Month: June 2019

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Catfish at Cozy Corner

CREDIT: Michael Donahue

Michael Donahue

Catfish at Cozy Corner Restaurant? The barbecue place?

Yes. Just one day a week — on Sundays, says general manager Bobby Bradley.

“We only did it one Sunday, which was this past Sunday,” Bradley says. “But it sold pretty well. People gave us compliments on it. People said they would be back to try it. We do a two-piece plate for $10.99 and a three-piece plate for $12.99.”

The catfish plates come with two sides and bread.

Catfish has never been sold at the 735 North Parkway location, which opened in August, 1977.

But catfish at Cozy Corner isn’t exactly new. From 1986 to 1988, Cozy Corner had another location, which was called “Cozy Corner Catfish and Ribs,” says Bobby’s mother, Val Bradley.

The catfish recipe came from her father, Raymond Robinson, who founded Cozy Corner, Val says.

“I think daddy just wanted to try the fish,” Val says. “Just try it out and see how things would go. We got that location. I think it did very well from what I remember. Biggest problem back then was employees. He was having trouble getting someone to run it like he wanted. Then he got his cousin to run it.”

Finally, she says, “He just decided to stick with the ribs.”

The family doesn’t have the original recipe, Bobby says. “The recipe is nowhere to be found, but the family members that were there were instrumental in figuring out how we wanted this to taste. I wasn’t old enough, but the people that were there and were old enough remember how it tasted. We knew what was in it, but didn’t know the exact ratio. We figured out ratios we wanted. It’s not 100 percent, but we tried.”

Asked to describe the catfish, Bobby says, “It’s just good seasoned catfish. It’s not going to be bland. I do know that.”

Don’t look for catfish at Cozy Corner the rest of the week.

“It is going to be every Sunday,” Bobby says. “I have no interest in selling fish every day. I don’t want to become a fish restaurant. It’s just a special thing and I plan to keep it special.”

Categories
Music Music Blog

Charlie Daniels Talks 40 Years of “Devil”

You know the story. The Devil went down to Georgia, looking for a soul to steal. And he would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for that ace fiddle player, Johnny. As a cultural touchstone, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” which just celebrated 40 years of fiddle-playing in the American collective unconscious, has attained incredible heights; I knew the song before it even occurred to me to wonder who wrote or recorded it. That musician, of course, is Charlie Daniels, and he and his band will perform at BankPlus Amphitheater at Snowden Grove, Friday, June 28th. In advance of the concert, I spoke with Daniels over the phone about his session work with Bob Dylan, diversifying his writing, and the staying power of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.”

Charlie Daniels

Memphis Flyer: A radio DJ friend of mine told me you got your start as a session musician. Is that true?

Charlie Daniels: Yeah, when I first came to Nashville, I used to do quite a few sessions. I never really fit the style of a what a Nashville player would be. I came off the road after 13 straight years of playing bang-slam rock in clubs, but there were certain sessions I sat in on — Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Marty Robbins. But the day-to-day thing, I was not really a “session player.” So sometimes that part of my career gets a bit overblown, I think because of the magnitude of some of the things I did play on. I did three Bob Dylan albums. That was part of my career, definitely.

Which Dylan albums did you play on?

[I played on] Nashville Skyline, Self Portrait, and New Morning.

That’s a great spread. Nashville Skyline is one of my favorite records.

You know what? I was only supposed to play on one session. I was fairly new to town, and Bob Johnston was the guy who brought me down there, who was producing the record. I said, “I would love to play on one of Bob Dylan’s sessions.” A lot of people think [Nashville Skyline] was the first album that Bob did in town. It was at least the third one he’d done here, and they’d put together the nucleus of a studio band for him. They always used ’em when he came to town. This time, the guitar player they had used was already booked on what would be the very first session. So Bob Johnston said come on down and play the first session, and the other guy will come on after you.


