Month: June 2021

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We Saw You

We Saw You: Juneteenth at Orange Mound Tower

IMAKEMADBEATS at Juneteenth Family Reunion. (Credit: Michael Donahue)

Guests got a sneak peek of Orange Mound Tower at the Juneteenth Family Reunion, which was held June 19th on the grounds of the old United Equipment building on Lamar near Airways.

IMAKEMADBEATS, founder/CEO/owner of Unapologetic, which co-owns Orange Mound Tower with Tone, estimated the crowd at “around 3,500 to 3,800.” 

IMAKEMADBEATS at Juneteenth Family Reunion. (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Tone at Juneteenth Family Reunion. (Credit: Michael Donahue)

The event was “to celebrate freedom for black people,” IMAKEMADBEATS says. “And it was also a celebration of Tone and Unapologetic’s new venture at Orange Mound Tower.”

Juneteenth Family Reunion at Orange Mound Tower Credit: MIchael Donahue

Unapologetic is “a label for musicians and visual artists and a creative ecosystem.”

Tone is “a nonprofit organization created to support and uplift black arts and black artists in the city. The executive director is Victoria Jones.”

The event featured live performances from Unapologetic artists and impromptu tours of parts of the property.

Juneteenth Family Reunion at Orange Mound Tower. (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Nicolette Hatchett and Michael Ivy at Juneteenth Family Reunion. (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Craig Brewer with Kayana Mitchell and London Porchia at Juneteenth Family Reunion (Credit: Michael Donahue)

Orange Mound Tower is the future home of his “Dirty Socks Studio,” says IMAKEMADBEATS, who sported a spiffy pair of watermelon-print socks at the event. “Unapologetic World will be a part of Orange Mound Tower. And in that we will include Dirty Socks Studios.”

And, he says, “Unapologetic World essentially will be our offices for our venue and our studio.”

They’re hoping to break ground at the end of 2022, beginning of 2023,  IMAKEMADBEATS says. “We’re waiting on some financial projections before we can know exactly when to have the grand opening. Because of phases we’re going to be in.”

Orange Mound Tower also is special in another way, IMAKEMADBEATS says. “I was raised in Orange Mound. And it just feels beautiful to come back home and build at home.”

(Credit: Michael Donahue)
We Saw You
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News Blog News Feature

UTHSC Aims to Shift Doctors From “Pill-Pushing”

Credit: University of Tennessee Health Science Center

A new statewide initiative aims to shift primary doctors away from “pill-pushing” to treating the root causes of three of Tennessee’s obesity-related natural killers. 

The new push comes from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC). Its Tennessee Population Health Consortium is taking aim at heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. 

“The overarching goal of the consortium is to shift primary care focus from pill-pushing to encouraging health behavior change using proven health coaching approaches,” reads a statement from UTHSC. To get there, the consortium will conduct research initiatives to “strengthen, support, and transform primary care practices across Tennessee.”

“For the first time, our UTHSC campuses across the state are contributing their substantial educational, training, information technology, and communications assets to explicitly support our statewide partners in their efforts to measurably improve health equity and population health,” said Dr. Jim Bailey, UTHSC professor and the consortium’s executive director.  “We are all focused on strengthening and supporting primary and preventive care, where the true heroes of our health care system can do the most lifesaving work.” 

UTHSC will serve as a hub of information, training, and best practices to help primary care physicians across the state offer new preventive services for patients. They’ll push this information through three main channels: the Tennessee Heart Health Network, the Diabetes Wellness and Prevention Coalition, and the Cancer Prevention and Control Program. 

The consortium will also collect and build a statewide health data source, the Tennessee Population Health Data Network, to track health outcomes and improve heart health, diabetes, and cancer care across Tennessee.

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News News Blog

19 Tennessee School Systems Join Suit Against Vape Manufacturer

(Photo by Nery Zarate, Unsplash).

Knox County Schools, with 58,000-plus students and 88 schools, became the latest and biggest school system in Tennessee to join a lawsuit against JUUL labs, the world’s largest manufacturer of vaping products. The districts are seeking to recover the costs of current and future prevention programs, counseling, and treatment for addicted students.

The lawsuit asserts that the company fraudulently and intentionally marketed to children through social media, online advertising, and children’s television networks. Attorneys contend JUUL marketed candy- and fruit-flavored vapes, or pods, to appeal to young people, and vaping products were sold online, making it easier to avoid legal age requirements.

