In a democracy — or, if you prefer, a republic — the government’s actions are supposed to reflect the will of the majority. That’s why we vote: to discover who the majority of the citizenry wants to hold office and what policies they want to have put in place by those they have elected. That’s how it’s supposed to work. But the sad reality is that the United States has for years been ruled by a backward-thinking, repressive, xenophobic minority.
There are many reasons for this, starting with the fact that the nation’s most powerful legislative body — the U.S. Senate — is absurdly undemocratic. Republican senators haven’t represented a real majority of the country’s population since 1996, yet the GOP has managed to delay and obstruct the will of the majority for 25 years.
Currently, the 50 GOP senators represent 43.5 percent of the country’s population, mostly due to the absurdity of states such as Wyoming, which has 578,000 citizens (about half the number of people living in Shelby County) having the same representation in the U.S. Senate as California’s 40 million citizens. California has 80 times the number of people as Wyoming and both states have equal representation in the Senate. It’s ludicrous.
More than 56 percent of the country’s population is represented by 50 Democratic senators, but they can’t pass gun-control measures, election reform, healthcare reform, tax reform, or any number of mildly progressive laws, because Senator Turd Ferguson of South Dakota doesn’t like it.
There’s little likelihood real change will take place in the structure of the Senate, and the GOP knows the only chance of retaining power is to continue to thwart the will of the majority by making it harder for people to vote, especially people of color and people with limited resources, who tend to vote for Democrats.
All across the country in states controlled by the GOP, restrictive voting laws are being proposed and enacted, including reducing the number of polling places and early voting days, restricting voting by mail, purging voter rolls, limiting voter-registration periods, restricting absentee ballots, eliminating Sunday voting, and even banning anyone from providing water to people in long voting lines. It’s Jim Crow all over again. And it’s out in the open.
From last November through January 6th, the former president defamed the American electoral process. But those who went along with Trump’s Big Lie weren’t trying to “stop the steal,” they were trying to stop democracy. And they still are.
The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed (on a party line vote, naturally) a bill known as H.R. 1 — the For the People Act. It would eliminate the voter suppression tactics that Georgia just enacted, for example, and would codify the voting process to make it equal for all U.S. citizens, no matter what state they live in. The bill requires states to maintain a voter database with universal automatic registration. In other words, if you’re a citizen and can prove it, you’re registered to vote. No more jumping through hoops at the local level. H.R. 1 mandates at least a 15-day early voting period, and institutes independent commissions to set Congressional district boundaries to eliminate gerrymandering.
It’s a big deal, but it has no chance whatsoever to pass the Senate, since it would need at least 10 GOP votes. Which brings Senate Democrats to a crossroads decision: Should they attempt to eliminate the filibuster so that the bill could pass with 50 votes, plus one from the vice-president, or just let the GOP do what it’s done for the last 25 years: undermine the will of the majority?
Eliminating the filibuster means if the GOP gets control of the Senate back at some future date, they could ram through all kinds of racist and corporatist policies (kind of like they’ve done for the last four years). But this is no time to be timid. Democracy is in the balance. It’s time to take back the reins of power and respect the will of the people. It’s time to stop the steal.
With the committee passage last week of House Resolution 390, by U.S. Representative Steve Cohen, Memphis’ Downtown federal building, known since 2007 as the Clifford Davis-Odell Horton Federal Building, is destined to be known henceforth simply as the Odell Horton Federal Building. The change, approved unanimously by Tennessee’s entire congressional delegation, reflects a seismic shift in racial sensibilities.
Clifford Davis, as Cohen noted, was a member of the Ku Klux Klan when he entered politics in the 1920s, and, to a large extent, owed his election as a Memphis city judge in 1923 to Klan support. In 1927, he was elected to the old five-member City Commission and served as Commissioner of Public Safety until 1940 when, having meanwhile become a favorite of Memphis political boss E.H. Crump, he won the Democratic nomination and the general election as congressman from what was then Tennessee’s 10th congressional district. Like most national legislators of his time from the South, he was a signatory to the Southern Manifesto of 1956, which defended the then-prevalent “separate-but-equal” system and opposed desegregation.