So I went down and played the session, and I was packing my guitars up and getting ready to leave. Bob Dylan asked Bob Johnston, “Where’s he going?” Bob Johnston said he’s leaving, we’ve got another guitar player coming in. … And Bob Dylan said nine words that would change my life: “I don’t want another guitar player. I want him.” That was the beginning of something very wonderful for me, because Bob was always kind enough to put the names of the musicians who played on his records on the back of the album. … It cut a lot of corners for me.

You put out a couple of books recently?

I didn’t know I could write, to be honest. But a friend of mine who worked with us at the time said, “You write story songs. Why don’t you write stories?” I was on the road one time, and I went in the motel room and took some paper and I sat down and started writing. I have a song called “Uneasy Rider,” and I wrote the story of it. And I found out, well, this is fun. So I started doing that.

It sounds like you’ve got a few tricks up your sleeve. Does it keep it interesting and fun for you to change it up that way?

I was born in 1936, and it was way, way before television, so it was radio for me. And at that time, there weren’t many radio stations, so they had to follow the mandate of the FCC and they had to do something for everybody. They had to serve the whole community, which meant playing a lot of different kinds of music. So I got everything. It was such a variety. I went through the big band era, the Frank Sinatra-type era with the crooners. I was exposed to so many kinds of music when I was a kid, I developed a wide taste in music and I developed a wide taste in a lot of things. So I like spreading out a little. … I might write anything. I just finished a novel, my first one.

I bet that keeps you from getting bored.

Well, yeah. … You see people who never ever push the envelope or do anything outside of convention, and there’s so much life out there.

The Charlie Daniels Band

You have an incredibly long career. Do you think you’re able to stay relevant by shaking things up the way you do?

Well, I think so. Of course, I sound like I’m some sort of rebel, and I’m really not. It just happens naturally. I mean, I do stick to my guns. I have lines I’m not willing to cross and things I’m not willing to do. It’s cost me a time or two, as far as money is concerned. It ain’t cost me as far as how I feel about what I do. … I have never cut a hit record with any people other than my band. I’ve had record company people. I tried it one time. I let them talk me into it, and I had a studio band. They players were great, but this is a lifetime to me and it’s only one session to them, one song. I want guys with me who the music means more to than just one paycheck.

If you get people who have been playing together a long time, you get almost a telepathy, a short-hand communication.

I’ve got people who’ve been with me for 40 years. My personal roadie has a hearing impairment, and he’s a very good lip-reader. I can look at him and move my lips, and he knows what I’m talking about. Those are things you develop over the years. It’s not something that happens overnight.

While we’re talking about things that have been around for a while, you had some big anniversaries in May. What is it, 40 years for “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”?

To be honest with you, I have something maturing at one point or another all the time. I never thought too much about “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” and all of a sudden, it was like 40 [years]. Especially for my generation, the age of 40 is supposed to be the line of demarcation for something. It’s where we go from being a young person into middle age. The age of 18, when you’re a kid means a lot. Of course, we all know what 21 is, and the next one is usually around 40. It just hit me a little more than all the previous ones had. But what hits you so much is the viability of the song today.

It’s truly amazing to have a tune like that that stays. And of course we do it every show.

The Charlie Daniels Band performs with Travis Tritt, The Cadillac Three at BankPlus Amphitheatre at Snowden Grove, Friday, June 28th, 7:30 p.m.


Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Changes at Railgarten

CREDIT: Railgarten, Facebook

Railgarten, Facebook

Railgarten has recently introduced a new menu and a new protocol for ordering. The changes come as the summer season rolls in.

New to the menu are gyros, skewers, tacos, and salads. Tacos include a Korean BBQ Tofu taco with spicy slaw, Pork carnitas, and something called Oxford Style chicken (???). There are also steak skewers with a Thai satay, a Tzatziki veggie and hummus gyro, and Southwest pulled-chicken gyro.

Jennifer Parsley

Korean BBQ Tofu tacos

Jennifer Parsley

Tzatziki veggie and hummus gyro

The cocktail menu and brunch menu are all-new as well.

