Word is that the Shelby County Democratic Party and sample-ballot entrepreneur Greg Grant are on the cusp of an agreement that would eliminate an ongoing injunction against Grant preventing him from using the term “Democratic” to describe his election ballots, which list “endorsements” and mug shots of candidates who pay Grant for the privilege.
Grant is one of several such entrepreneurs who circulate such “pay-to-play” ballots — often described by critics simply as “bogus ballots” — at election time. Among the others are former City Councilman Rickey Peete and perennial candidate M. Latroy Alexandria-Williams.
The injunction dates from February 2021 when special judge William Acree of Jackson levied it against Grant and others for using the words “Democratic” and “official” on their products. In April, the plaintiffs, who included the Shelby County Democratic Party and several others, singled out Grant for violation and asked Acree to assess a judgment or to impose a new temporary injunction (TRO).
Acree declined to issue a TRO, evidently accepting the argument of Grant’s attorney, Julian Bolton, that other ballot publishers had also, as Grant had, used variants of the word “Democrat” and “official” but were omitted from the new litigation.
Meanwhile, Judge Acree has plans to retire by the end of August, making moot the possibility of new legal actions from him after that point.
Faced with the prospect of having to re-initiate legal action from scratch against the bogus-balloteers, the Shelby County Democratic Party has reportedly offered Grant, the only currently active defendant, an agreement allowing him to continue issuing ballots under the name of “Greater Memphis Democratic Club” so long as he includes a disclaimer that he does not represent any organ of the actual Democratic Party.
Snags have occurred meanwhile. The Tennessee Young Democrats, who are a party to the suit, are not on board with the agreement, nor is plaintiff John Marek, nor, more immediately, is Grant, who is said to be resisting the idea of a disclaimer.
As Marek notes, the permanent injunction still holds, in the meantime, and is subject to enforcement.
(Graphic courtesy of Memphis consultant Cole Perry)
Whatever it might mean for the November election results, the August voting in Shelby County showed an interesting pattern vis-a-vis the race for the Democratic nomination for governor.
As noted by Erik Schelzig of the Tennessee Journal and as demonstrated in the graphic above (image courtesy of Memphis consultant Cole Perry) the Democrats’ second-place finisher statewide, City Councilman JB Smiley of Memphis, dominated primary voting in Shelby County, perhaps as expected, winning 61.99 percent of the county’s vote as a native son, with 48,650 votes. Second place in Shelby County went to Dr. Jason Martin of Nashville, who garnered 22.72 percent of the vote, with 18,005 votes. Martin finished first in the state as a whole and, consequently, is the party’s nominee in November to oppose GOP Governor Bill Lee.
What will be noticed from the graphic is the lengthy pink salient penetrating the county map from the east. This is where Martin netted from 40 to 60 percent of the primary vote and was the source of his strength in Shelby County. That portion of the county happens to be synonymous with what Schelzig and others call the “finger of love,” a section of the county peeled away from what used to be the 9th District and assigned by Republican redistricters to the 8th Congressional District.
Another way of describing the salient is that it is the Poplar Avenue Corridor, site of a good deal of upscale business and residential areas.
So what can be deduced from the map? Several things; one in particular: At least to a modest degree, the Poplar Corridor is potentially competitive in November between Martin and Lee. The rest of the county should go to Martin, though turnout for Martin as the Democratic nominee in November may lag behind what Memphian Smiley was able to attract in August.
And not to be neglected is that the 12,604 votes won in Shelby by third-place finisher Carnita Atwater, also a Memphian, most probably took enough votes away from Smiley to prevent his becoming the party nominee. He lost to Martin statewide by only 1,472 votes.
Ultimately, in any case, the odds of a Martin victory in November remain remote in that statewide voting remains overwhelmingly Republican.
Still, Democrats would be well advised to give that finger a shake.
“You’ve got to live the life you sing about in your song,” goes the old gospel tune, and Talibah Safiya is doing just that. When the Mama’s Sundry crew she helped assemble appears at the Frayser Connect Center as a part of the Frayser Summer Concert Series this Friday, August 19th, there will be more than a performance by one of the city’s most inventive neo-soul singer/songwriters.