The most significant event of Davis’ tenure in Congress occurred in 1954, when he and four other House members were fired upon from the chamber’s visitors’ gallery by members of a Puerto Rican independence group. Davis suffered only a leg wound and quickly recovered. Davis consistently won re-election until 1964, when he was upended in the Democratic primary by Memphis lawyer George Grider, a liberal who would serve a single term before being defeated in 1966 by Republican Dan Kuykendall.
Kuykendall was ousted in 1974 by Harold Ford Sr., the legendary African-American power broker who established a family dynasty in local politics. Ford was succeeded in 1996 by son Harold Ford Jr., who vacated the seat to make an unsuccessful race for the U.S. Senate in 2006. The younger Ford was succeeded that year in what was now the 9th Congressional District by Cohen, who has been re-elected seven times.
In the meantime, the Memphis-based district itself has, through redrawn boundaries and demographic shifts, undergone significant change, metamorphosing from the white-dominated enclave of 1940 to the majority-Black jurisdiction of today.
Odell Horton also figured large in the events of the Memphis community and the congressional district encompassing it. A native of Bolivar and a Marine during the Korean War, Horton acquired a B.A. degree from Morehouse College and a Bachelor of Laws from Howard University School of Law. After engaging in private law practice in Memphis from 1957 to 1962, Horton served in a succession of publicly important posts, in most of them as the first African American ever to hold them — from assistant U.S. attorney to director of the division of Hospital and Health Services for the City of Memphis to Criminal Court Judge to president of LeMoyne-Owen College to director of Community Health Services of the Mid-South Medical Center Council to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge.
In 1980, Horton was appointed a U.S. District Judge by President Jimmy Carter and actively served until 1995, when he took senior status, continuing in that capacity until his death in 2006.
Judge Horton’s personal history directly intersected with that of the 9th congressional district when, as Chief Judge of Tennessee’s Western District from 1987 to 1994, he presided over the first trial of then Congressman Ford Sr. for bank fraud. The first trial of the congressman resulted in a standoff between eight Black jurors voting for acquittal and four white jurors voting to convict. Horton declared a mistrial and ordered that the jury for a second trial be imported from rural West Tennessee. When the second trial was held in 1993, Representative Ford was acquitted by a jury of 11 whites and one African American.
Instagram user Eric Huber is recreating Rust Hall, the iconic building central to the former Memphis College of Art campus, in Minecraft. The whys of this project don’t matter at all. It’s simple internet genius.
Posted to Instagram by @erichber
Krogerin’
A Nextdoor Kroger bash is still burning after user Patti Ward complained last week that, after 30 years of shopping at the Union Avenue location, she’ll “never again” shop there.
The post racked up 229 comments. The discussion ranged from whether or not the issue was an issue at all, Big Brother, other Kroger locations, other stores, missing Seessel’s, and a proposed 30-day ban on bashing Kroger on Union. The post followed a March 15th post from Rita Baker calling the Union Kroger “the worst grocery store on the planet.”
Explainin’
This week YouTuber Memphis Newz broke down the confusion over rapper Pooh Shiesty’s recent diss of South Memphis, his own neighborhood.
“Sometimes when a rapper gets big, their neighborhood will turn against them,” Memphis Newz said. “A lot of the time, it’s the rapper’s fault because they’ll be doing some hoe-ass shit.”