For cocktails, we’ve got drinks under such categories as “Excuse Me, Sir. Your Tire Swing Hit My Son,” with drinks named after the Golden Girls. The Blanche is Old Dominick vodka, peach lemon, and iced tea. The I’m Not A Regular Mom. I’m a Cool Mom cocktail is white sangria with Old Dominick vodka and pineapple. (It’s under “If You’re Going to Drink I’d Rather You Do It in the House.”)

The spring brunch menu includes such classics as scrambled eggs and bacon, avocado toast, and chicken and waffles.

In addition, Railgarten has opened up its ordering system. Now, patrons can order in the diner, tiki bar, shipping container bar, the VIP bar, or the Ping Pong bar, and have their order served at their table outside. The move was made to accommodate large summer crowds. The diner remains full service.

Jennifer Parsley’s YouTube channel

Categories
News News Blog

Supreme Court Strikes Down Tennessee Liquor Law

CREDIT: Institute for Justice

Institute for Justice

The Ketchums outside Kimbrough Towers Fine Wine

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down Tennessee’s two-year residency requirement to get a liquor store license Wednesday morning.

Doug and Mary Ketchum, owners of Kimbrough Wine and Spirits, brought the suit late last year. They bought the store in 2017 but the Tennessee Wine & Spirits Retailers Association threatened to sue the state Alcohol Beverage Commission if the Ketchums were approved for a license, citing residency requirements in state law. (See our full story here.)

Supreme Court Justices issued their opinion Wednesday morning in a 7-2 decision. Justice Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas cast the dissenting votes.

“The provision expressly discriminates against nonresidents and has at best a highly attenuated relationship to public health or safety,” reads the prevailing opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito.

Read the entire opinion here.

The case was filed by the Ketchums and Total Wine, a national liquor retailer. Their case was handled by the Institute for Justice.

Here’s what Michael Bindas, one of the Institue’s attorneys on the case, had to say:

“Today’s ruling makes plain that all Americans have a right to earn an honest living and that government cannot deny someone that right simply because of where they live or used to live. No state may discriminate against out-of-staters or newcomers to protect established, in-state interests from competition.

“As the Court recognized, the 21st Amendment is not a blank check, and the states’ power to regulate alcohol is not unlimited. Although states can impose reasonable regulations on alcohol to protect public health and safety, they cannot discriminate in order to protect favored economic interests.”

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Saltwater Crab To Open July 1st

With its red, white, and light blue exterior and generous windows, Saltwater Crab resembles the type of restaurant that should have miles of blue water and a white beach behind it.

But no, it’s in Midtown – 2059 Madison near Overton Square.

You don’t need to see sand and water when you’re inside the restaurant; the cuisine will transport you to whatever oceanfront you want to visit.

General manager Sam Miller describes the food as “coastal influence with a Southern drawl. ‘Coastal’ being wherever there’s a coast.”

That means “global – East Coast United States, West Coast United States, east coast Japan,” Miller says. “We’re going to be playing with Southern ingredients and incorporating them into dishes we’re going to offer.”

He describes the look of the sleek, modern-looking restaurant as “clean and classy.”

Guests got a sneak peek of Saltwater Crab at a tasting, which was held June 24th.

It actually was more than a tasting; dishes kept coming out of the kitchen and from the sushi bar. The fare included oysters, grilled salmon, tuna, sushi, steak, and even a crab boil. Desserts included key lime pie, of course.

The cuisine was “a preview of what’s on the menu, the style of food we’re going to be cooking,” Miller says.


And, he says, “The majority of the seafood will be sold at market prices.”

The restaurant will feature a “late night menu on Fridays and Saturdays.”

Saltwater Crab also will feature “live music from time to time.”


Categories
News News Blog

Hearing Could Expedite Instant Runoff Voting Decision

Proponents of Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) want the voting system in place for the upcoming October elections but they say a September hearing set on the matter will not allow for it.

In 2008 and in 2018, Memphis voters approved IRV. The system prevents runoff elections among top candidates that are held after typical, city-wide voting days. This, proponents say, allows elections here to be won by a sliver of Memphis voters and disenfranchises voters who may find it hard to get themselves to the polls.

