Vox Magazine July/August 2020 Issue

P. 27 KEEP LOOKING UP

MOTORBIKES AND MACINTOSH

P. 15

P. 20

JULY/AUGUST 2020 • THE VOICE OF COLUMBIA

INTO THE DEEP

THE NEW RETRO P. 14

Stories and snapshots

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... of the people we pass by ever y day.

MARCHING FOR CHANGE

SHEER FUN WITH ALPACAS P. 17

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FROM THE EDITOR

TIME TO LISTEN

By Sarah Everett Editor in chief Here at Vox, we’re big fans of the AP Style Guide (or at least this EIC is). It’s a go-to for consistent spelling, preferred terms and capitalization. Vox also has an in-house style guide for things specific to Columbia. For example, Booche’s, despite its inconsistent storefront windows, we spell with an apostrophe. This month, we’ve updated our style guide to capitalize Black, though AP does not as of June 19.

This is a change many news organizations already have made, though, to be frank, it is a change that is past due. It recognizes the word’s power and importance as an ethnic description akin to Hispanic or African-American.

Sometimes, when I think about the style guide, I think of this funny adage from Saturday Night Live writer Julio Torres: “A sentence is letters performing.” He uses it as a justification for typos, but it does speak to the power of words on a printed page, and of the way we write as journalists.

From covering COVID-19 to Black Lives Matter, editing Vox has been very hard very often. It is such an essential, yet challenging time for journalism. I hope readers know how much time my colleagues and I have spent thinking about representative coverage, about health and safety risks, about fact checking, about the power of words on a page, about terms such as “killing,” “murder,” “racist” and “racially charged.” I hope readers know that we can sense the palpable, pivotal energy of this time, and that we believe Black lives, voices, and minds matter. They more than matter. They teach, they inspire, and they change the world.

I am very thankful, this summer in particular, for our writers of color who bring a perspective that I cannot. This month, I share my editor’s letter space with them.

By Angelina Edwards Contributing writer Throughout grade school and middle school, I was often reminded of the color of my

skin. Friends would drift off to be with girls who looked like them, classmates would make comments about my “poofy” natural hair, no one shared my anger over Michael Brown’s death.

When I was about 16, my dad got pulled over for expired tags. I was in the passenger seat, phone in hand, ready to turn on my camera if the situation escalated. Thankfully, it didn’t.

What white people fail to realize is that this is what my life looks like as a Black person.

Black people didn’t have the privilege of waiting until George Floyd. We’ve been mad for a while. I grew up surrounded by white classmates who often singled me out and made me feel different, and now I have to watch those same classmates post on their Instagram stories about how much they’re doing for the movement.

Yes, of course, people can change. I recognize that. I appreciate the sentiment, but white people need to realize that we’re tired. The week that George Floyd died, I felt heavy. I found it hard to focus on my job and my other endeavors. My heart was aching.

There’s no perfect way to address racism, but white people need to understand that Black people have been in this fight for a long time, and we’ll continue to be in this fight for the rest of our lives. I’m asking white people to help by self-evaluating, self-educating and making sure they’re in it for the long haul, too.

By Olivia Evans Contributing writer As 2020 continues, I find myself with more fear in my heart than usual.

This fear stems from the ongoing virus in our nation, and I’m not talking about COVID-19. I’m talking about racism. For a large part of my life, I’ve lived on the edge, wondering how my skin was inherently a threat.

My parents trained me on how to survive. Read that again: I was trained to survive.

Growing up Black in America, I wasn’t afforded the luxury to simply be my most authentic self. My most authentic self would be seen as a threat, as unprofessional or as ghetto.

While I’ve come to find my own identity despite this, it was challenging.

I’ve been nothing but a model citizen my

Photography by Derek Rieke and courtesy of Angelina Edwards, Olivia Evans and Katelynn McIlWain

whole life, as have many of you. I’ve been on the honor roll and dean’s list every semester; I’ve never gotten a ticket; I’ve never missed a payment on a credit card; I’ve never done anything that makes me innately more criminal than you…with the exception of being Black.

As I continue to live each day of my life with the goal to simply survive, I plead with you to see me. I plead with you to hear me. I plead with you to value me. I plead with you to not fear me. I plead with you to treat me as you want to be treated. I plead with you to remember that I am human, too.

I’ll continue to plead with you until I can’t breathe.

By Katelynn McIlwain Contributing writer If there’s anything this past month has shown me, it’s that deciding to join the Black Lives Matter movement is not about politics or race, but instead it’s about a willingness to listen and empathize for a hurting voice.

It’s making a decision to wear the lens of a Black person for long enough to not only understand the pain, but to do something about it.

As a journalist, I’ve committed myself to a career of sharing people’s experiences with others and, in some cases, to give hurting voices a platform. Sometimes, people don’t understand the hurt until there are enough reports of racism that have happened just a few blocks away.

That makes it personal. That invites a choice to either turn a blind eye or to make a difference.

So as a writer, I’ve made it a goal to share those voices as much as I can — and not just the ones who are hurting. In my recent stories, I’ve intentionally sought out the voices of women and people of color, inviting them to share their pain but also to share their victories and dreams. I want it to become normal to hear from groups who typically have been the afterthought. I want to amplify these voices, so we don’t have to wait until the next George Floyd before we start listening, so our ears are already tuned in, and so that our hearts are already caring. So that when asked if Black lives matter, there is no more hesitation but a resounding “yes.”

VOX MAGAZINE • JULY/AUGUST 2020

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

14

Meet your neighbors

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BY VOX STAFF

06_25_2

For some people, amateur hobbies grow into lifelong passions. With sports enthusiasts, hair and beauty experts, vintage connoisseurs, scubadiving masters and alpaca farmers, Columbia’s residents and their pursuits are diverse.

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IN THE LOOP

CULTURE

EAT + DRINK

CITY LIFE

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09

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What is it like to be black in Columbia in high school, college and beyond?

The local drag scene finds a way to make it work online.

The scoop on ice cream shops reopening in CoMo.

The Flying Tigers hit the clouds running with model planes.

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23

Eat your vegetables

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Keep it cool this July and August at Katfish Katy’s, Rose Park and more.

Columbia women discuss leveling the musical playing field in classical and jazz.

(and other tips for sustainable eating).

CITY LIFE

Studies have shown remote therapy is often equivalent to in-person therapy.

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Filming during COVID-19 is a challenge.

Masks present an additional challenge for those who are deaf.

Documenting Black Lives Matter day by day.

Black voices matter

Vox Picks

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Drive-ins are having a moment Moviegoers stay socially distanced at Mid-MO’s vintage-style theaters.

Queens of the quarantine

Out of tune

Documentaries at a distance

We still scream for ice cream

Speech, masked

EDIT OR I N CHI E F SARAH EVERETT DI GI TAL M AN AGI N G EDIT OR CHRISTINA LONG ART DI R E CT OR MADISON WISSE CONTRIBUTING EDITORS BRY BARBER, SARAH

MAGAZINE JU LY/ AUGUST 2 0 2 0 VOLU ME 2 2 , ISSUE 7 PU B LISHED BY T HE C OLU M B IA MISSO URIA N 320 LEE H I LLS H ALL, CO LUMBIA , MO 6 5 2 1 1

Cover Design: Madison Wisse

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Photography by Ethan Weston and courtesy of Chrystal Graves, Kendra Johnson/Archive and Scuba Adventure

TOP PICKS NOT TO MISS P. 7

NIGHT FLICKS P. 8

Since May 29, protesters have taken to the streets of Columbia to voice anger over police brutality and racism.

The largest march took place June 7, where demonstrators like Briana Cato sang and spoke about their experiences.

Black voices matter In the streets, in person and online, the call for change rings loud and clear.

BY KATELYNN MCILWAIN After the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, a passionate yet pained cry to listen to Black voices erupted across the country.

At a time when in-person communica-

tion is limited by a pandemic, social media has become an active, dynamic platform for Black people to demand change and share personal experiences with racism. And with Twitter hashtags such as #BlackatMizzou or Facebook discussions about experiences with racism at Rock Bridge High School, these social media posts hit close to home. And, for many, it’s about time.

Black at Mizzou AJ Foster, an MU senior majoring in Black Studies and double minoring in Psychology and Criminal/Juvenile Justice, started the Twitter #BlackatMizzou hashtag so Black students could

Photography by Marco Storel, Elizabeth Underwood/Archive and courtesy of Katy’s Katfish

bond over traumatic experiences of racism. She says she didn’t expect the hashtag to become a Twitter trend. “We meet up in a group of friends for the weekend, and we all laugh about how we’ve experienced the same kind of racism,” Foster says, “Which is so unfortunate, right? But it’s something that Black people do. We bond over our trauma, unfortunately.”

Foster says she saw the hashtag as a way for Black students to show racist experiences on campus are not few and far between. “Since I’ve stepped foot on campus at the university, I have never walked into a room where I’m 100% confident,” Foster says. “I have walked into a lecture hall where there’s two seats on both sides of me VOX MAGAZINE • JULY/AUGUST 2020

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IN TH E LOOP COMMUNITY

open, and white people would rather sit on the floor than sit next to me. I have walked into organizations where I feel like a valued Tiger, but have heard white people say the N-word,” she says.

“None of this is new. None of this is isolated events. This is not just my experience. It’s a lot of Black people’s experience on this campus,” she says.

Foster says she finds that sharing personal experiences is critical for anyone learning about the depths of racism for the first time. “Putting a face to something, putting a story and an experience to something makes it so much more valuable,” she says.