How many places are there in Memphis where you can get chicken wings? I’m guessing 1,469. Close? I don’t know. I have no idea. No one does. You can buy chicken wings in trucks, in stores, in outlet malls, even in gas stations, for God’s sake. Wings are everywhere, and most of them are probably pretty good. But with so many options, you could probably use some guidance. As a public service to you, our faithful readers, (because we love you) some of us on the Flyer staff ventured out to try a sampling of various wings around town — from well-known to off-the-beaten-flight-path. Trust us, you can’t go wrong with any of these. — Bruce VanWyngarden
Uncle Lou’s Fried Chicken
Uncle Lou’s Fried Chicken
3633 Millbranch
Years ago, Food Network star Guy Fieri came to town to sample local delights, including getting splattered in the kitchen at Uncle Lou’s Fried Chicken. That happy visit inspired plenty of business for the eatery and the tagline “Sweet Spicy Love.” Now almost 20 years old, the chicken joint run by Lou Martin continues to churn out remarkable dishes, including stunningly good wings. Martin offers whole wings and buffalo wings alongside the usual menu array of chicken, tenders, burgers, and a few other choices. I opted for the whole wings with mild sauce and, despite an initial assertive vinegar attack on the nose, the flavor was perfectly balanced. The wings are hefty and delectable, with mouthfuls of tender meat and loads of crisp skin to savor. The sauce lingers on the taste buds and remains mild-mannered. If you manage to have any left over, heat them up the next day and they’ll still deliver the right amount of sass and joy. Wings and coffee make for a splendid breakfast, especially if you include some of his honey buttered biscuits that have the power to make a keto devotee fall off the wagon. — Jon W. Sparks
D’Bo’s Wings ’n More
D’Bo’s Wings ’n More
4970 Poplar; 4407 Elvis Presley
Is there such a thing as the Godfather of Memphis Wings? If so, the title would probably go to David and Leticia Boyd’s D’bo’s Wings ’n More.
The Boyds started their wing business with a dream and a trailer in 1990. That’s 31 years of wingin’ it, if you’re counting. David says when they started they were looking for a “sauce that could dance.” They appear to have found it — and more.
Now with two locations, D’bo’s serves a full menu that includes seafood, burgers, and other sandwiches, as well as some sassy margarita options. (“Panty Dropper,” anyone? Or maybe you’re a “Jungle Juice” person.) But it’s still all about the wings, which come with many sauce and size options. You can get party wings or whole wings from five to 100 pieces. Sauces include Suicidal, Teriyaki, Honey Hot, Honey Gold, Honey BBQ, and a few more. There are also several dry-rub options.
I went with Honey BBQ whole wings, and … dang! The wings are cooked to order, not sitting around in a warmer, and you can tell. Mine came out hot, meaty, moist, and spicy (but not with a burn). So good. After 31 years, D’Bo’s sauce can still dance. — BV
Riko’s Kikin’ Chicken (Photo: Samuel X. Cicci)
Riko’s Kickin’ Chicken
1329 Madison
What makes the perfect wing? Is it a crunchy and crispy exterior holding in tender meat and juices? A blend of sauce exquisitely baked into the whole wing? Or is it actually extra sauce, dripping from each wing as it leaves the plate?
There might not be a right answer, but Riko’s Kickin’ Chicken ticks every box. Mariko and Tiffany Wiley have been doing this for years at both their brick-and-mortar and food truck locations, and they’ve honed their craft immeasurably. When my container of 15 extra-plump wings (talk about bang for your buck) slid across the counter, the sizzle and smell yanked me out of the restaurant and dragged me straight up to wing heaven.
Each one of the extra-large wings was coated with heat, the hot sauce evenly spread across and infused into all the drums and flats. And if that wasn’t even enough, there’s still plenty of sauce left in the box to add another layer. It’s a spice that sticks with you, cranked up to medium-high, but not too much (that’s what the Hot X is for).
But don’t take it from me; get yourself down to Riko’s and snag some grub. Maybe a little bit of hot sauce alongside another batch of the popular lemon pepper. Or perhaps seasoned. Or maybe even honey gold? Whichever flavor, it’s gonna be good. — Samuel X. Cicci
India Palace (Photo: Chris McCoy)
India Palace
1720 Poplar
What? An Indian restaurant? In the wings issue? In Memphis? Have we gone mad? Hear me out.
As a response to the general popularity of wings in the Bluff City, putting your own spin on flats and drummies has become de rigueur for local restaurateurs. The wings at India Palace live on the appetizer menu. Instead of a variation on the standard, fried chicken parts tossed in a hot-sauce-and-butter combo, these flappers are swimming in a tamarind-forward curry sauce and served on a bed of caramelized onions.