Tennessee Election Coordinator Mark Goins said after the 2018 elections here that IRV does not comply with state law and that IRV could not be implemented here this year. That opinion is being contested in a separate case.

City council hopefuls Erika Sugarmon, John Marek, and Sam Goff filed a lawsuit in May to ensure the method was in place for the October 3rd elections here, in which every Memphis City Council seat is open.

However, the case is contested and the next hearing on the matter is set for September 10th, according to court papers. Those proponents say that timeline will not allow IRV to be ready for the October elections.
Davidson County Chancery Court

Chancellor Lyle

Last week, Sugarmon, Marek, and Goff pushed for an expedited hearing. So, Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle set a hearing on the matter in her courtroom for Wednesday, June 26th. That hearing may yield a decision that will govern IRV implementation for the October 3rd election.

[pdf-1]

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Remembering Bourdain on Bourdain Day

On this day, we remember the all-sainted Anthony Bourdain on what would have been his 63rd birthday. He was funny, original, and an all-around truth teller.

Bourdain brought his Guts & Glory tour to Memphis in 2012. We were there. And we eulogized him after his untimely passing last year.

Here’s what we wrote …

From the Flyer’s Jen Clarke:

That’s why Anthony Bourdain was so beloved: He got them [servers, bartenders, chefs], too, and sought to elevate them to the status they deserve. We need food to live. Food is integral to every single culture. Nourishment is an expression of love. Bourdain arrived at the onset of the “foodie” craze with a different perspective and a mission to tell stories beyond what’s on the plate. Knowing those stories made everything taste better.

He was a bard. He was an avatar of so many wise and brilliant restaurant people who, at least in my experience, are the best people.

My review of his Orpheum show:

The nearly full house at Anthony Bourdain’s Guts & Glory show at the Orpheum Friday night was made up of many, many hardcore fans — folks who most certainly know Bourdain’s No Reservations TV show and his books Kitchen Confidential and Medium Raw chapter and verse.

Indeed, the show Bourdain dished out could be viewed as reheated leftovers. Or, it could be seen as something of a greatest hits: chapters from Medium Raw reproduced just about intact, clips from No Reservations, and barbs flung at familiar targets (Paula Deen, vegetarians, Olive Garden, etc.).

But the energy from the crowd was high, and Bourdain met expectations with a sharp, often bawdy approach. Among the highlights: the bit about how to do drugs on television and the one about being a gracious guest (that means eating a poop- and hair-covered warthog’s anus).

In a word, it was fun.

The real unknown of the evening came with the audience and the concluding Q&A session.

He was asked how he learned to write and about the NYC restaurant he left when he became famous. A shout-out was given to Vassar (which he attended briefly), and he promised that he would give Memphis barbecue its proper due when he begins his new show for CNN next year. (No Reservations ends its run on Monday night.)

The show was ended when Bourdain laughed and waved off the last question posed by a super-pumped fan.

The man asked, “Who do I have to fuck to get a drink with Anthony Bourdain?”

Another review of that show, from Memphis Magazine’s Pam Denney:

While it was difficult to scribble in the dark, I did manage to write down a few more things from Bourdain’s show, which, by the way, ran more than two hours:

• Bourdain has little patience for fast food, chain restaurants, and (sorry to say) vegetarians: “Chicken Caesar Carbonara: What the fuck is that?”

• He says all travelers should follow the “Grandmother Rule: Eat whatever Grandma puts on your plate.”

• Russians drink. A lot. When filming his last show, Bourdain’s hosts drank two to three shots of vodka for breakfast, downed another seven to nine shots with lunch, and finished the day with 14 to 19 more. “It’s true,” he said. “I clocked it.”

• And finally, what would Bourdain request for his last meal? “A super high end, super fresh piece of nigiri.”

And more from the Flyer’s Hannah Sayle:

What’s that saying about breaking a few eggs to make an omelet? Well, to be the candid, shoot-from-the-hip kind of food celebrity Anthony Bourdain is, you have to a break a few eggs to make a few enemies: Paula Deen, Alice Waters, vegetarians — just to name a few.