Black at Rock Bridge Janylah Thomas, another MU student studying Political Science and Black Studies, started a Facebook post that called on people of color who attended Rock Bridge High School to share their high school experiences of racism. The post drew more than 1,000 comments — more than enough for Thomas to prove racism is a problem.

“If your culture is constantly being put down by the majority at your school, which at Rock Bridge is white people, it’s going to give you identity issues and it’s just going to make your life harder,” Thomas says.

Thomas recalls the time one of her classmates called her a gorilla. She says that when she told her teacher about the incident, not much was done. Another time, a confessional Instagram page published a post about her that included chicken, collard greens, and other racist stereotypes, while posts about other girls did not include race-based comments.

Thomas says she believes it’s important to share these personal testimonies so people can realize the trauma Black people face from constant exposure to racism — an exposure that begins at school.

Current and former Rock Bridge students participated in a June 7 Zoom meeting with principal Jacob Sirna, according to the Missourian. Students discussed racism and microaggressions at the school and suggested solutions such as cultural sensitivity training for faculty, special consideration of themes for events like spirit week and require-

6

ments that students take history classes about other cultures.

Black in Columbia Gary Lewis is an artist in Columbia who has been active in the local Black Lives Matter protests. He says much of his concern about police brutality against Black people lies in his concern for his son, who is nonverbal. Without a way for Lewis’ son to verbally express that he is reaching for his driver’s license in his wallet or moving to grab his insurance information from the glove box, Lewis says he’s concerned that an encounter between his son and a police officer could easily go south.

“He does go to therapy classes and speech classes and stuff like that,” Lewis says. “But I don’t know if he’s going to talk. So, my son can be the next victim.

Just because (police officers) don’t know what he’s saying.”

Lewis remembers his own high school experience, being called the N-word by members of the opposing basketball team whenever the rivalry between the teams got intense.

Even now, Lewis says people who drive by the protests in opposition do so while slinging the N-word at him and saying that they want to run the protesters over with their vehicles.

Gary Lewis (left) leads a crowd of Black Lives Matter supporters on Eighth Street. Lewis says he was called the N-word by passersby in cars.

What’s next?

Lewis says he sees one clear path of action that can ensure a better future for his son, and for the next generation of Black people.

“Voting, voting, voting,” Lewis says.

“If we don’t start voting now, 10 years from now, that cop that we don’t like right now, the one that’s planting drugs or the one that’s beating on Black folks,

VOX MAGAZINE • JULY/AUGUST 2020

AJ Foster started the #BlackAtMizzou hashtag to allow Black MU students to share their experiences of racism on the campus.

they’re still going to be there.”

Thomas is acting to address racism in schools by pitching an equity plan for Rock Bridge teachers to combat racism.

Foster’s call to action is for MU to provide tangible evidence that changes are being made to address the racism. She says she is tired of conversations. “People have been having conversations with (MU) since 1968,” Foster says. “I don’t need documents and meetings. I don’t need any of that. I need you to send me your update, and I need a team of people that you pay to hold you accountable.”

Foster’s hope is for her university to actively make steps toward holding their students and faculty accountable for making an inclusive environment.

“I think being Black at Mizzou is just the idea of having so much love for your university that you have to hold it accountable,” Foster says. “You have to rip the Band-Aid off. You have to do that because this is a university you want to be proud that you went to.”

Starting a trend of personal testimonies from Black students is one way to rip off that bandage. As more Black voices are amplified, the goal remains not only to expose the wound, but also to hold those in power accountable for healing it.

Photography courtesy of AJ Foster and Gary Lewis

I N T HE LO O P VOX PICKS

Vox Picks for

JULY/AUGUST

Each month, Vox curates a list of can’t-miss shops, eats, reads and experiences. We find the new, trending or underrated to help you enjoy the best our city has to offer.

BY SARAH EVERETT

Amplify...

Your voice with a yard sign or shirt. BOLD Academy, the Black and Brown opportunity leadership and development academy, is selling Black Lives Matter yard signs and shirts online beginning July 1. BOLD Academy provides guest speakers, presentations, workshops, field trips and more for girls age 12 to 17.

Want to create a custom message on a sign or shirt? Check out local screen printers ACME, Diggit Graphics, Fast Yowi Tees or Missouri Cotton Exchange.

BLM yard sign, $5, BLM T-shirt, $20; see facebook.com/TheBOLDStandard for details.

Eat...

Catfish tacos at Katfish Katy’s complete with fire-roasted salsa and jalapeño ranch sauce. The trailside eatery with its fried catfish is open for summer with window ordering, online ordering and distanced dining. Don’t forget your debit card. Katfish Katy’s is not accepting cash at the moment. Katfish Katy’s, 8825 W. Sarr St.; catfish tacos, $8

Dive...

Into your neighborhood, club or public pool — only in the deep end, of course. Wilson’s Beach Club, Southwest Swim Club, West Broadway Swim Club and other Columbia pools are open for summer with sanitation and social distancing measures in place.

The Albert-Oakland Aquatic Center is open to the public and has two available swim times in the afternoons. Albert-Oakland Aquatic Center, 1900 Blue Ridge Road; Tues.-Sun., through Aug. 7, weekends only, Aug. 7-Sept. 7; session 1, noon-2 p.m., session 2, 2:30-4:30 p.m.

Listen...

Celebrate...

The Fourth of July with Fire in the Sky. This year’s socially distanced celebration will look different than previous years and will take place at a new spot: Bethel Park. The location was chosen so that many city residents can watch from home. This year’s display will reach a height of 300 to 600 feet (about 300 feet higher than last year’s), and the elevation of the park allows for fireworks viewing within a 4-mile radius (about 40,606 households).

The park and surrounding parking lots will be closed.

9:15 p.m.; simulcast on 102.3 KBXR Photography courtesy of Katfish Katy’s, Unsplash and WikiCommons

To live music again (finally) at Rose Park, which opened back up for a weekend of happy hours and tunes from Flyover Country June 19. Up next? Jake Clayton on June 27, Smile Empty Soul on July 14, Local Fest 2020 — featuring CoMo groups The Sweaters, Marcella’s Ghost, Fox Teeth, Last American Cowboy, Moose Plural, John Galbraith Trio, Dark Below, Conman Economy, Bockman, Brad Cunningham, Zorya, Boone Howlers and Allie Bruns — on Aug. 8 and Houndmouth on Aug. 26. Not ready to go to a concert just yet? Bring the concert home with The Blue Note swag bag featuring commemorative quarantine gear. Rose Park, 1013 Park Ave.; swag bags, $35

VOX MAGAZINE • JULY/AUGUST 2020

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IN TH E LOOP MOVIES

Drive-ins are having a moment

Moviegoers relax in their vehicles as a film lights up the screen at Moberly’s B&B Drive-in.

The outdoor movie theater emerges as a destination during the pandemic. THREE

BY OLIVIA EVANS TO SEE

I

n the midst of a pandemic, many traditional summer pastimes have evaporated. No more cookouts, no more festivals and no more outdoor concerts.

Despite this loss of normality, there still is a need for regular (and safe) social activities.

Humans are social creatures, after all.

Enter drive-in movie theaters, which offer the ultimate experience in distancing, while still being an activity perfect for friends, family and significant others.

CDC guidelines recommend limiting face-to-face contact and maintaining a separation of at least 6 feet from others as ways to reduce the spread of COVID-19. These protective measures can be achieved easily at a drive-in.

Despite decreased popularity during the past few decades — Columbia’s driveins on West Broadway and Old Highway

8

63 closed in 1973 and 1985, respectively — drive-ins remain ready to serve and unite communities through the love of film.

David Larry Marks, the 72-year-old owner of Sunset Drive-In in Aurora, Missouri, has worked in the drive-in industry since 1965, when he was a teen.

“The one thing I see now with drive-ins is an opportunity,” Marks says.

“There’s always been a theater, an indoor theater, to compete with, and there isn’t right now. This is the first time driveins have been able to operate without a theater as competition.”

With kids out of school and many Americans spending considerably more time at home, there is an itch to get out of the house. Venturing to a drive-in is a way to distract the kids or spend time with your partner.

VOX MAGAZINE • JULY/AUGUST 2020

Within easy driving distance of Columbia, B&B drive-ins are located in Moberly and Independence, and the Highway 19 Drive-In is in Cuba.

The first drive-in theater opened in June 1933 in Camden, New Jersey, according to History.com. But the new theaters didn’t catch on right away. It was 20 years later, with improved sound quality and a post-World War II car culture, that their popularity grew. And they were the perfect solution for families looking for ways to spend time together on a budget.

During the ’50s and ’60s, there were more than 4,000 drive-ins nationwide, according to the New York Film Academy.

As the 1970s approached and the oil crisis began, many families began downsizing their vehicles. Around that time, the VCR made its debut, and urban sprawl continued. These factors combined to shut down many drive-ins. More recently, the movie industry’s switch from film to digital format further complicated matters because the change required new equipment — too expensive for the average drive-in.

Now, amidst the pandemic, some indoor theaters are using outdoor showings as a way to keep going. For instance, this year’s True/False Film Fest Boone Dawdle, which traditionally ends with a film at Les Bourgeois, is being converted to a pop-up drive-in event on Aug. 15.

According to the United Drive-in Theatre Owners Association, as of October 2019, 305 drive-ins remain in the U.S. The closest is Moberly’s Five and Drive B&B Theater, though there are nine drive-ins in Missouri.

“They’re important right now because it gives people an out,” Marks says.

Drive-ins are serving a purpose greater than watching films. They allow people to rediscover normal when normal ceases to exist.