The Palace’s secret weapon is the tandoor. The traditional South Asian oven is made of clay, and usually cone- or egg-shaped — although modern designs can be made with stainless steel exteriors. Powered by wood or charcoal, the interior of a tandoor can reach up to almost 500 degrees, cooking the chicken via convection heating and, as a cousin to the familiar Memphis smoker, exposing the fowl flesh to the smoke from the fire. The resulting meat is without the crispy, fried exterior, but much more tender and juicy than a conventional wing. It’s probably a lot better for you than fried wings, too. And let me put in a quick word for the onions. Nobody caramelizes like India Palace.
These wings might not replace mainstream hots in your diet, but they’re great for a change-up. They might also serve as an introduction to Indian cuisine for some picky eaters looking for a familiar hook. Give them a shot. — Chris McCoy
Habee’s Wings & Deli (Photo: Alex Greene)
Habee’s Wings & Deli
3670 Summer
“Dry heat.” It’s something that Memphians don’t have to think about much — in their weather or their wings. And that’s precisely why that option caught my eye at Habee’s. They were doing a brisk business, and I had to think fast. Would it be one of the classic heavily glazed varieties that so many wing joints offer? Or something new? To a menu ranging from very mild to extremely hot — including honey hot, honey gold, and honey BBQ, as well as savory lemon pepper, garlic parmesan, or teriyaki — was added a note, tacked to the bottom. “New Flavor: Dry heat.”
Remembering all the sauced-up wings I’d ever known and loved around town, the dry option called to me. And it did not disappoint. The meat was not dry, but tender and succulent, and the skin had just enough crunch for contrast. Compared to typical wings, slathered in all manner of gooey sauces, this minimalist approach was a welcome change in texture and taste. Of course, nothing is technically dry once it’s dipped in ranch dressing, but even then, the crisper texture was a revelation and, with the dinner roll and carrot and celery sticks, a welcome contrast.
This Asian-American eatery serves a diverse clientele and everyone seemed to be a regular. Many were ordering combos of wings and fried fish, but I stuck with the pure experience. Like dry-rub barbecue, this approach to wings was a delicious change of pace, and will surely be a welcome antidote to Memphis summers, where the humidity is like a sauce unto itself. Sometimes you just want that crunch. — Alex Greene
(Photo: Jackson Baker)
The Wing Guru
multiple locations
The Wing Guru offers wing dishes in numerous combinations and with a wide variety of sauces, as well as lots of other menu options. Of an afternoon, I stopped by the storefront in Bartlett, along busy Highway 64, and ordered a plate of three whole wings with a generous side of fried okra and unsweet iced tea. If that sounds both urban and down-home, it surely is, in a sense that purists and wing aficionados can appreciate. The wings I had were not the dainty little sort you may be accustomed to as hors d’oeuvres at social events; they are fully sized, with a whole lot of succulent chicken meat, and three of them will definitely make a meal. All things considered, the price of just over $10 for this “small” combo was right.
The choice of sauces‚ some 21 in all, is downright extravagant, and I had my wings with the restaurant’s Triple J sauce, a seriously spicy barbecue sauce with a rich honey component, developed in tandem with forward Jaren J. Jackson of the Memphis Grizzlies. (The owner, the eponymous “guru” of the establishment’s name, is Billy Richmond Jr., a well-remembered basketballer himself, at the University of Memphis.) — Jackson Baker
Ching’s Hot Wings (Photo: Toby Sells)
Ching’s Hot Wings
1264 Getwell
Memphis magic permeates Ching’s Hot Wings.
The restaurant is a lot like the city itself. It’s modest, situated in a row of strip-mall shops along a decidedly un-flashy stretch of Getwell. It’s authentic, its walls lined with handwritten notes (“These wangs are the bomb-diggity.”) and photos of Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. hanging in the bathroom.