But for his many devoted followers, Bourdain is greater than the sum of his foot-in-mouth moments and loudly professed enemies. He’s a whip-smart food fanatic, an expert in all things edible, and a fearless eater. 

Categories
News News Blog

Fairgrounds Redevelopment Project Moves Forward

CREDIT: City of Memphis

City of Memphis

A rendering of the proposed youth sports complex that will front Southern Avenue.

City leaders formally named the private development team that will lead the Fairgrounds redevelopment project Tuesday morning.

City leaders cleared a major hurdle to advance the plan in November with a positive vote on the project from the State Building Commission. At that time, though, commission leaders said they wanted another review of the plan. They wanted to ensure Memphis leaders could secure $61 million in private funds before they’d allow the city to issue $90 million in bonds for the city’s portion.

“If the money and the numbers do not work out, we will not move forward with the project,” Paul Young, the city’s director of Housing and Community Development, told the commission in November.

It was not immediately known Tuesday morning whether or not the city won that second approval from state officials. We’ll update this story with more information later today.

City of Memphis

A concept image of a new Fairgrounds.

However, a news release from Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland’s office said Tuesday his team had picked M&M Enterprises and Belpointe REIT to lead the redevelopment project.

“We’ve been working on this project for a while now, and I’m so pleased to have local talent stepping up and helping the city to transform this important piece of property,” Strickland said in a statement. “The underutilized Fairgrounds will be reimagined into a unique sports and entertainment destination for both Memphians and visitors.”

The project team will be led by local developer James Maclin, of M&M Enterprises. Maybe Maclin’s highest-profile project to date is the Broad Avenue mixed-use project he’s working on with Loeb Properties. Maclin is also involved in the redevelopment of the Racquet Club.

Belpoint is a real estate investment trust (REIT). These types of companies own many different types of real estate. Belpoint is based in Greenwich, Connecticut. A statement says the company is the first Opportunity Zone REIT registered with the securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

“An Opportunity Zone is an economically-distressed community where new investments, under certain conditions, may be eligible for preferential tax treatment,” according to the Internal Revenue Service.

The Fairgrounds is part of the University District Opportunity Zone.

City of Memphis

A pre-design rendering of the Fairgrounds redevelopment project.

In November, Young said the project would move through three phases. Phase one is complete, with Tiger Lane, improvements to Liberty Bowl stadium, and site work for phase two. The second part of the project would include the construction of the youth sport complex, which would front Southern on the south end of the Fairgrounds.

”The complex will be located on the southern end of the Fairgrounds, on the site of the former Libertyland Amusement Park,” reads the city’s statement Tuesday. “It will focus on indoor sports, including basketball, volleyball, cheer, gymnastics, wrestling, and indoor track and field; it is projected to open in the first half of 2021.”

Phase three of the project would begin within five years of the completion of phase two. Phase three cold cost up to $30 million and include “iconic” entrances and exits, improvements to the Pipkin building, expanded parking, and more.

Justin Fox Burks

As of November, the Mid-South Coliseum would remain mothballed under the plan. But Young told committee members in November that private funding to revive the building would emerge if the area around it were reactivated.

The plan also aims to redevelop the north end of the Fairgrounds fronting Central with a mixed-use development. That development would include 30,000 square feet of retail space and 80 hotel rooms.

“The mixed-use development will be privately funded, although the city will provide infrastructure improvements,” reads the statement. “The private development will generate sales tax revenues for the Fairgrounds Tourism Development Zone (“TDZ”) which will be the primary source of funding for the new Sports & Events Complex.

“Using the TDZ will allow the city to redevelop the Fairgrounds using sales tax revenues that would normally go to the state and without having to rely on general operating funds which are used for things like police and firefighter salaries or on the capital improvement program which is used for things like street repaving.”