Photography by Elizabeth Underwood/Archive and courtesy of Associated Press

THE FEMALE 2% IN MUSIC P. 11

SOCIALLY DISTANCED DOCUMENTARY P. 12

Queens of the quarantine Local drag community turns to livestreams and videos as it aims to find a future home.

BY ANGELINA EDWARDS

Logan Pease performs as Lorilie and joins fellow Columbia drag queen Liz Anya on his YouTube series, Pretty Busted.

Photography courtesy of Logan Pease and Unsplash

Amidst the pandemic, Columbia’s drag community lost its audience and its performance home. The Yin Yang Night Club, Columbia’s only drag bar, closed permanently as COVID-19 swept the nation. The bar was the only venue in town that offered drag shows multiple nights a week. The shows gave drag queens a somewhat steady paycheck and a strong sense of community.

Yin Yang’s closure motivated the formation of Nclusion+ and efforts to create a new home for local drag queens.

Brandon Banks and six others founded Nclusion+ after watching Yin Yang Night Club shut its doors. He and the other founders — Christopher Lehman, Anthony Plogger, Dustin Kasperski, Bly Haines, Slavic Ryakhmyatullov and Ben Connor — wondered if people would pay a membership fee to ensure that an LGBTQ space in Columbia is built and here to stay.

With the help of performers and volunteers, Nclusion+ is working to make that vision a reality. The group is holding virtual meetings with prospective members to discuss a future club and what members of Nclusion+ would gain from a membership fee.

“It needs to be a membership space where we provide resources and value to each other; then we have something that is sustainable,” Banks says.

Banks says they envision a place that would function as a community center as well as a drag club. Nclusion+ plans to offer the LGBTQ community opVOX MAGAZINE • JULY/AUGUST 2020

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CULTURE STAGE

portunities such as safe-space training, resume-building classes and assistance for drag queens who are self-managed.

Since coming together after Yin Yang’s closing at the end of April, the Nclusion+ Facebook page has gained more than 700 followers and had 5,000 interactions — a sign of interest in the vision.

While Nclusion+ has not yet secured a permanent physical space, the group is speaking with the local LGBTQ community and building an audience for its online content.

Nclusion+ hosts free digital drag shows through Facebook livestreams at 8:30 p.m. Saturdays. The shows are sponsored by local businesses, such as The Laser Clinic and Compass Chiropractic & Wellness among others. The livestreams feature drag queens who lip-sync and dance. In between songs, a performer, organizer or volunteer hosts mini games or plays recorded videos of performers outside of Columbia.

Shane Ruble, a local drag queen who performs on stage as Bea Jay Eni-

dae, was a frequent performer at Yin Yang Night Club and is now a part of the Nclusion+ livestreams. While Ruble says they enjoy performing during livestreams, they have found it difficult to recreate their live performances.

“There’s no crowd interaction, which is a lot of what I did as a performer,” Ruble says. “It’s more difficult to get that connection with your crowd while they’re sitting at home watching on Facebook.”

Ruble says livestreams can be a hit or miss for earning money. Viewers can use Venmo to tip the drag queens for their virtual performances. During a recent livestream, Ruble made only $10, but their most successful livestream earned them $100.

Some drag queens have found other ways of continu-

Anthony Brown peforms as Liz Anya. He and Lorilie host a YouTube series.

Shane Ruble performs as Bea Jay Enidae on the Nclusion+ livestreams.

ing their craft while at home.

Anthony Brown, who performs as Liz Anya, has been filming a YouTube series, Pretty Busted, where he joins fellow local drag queen Logan Pease, who performs as Lorilie, for reaction videos to season 12 of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Recently, Pease filmed a music video as Lorilie, lip-syncing to the song “Nobody” by Sylvia.

Brown and Pease aren’t working with Nclusion+, but they both support the idea and are eager to hit the clubs once again.

“When I’m on the stage and I get to perform, it’s such a freeing and fun feeling. It’s a good way to interact with the audience and the community,” Pease says. “That’s what I miss the most.”

COLUMBIA ART LEAGUE

SUMMER HOURS

NOON-4PM | TUESDAY - SATURDAY Follow us on social media In case of a change in hours or programs Facebook.com/artleague Instagram & Twitter: @coartleague 10

VOX MAGAZINE • JULY/AUGUST 2020

Photography courtesy of Logan Pease and Shane Ruble

C U LT U RE MUSIC

admirable self-discipline, honing their skills and artistry. They are fierce and passionate in what they do. They have also thought through what they can offer that others cannot, to break through in a predominantly male industry.

Sinquefield: In the past, your opportunities were based on who you knew in Hollywood. It’s a different world now; it just matters on the quality of the music.

You have to have opportunities to develop your craft. Because of the funding we’ve been giving, for this program and the Mizzou New Music Initiative, we’re growing a lot more composers.

Out of tune Women often are overlooked in the world of classical and jazz composition and performance. Some locals hope to change that.

BY EMMA VEIDT

A

lison Robuck started writing and performing original piano compositions when she was 10. Today, she is an oboist and a music teacher at Central Methodist University and the Missouri Symphony Conservatory. In spring, she pitched the idea of an Odyssey Chamber Orchestra 19th Amendment celebration featuring music from only female composers. But they found there weren’t a lot of living composers to choose from.

When the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra surveyed 21 major American orchestras in the 2014-15 season, it found that less than 2% of the music performed was written by female composers.

Vox talked to three locals about the underrepresentation of women in the world of classical and jazz music: up-and-comer Samantha Fierke, teacher Ayako Tsuruta and philanthropist Jeanne Sinquefield.

Fierke is a Rock Bridge High School alumna who won the Creating Original Music Project first-place award for her Photography courtesy of Unsplash

jazz composition. In 2019, Tsuruta founded the Columbia Music School, where she teaches, and is the executive and artistic director of the Odyssey Chamber Music Series. Sinquefield is a member of two mid-Missouri orchestras, funded the construction of MU’s new School of Music building and created the Creating Original Music Project competition and the Mizzou New Music Initiative.

How are women gaining more respect in the music industry?

Fierke: In music; it’s very empowering that more is left down to the individual artist nowadays. The truth is, they’re just people who do music.

Tsuruta: Some of the leading pop performing vocalists include Barbara Streisand, Beyoncé, Adele and more — who are all very successful businesswomen. In classical music, we have Martha Argerich, Yuja Wang, Maria João Pires and Sharon Isbin, for example. All successful women in the music industry have worked with

Samantha Fierke, Alison Robuck, Jeanne Sinquefield and Ayako Tsuruta are four women making an impact on local music.

Sinquefield started the Creating Original Music Project, which recognizes Missouri student composers from kindergarten through high school, in 2005. Fierke was one of its 2020 winners.

DID YOU KNOW?

The St. Louis Symphony was one of the first symphonies to implement a blind audition process in the 1970s. With unnamed musicians behind a screen, it removed physical characteristics from consideration and helped lead to more diverse orchestras.

How can we continue moving in the direction of gender equality?

Fierke: [Female musicians] can use their platform to stand up for themselves and for women entering the industry. I got to meet a jazz vocalist, Jane Monheit, and she was telling me all about how she has been able to overcome the hurdles of being a woman in the industry and that she is trying her best to also carve that path for other women who are entering that scene.

Tsuruta: We all need to educate ourselves and gain consistency in being heard.

One cannot deny the fact that there will always be only one Johann Sebastian Bach or Ludwig van Beethoven; all the great male composers were given the opportunity to work and improve their skills on the job; whereas, the vast majority of the female composers were denied such opportunities. Both men and women need to educate themselves in the art of composition and keep their work performed wherever and however they can.

Sinquefield: You have to have an opportunity to find people and to have your music performed and recorded.

We’re seeing a lot more female composers in the K-12 opportunities, the high school summer camps, our undergrad [programs] and the International Composers Festival. And there are also women who’ve been there for a long time. If you want to grow more female composers, you have to have these opportunities to interact with other composers. My goal is to make Missouri a mecca for musical composition because it’s always had a long history of being where American music comes from.

VOX MAGAZINE • JULY/AUGUST 2020

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CULTURE FILM

Documentaries at a distance What happens when storytellers can’t get close to their subjects?

BY KATELYNN MCILWAIN

C

OVID-19 has disrupted filmmaking everywhere, and for documentary filmmakers, there are additional challenges. Making a documentary requires filmmakers to know their subjects. To get close. But when a new, contagious virus enters the scene, building that closeness gets complicated.

Matt Schacht, a local filmmaker and owner of Peace Frame Productions in Columbia, says he has noticed the damper that physical distancing guidelines can put on the filming process.

“Intimacy can be hard to achieve, especially if you’re meeting somebody for the first time, and half your face is covered up by a mask,” Schacht says.

“It’s uncomfortable. It’s awkward. It doesn’t physically feel nice. But I think people are getting adjusted to it.”

Schacht decided to start a personal project on COVID-19 and PPE. The early days of filming were “frightening,” Schacht says, because there were so many unknowns. “We didn’t know what kind of danger we were exposing ourselves to,” Schacht says. “There were people in full PPE, and there were sick

people coming to the door and tapping on the glass,” he says. “How do you exist in that environment, do what you need to do as a storyteller and stay safe when the disease is so unknown?”

At that time, Schacht says, the CDC guidelines were shifting frequently, and no one seemed to have enough information.

Since then, Doc Society, an organization that supports documentarians and their projects, released guidelines for filmmakers to help them mitigate risk.

Plot twists For some documentaries, the pandemic meant shifting the focus of the films.

In fall 2019, Schacht started working on a documentary to commemorate the Missouri Symphony’s 50th anniversary. Filming was disrupted when COVID-19 arrived. The story became about how the symphony is continuing its work in the pandemic.