Well before the band counts off, Safiya and her cohort will be launching their new podcast, Mama’s Sundry Presents: Kitchen Talk. The podcast aims to be a conversational series discussing the cultural nuances of wellness, and its basis in “relationships with self, people, food, and the environment.” Tonight’s conversation on “Food Apartheid” will be recorded live at the Frayser Connect Center, beginning at 6 p.m. And to take things beyond mere kitchen talk, they’ll walk the walk with a vegetarian meal served to all attendees.
For the singer, it’s part of her new efforts to embrace all of her creative impulses at once, from her musical, to her political, spiritual, and gastronomic creativity. The Memphis Flyer got in touch with her to hear more about Mama’s Sundry and tonight’s performance.
Memphis Flyer:What’s Mama’s Sundry, exactly?
Talibah Safiya: It’s a company that includes my husband Bertram [Williams Jr.], myself, my mother, who goes by Mama Sadio, and our good friend Niki Boyd, who is a sustainable wardrobe stylist and blogger. We all came together in 2020. I make oils and skin care products, and we have other friends who make things we love. We wanted to offer their stuff to folks too. But we wanted to reimagine how we could offer people great, non-toxic products, but not necessarily always trying to sell them. From there, we started to not only offer products locally, but organize local events.
What kinds of events?
One event was called Pot Liquor, that we organized with our friends at Everbloom Farm in Millington. We made soups with their crops and fed the people. That was last year, and this year we’re going to be doing it for a second time. We’re also did a swap meet, where people swap their used clothes with other people in the community. We’re really just trying to get creative about not over-consuming, with things that can be reused again and again and again. Another campaign we did was a tote bag made with the Neighborhood Print Company, and we called it the “BYODB tote,” the Bring Your Own Damn Bag tote. That campaign was about getting people to take their own bags to the grocery store. So, those are the types of things we’re focused on.
Mama Sadio, Talibah Safiya, and Niki Boyd (Credit: KeaShundrea Donald)
And Friday’s event focuses more on cooking and food?
We are going to be collaborating with the folks at the Frayser Connect Center. Our company Mama’s Sundry is releasing a podcast where we’ll be talking about food, wellness, sustainability, and just how to stay mentally and physically well here. We’re going to be having a community conversation about that starting at 6 p.m. Friday. And we’ll be trying to get everyone in on this conversation. Everyone is welcome. We can all be empowered and learn how to grow food for ourselves, make products for ourselves, and things like that. And then afterwards we’ll be doing some music, of course. They have a little sanctuary in the space and it is really cute. So I’m really looking forward to playing some music.
So urban farming is big part of Mama Sundry’s mission, too?
This Frayser Connect Center is a former church that’s associated with the Frayser CDC, and they have a community garden started by our good friend, Camille James of Halls of Ivy. She works with folks in the neighborhood, gives crops away to folks. She started pickling and making tomato sauces and stuff, and she always provides really delicious juices at our events.
We do similar work in South Memphis with our home garden. We share food with folks in our neighborhood and we’ve been working on pickling and canning as well. We’re new to it so we’re just seeking to learn, share what we’re learning, and learn with folks. I think it’s a great thing to be having this conversation while we’re learning, so people don’t feel like it’s inaccessible. We’ve only been doing it for a couple years. It’s the type of work that’s easy to tap into, and you continue to grow every season, so we wanted to share that journey with people.
Is your South Memphis garden a community garden as well?
We’re just growing stuff in our front and back yard, which is not huge, but we had a really big cucumber crop, a big tomato crop, a bunch of peppers, and we’ll be able to use the peppers from our garden in the meal we’re sharing with folks Friday. We’re going to feed the people a vegetarian meal during our community conversation.
It sounds like you got more into gardening and canning when the pandemic started, like a lot of people.