“Tennessee students were misled when JUUL said vaping was not harmful, because we now know vaping products actually can have 10 times the nicotine of a cigarette,” said attorney Chris McCarty of Lewis Thomason law firm, which is the Tennessee counsel on the lawsuit. “School systems suffer costs of prevention programs and counseling when students become addicted to e-cigarettes.”

William Shinoff, an attorney with the Frantz Law Group in California and counsel on the national lawsuit against JUUL, said the potential benefits for school districts participating in the lawsuit include:

  • Compensation so that districts are not forced to draw from general funds for prevention and treatment programs.
  • Funding for education programs to warn about the harmful health effects of vaping.
  • Additional staffing to prevent vaping on school grounds.
  • Counselors to handle social and emotional issues that result from nicotine addiction.
  • Placement of vaping detectors in bathrooms.

Funding from school districts is not required to join the lawsuit, and attorneys are working on a contingency basis. The lawsuit also seeks intervention to ban the sale of the flavor pods and stop the intentional marketing of the product to children.

Shinoff cited a U.S. Surgeon General advisory on e-cigarette use among youth: “JUUL e-cigarettes have a high level of nicotine, and nicotine use during adolescence can harm the developing brain and impact learning, memory and attention. To protect our children and students, this is an issue that needs to be stopped in its tracks, and school boards are on the front lines of the battle.”

Tennessee school systems that have joined the lawsuit so far include Bledsoe County, Bristol City, Cannon County, Chester County, Claiborne County, Cumberland County, Elizabethton City, Etowah City, Greeneville City, Greene County, Humphreys County, Knox County, Lincoln County, Millington Municipal, Oneida Special School District, Putnam County, Roane County, Sullivan County, and Warren County.

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News News Blog

Memphis Drivers Ranked 5th Best in the Nation. Really!

(Photo by Ezequiel Garrido from Unsplash)

You read that right. But who says so? QuoteWizard is an online site for consumers to research and compare insurance. Analysts at the company do an annual survey of which cities have the worst drivers in America and which have the best.

They look at two million car insurance quotes from drivers in America’s 70 largest cities. Cities are evaluated on four factors to determine overall driver quality: accidents, speeding tickets, DUIs, and citations (running a red light, using a cellphone while driving, etc.).

Cities with the fewest dangerous driving incidents are rated as the best. To those of us routinely navigating the Poplar corridor or the shooting gallery interstates or just trying to get into and out of suburban neighborhoods, this seems out of touch with reality.

But here’s what the report says about our fair city: “Memphis is famous for the blues and rock ‘n’ roll but it’s the city’s drivers that are music to our ears. This Tennessee city didn’t make our good drivers list last year, so moving all the way up to number five is impressive. Memphis ranks as one of the 10 best in both speeding and citations and in the top 15 for the lowest numbers of accidents and DUIs.”

So much for our long-held traditions of rolling our eyes and muttering “Memphis drivers!” as we witness the tomfoolery and witless piloting all over our streets.

And who could be even better at this driving business than we are?

How about Birmingham, Alabama at No. 1, followed by St. Louis, Little Rock, and New Orleans. And we’re well ahead of Nashville (14th) and Knoxville (16th).

But what we all want to know is, which city has the worst drivers? Who has usurped the crown we all thought was ours?

Omaha, Nebraska, had more DUIs than any other city and ranked in the top 15 in every dangerous driving category. Yeah, Omaha.

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Politics Beat Blog

R.I.P. Leon Gray


Leon Gray, the longtime local media presence and local official and indefatigable D.J. at public entertainment events, was laid to rest this past weekend under the aegis of his cousin, the Rev. La Simba Gray at New Sardis Baptist Church on Holmes Rd.

Previous to that Gray lay in state at Serenity Funeral Home on Sycamore View, where large crowds of well wishers, from influencers to regular folk, came to pay their respects.

Gray’s death, from an apparent heart attack, was unexpected. He was 62, and he was still very much making his presence felt at civic events, where he was a steady and relied-on presence. He had worked extensively as a TV reporter and radio commentator and had filled many a position in local government. Most recently he was working as special assistant to Juvenile Court Judge Dan Michael.

Among those present at the Serenity Funeral Home to honor Leon Gray were Sheriff Floyd Bonner (l) and longtime local political figure John Ford.