Recent University of Missouri graduate Manuela Kalamboukas, who was completing a capstone documentary film project, also had to change

Before social distancing began, Megan Casady was following abortion legislation and protests in Missouri.

direction. Her original two ideas, one about a hypnotist performer and one about a shopping mall, required large groups of people. Stacey Woelfel, the director of MU’s Jonathan B. Murray Center for Documentary Journalism, helped Kalamboukas shift her focus to make the film Second Semester Senior Year about how her younger sister handled missing the important final months of high school. “It really turned out to be a film about my sister because I was here with her all of the time,” Kalamboukas says.

SAFETY FIRST

A shifting news cycle Before the pandemic started, Megan Casady, a freelance photographer and documentary filmmaker in Columbia, had been working on a film about abortion legislation in Missouri.

That included attending pro-choice and pro-life demonstrations. “Pretty much all of that story gathering has stopped partially from social distancing,” Casady says.

For Casady, there has been an additional shift. With COVID-19 and protest coverage dominating the news cycle, there’s less focus on abortion protests. “Right now, there are bigger things at play, especially the Black Lives Matter movement, which is fantastic, and I’m so happy to see change there,” Casady says. But abortion is not at the forefront of conversation right now.

“This time last year, H.B. 126 was

Doc Society, an organization that supports documentarians and their projects, released a risk assessment guide and safety guidelines which include:

If possible, have the film crew self-isolate for 14 days before production.

Sit at an angle during interviews instead of face-toface.

Film outside when possible.

Matt Schacht (right) continued his documentary about the Missouri Symphony.

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Disinfect camera, audio equipment, memory cards and microphones regularly.

Photography courtesy of Megan Casady and Grace Vance

C U LT U RE FILM

that ‘We are not OK with this.’ ” By comparison, this year, there was no big moment, Casady says.

passed,” Casady says. The Missouri bill banned abortions after eight weeks except in medical emergencies and was later blocked in federal court. “There was this 800-plus gathering of prochoice people in St. Louis, and it was this huge moment — this movement

Post scripts While her abortion documentary is on pause, Casady has been covering other subjects such as small farms, food sourcing and COVID-19. “I’m making a documentary. I’m not entirely sure the direction,” she says.

For Kalamboukas, the sudden adjustment in her senior project allowed her to tell a story that was close to her, and the adrenaline rush from having to adapt quickly was exciting.

“The main thing that I took away from this was to go with the flow and embrace the unexpected things,” she says. “I think this was the film I was supposed to make.”

Schacht has continued telling the story about the Missouri Symphony, and he says he thinks it was the right option, even in light of health risks.

“We’re in the middle of a documen-

Manuela Kalamboukas filmed a documentary at home during quarantine.

tary where the organization that we’re documenting can’t do the very thing that it does,” Schacht says. “We have to go out and cover this right now. It’s not like we can just sit back and then try to tell the story afterward.”

600 Businesses, 100 Restaurants, 50 Square Blocks

IT'S GOOD TO BE HERE DiscoverTheDistrict.com

Photography courtesy of Manuela Kalamboukas

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Meet your neighbors.

Our city is home to a host of lifestyles, beliefs and ideas. These are people and places we pass by on a daily basis — without knowing their stories. It’s time to meet some of your neighbors, Columbia. They’re taking risks, trying new things, and finding success in our community.

They’re bringing retro back.

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Forget Throwback Thursday. Antonio Rainey and Lamarr Holt throw it back every day at their clothing shop, Vintage Collectible Retro.

BY CHELSEA ROEMER

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hat goes around comes around. The motivating factor for Antonio Rainey and Lamarr Holt when they opened their store, Vintage Collectible Retro, was to bring back ’80s and ’90s style.

“I have always been into urban streetwear,” Rainey says. “I grew up a ’90s kid, so it is what I know and love.”

The pair have known each other for about 15 years, since their high school days at Rock Bridge, and are as close as family, they say. Both have a passion for vintage-style clothing. They opened VCR in August 2019. Walk in their store, located on Nebraska Avenue, and you’ll notice vintage sports tees, throwback jerseys, designer brands and bright sneakers. You can also browse their newest styles on Facebook.

An idea for a vintage, retro-style clothing store came about after realizing a true passion for the clothing business.

“I was working in sales and really had to evaluate everything because I was not as happy as I could have been,” Rainey says. “I realized I wanted to do what

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ETHAN WESTON

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I love, and we both have a passion for the industry and hype clothing.”

Rainey and Holt add a little extra style by customizing items. Distressed jeans, dyed shirts and the store’s specialty: one-of-a-kind sneakers, from toddler-size to adult. A white Nike Airmax canvas becomes a wavy teal-and-gold sneaker, or a pair of Air Force 1’s gets a Dragon Ball Z-themed facelift, for example. Customers can bring in a pair or purchase them at the store to be made-to-order at the shop.

“Art was really something I was interested in, and I love working with people’s ideas,” Rainey says.

“The ’80s and ’90s were about individuality, so that is something we want to provide.”

Sometimes, VCR has giveaways on Facebook.

In March, there was a photo contest. Take a photo in your Air Maxes, and you might win a custom pair.

The “flyest pair” or “most creative picture” winners got free custom work on any pair of Air Maxes.

Both owners have an eye for detail and respect for

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PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF SCUBA ADVENTURE

He’s diving deep.

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creativity. Every vintage-name-brand item in the store is inspected and authenticated by Rainey or Holt, and both often fly to Los Angeles to find new items to sell, as well as searching online. In their own shop, they’re willing to negotiate prices and trades.

“One of the reasons why we hand pick our items is because we wanted to bring something unique to Columbia, something it didn’t already have,” Rainey says.

Aside from providing residents with a new style of clothing and taste of vintage culture, the two are trying to make a bigger impact on the community.

At the store’s grand opening, they handed out over 70 free backpacks stuffed with school supplies to kids in the community in addition to offering free food, games and face painting at the event.

“We’ll probably do an annual school supply giveaway,” Rainey says. “I remember growing up and going to school supply giveways. Growing up, me and my brother [Holt] didn’t really have much. It’s all about paying it forward.”

Photography by Photographer Name

Jeff Adams manifests his passion for scuba in many aspects of his life.

BY LAUREN POLANSKI

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cuba diving might not seem like a feasible pastime in a state like Missouri, separated from any sea by hundreds of miles on all sides. Despite this, Jeff Adams has managed to successfully operate his diving gear business, Scuba Adventures in Jefferson City, for 30 years.

On one of his dive trips in the Bahamas, Jeff Adams discovered a sunken ship dating back to the mid-1700s to the early 1800s that stretches 500 or 600 feet across the ocean floor. “Nobody else ever dives this but me,” he says. “And so, it’s my piece of the world that I feel like is mine.”

He has visited that ship at least once every year for the past 26 years.

These days, Adams spends much of his time in the Lake of the Ozarks, doing boat charters renting out his condo in Puerto Rico and doing recovery dives.

How did you get into scuba?

When I first went to college, I ended up in the country of Panama, and I was going to take my college classes there. The college classes that I was going to take, they ended up canceling those because there wasn’t enough people taking them. So, that meant ‘I’m in Panama, and I have nothing to do right now.’ I was already scuba diving but ended up doing a lot of diving there in Panama and kind of just decided, ‘I think this is what I want to do.’ That’s how that ended up working out.

What is a recovery dive?

Recovery dives are [for] a wide range of things — everything from a single black pearl to a 17,000-pound chain, body searches, lost cell phones, rings, airplanes, boats, yachts. It’s anything you can imagine getting close to water. Every job is different. And you just have to remain totally calm and think about what you’re doing.

You lay down on the ground, pitch black, and start crawling around trying to figure out where you are, what you’re touching.

That’s what you’re dealing with, and there are so many things that can go wrong. You have to think about every move before you

make it. Otherwise, if you don’t think it through before you do it as a possibility, it could go wrong, real fast. All you’re doing is going by feel.

What would you say is something you had to overcome?

In March of 2019 our previous shop, Scuba Adventure, burned down while I was traveling in the Bahamas. I felt so helpless.

There was nothing I could do. And I’m not a do-nothing kind of person. I’ve been in business for over 30 years, and I felt an obligation to the community. As soon as I got back, I immediately looked for another place and opened up right away. It was a very quick turnaround, fortunately. I think about three weeks. But I had a lot of help from local divers; everybody was wanting to help. After the fire, my friend, who is also the Jefferson City sheriff, took over business operations.

What activities do you do to give back to the community?

We do events like The Polar Plunge and Dive with a Cop, and for me, it’s the charity. It’s kind of like giving back to the community but also, it’s a very rewarding thing, as far as those of us that are participating. Whenever you see that you’re able to make a difference and help others: That’s what it’s all about.

What advice would you give to someone who’s afraid to explore and seek new things out in the world?

Start gently. Don’t go full blast trying to get as much knowledge as you can before you venture. But don’t give up on that goal because that’s what’s going to keep you going. When you give up on a goal, it’s kind of a letdown. At least if you try, you’re going to feel good about yourself.

How long do you plan on scuba diving?

As long as I’m physically able. We’ve got people in their 80s that are scuba diving, so I think I’ll be diving for a long time.

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hen’s the last time you loved your hair?

If you could change anything about your hair, what would it be?

These aren’t questions from the latest Buzzfeed quiz or from a L’oréal commercial. These are what Chrystal Graves asks her clients as she helps them embrace their beauty regardless of hair type or skin color.

“Hair is hair, and it doesn’t have a skin color,” Graves says. “I do all hair, which has always been my philosophy. So you diagnose the hair, and you go from there.”