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

Bitchin’ Camaro: Hot Cars and Cold Beer in the Natural State

We were somewhere around Blytheville, at the old airport, when Big Red blew a rod in a foul cloud of black smoke at better than 200 miles per hour. I remember saying, “That’s not supposed to happen like that,” to the man in the lawn chair. The little fella been watching the races all weekend and had been telling me about how they’d had to tow the Lamborghini out of the beanfield earlier. So, there I was, watching motorcycles join the 200-mph club, impossibly expensive Italian sports cars sink up to the rims in Arkansas loam, and a 1969 Camaro called Big Red blow its engine on its way to breaking an event record.

These motorheads travel heavy, which means the Big Red team travels with a spare 2000HP engine. Since they hadn’t broken the event record, not this year at any rate, they thought they’d install another block overnight. I got packed off, along with a film crew from from a show called Hoonigan, to the Holiday Inn. That was fine, I don’t know anything about engines and I needed a beer.

Arkansas — or Little Rock — has a solid craft beer scene, but few of them seem to make that long journey over the bridge to the Memphis market. Diamond Bear Brewing Company, however, is alive and well and available at a number of places over here. A local beer seemed fitting, as Arkansas is the Natural State, and in an epic battle between man (Lamborghini) and nature (beanfield), nature definitely won that round.

Diamond Bear’s Southern Blonde Ale is a solid winner for toasting this kind of contest. It’s a lager, but doesn’t go away, like many of them do. The brewers say that it has a bit of caramel in it, but it comes off as a twist of honey to me. It is more malty than hoppy, but nothing in the palate really breaks out to yank your tongue. This is not a stand-in for a watered-down lager, but a hazy beer with a big fuzzy collar on it and an ABV of 5.18 percent.

Little Rock has the beer scene, Blytheville doesn’t have much. Except an airport — make that two of them. The muni airport, I had to explain to the Southern Californians, was mostly crop dusters. Blytheville International, they explained to me, used to be a command for B-52 bombers, and therefore has one of the longest runways in the country at 2.75 miles. Which is why the Arkansas Mile Event is held there; drivers need a mile to get to top speed and, basically, another mile to stop.

Since Big Red first started racing in the Southwest in the late 1980s, the team has continued racking up event titles like some people collect baseball hats. Over the years, it has become something like the Elvis of Pro-Touring cars. The whole event, and the show that goes with it, have something of a California feel. So, after I foisted the Arkansas beer on our visitors, they foisted Lagunitas IPA on me.

There really wasn’t any arm-twisting here, as this IPA was nothing new. Lagunitas is available almost anywhere, and its IPA, a well-balanced ale that is hoppy without being too bitter, is one of the go-to IPAs wherever you are. While there is a lot of talk about the pairing of beer with food, you also have to consider pairing beer with, say, an event. This IPA is a great brew to play with this adrenaline fueled, gear-head foolishness. It weighs in at 6.2 percent ABV, and it is a clear ale with a crisp, nice finish.

And a nice finish is what the boys from California were after, having spent nine hours installing another engine into their monster car. They weren’t drinking anything, but I suspect they were getting a contact high from the methanol fumes.

RJ Gottlieb, the driver, hit 243.6 mph on Sunday, but fell short of the 250-mph goal. I think he was just high on whatever you call that.

Categories
Opinion The Last Word

Context is Complex: Race, Names, and Education Don’t Always Add Up

In Memphis, we’re all pretty familiar with this one question. It’s an ice-breaker question we’re all guilty of pulling out when we first meet someone. It helps us place them in the vast landscape of the city, and it’s often the first question we ask: So, where’d you go to school?

For me, that was usually the second question I got, right after “Where are you from?” If my answer — “Memphis” — didn’t satisfy their curiosity, they followed up with “Well, where are your parents from?” if not the more blatant “Where are you really from?”

Years ago, I would be stumped by this interrogation. I’d ask myself if Memphis wasn’t the right answer, then what was? I felt that I knew the ins and outs of Memphis. I knew what streets to avoid during rush hour, when to move lanes in advance to avoid certain pot holes, and where to go for a late-night pizza run. I was the human Google Maps of Memphis.