It’s original, even down to two in-house soft drinks — Orange Mound Punch and G-Street Punch, which some just call “Blue Drink.” Ching’s is also unafraid to be itself and comfortable in its own skin; workers wear no uniforms and the whole thing has a gentle, down-homeness to it that makes you feel completely welcome. If you’re proud to call Memphis home, Ching’s will feel completely natural to you.
And the wings? Ching’s is the king of wings. Fight me.
Ching’s wings come two ways: party wings (where the drummy and the flat are separated) or whole wings. You can get those bad boys dressed up in mild hot, seasoned, lemon pepper, dry hot, honey gold, honey hot, honey extra hot, and suicide.
Honey gold is supposed to be the Ching’s wing thing. But I needed a baseline and went whole-wing mild hot. The sauce is a classic orange Buffalo sauce that checked every single delicious salty/spicy box. The wings were perfectly cooked, juicy and easy to pull apart. The whole thing was perfectly sided with crinkle-cut fries, gently dashed with a bit of seasoning, and a big, red Orange Mound Punch. My trip to Ching’s felt like another lesson in my ongoing Memphis education. Eating at Ching’s made me a better Memphian. — Toby Sells
Belmont Grill (Photo: Michael Donahue)
Belmont Grill
4970 Poplar
If you find somebody on the planet who’s never tried hot wings, take them to Belmont Grill. They serve the classic, tangy, tasty, messy hot wings I think of when I think of hot wings.
I recently devoured a plate of six Belmont wings, which come with coleslaw, ranch dressing, and a small loaf of crusty bread cut into eight pieces. I ate to the beat of Billy Idol singing “White Wedding” and ended up dipping the bread into the ranch dressing because the wings are so good by themselves.
“The sauce is a blend of Louisiana hot sauce and melted butter,” says manager/owner Jeff Anderson. “The butter helps the hot sauce stick to the wing. We don’t use a breaded wing. We use the real wing, so you can still taste the sauce and the meat from the chicken.”
The Belmont didn’t serve hot wings when it first opened, Anderson says: “I found an old menu from when we first opened in 1984 and it wasn’t on there. I went to another menu, ’87 or ’88, when we actually put them on the menu. Back then a lot of places that did them did the pieces, and not the whole wing. We wanted to be a little bit different and we did the whole wing. We’ve kept them on there ever since. They’re our version of the hot wing.” — Michael Donahue
Women Is Losers won Best Narrative Feature at the 2021 Oxford Film Festival.
For 17 years, the Oxford Film Festival awarded the Hoka, which was named for the cotton warehouse turned art house cinema run by “Oxford’s cultural ambassador,” Ron “Ronzo” Shapiro. This year, the name of the award was changed to the Ronzo, in honor of the longtime OFF supporter who passed away in April, 2019.
Oxford Film Festival 2021 announced its slate of winners on Sunday night, after a long weekend of outdoor film screenings, interrupted occasionally by the severe weather that blew through the Mid South. The first ever Best Narrative Feature Ronzo went to Women Is Losers, the feminist coming-of-age story by first-time writer-director Lissette Feliciano. Best Documentary Feature went to In A Different Key, directors Caren Zucker and John Donovan’s adaptation of the bestselling book on autism. Best Mississippi Feature went to Bastard’s Crossing, director Travis Mills’ Western produced during COVID lockdown.
Bastard’s Crossing won the Best Mississippi Feature Ronzo.
The winner in the LBGTIA category was Dramarama, a ’90s teen coming-out comedy by director Jonathan Wysocki. The Best Music Documentary Ronzo went to Bleeding Audio by director Chelsea Christer.
Bleeding Audio won Best Music Documentary at Oxford Film Fest 2021.
In the shorts, “The Recess,” directed by Navid Nikkhah Azad, a story of a young girl in a conservative Muslim society who dresses as a boy to attend a soccer game, won Best Narrative. “Snowy,” co-directors Alex Wolf Lewis and Kaitlyn Schwalje’s quest to bring happiness to a neglected pet turtle, brought home the Best Documentary Short Ronzo. Manual Marmier’s “Kiko’s Saints” was named Best LBGTIA short. In the music videos, Lemon Demon’s “Touch Tone Telephone” won Best overall, and the Mississippi award went to The Vacant’s “American Automatic.”