Her salon, Chrystal L. Hair & Makeup, is all-natural. She uses vegan, gluten- and carcinogen-free products. Graves says it’s important to use healthy options on her clients and make sure they leave the salon with the knowledge to use natural products at home with confidence.

When one of her friends opened up The Art of Hair salon, Graves jumped in to help. At the time, Graves was an administrative assistant for the University of Missouri office of undergraduate research.

Her friend noticed her skill and suggested Graves take the hair business seriously and go to cosmetology school.

Graves had a different idea: “I don’t want to spend $17,000 to learn what I already know,” she says. “I was pretty familiar with the makeup of cosmetology schools and the segregation within them. So, I knew that I would most likely learn about the hair of people who look like me, which I felt like I had a pretty good grasp on.”

Instead, Graves started an 3,000hour apprenticeship at The Art of Hair.

She eventually rented a booth there and managed the salon part-time for nearly three years. Then, she decided to venture out on her own.

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Upon opening her salon in 2011, Graves was determined to help her clients feel empowered to care for their hair naturally. That’s because of how quickly products are absorbed through the scalp and into the bloodstream.

“Being mindful of those things, I knew that I wanted to try to do this as healthy as possible,” Graves says.

As a mother of three, being her own boss gives her the flexibility to be more involved in her childrens’ lives as they grow up. It has also given her the flexibility to be a catalyst for social change in Columbia.

Over the years, Graves has taken note of the women she encounters throughout her day. She pays attention to what makes them stand out, where they work and how they help the community.

Wanting these women to be role models for Black and Brown girls in Columbia, Graves co-founded a nonprofit called The BOLD Academy, a youth empowerment program for girls of color. The girls in the program participate in leadership development and enrichment activities, all geared toward helping them achieve social and economic equity.

While they’re in the program, the girls go on weeklong visits to local colleges, where they engage in everything from art and STEM to leadership and personal development. The academy also starts a 529 fund, which is an investment fund for the post-secondary education, for each girl in the program.

One good thing to come out of the pandemic is the extra time it allowed Graves to develop an online coaching platform that will help stylists diversify their business and understand all hair textures. She plans to

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Chrystal Graves seeks to help via her salon, her academy and more.

launch the site in mid-July.

“There is a really big conversation that’s happening about segregation and about cosmetology schools’ responsibility to teach everyone the importance of understanding the diversity in hair textures,” she says.

Graves is looking forward to the website launch and to combatting the segregation within hair education. Each day, when clients are in her seat, no matter the hair type, she wants to help them embrace their true selves.

“I feel like as humans, when we can be our authentic selves, we are happy,” Graves says. “So whatever that looks like is why I’ve always wanted to do this.”

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She gives of herself.

Photography courtesy of Chrystal Graves

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For Gary and Mary Licklider, what began as a small farm has grown into a “wooly” big business.

BY LAUREN TRONSTAD

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How did you come up with the name Curly Eye? Gary: I do woodworking projects and making small jewelry boxes and small projects for friends. I typically use curly maple and bird’seye maple for products. When we got our alpacas, we noticed they had big eyes and long, curly eyelashes, so we felt the name just fit.

How does the sheering process work?

Mary: The actual sheering only takes about an hour and a half, but we usually make a party out of it.

Gary: We have used the same guy for about 14

How much do you yield during sheering?

Mary: We get maybe 500 pounds from other farms. We usually do batches of about 300 pounds, but we’re doing two to three batches like that each year.

What does upkeep look like?

Gary: We spend about 15 minutes in the morning and 15 in the evening with feeding.

Maybe once a week, I’ll spend about an hour in the barn really cleaning up thoroughly.

Once a month they get their Ivermectin and meningeal worm shots. Once every three months you have to cut toenails. Takes about an hour. That’s about it.

How do you choose the names for each alpaca?

Mary: I taught English for about 20 years, and I choose a work of literature, or an author each year. The Dr. Suess year we had Cindy Lou Who, Theodosia Geisel, Mayzie Bird and Little Lola Lopp.

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ary and Mary Licklider have been raising alpacas for about 18 years at their farm, Curly Eye. They began with five alpacas and have raised so many since that they don’t know the exact number. They now keep about 20 of them at a time.

Mary and three other women use the alpaca wool as part of the business Heartfelt Alpaca Creations. They make clothing, shoe insoles (their most popular item), coasters and stuffed animals from the fine fibers. Some

What made you decide to raise alpacas?

Gary: We wanted animals that you did not have to eat to enjoy. We considered raising llamas but realized they were big and hard to handle, so we went to an alpaca farm and fell in love with alpacas.

years, and he comes from New Zealand to the United States. He stays with us for a couple of days, and we sheer our alpacas before we go around to other alpaca farms in the area and help sheer their animals.

Photography by Ethan Weston

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They’ve got their eyes on alpacas.

wool also is made into yarn, and the courser portions become batting for comforters.

Gary originally is from St. Louis and Mary is from Washington, Missouri, but they both have some farming in their background.

The Lickliders talked with Vox about what it’s like to tend a herd of these wooly animals.

The founders of Jamaican Jerk Hut created a business out of post-soccer grill sessions.

BY ELI HOFF

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irst came soccer. Colin Russell and Rex Scott came to Jefferson City from Jamaica to play the beautiful game at Lincoln University, and even after college, kickabouts became a staple of each week, a Saturday night tradition.

And a staple of every kickabout was Russell and Scott setting up a grill after.

“We would start grilling and having a few beers,” Russell says. “And then we realized people were coming and wanting us to share.”

Russell and Scott, who have been friends since grade school, were cooking to fill a need, at first.

Unable to find Caribbean cuisine in mid-Missouri, they started making it for themselves.

It wasn’t long until they were making it for other people, too.

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Photography by Alexa Hodges/Archive and Kendra Johnson/Archive

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They’re no jerks.

Some started bringing hunks of meat to be cooked, and Scott says their post-soccer grilling turned into “a block party.”

To gauge interest, they set up a tent during Homecoming. They ran out of food in a couple of hours.“We were like, ‘People really like this stuff,’” Russell says. “It just went on from there.”

They started the Jamaican Jerk Hut food truck in 2005 and opened their first brick-and-mortar location, primarily for takeout, in Columbia in the spring of 2018. In February, they expanded once again, opening a second, larger restaurant in Jefferson City.

Scott says the restaurants feel like part of the quintessential Jamaican experience.

“The vibe is no-frills — very, very relaxed,” he says. “Which is indicative of the kind of the way typical Jamaicans carry themselves. It’s not pretentious — you get what you get. It’s not fine dining.

We like to have people come into the restaurant for the food, but we also like to impart some of our lives so that they leave with a little.”

And while most of their customer base are Americans broadening their palates, Jamaican Jerk Hut fills the need that Russell and Scott had in their college days. The taste of the Caribbean is the taste of home for some customers.

“They really appreciate it,” Russell says. “It’s somewhere they can come and we can share languages and laugh and joke. Just seeing that makes them feel proud.”

One source of pride is the restaurant’s jerk chicken, a Jamaican classic. Russell says most customers like to group the dish with rice and potato salad — and a glass of Jamaican Jerk Hut’s Rasta Lemonade.

Scott is coy when discussing the beverage’s secret ingredient. “I like to tell people that I only know two ingredients and (Russell) knows the rest — water and sugar,” Scott jokes.

Outside of their restaurants and food trucks, Russell and Scott find ways to stay connected to the way their business began: evenings of soccer.

Scott says he still plays twice a week while Russell is working his way back into the sport.

Both are fans of Liverpool, the defending European champions who are atop the English Premier League standings as the league prepares to resume play.

“We’re about to take that title,” Russell says while talking about his favorite team.

He and Scott know a thing or two about winning trophies. Even though soccer and cooking have switched positions of prominence in their lives since the days of cookouts after the final whistle, their over-40 team won its league last year.

Between a food truck, two restaurants and that soccer league championship, Russell and Scott know how to make their hobbies successful. Maybe they have a secret ingredient for that, too.

He saves sports memories.

For Chais Blakemore, baseball card collecting and trading is a lost art.

BY DAVID DEORNELLIS

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efore the internet age, sports fans relied on cards to track player’s stats or get behind-the-scenes information. Perhaps only a Topps baseball card could teach you that pitcher Moose Haas has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and is a certified locksmith, or that shortstop Ozzie Smith has ended up on several “Best Dressed” lists over the years.

These days, Dugout Sportscards, owned and operated by Chais Blakemore, helps the players, trivia, stats, and the cards they live on survive in Columbia.

Blakemore is an avid sports fan and collector.

He has also helped organize card shows with fundraisers to support local youth basketball programs in Columbia.

How did you get into collecting cards?

My stepdad collected baseball cards. I actually didn’t have a lot in common with him at first. But I enjoyed sports; he enjoyed sports, and so we used to go to card shops and talk about it, look at them and stuff like that. And then it evolved naturally from there throughout the years.

What else do you do in a day apart from selling cards?

There’s a lot. When people bring in collections, you’re constantly having to look up each individual card. You’re pricing it. You’re determining whether it should be set aside, and send it off for grading.

[You’re also] trying to find inventory for the shop. Sometimes you’re kind of limited on the amount of stuff that you can find. If I can find cards, I have to go out and find either boxes or

Photography by Ethan Weston

packs or something that has some in it so that I can get what people are asking for, the stuff that’s in demand right now. We do card shows, so there’s some trying to find new places to go and find new customers. It’s tough.

What advice would you give someone who’s starting out collecting?

Do research. If you’re a young kid, or you want to start something, collect the guys that you like. It’s supposed to be fun. After a while, it evolves into caring more about what you have, or if you have autos or relics or premium cards as opposed to just having whatever. But if you’re first getting started, whether you’re young or old or whatever, pick out stuff that you like or players you like, and then it evolves into something a little bit more down the road.