As a sign of his impact on local government, the Shelby County Commission on Monday designated by unanimous vote a special media area that will be named for Gray in the forthcoming new Juvenile Justice Center, the establishment of which, to serve youthful Memphians at risk, had been a matter of great importance to Gray.

Gray’s public spiritedness extended to what he saw as the careless desecration of his native city’s potential beauty. In a “Vent” article published last year in the Flyer, he lamented the omnipresence of litter and said, “I’m sick of this filth, but I’m also just as sick of watching nobody do anything about it. So, if by chance you read this, join me in this crusade to try and clean up our city and restore the pride in our neighbors. Write your elected officials and tell them this is a priority. Finally, let’s teach our kids to always try and leave our shared spaces better than we found them.”

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News Blog

Stepping Ahead

Kaleigh Henry (center) with A Step Ahead educators Kristen Carter (left) and Amanda Ibrahim (credit Amy Mulroy)

The nonprofit foundation A Step Ahead took some mighty steps forward on Friday, June 18th, handing out $2,000 scholarships to some 102 young women who graduated from the organization’s program, preparing them to pursue their futures through the use of free long-acting reversible contraception tools (LARC) to prevent unplanned pregnancy.

The scholarships were presented in the course of a drive-through ceremony at Lindenwood Christian Church from which the young recipients left the premises in gaily festooned automobiles symbolizing their new opportunities.

In the picture above, Kaleigh Henry (center) has just received her gift bag and scholarship check from A Step Ahead educators Kristen Carter (left) and Amanda Ibrahim.

Categories
Film Features Film/TV

Music Video Monday: “Strange Question” by Bruce Newman

Music Video Monday wants to get to know you.

Bruce Newman is the host of WEVL’s “Folk Song Fiesta,” where he brings you deep cuts from the long history of folk and Americana music every Wednesday from 8 to 10 a.m. He’s also a singer/songwriter in his own right, one who has previously graced Music Video Monday with his music, which can touch on the emotional and the political.

His latest song, “Strange Question,” was inspired by the looks he got when he returned to Memphis from the annual Burning Man festival in Nevada with his hair dyed. “It is usually tinted with some color before I go out to Black Rock City,” the attorney and accountant said. “I began to realize if my skin was brown or if I was blind or if you did not like a feature of mine, would you judge me or just accept me?  Would you ‘love me for me being me?’  So, accepting me for ‘me being me’ is the gist. What does it matter?  And, especially now, it is about acceptance of our brothers and sisters. Let the obvious be clearly understood, that my choice to color my hair is not to be compared with separation based on race or disability or any other factor, but rather a small, personal realization of how we are sometimes unfairly and unkindly separated by differences.”

After the song debuted at Folk Alliance, he put together a band of his Memphis friends — Eric Lewis, Reba Russell, Susan Marshall, Paul Taylor, Gerald Stephens, Heather Trussell, Carrington Trueheart, Sam Shoup, and Kevin Houston — to record it at Music+ Arts. Director Laura Jean Hocking made the music video, which stars the most accepting people of all — kids. Take a look.

If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.

Categories
From My Seat Sports

Redbird Reinforcements?

Alex Reyes (Courtesy Memphis Redbirds)

The 2019 Memphis Redbirds season began with Tommy Edman on the infield and ended with Dylan Carlson in the outfield. Two years and one pandemic later, both players can be found in the St. Louis Cardinals’ batting order on a daily basis, key components to any World Series aspirations for the Redbirds’ parent club. If we go back to 2018 — a season that ended with a second-straight Pacific Coast League championship for Memphis — we recall AutoZone Park memories of Randy Arozarena, Luke Voit, Adolis Garcia, Jack Flaherty, and Dakota Hudson, all now rising stars in the major leagues (though not all still in the St. Louis system).

Back to the present, though, and it’s hard to envision current Redbirds making the kind of impact so many of their predecessors have before, during, and now near the end of the worldwide health crisis. Among the Cardinals’ current top 20 prospects (as ranked by MLB.com), only two have been with Memphis since Opening Day in May, and both are pitchers: Matthew Liberatore (the number-one prospect) and Zack Thompson. Liberatore (acquired in a trade that sent Arozarena to Tampa Bay) has an especially high ceiling and could occupy a future spot in the Cardinals’ starting rotation, but he’s pitched in only six games above Class A. Remember, minor-league baseball went dark in 2020, a lost season of competition and development for rising stars like Liberatore. You might say he’s currently pitching on a “Double-A-plus” level, only in Triple-A stadiums.