Lemon Demon’s Best Music Video Ronzo winner
The Oxford Film Festival continues virtually through the month of April, with all of the winners, along with more than 100 other films, streaming online. The virtual portion of the fest will kick off on Friday, April 2nd, with the 35th anniversary screening of Labyrinth, the epic fairy tale by Mississippi native and Muppet creator Jim Henson, starring David Bowie. You can find tickets to the screening and information about online passes at the Oxford Film Festival website, ox-film.com.
Midfielder Leston Paul will suit up for Memphis 901 FC midfield this season. (Eric Glemser)
At last, fans of Memphis soccer can finally plan ahead when it comes to supporting their team.
901 FC unveiled its complete regular-season schedule for the upcoming United Soccer League season, in which the team will play in the Eastern Conference’s Central Division.
Opening day kicks off on Saturday, May 15th, against rivals Birmingham Legion FC. Memphis’ first five matches are all away games, before the home opener against Atlanta United 2 on June 16th. Between then and October 30th, Memphis will play its 16 allotted home matches, half of the team’s 32-match slate for the 2021 season.
Most of Memphis’ matches will come against Central Division opponents Louisville City FC, Indy Eleven, Atlanta United 2, Birmingham Legion FC, FC Tulsa, OKC Energy FC, and Sporting Kansas City II. Games against non-division opponents include matchups with Colorado Springs Switchback FC, Miami FC, and San Antonio FC.
Tickets for home matches are not yet available. Expect to see limited capacity seating at AutoZone Park due to COVID-19 restrictions, although the number of available tickets has not yet been determined.
Ever since its grand opening, one defining quality of the Crosstown Concourse has been its emphasis on live music. From ad hoc performances on the public grand piano in the West Atrium to full-blown music festivals spilling into all manner of open areas, there were always sounds bouncing around the wide open spaces of the old Sears Tower. There were, that is, until last year’s lockdown.
New light wells in the Concourse have increased its natural light. (Courtesy Crosstown Concourse)
Now, with vaccinations and other preventive measures becoming more common, the Crosstown Concourse is taking its first steps back to those pre-COVID days. For the past few weeks, musicians have occasionally been sponsored to play under the covered tables in the front plaza. And this week, they’ll be back in that huge reverb chamber known as the East Atrium.
Actually, the Concourse is taking a hybrid approach, with some performances still being scheduled outside in the plaza, and continuing online events as well, such as Crosstown Arts’ Virtual Resident Artist Talks. Here, then, are the first pop-up live and online events helping the Crosstown Concourse kick off April.
Alice Hasen, Andrew Geraci, & Jordan Occasionally (Courtesy Crosstown Arts)
Alice Hasen Thursday, April 1st, 5 p.m.-7 p.m. | Central Atrium Born in Vermont and based in Memphis, Alice Hasen is a professional violinist, recording artist, and songwriter. She leads Alice Hasen & the Blaze and is part of the Blackwater Trio, an acoustic rock band.
Andrew Geraci with Jeff Hulett and Chris Davenport Friday, April 2nd, 5 p.m.-7 p.m. | Plaza Memphis-based Andrew Geraci is a Mississippi Delta-bred electric and upright bass player who picks up a guitar every blue moon. He is currently working with Alice Hasen and the Blaze, Alicjapop, Crockett Hall, Great Lakes, Eleven Point (Oxford), James and the Ultrasounds, Los Psychosis, Pistol and the Queen, and San Salida.
Jordan Occasionally and inoahcreation Saturday, April 3, 11:30-1:30 p.m. | Central Atrium Jordan Occasionally, or JD, is a neo soul and R&B artist, born and raised in the capital of soul music, Memphis, Tennessee. She was an Emerging Star with David Porter’s Consortium MMT in 2019 and has performed her original music on stages ranging from the Levitt Shell in Memphis and City Winery in Nashville, to Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Virtual Resident Artist Talks Thursday, April 8th at 6 pm. Presenting artists include Sepideh Dashti (6 p.m.), Joann Self Selvidge (6:30 pm), and Sarah Elizabeth Cornejo (7 p.m.). Click here to register.