What do you think of buying cards online?

I think people want to see it, touch it, look at it in person nowadays, as opposed to buying online. You really don’t know what you’re getting until you see it in person when you receive it. I mean, there’s nothing personal about it. You don’t get to show up and get it yourself. You don’t get to talk to somebody about it, don’t get to look at it yourself. And there’s a whole generation that has never seen shops.

What is special about your shop?

There’s a lot of kids we see that come in here, and they’re just like, ‘It’s nothing but cards and sports.’

You don’t get that at a lot of places anymore. I think that’s it.

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or his fifth and most recent motorbiking trip, Bob Forsee rode a Honda XR 150 through Vietnam. It was 2018, and at 74 years old, he took an 1,800-mile route from Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi. He spent months researching.

Since his late 20s, Forsee had wanted to speed off on motorbiking excursions. His original dream was to journey as far south as he could through the Americas, but life came first.

Forsee would see many jobs throughout his graphic design and teaching career, including creating design for toy packaging, teaching fashion and illustration at Stephens College and running his own business, Dodge Artwork. None, however, involved motorbikes.

When he retired and sold his company, it was in part due to a shift in the graphic design world after the emergence of the Mac computer. “[My clients] discovered, ‘Hey, we can buy a Mac for our secretary in the outer office here, and they can do an awful lot of that stuff,” Forsee says. “We won’t bother having Bob do it.”

Instead of holding resentment toward the technology that changed the course of his life, Forsee openly embraced it and used it to plan his motorbiking adventures and to communicate with his loved ones while traveling the world. He soon discovered the Horizons Unlimited website, which was dedicated to motorbiking trips, and made connections with other like-minded people.

With that resource as a guide, soon after retirement, Forsee revisited his lifelong dream and spent over a year planning his first trip.

For his maiden excursion, Forsee rode his Kawasaki KLR650 from Columbia to Panama City in November 2006.

The 4,200-mile trip wasn’t a solo one.

Forsee met up with Harold Brooks, another motorbike enthusiast, in Texas, who he met on the Horizons Unlimited website, and they traveled together down Central America.

His wife, Brenda Forsee, doesn’t ride motorbikes, and she initially was nervous when

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY ETHAN WESTON

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out of retirement to help others. For the past 10 years, Forsee has created a 24-page monthly newsletter for the Columbia Senior Center, which Brenda proofreads for him. It was while visiting the center that Forsee discovered another need he could fill — computer classes.

He says he realized that while many seniors used computers, many wanted to learn more. With his graphic-design experience, Forsee volunteered to teach a class. Using the newsletter as advertising space, he announced a new program that would be held twice a week in May. Its name is straight to the point: Computer Class for Beginners.

The course teaches the basics — how to use a mouse, how to double-click, how to copy and paste and how to create and name folders on the desktop. Finally, seniors learn how to access the internet safely and confidently and how to use email. Forsee taught the class for two Mays in a row, until 2020 when the pandemic forced postponement.

Even though the Columbia Senior Center remains closed until further notice, Forsee encourages other seniors to embrace technology and not be ashamed of learning how to use it. After all, it was technology — first a motorbiking website and then researching his trips — that helped him pursue his own dreams in retirement.

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Age is just a number for Bob Forsee.

He’s young at heart.

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He seeks the open road.

his passion for the motorbikes re-emerged.

His first adventure through Central America was plagued by poor internet connections.

The longest she went without hearing from him was 10 days. “I even called the credit card company to see if there was any activity, wondering if he was safe,” she says.

Despite this, she has continued to support him. He has since taken five motorbiking trips — others included routes through eastern Europe, southern Africa and South America. His trips ranged from about 1,500 miles through Austria and the Czech Republic to more than 5,000 miles when he took a monthlong journey through the Andes Mountains in Chile to Cusco, Peru, to see Machu Picchu, the remains of an ancient Incan city. On his journies, he has visited the famous Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and the Dolphin Coast in South Africa, and he spent his 65th birthday visiting Peru’s Valle Sagrado.

The couple communicates via FaceTime and Skype throughout most of his trips, and technology often helps as he navigates his way through foreign countries. “If you want to know about using an ATM in Bangladesh, for instance, it’s just freaking incredible,” Forsee says. “It’s everything right out there for you.”

Between planning cross-continental trips, Forsee decided to pull his graphic design skills

Photography by Photographer Name

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We still scream for ice cream Local ice-cream shops adapt and keep dishing up everyone’s favorite summertime treats.

BY ANNASOFIA SCHEVE Whether it’s chasing after the musical truck meandering through the neighborhood or strolling into your favorite air-conditioned shop, ice cream has an especially sweet appeal come summertime. According to the International Dairy Foods Association, July is the busiest month for ice-cream makers.

No surprise there. This summer in Columbia, though the cool treats taste the same, operations might look a bit different. We’ve touched base with several local spots to find out what’s new, whether you prefer specialty treats, ice cream, custard or froyo.

Columbia’s ice cream shops are open for business — with new social distancing measures in place.

Photography courtesy of Unsplash

Let’s Roll Ice Cream Let’s Roll Ice Cream, which creates rolled ice cream delicacies, has new protocols in place. The shop announced on Facebook on May 8 that it would be reopening (on weekends only for now), cutting the maximum occupancy to half, implementing spacing between tables and chairs and putting tape on the floor to show customers where to stand in line.

Owner Jeffrey McWilliams says it’s disappointing not to be able to give customers the same in-store experience, but nevertheless, in the summer, “people will still get out and eat ice cream.”

21 Conley Road; 2-10 p.m., Fri.-Sun. Randy’s Frozen Custard Custard shops in Columbia such as Randy’s, Columbia’s longest-running custard stand, remained open throughout the VOX MAGAZINE • JULY/AUGUST 2020

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Dine in

carryou t or Delivery available

Check us out at

www.theheidelberg.com Diverse programming you can’t find anywhere else.

It’s community radio!

KOPN

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VOX MAGAZINE • JULY/AUGUST 2020

pandemic closures because drive-thru services allowed for relatively contact-free ordering and pickup. Randy’s has always had outdoor-only seating, and its walk-up window reopened to customers April 26. This July and August, Randy’s will feature its Cake Batter Cookie Dough Concrete. Try it using one of the shop’s groovy color-changing spoons.

3304 W. Broadway Business Park Court; 3-9 p.m., Mon.-Fri., noon-10 p.m., Sat.-Sun. Sparky’s Homemade Ice Cream Home of Oreo Speedwagon, Honey Lavender and many more flavors, Sparky’s on South Ninth Street started the summer selling gallons, quarts and pints curbside. Now the little green shop has reopened with limited hours. For health and safety reasons, no more than six people are allowed in the shop at once, and there’s no indoor seating amid the eclectic art, but Sparky’s has outdoor seating to enjoy your scoops al fresco.

21 S. Ninth St.; 2-9 p.m.

Sugarwitch This ice-cream sandwich company specializes in gourmet flavors. There’s rose ice cream with a pistachio cardamom sandie on the outside, mint chip paired with minty brownie and more.

Sugarwitch hosts pop-up events around town and sells its goodies at Beet Box cafe. While Beet Box was closed for two months at the height of the virus, Sugarwitch also was closed. But now, it’s back to business. Sandwiches are prepared on Sundays, Mondays and some evenings in the Beet Box kitchen and sold throughout the week starting on Wednesdays.

Sugarwitch also started a Pint of the Month Club, a three-month, $30 ice-cream subscription.

The first round had a twist: members of the club didn’t know what flavors they were going to get.

Future rounds might include dairy-free options.

You can register for upcoming months of the pint club on the Sugarwitch online store.

Pick up pints and sandwiches at Beet Box, 602 Fay St. Yogoluv This Ninth Street staple has missed its student customers this spring and summer and is not using its usual self-serve model. The shop is offering three different size cups of yogurt with set prices.

“You kind of miss out of all the fun of making your own thing,” says owner Ben Huang of how COVID-19 has affected his shop. But, he says, safety is his main concern: “I don’t want to rush anything.” For now, Yogoluv provides order cards to fill out, so patrons still create custom desserts.

201 S. Ninth St.; Thurs.-Sun. 1-9 p.m.

E AT & DRI N K SUSTAINABILITY

Eat your vegetables ...And everything else, to help keep food waste from feeding the landfill.

BY SPENCER NORRIS

T

hrowing away what we don’t eat creates a heaping food waste problem. In 2017, Columbians sent 34,000 tons of food to the landfill, or about 17% of the city’s landfill waste that year. Nationally, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates we throw away up to 40% of the food supply each year.

Add in things like individually wrapped goods, nonrecyclable packaging and carbon-emitting delivery trucks, and it seems a zero-waste food lifestyle is next to impossible. But Kalle LeMone, co-owner of Nourish Cafe and Market, says she thinks you can get “pretty darn close to it.”

“I think it takes a lot more work,” she says, but making lifestyle changes makes it easier. “You get systems in place, and you get used to it.” How you choose to shop, cook and dispose of food has a big impact on how much waste you produce.

Here’s how you can cut down on food waste in each of those areas.

At the market Tackling waste production starts with what you buy and how.

Think about how your food gets to the store. Buying local reduces the hidden environmental costs of food, especially carbon emissions, says Mark Haim of Mid-Missouri Peaceworks.

Also, purchasing nonperishables in bulk Photography courtesy of Unsplash

saves money and can prevent waste as long as you’re smart about how you prepare meals with them over time.

