatening the foundations of our very Constitution. Sound familiar? A crushed economy. The 1920s saw a post-war economic boom of record growth only to be crushed by governmental missteps leading to the Great Depression. Sound familiar?

Corrupt Big City politicians and violent crime. In the 1920s, a Chicago mayor by the name of “Big Bill” Thompson ran an election machine and corrupt city hall. In 1993, a panel of historians named him the “worst mayor in American history.” Violent crime and homicides were rampant. Think Al Capone. Sound familiar? Well, 2020’s big city mayors are on course to take that title of “worst” as they cause death and destruction beyond “Big Bill’s” wildest imaginings. A misunderstood pandemic reigned. No reminder needed of this. This history is too familiar. 2020: Silver linings in our Roaring ‘20s. Well, 2020 indeed has opened this decade with more than a roar. Many metrics make it look really bad. Yet, there are some things to place in a positive light. Technology is one. Despite its obvious invasion of privacy on nearly every level, the internet is providing civilization with interactive portals that begin to fulfill its initial promise. Though the Big Tech oligarchy has become the greatest threat to humanity, paradoxically, more people than ever before are using it to connect and communicate. Who hasn’t had a Zoom encounter, for better or for worse? Online meetings have grown up and the tech has ripened to where grandmas and grandpas are Zooming across generations. The world has shrunk. How much the internet backbone and our consumption of energy can last is unknown but for now, the opportunity to use technology is improving. Call of nature. Some people have responded to drastic lockdown declarations with a return to the outdoors. Nature is one place people can go (except surfing in California) to exercise some freedom. Sales of recreational vehicles have skyrocketed, indicating that when people are on the move, they are doing it more

independently and closer to nature. Rediscovery. Many people I’ve talked to have found innovative and rewarding ways to adapt. New hobbies emerge. Reading and learning are living a renaissance. Unique situations create unique solutions. My neighborhood has always seen its fair share of walkers, joggers and cyclists but anecdotally I can report an increase. That’s a good thing. Less war, more peace. 2020 has been a good year if you are against war. American soldiers are coming home from countries that most of us wonder why they were there in the first place. The current Administration is dramatically drawing down troop levels in four major theaters of war: Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Somalia. And it’s doing it unilaterally. For the first time since the 1950s, we’ve gone four years without American involvement in a new war. Any peace loving American should like that. Additionally, historic peace accords have changed the political landscape in the Middle East and the Balkan Peninsula. For the first time in history, three major Arab powers have initiated commercial air travel and normalized trade with Israel. More to do. The greatest frustration about 2020 is that the very political faction that supports pandemic lockdowns and commerce restrictions in their states and cities is the same political faction that bemoans the concentration of wealth. Yet policies by big city mayors and coastal states’ governors are forcing small commerce into extinction while benefiting big business like Amazon. Their governmental policies are concentrating more wealth, not less. One cannot overlook the bil-

lions of dollars funneled into big business at the cost of losing local livelihoods. Online commerce blew up 71% in the first three months of the pandemic. How much more money do the Bezos, Zuckerbergs, Dorseys and Brins need? More concerning is the caprice and lost logic in declarations by demagogues in power. Some are elected. Others have seized power by benefit of their “fuzzy science.” They resemble kids at a party playing pin-the-tail-on-thedonkey rather than thinking individuals. How many times does some doc have to reverse himself or contradict himself before we send him into retirement? When 2020 is looked at holistically, it’s easy to see what went right and what went wrong. We are entering a decade that has every earmark of reflecting the original Roaring Twenties with a crushing outcome. Can we learn from history or will history be torn down and dismantled before it is remembered? Place your bets. Be well. Heartland Healing is a metaphysically based polemic describing alternatives to conventional methods of healing the body, mind and planet. It is provided as information and entertainment, certainly not medical advice. Important to remember and pass on to others: for a weekly dose of Heartland Healing, visit HeartlandHealing.com.

January 2021

O V E R

T H E

E D G E

Music Visions for 2021 What will the new year bring for the Omaha and national indie music world? by Tim McMahan

t’s time to gaze into my crystal Peavey Amp and tell you what’s going to happen in the music world in 2021, but before I do (as I do every year), I’ll first look back a last year’s predictions. Only a stark-raving lunatic could have foreseen the rise of COVID-19 and its dreadful impact on the music industry. And yet… Let’s take a look:

2020 Prediction: One or two Omaha music venues will shut down permanently this year, while “those in charge” will begin to second-guess the proposed $109 million Omaha Performing Arts concert venue. Reality: The Lookout Lounge

and Barley Street Tavern both closed their doors, and rumor has it there’s some head-scratching going on over the OPA concert venue. Of course a pandemic played a role in both those predictions coming true…

2020 Prediction: A former

Omaha Girls Rock student will break through in her own band on our local stages. Reality: No one broke through on any stage in 2020. 2020 Prediction: In an effort to retain local talent, a new local nonprofit will form that will financially subsidize local musicians, their recording projects and their tours.