Ernest Strickland has been named president and CEO of the Black Business Association of Memphis (BBA), and brings with him this message: “If we get this right, Memphis is a different city — a competitive city.”
He’s been serving with the Greater Memphis Chamber’s senior leadership team, most recently as senior vice president of workforce development. In his new position, which he assumes on Thursday, April 1st, Strickland will oversee the 47-year-old nonprofit that has a mission of empowering entrepreneurship and improving business and growth opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses.
Strickland succeeds Mark Yates, who remains as chairman of the BBA Board of Directors and is now regional VP of West Region for TVA.
“With his understanding of economic development, particularly in a city that is majority minority, Ernest brings the experience and understanding of what minority-owned businesses need to thrive in our city,” Yates said in a statement. “He will ultimately take BBA to the next level.”
Throughout his 15-year career at the Chamber, Strickland held various roles, from business development in membership to vice president of international business development before leading the workforce development team.
“The time is right because there is a heightened awareness and intentionality around the value of creating wealth in the African-American community,” said Strickland. “When Memphis is able to speak to wealth creation, in addition to addressing poverty, we will shift the conversation and ultimately shift the outcomes.”
Strickland says his vision for BBA is to focus on three key areas: talent, acquisition, and talent acquisition. “At the heart of business is its people, its talent. We hope to provide next level leadership training for African-American professionals — taking managers, entrepreneurs, and business owners through coursework that will be able to take them to the next level in their careers and business,” he said. “Through acquisition, we will look for opportunities for black businesses to grow and expand by acquiring established companies. Finally, through talent acquisition, as we develop next level leadership training we will amass a diverse list of candidates for hiring opportunities.”
Prior to joining the Chamber, Strickland, a Memphis native, owned and operated Investors First Realty, a brokerage a residential real estate investment firm. He graduated from University of Memphis, and got his MBA from Bethel University. He serves on the Greater Memphis Workforce Board, New Memphis Board of Trustees, and Whole Child Strategies Board of Directors.
Photo by Mohammed Al-taher / courtesy Bari Ristorante E Enoteca Facebook
The owners of Bari Ristorante E Enoteca announced yesterday afternoon via a Facebook post that the restaurant, which will celebrate its 19th anniversary this fall, will be relocating to a new space.
According to the post, Rebecca and Jason Severs have signed a lease for 524 S. Cooper, at the corner of Peabody and South Cooper. The new location will allow for more indoor dining space, as well as an outdoor patio.
The final day of business at the current location at 22 S. Cooper will be May 15th. A reopening date has not yet been set.
Laurie Cardoza-Moore will help decide which textbooks will be used by Tennessee students. Photo from Facebook.
Last week an anti-Muslim activist who rallied at the January 6th insurrection in Washington, D.C. and claims Black Lives Matter is against Jesus and churches got one step closer to helping pick what textbooks Tennessee school children should read.
The Tennessee House Education Instruction committee approved Laurie Cardoza-Moore to sit on the state’s textbook commission. The Franklin resident was nominated to sit on the board by House Speaker Rep. Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville).
Resolutions to formally appoint Cardoza-Moore to the board are moving through the legislature’s committee system. The Senate Education Committee will review the appointment during a meeting Wednesday afternoon.
Cardoza-Moore came to the public eye in 2010 when she publicly fought against the construction of a mosque in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. On The 700 Club television show, she told host Pat Robertson the mosque was a front for terrorists.
In a now-removed tweet in December (above), she asked “will you join me in D.C. to defend our constitutional republic? This is it! If we lose our constitutional republic, we will lose it!” In a June YouTube video called “The REAL Agenda Behind Black Lives Matter EXPOSED,” she claims the “Marxist/Leninist/anti-semitic movement” is trying to remove Christian “anything” from society.