Among position players, who among the 2021 Memphis Redbirds might enter the mix in St. Louis? Outfielder Lars Nootbaar missed 20 games with an injury to his right hand, but has put up an eye-popping slash line in his first season at Triple-A: .329/.430/.557 (through Sunday). With the Cardinals’ offensive numbers among the worst in baseball — among 30 teams, St. Louis ranks 27th in on-base percentage and 22nd in slugging percentage — any Memphis hitter with numbers like Nootbaar’s is like a peacock on parade amid a gaggle of geese.

 Jose Rondon leads the Redbirds with six home runs and this is telling, as the infielder has been with the Cardinals since being promoted on May 29th. The Memphis lineup is not stocked with bashers, and Rondon’s impact with St. Louis has been minimal (six hits in 13 games). As the season’s midpoint nears, the Cardinals (and Redbirds) need to maximize production from now-familiar faces. Until Double-A Springfield infuses the upper levels of the system with new blood, the I-55 pipeline may be traffic-free.

• The best story this season among former Redbirds on the current Cardinal roster is that of Alex Reyes. The 26-year-old pitcher made his big-league debut in 2016, when he struck out 93 hitters in 65 innings for Memphis as the system’s top-ranked prospect. But a series of injuries limited Reyes to a total of seven innings over the next three seasons. He pitched out of the Cardinals’ bullpen last year, but his workload was just shy of 20 innings in the abbreviated season.

Here in 2021, though, Reyes has assumed the role of closer for the Cardinals, walking the ninth-inning tightrope as though he’s been there before. Through Sunday, Reyes has posted a miniscule 0.82 ERA and earned 17 saves, good for fifth in the National League. The riddle for St. Louis, big picture, will be whether to keep Reyes in a role that limits him (typically) to one inning per game, or to return his powerful right arm to the starting rotation, an area that’s been compromised this season by the injury-related losses of Dakota Hudson, Miles Mikolas, and most significantly, ace Jack Flaherty. Whether in the ninth inning or the first, Reyes should be a difference-maker — if he can stay healthy — for many years to come.

Categories
Film Features Film/TV

A Music Video for Father’s Day

Memphis musician and father Jeff Hulett’s been on a roll lately. He’s been rolling out his pandemic output with new music videos. This one is dedicated to all the dads out there. “Scene by Scene” is about what it’s like to watch your kids grow up. Get ready, because the kids in this animated video are absolutely adorbs. Happy Father’s Day, everyone!

Categories
Music Music Blog

Music to Light Up Juneteenth Celebration at Orange Mound Tower

IMAKEMADBEATS (Credit: Justin Fox Burks)

Memphis Flyer readers couldn’t miss this week’s top entry in the Steppin’ Out pages, featuring the old United Equipment building standing tall in a blue sky, announcing tomorrow’s Juneteenth Family Reunion at the newly rechristened Orange Mound Tower. It will be the inaugural event for the tower and surrounding land, now slated for mixed-use development by a new partnership between Unapologetic, the music, media and fashion collective, and Tone, the Black arts and community-empowering nonprofit formerly known as the CLCTV.

Given the building’s iconic profile over Orange Mound, it’s literally a monumental moment for the neighborhood and the city of Memphis. And such a moment calls for some sonic sanctification. Accordingly, music will echo from the environs surrounding Orange Mound Tower with a tidal force, as the alliance settles in to its new home.

If you love music, click this 2019 track from AWFM, Hannya Cha0$, and PreauXX (produced by Kid Maestro) — which might well be the ultimate anthem for the remade Memphis that’s emerging this weekend — and read on.

Naturally, PreauXX, AWFM and Kid Maestro will all be on hand with beats, rhymes, and sweet musical soundscapes, along with fellow Unapologetic artists Eillo and C Major. IMAKEMADBEATS, the collective’s founder, will also perform.

But this moment is not only Unapologetic’s, and other artists will be there as well, including 91′ Co., BlueBoys and Matt Lucas. Mixed in with the live performances will be DJ sets from notable platter-spinners such as DJ Chandler Blingg, Qemist, DJ Manté and DJ Texas Warehouse.

It will be an unforgettable day to be sure, and, as noted in the Unapologetic press release, “Expect fireworks.” Whether literal or figurative, you know this crew will not fail to light up the night.

Juneteenth Family Reunion, Orange Mound Tower, 2205 Lamar, Saturday, June 19, 5-11 p.m., free.