Be sure to ask what your purveyor does with whatever it can’t sell. Many local establishments partner with organizations such as CoMo Food Not Bombs, which gives away the leftovers.

How you shop is important, too. Reusable silicone produce bags are better than the single-use ones at the grocery store.

You can pick up some up at local stores, including Tallulahs and Alpine Shop.

If you want to go the extra mile, plant your own garden; it doesn’t get much more local than your own backyard. If you don’t have the space, Columbia’s Community Garden Coalition provides plots around the city that you can use for free.

At the table Just because you cook meals at home doesn’t always mean you’re cutting down on waste. If you’re making a new dish every night, you’re likely also producing more waste as a result.

Bulk cooking and meal planning are important steps toward eliminating waste at home, Haim says. This will help you cut down on packaging. Make sure you’re using everything you buy, and don’t be afraid to push the best-by dates, especially on shelf-stable products. According to a report from the Harvard Food Law and

Bringing reusable produce bags to the grocery store and composting at home are a couple ways to reduce the impact of food on local landfills. Shopping and cooking with waste reduction in mind also have a positive effect.

DID YOU KNOW?

Food that could have been composted makes up 34% of what goes into landfills. The city offers composting workshops. The next two are planned for July 11 and Sept.

15, either in person or online. Register at como.gov

Policy Clinic, for many products, those dates have nothing to do with safety and are largely unregulated.

If you regularly eat out, choose destinations that are making an effort to be eco-friendly. For instance, opt for those that use compostable or recyclable to-go containers. Nourish composts food scraps, too, LeMone says, and the owners allow locals to take some for their gardens. What’s left is fed to the co-owner’s donkeys.

At the trash can There’s a good chance that no matter how careful you are, you’re going to wind up with some food scraps and empty containers. Knowing how to deal with the inevitable waste is critical to cutting down.

Recycling the containers is helpful, but you can “recycle” your leftovers, too, by composting. If you’re not sure where to start, the city operates composting workshops throughout the year that you can register for online.

If you have space, you can even raise your own livestock that will eat your scraps.

City ordinances allow residents to raise up to six chickens in their backyards.

Or, maybe you love the idea of feeding animals but don’t have the space for chickens. Try vermiculture: Feed your scraps to a bucket of worms under your sink. You might get some weird looks from guests, but Mother Nature will thank you.

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84 million Americans

Maybe even you, have prediabetes.

Guy-who-thinks-teamjerseys-are-formal-attire.

IT’S GOOD PLANE FUN P. 27

ON THE STREETS, DAY AND NIGHT P. 29

The CDC recommends people 2 years old and up wear face masks in social settings where distancing is difficult to maintain. But, without adaptions to how we speak, that means many who are deaf or hard of hearing miss out on the conversation.

Communication, masked For those who are deaf or hard of hearing, seeing people talk is vital to understanding.

BY CAITLIN DANBORN During the pandemic, masks have become both a staple and a controversy.

On April 3, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officially recommended that people wear face masks in public settings, especially where social distancing standards are difficult to maintain, such as grocery stores. That recommendation has been met with varying levels of compliance. But one thing that’s clear is that wearing a mask affects communication for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Illustrations by Madison Wisse and photography courtesy of Unsplash

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CITY LIFE PEOPLE

Masks can muffle people’s words and make it impossible to read lips.

Stephanie Logan, executive director of Deaf Lead, a deaf advocacy organization in Columbia, says wearing a mask that hides half of a person’s face makes communicating in American Sign Language nearly impossible, as ASL is about 90-95% facial expressions.

This presents a dilemma: Masks help slow the spread of COVID-19, but they inhibit communication.

Logan describes wearing masks as unsettling for her as a person who is deaf. She says for people who are hearing, the intonation of a verbal sentence can contribute to its meaning and how it is understood. For people who are deaf, this intonation comes from people’s facial expressions, which are difficult to communicate when much of the face is covered by a mask.

She prefers to communicate with people who wear clear shields, so she can see their faces and mouths, or at least a clear mask that allows the mouth to be seen.

Greta Balasz, a former MU student who transferred to St. Louis University in spring, is an advocate for the deaf community because her mother is deaf. Balasz says people who are deaf already have to fight for their right to communicate in many places and the pandemic compounded this.

“Every single deaf person, it’s almost a universal experience, they struggle for communication,” Balasz says.

“They have to work to find a way to accommodate their communication to hearing people. Hearing people very rarely accommodate communication to deaf people.”

Balasz says hearing people need to think about situations they are in and how they can accommodate people who are deaf in those settings. And different situations lend themselves to different types of communication.

Solutions include speech-to-text phone apps, whiteboards that can be disinfected or businesses hiring people who know sign language or are learning sign language themselves, Logan says.

Additionally, for those who are hard of hearing, speakers can amplify their

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voices with smartphone apps.

Health care can already be largely inaccessible for the deaf community because of the lack of interpreters, especially in rural areas where interpreters might have to drive long distances to provide their services.

Interpreter Corinne Liedtke says strong facial expressions are necessary for interpreters to communicate in American Sign Language to people who are deaf, especially in situations of crisis.

Interpreting for a person who is deaf and blind can be even more difficult with pandemic measures in place.

To make the signs understandable, interpreters must touch the palms of the person they are interpreting for.

Gloves muddle the meaning of the sign for the reader and create a tough choice between effective communication and maintaining social distancing standards.

“While I’m so grateful as a deaf individual to be able to still access the information without a mask, I identify that they are putting themselves at risk by not wearing a mask,” Logan says.

Logan says she thinks clear masks should be made more accessible to those in the medical field, restaurants and other businesses. She emphasized that accessible masks would not be an expensive addition.

Balasz agrees. “There are resources out there,” she says. “You just have to search them out.”

VOX MAGAZINE • JULY/AUGUST 2020

CLEAR MASKS

The Missouri Commission for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing is making masks with clear front panels available for state residents. Visit mcdhh. mo.gov/masks to submit a request. Ashley Lawrence, a college student studying deaf and hard-of-hearing education at Eastern Kentucky University also created a clear mask, according to Forbes.

Lawrence will give away the masks to anyone who emails dhhmaskproject@gmail.com.

MEDICAL SPEAK

Massachusetts released a visual toolkit that people who are deaf can use to communicate with doctors. It includes visuals of coronavirus symptoms, recent travel history and other essential information medical providers would need to know.

BE PREPARED

The Deaf/Hard of Hearing Technology Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center published a set of guidelines for people who are deaf or hard of hearing to use when visiting a hospital because hospitals might not allow interpreters to enter treatment rooms with patients. The guidelines help individuals prepare for visits with advice about smartphone apps and knowing their rights.

Illustrations by Madison Wisse and photography courtesy of Unsplash

C I T Y LI FE PEOPLE

Take to the skies Hobbyists create replicas that definitely aren’t kids’ toys.

BY ZEPHYRUS LI

W

hen Mike Lising was 8 years old and watched his father fly a radio-controlled aircraft, he thought it seemed like flying a kite, but mechanical. He immediately was hooked.

Lising now is a graphic design coordinator for the Missouri State Teachers Association, but he never gave up his love of flying. He’s a member of the Mid-Missouri Radio Control Association, also known as the Flying Tigers, for people who make and fly model aircraft.

A radio-controlled aircraft is remotely controlled using radio frequency by a pilot on the ground. But these are not the kid-friendly plastic kits you might be envisioning. These detailed aircraft are sophisticated flying machines that dedicated hobbyists often spend months or years designing and building from balsa wood.

“I’ll never get to fly a World War II aircraft,” says Mark Johnston, president of MMRCA and also a licensed pilot.

“But I have the ability to build one and fly one, and they are extremely realistic.”

Johnston currently has 11 aircraft, with an average wingspan of 7 to 8 feet.

The hobby has advanced a lot since the aircraft emerged in the 1930s and reached peak popularity in the 1970s. Sleek, modern-looking drones even fall under the umbrella of radio-controlled aircraft.

MMRCA was established in 1971 as a charter club of the Academy of Model Aeronautics, Johnston says. Along with other radio-controlled clubs and associations, such as Kansas City Radio Control Association and Phantom Flyers R/C club, MMRCA gradually grew and now has 57 members. The club has its own flying field at 2810 S. Coats Lane, approved by the Columbia City Council in 2012.

Johnston is a radio-controlled aircraft veteran. He got into it because of his father, a pilot who served in the Army Air Corps in Europe during World War II. He can still remember driving hours with his father to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for the annual EAA Aviation Museum airshow. “He was always supportive,” Johnston says. “He would take us out to the flying field.”

When Johnston was 16, he built his first conceptual aircraft.

Piloting is only part of the radio-controlled aircraft hobby. Building the vessels is an important element of it, too. People can operate smaller, readyto-fly planes straight from a packing box, but it’s more common to build them, either from kits, which might take months, or from scratch, which could take years, Johnston says.

Johnston says he prefers to make his own and considers it more like an art, with attention to every detail. For instance, wearing paint off of a model

Photography courtesy of Mid-Missouri Radio Control Association

The Flying Tigers can test their model planes and drones on a designated practice field on the west side of Columbia near Scott Boulevard and Chapel Hill Road.

JOIN THE CLUB

For more information about the Flying Tigers, visit the club’s website, mmrca.org.

aircraft’s fuel tank to simulate the look of a fuel spill. “When you put in those little details, other modelers, when they see it, they’re going to appreciate it,” he says.

One of the newer introductions to the hobby is the four-propeller drone.

It is computer-controlled, can hover autonomously and easily take aerial photographs. While drone pilots often focus on photography, traditional radio-controlled aircraft are about flying skills, in addition to the craftsmanship and the love of aviation history.