She has also founded Proclaiming Justice to The Nations (PJTN), a group whose “mission is to educate Christians about their Biblical responsibility to stand with our Jewish brethren and Israel.” On that group’s site (in a post headlined “I need your help to ensure transparency in education!”), Cardoza-Moore blasted Common Core curriculum, accused the government of hiding what is being taught in schools, and took aim at the 1619 Project and Black Lives Matter.
(Proclaiming Justice to The Nations/pjtn.org) Above is a survey from PJTN asking to rank “which threat” responders are concerned about.
”With aggressive efforts by many to pressure school districts into incorporating the misguided and propaganda-laced ’1619 Project’ and ’Black Lives Matter’ curriculum, is there any wonder why the educational establishment wants to keep the actual curriculum being taught in schools secret from parents and taxpayers?”
With bad press piling up, Cardoza-Moore took to the opinion pages of The Tennessean, Nashville’s daily newspaper. In an column, she claimed she sent her children to school believing they were getting a “wholesome American education.” Then, one day, she discovered a Williamson County textbook “that appeared to justify a Palestinian suicide bombing.”
”I discovered that here in the Buckle of the Bible Belt, our textbooks were working against us,” Cardoza-Moore wrote. “Our children were being spoon-fed a politicized anti-Judeo-Christian agenda pushed by foreign interest groups — with little to stop them.”
A group of organizations, including the American Muslim Advisory Council, responded with an opinion piece in The Tennessean the day after, saying Cardoza-Moore “wants to preserve the notion that America is only for those who ascribe to her interpretation of a Judeo-Christian background.”
”From where we sit, our children would be best served if our schools taught them to respect and accept with open arms the differences among all who live in Tennessee,” the groups wrote. “We believe our children will best be served if they are taught comparative religion, cultural traditions, and values.
“In so doing we will help our children better understand what we have in common, rather than the perceived differences Cardoza-Moore is afraid they will learn.”
For more of Cardoza-Moore’s opinions, here are some samples from her Twitter feed:
Just a reminder I’m leaving Twitter. You can find me on @Parler@Mewe
Nope. To call COVID-19 vaccines a hoax, Cardoza-Moore went back on her promise to leave Twitter for conservative social media platform Parler.
Thank you @PeteHegseth for speaking the truth on @FoxNews. Antifa stormed the Capitol! It wasn’t led by Trump Patriots. It wasn’t Trump Patriots storming Portland, Seattle, etc. either. That is the tactic of Antifa.
@VP You have a duty before GOD and We the people to uphold the Constitution. Read President Jackson’s Farewell Address in 1837. His charge was written to you and those who stand watch this very day. If you do not execute your duty, you will be culpable with the evil in Rev. 21:8
Is Joe Biden a racist?! Sleepy Joe?! He isn’t as sleepy as we thought! OMG! What he’s not considering is the majority of blacks and Hispanics are people of the Judeo/Christian faith. We don’t think like his thugs do. https://t.co/cnfW9LydBs
And we al know now what Powell said about what people to which she was peddling this myth.
We are reminded in Proverbs 25:5; “… when an evildoer is removed from the king, his throne is established in righteousness.” 🙏🏻 Lord God, expose and remove the evildoers from every seat of government in this nation. Execute Your Justice on everyone of them! Amen! @PJTN
@PJTN Don’t get discouraged ladies! We’re going to defeat these fascists! I’m traveling across the country and conducting webinars on how to take back our children’s education and our government! The momentum is building. Join us in the battle at https://t.co/6OfiW3JUHjhttps://t.co/BjpN157v86
— Laurie Cardoza Moore (@CardozaMoore) July 17, 2020
Keep working it Abdullah, try as you may, you cannot rewrite history. Justice will prevail and the truth will be sealed for future generations. @PJTNhttps://t.co/djuwNxtFuy
— Laurie Cardoza Moore (@CardozaMoore) July 16, 2020
Because you don’t know where God first refers to it, or how many times it’s used, and I’ll just bet you don’t know what it means. I’m waiting… https://t.co/LPPypfq9Pc