Reality: The only way this is go-

ing to happen is if I do it myself with Susie Buffett’s money. 2020 Prediction: The popularity of cassettes as a consumer format will continue as more artists choose to release new recordings on tape. Reality: By July 2020, there was a 103 percent increase in cassette sales in the UK; still, cassette sales comprise less that 1 percent of the overall music market.

2020 Prediction: A major

concert will be organized to bring out the vote in Nebraska’s 2nd District, which could play an important role in keeping Trump out of office.

Reality: NE2 did swing for Biden

even if the pandemic prevented huge Democratic rallies in Omaha and elsewhere. 2020 Prediction: Despite capturing big sponsorships, Maha will not book a Lizzo-sized headliner this year, instead opting to spend more money on high-end bands across both festival nights.

Reality: The Maha Festival didn’t

happen (but having seen the proposed line-up that was never made public, the prediction was spot on). 2020 Prediction: “The trend of booking fewer touring indie bands at Omaha venues will continue. We’ll be lucky to get one A-list indie show per month.” Reality: When you’re right, you’re right. 2020 Prediction: We’ll all be singing “Deacon Blues” in 2020. Reality: Donald Fagen did not join Walter Becker last year, though we all were singing the blues. 2020 Prediction: Bands we’ll be talking about next year: Algiers, Bright Eyes, Criteria, Perfume Genius, King Krule, David Nance Band, The War on Drugs. Reality: All released albums in 2020 despite the pandemic, but we’re still waiting on those new ones by Beach House, Kendrick Lamar, Slowdive and St. Vincent. 2020 Prediction: Conor Oberst will finally walk across the Saturday Night Live stage. Reality: Here I thought, at the very least, Conor would make a cameo alongside Phoebe Bridgers. Nope.

January 2021

Final score: Around 50/50, with

help from a national pandemic. So what about 2021? As shitty as 2020 was, things will only get better, but… Prediction: Vaccinating enough people wherePhoto it feels to go by safe Ted Eytan to concerts again will take a lot longer than anyone expects. The Waiting Room, Reverb Lounge and The Slowdown all will begin booking touring bands again beginning in July. O’Leaver’s will plug in the amps in early fall, alongside The Brothers Lounge.

Prediction: The Maha Mu-

sic Festival will be back in late summer, though we’ll all still be wearing masks and social distancing (sort of). On the other hand, South By Southwest, which takes place in March, will remain a digital-only affair.

Prediction: As of this writing

beneficiaries. Watch them enjoy their biggest third and fourth quarter sales in years. Prediction: One by-product of the pandemic — live-streamed rock shows — will become a new revenue generator for bands and venues who learned how to properly produce and monetize online events. Look for venues to offer streaming tickets right alongside live show tickets on a regular basis.

Prediction: Home recording

was already a thing, but after spending a year stuck at home, bands and musicians have honed their skills. Look for more home-recorded releases in 2021, though formal studios will be plenty busy servicing the big stars who have been holding their water throughout the prior year.

Prediction: While there was a

(Dec. 16), Save Our Stages legislation as part of a revised CARES Act has not passed, but it will pass eventually, only to be followed by a Save Our Stages II Act.

surprising number of albums released in 2020, watch the floodgates burst this year, as artists rush to release recordings they’ve held onto until they could return to the road.

Prediction: Despite federal SOS

Prediction: Bob Dylan won’t be

and CARES Act money finally flowing, venues will continue to go out of business (including a major Omaha player) because gun-shy audiences still fearing COVID-19 will drag their feet before returning to the clubs.

Prediction:

Under pressure from some very large artists, streaming services (and labels) will be forced to look at how they’re compensating talent, considering streaming revenues increased 21 percent in 2019 vs. the previous year, while Spotify now boasts 320 million monthly active users as of Sept. 30.

Prediction: After a year of or-

dering stuff online, shoppers will rush back to brick-and-mortars post pandemic, and record stores are going to be one of the big

missing that song catalog he just sold to Universal after this year. Prediction: Bands and performers we’ll be talking about this time next year: Arcade Fire, Bright Eyes, The Faint, The Good Life, David Nance, Courtney Barnett, Little Brazil, Nick Cave, The National, Angel Olson, Modest Mouse, Phoebe Bridgers and U2.

Prediction: I’ve given up on my

annual “Conor Oberst on SNL” prediction, which almost guarantees this is the year it’ll happen.

Over The Edge is a monthly column by Reader senior contributing writer Tim McMahan focused on culture, society, music, the media and the arts. Email Tim at tim.mcmahan@ gmail.com.

January 2021

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