A first-person view drone is a similar combination of these two. It’s smaller and lighter than radio-controlled aircraft, but controlled in the same way, and with a camera mounted on it. Some photographers use it for extreme angle shots, and others fly it in racing competition. Nathan Garrison, a senior in the MU School of Engineering, has a workshop for building these first-person view drones with a 3D printer.

To pilot a radio-controlled craft with the club, operators need to be members and have a current card from the Academy of Model Aeronautics. The club hosts various events, including the Show-Me Warbird Invitational June 27 and a charity fly-in for the Buddy Pack program July 25.

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CITY LIFE MENTAL HEALTH

these telehealth services aren’t using Zoom but rather an extra-secure software “to try to ensure privacy and confidentiality,” Vossenkemper says. The Counseling Hub uses Spruce, which offers secure phone calls, video sessions and the ability for a client to directly text a provider. Other popular options are Doxy.me and TheraNest.

Is remote therapy possible for kids?

Parsons says all therapy is generally more difficult with younger children than it is with adults, but it’s still possible to hold effective remote therapy sessions with kids. “It’s been a neat way to teach people, especially our kids, to be resilient and be creative with how you manage things,” Parsons says. She has played card games over video with some of her younger clients.

What to know about remote therapy Therapy is more accessible than ever with telehealth’s increasing availability.

BY ANGELINA EDWARDS

A

ccording to a Pew Research Center study published in May, one-third of Americans have experienced high levels of psychological distress during quarantine. Stephanie Parsons, a co-owner and therapist at Counseling Associates in Columbia, says therapy is more accessible than ever, and according to the American Psychological Institute, it is equivalent to in-person therapy in many situations. Vox talked to Parsons, Christi Lero, a Columbia-based therapist at Aspire Counseling, and Tara Vossenkemper, owner, clinical director and therapist at The Counseling Hub, to answer common questions about the remote practice.

What are the benefits of tele-therapy?

Online or phone therapy sessions allow more flexibility for the client, Lero and Parsons say. Some clients might find it difficult to leave work or home for an appointment, and at-home sessions are

28

more convenient. Telehealth can also work well for clients with high anxiety.

“We’ve had a couple of clients who feel more comfortable initiating therapy for the first time because it’s not in person,” Parsons says. “This gives them the opportunity to get therapy and do the process at their own pace.”

Stephanie Parsons (above, from left) specializes in child therapy; Christi Lero specializes in grief, illness and loss; and Tara Vossenkemper is a couples therapist and marriage counselor.

Are there downsides to remote therapy?

Virtual therapy is not for everyone, and some clients benefit more from faceto-face care. Vossenkemper says when you don’t meet in person, you can miss out on nonverbal cues. She adds that it can be difficult for therapy at home to feel truly private for patients who might want to talk about domestic conflicts or abuse. Lero says technology and internet difficulties can also present problems.

Aspire Counseling 302 Campusview Drive, 328-2288

What software is used for telehealth?

All three practices use a HIPAA-compliant telehealth service. In other words,

The Counseling Hub 601 W. Nifong Blvd., 586-3204

VOX MAGAZINE • JULY/AUGUST 2020

Counseling Associates 401 Keene St., 874-8818

Is remote therapy more expensive than in-person sessions?

All three practices price online sessions at the same rate as in-person sessions.

Parsons says rates might differ depending on what insurance you have and what pay model a therapy practice uses. It’s important to know what your insurance plan covers. Parsons says she has noticed many insurance companies offering more coverage for telehealth since the start of the pandemic.

Was remote therapy an option before COVID-19?

Lero says telehealth was an option at Aspire Counseling but was almost never used by therapists prior to the pandemic. Counseling Associates offered telehealth over the past year or so to make counseling more accessible for people outside of Columbia or students unable to leave campus. The Counseling Hub only used telehealth in the past if a client specifically requested it.

Will remote therapy be an option after COVID-19 subsides?

Definitely. All three therapists say they will continue to offer telehealth after COVID-19 because of its accessibility. “I want to make sure people always have that option to do it online,” Vossenkemper says.

Photography courtesy of Stephanie Parsons, Christi Lero and Tara Vossenkemper

C I T Y LI FE ACTIVISM

ICYMI: A movement grows in Columbia The first two weeks of June were marked by daytime and evening protests in support of Black Lives Matter. Here are some key moments.

BY IAN LAIRD

T

he video of George Floyd’s death on May 25 at the hands of four Minneapolis police officers appeared to be the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.

“Everybody should’ve walked away from that video disturbed at what they saw,” says Columbia resident and protest organizer Marcus Ferguson Jr. “Everybody should’ve walked away with some type of fire to say something has got to change at this point.”

In Columbia, various organizers have led protests calling for an end to racial injustice, and reform or defunding of police departments. Peoples Defense, a group Facebook page, serves as a forum and semi-structured way for residents to organize protests. This timeline tracks moments in early June in Columbia (up until the week of Vox’s press deadline, June 19).

Friday, May 29 – CoMo for Justice At the CoMo for Justice March, the first noted Columbia protest after marches began in Minneapolis May 26, several speakers addressed an audience before completing several loops around

downtown. “No justice, no peace,” the crowd cried out.

Monday, June 1 – At a crossroads The same day hundreds gathered on the capitol lawn in Jefferson City, protesters put bricks and rocks in the road, blocking the intersection of East Broadway and Providence Road to protest. Two protesters were struck by vehicles.

Tuesday, June 2 – Conversations with police officers On day five of protests in Columbia, activists marched around downtown then to the columns on the MU campus and Providence Road before they ended their walk in front of the Columbia Police Department.

Several police officers joined the protest and had discussions with leaders including DeMarco Winston, Sterling Brown and Kirubel Mesfin. After the end of the official rally, the crowd stayed for more protesting throughout the night.

Wednesday, June 3 – Athletes for change At 2 p.m., a group of over 100 that included Missouri athletes and coach-

Protesters demonstrate in the intersection of Elm Street and Providence Road for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, which is the same amount of time that an officer in Minneapolis held his knee on George Floyd’s neck until he died on Memorial Day.

Protesters kneel while shouting “I can’t breathe” on June 2 in downtown Columbia. The march started at the courthouse and had its first stop in front of City Hall.

Photography by Marco Storel and Julia Hansen

es such as Eliah Drinkwitz, Cuonzo Martin and Robin Pingeton, and administrators Jim Sterk and Mun Choi, marched from the MU campus to the courthouse where they knelt for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. “I challenge all of us to stand up for what is right and end the hate in our nation,” Sterk said in a statement that day. Sixty-two student athletes registered to vote.

Saturday, June 6 — the meaning of 8:46 The NAACP held a protest at the Boone County Courthouse that attracted hundreds. Speakers included Mayor Brian Treece, First Ward City Councilwoman Pat Fowler and the Rev. J.P. Patterson. Protesters once again surrounded the police department building to lie down for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the estimated length of time officer Derek Chauvin had his knee on Floyd’s neck.

Sunday, June 7 – 1,000+ gather A Black Lives Matter protest organized by resident Markiez Smith drew a crowd

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CITY LIFE ACTIVISM

of over 1,000 Sunday afternoon — Columbia’s largest gathering in response to Floyd’s killing and in support of BLM. Protesters marched through Columbia’s Sharp End, past Douglass Park and downtown. During the protest, residents knelt for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. From the crowd: “George Floyd! Say his name! Breonna Taylor!

Say her name!” and lyrics to “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

Monday, June 8 – A life at stake As protesters prepared for another night of marching, organizers were told by an officer that they would have to wait. Officers were responding to a call about a man who was walking along Broadway with two knives.

The man threatened to take his own life. The officers had a nonlethal shotgun (as indicated by a red-orange attachment).

Winston, Kirubel Mesfin and Kelsey Blanton began pleading with the man to drop his knives. “We were telling him, ‘We love you.’ ‘Your life matters.’ ‘We

night. According to Missourian reports, Yancy told the crowd to raise their hands in a “‘hands up, don’t shoot’ style.”

care about you.’” Winston says. Eventually, the man to dropped his knives, and he was promptly handcuffed by police, who told the crowd they’d get him help.

Tuesday, June 9 – Student-led change Mesfin, an MU sophomore, and about 200 others marched from Francis Quadrangle to Flat Branch Park and then through downtown before finally reaching the courthouse. Mesfin, Winston, Kiessence Bassett and Daimontre Yancy were the main speakers throughout the

After hearing from speakers Sunday at Boone County Courthouse, participants marched in a loop downtown.

Friday, June 12 – Losing faith The man who was arrested at the intersection of College and Broadway June 8 was spotted downtown with knives once again. After hearing he was arrested again, Mesfin said his trust in the police department was eroding. “They said they would get him the help he needed … Either they lied to us, or we have a big problem with mental health in this country. Honestly, it’s probably both,” Mesfin says.

Monday, June 15 – City Hall Protesters attended and spoke at the regularly scheduled Columbia City Council meeting. Behonsay Williams, one of the women who was struck by a car on June 1, asked for justice. Brown had a discussion with Treece about possibly setting up a town hall-style meeting to discuss community race issues.

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photo finish

QUIET OF A HEATED MOMENT PHOTOGRAPHY BY ZEPHRYUS LI Protesters knelt June 2 outside the Columbia Police Department headquarters in honor of George Floyd who died May 25 after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin had his knee on Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes. In this Columbia demonstration, protesters parked vehicles at the intersection of East Walnut Street and North Sixth Street to block traffic while they demonstrated in front of the building. The crowd repeated this action several times during its downtown march that day.

VOX MAGAZINE • JULY/AUGUST 2020

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