Joseph Hernández

Despite the fact that I regard Memphis as my hometown, people asked (and continue to ask) these questions because they are trying to place me somewhere.

Where are you really from? It seems like they are trying to place me anywhere but, apparently, Memphis. To them, I don’t fit their idea of what a Memphian looks like, and I’m not the only one. There are many folks from various cultural and linguistic backgrounds who don’t neatly fit within the U.S. black and white racial binary boxes. This is not necessarily a reflection of change. Rather, this is a reflection of how these boxes that were constructed have never fit the complex reality of people. This results in an assumption that just because someone fits within this fabricated box, they and everyone else in that box share the same experience.

I was reminded of this while I toured “Black Out: Silhouettes Then and Now,” a current exhibition at the Mississippi Museum of Art. The exhibit has silhouettes from the late 18th-century to the recent works of Kara Walker, Camille Utterback, and Kumi Yamashita. Many pieces were from prominent 19th-century artist Auguste Edouart. As I walked through his surviving collection of silhouettes, one name caught my attention: Joseph Marion Hernández. The label read “Joseph Marion Hernández was Florida’s first delegate to the House of Representatives and the first Hispanic member of Congress.”

A gallery attendant shared that he was surprised to learn that back in 1822, a Hispanic man was an elected representative. Big win for representation, right? Well, a lot of people thought so, too. I found that today Hernández’s tenure in Congress is celebrated as a bold move toward diversity. Multiple articles and books memorialize him as the first Hispanic (some even say “Latino”) member of Congress, especially during Hispanic Heritage Month.

This is where it gets tricky. One may think that because I have a Spanish-language last name and I speak Spanish that I would be excited to see Hernández, supposedly “someone like me,” up there. In actuality, I have very little, if anything, in common with him.

Hernández’s parents originally came to what is now Florida as indentured servants from Menorca, an island of Spain. They later accumulated land, owned plantations, and depended on labor from enslaved black people to build their wealth. Born in the then-Spanish colony of Florida, Hernández built on that capital, marrying a wealthy widow and expanding his sugar cane and cotton plantations. He owned, according to one estimate, as many as 150 enslaved black people. Other estimates suggest several hundred enslaved people worked his plantations.

When Florida became a U.S. territory, Hernández dropped Spain and pledged his allegiance to the U.S. As a wealthy, land-and-slave-owning man, why wouldn’t he? He controlled over 25,000 acres of land. This man was not about to pick up and go anywhere. Through the Spanish Land Grants and later as a member of Congress, he was able to keep and advocate for his land and power.

Hernández’s advocacy came in the form of advancing slavery and supporting the forced removal of the Seminoles. Hernández and the slavery-reliant U.S. economy also felt threatened by indigenous and black people organizing against settlers. Seminoles resisted their removal. Along with enslaved black people escaping slavery, they destroyed several plantations including one of Hernández’s. He spent his last years in yet another sugar plantation, one his family owned in Cuba.

I do not celebrate Joseph Marion Hernández. He was a land-grabbing Spanish plantation owner who sought wealth through the enslavement of black people not only in the U.S. but also Latin America. He acted only to preserve his land, wealth, and power. This is why context matters. Without it, we mindlessly celebrate him as the supposed pillar of representation and diversity.

When we ask, or asked, what school someone went to, what we are subconsciously doing is trying to frame how to understand each other. But sometimes that framing itself is distorted from the beginning. It’s true we can find some comfort in knowing where someone went to school because we can try to pinpoint immediate similarities and differences. We know that there are differences between public and private schools and even between public schools; however, there are different experiences within a single public school. What we then learn is the name of their school and not how they navigated through it.

It’s not until we peel back the layers that we understand those experiences. It’s not until we look through our critical eyes that we understand how important and complex context can be.

Aylen Mercado is a brown, queer, Latinx chingona and Memphian pursuing an Urban Studies and Latin American and Latinx Studies degree at Rhodes College.