Yeah, that highly influenced us being a part of that work. You know, people started fear mongering at that time, but sometimes that inspires you to get empowered, get knowledgeable and get active. And that’s what we did. My husband, Bertram, got his hands in the soil and started learning things. And I do my thing from the kitchen, learning how to use what he’s growing. I’ve always loved cooking, so it’s really cool to be able to share that part of my creativity, and for him and me to share that part of his creativity. Since we both spend so much time in the stage space, performing space, it’s a different aspect of our creative expression, and we love it.
Is Bertram in the arts as well?
He’s an actor. He’s on the show, P-Valley, on Starz.
You started out in theater as well, didn’t you?
I started out in theater, yes. We actually first connected in high school theater classes.
You all seem to have a very collaborative approach to your Mama’s Sundry work.
We’ve been able to collaborate with a lot of friends who are also gardening in the city. Black Seeds Farm in North Memphis, and Everbloom in Millington, and our friend Camille in Frayser. All of them are going to be there on Friday. We’re just building a really intentional community.
There’s a way your music reflects all of these things, isn’t there?
Definitely. For me, one of the focuses in my own heart and mind has been realizing that I had been compartmentalizing the different aspects of my creativity. The music is talking about healing, whether it’s “Healing Creek” or “Ten Toes Down,” I’m often talking about healing from an emotional and spiritual standpoint. The consumption of food that is alive also positively influences your emotional and spiritual health. So if I’m going to be having that conversation, I can’t have it holistically without talking about food. To me it has made sense to put those things together. Because in my own personal wellness journey, food has been in the forefront of how I stay well. I just want to share what I’ve been learning with people. And I have people around me who understand that, luckily. We’re all using our talents to push forward what we believe in as it relates to food. And health and autonomy. And holistic wellness.
Talibah Safiya (Credit: KeaShundrea Donald)
Mama’s Sundry Presents: Kitchen Talk, with a performance by Talibah Safiya and band, will be presented at the Frayser Connection Center, 1635 Georgian Drive, on Friday, Aug. 19th, 5:30-9 p.m. $10 Advance, $20 Door.Tickets
Midnight Sirens features Maggie and Robert Anthony (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Midnight Sirens is a new music duo featuring Robert and Maggie Anthony. They’re releasing their singles U. V. Rays and The Admiral today, August 19th.
You might know Robert.
But then again you might not know Robert.
He won’t say whether or not he is in Lord T & Eloise, a Memphis band featuring performers who go incognito.
“I wrote some guitar riffs for a group called ‘Lord T & Eloise,’” Robert says. “And worked with them a little bit.”
And you might know Maggie, who is Robert’s wife. She was in a popular quartet, The Owens Sisters. They were on America’s Got Talent.
But she’d rather you don’t know that she was on America’s Got Talent.
“I was 16,” Maggie says. “And I was so nervous. It was awful. I literally am so embarrassed.”
Robert and Maggie, who have been married three and a half years and are the parents of a daughter, Pearl, joined forces for Midnight Sirens during the pandemic.
Maggie and Robert Anthony of Midnight Sirens (Credit: Michael Donahue)
As for the name, Robert says every time they tried to put their child to bed or tried to record, they heard ambulance and fire sirens blaring down North Parkway. They had to change their recording location because there were so many sirens, Robert says. “We moved to our shower stall.”
Consequently, he says, “There are a lot of sirens in the actual recording.”
Robert and Maggie are a match made in music heaven. “I have three older sisters,” Maggie says. “When I was 15, we started doing four-part harmonies together. We would play at bars and stuff. It was really interesting because I was 15 playing in these bars. We would do covers of popular country songs. That was kind of our niche.”
As The Owens Sisters, they performed songs, including Wagon Wheel and Down to the River To Pray, with their dad, Andrew Owens, on guitar. “We actually did Free Falling. We made it a country song.”
When she was 16, Maggie and her sisters moved to Nashville to pursue their careers. Maggie did a lot of songwriting while she was there, but, she says, “We were very young. It didn’t turn out how we anticipated it would.”
That also was the same year they made their ill-fated appearance on America’s Got Talent. She and her two sisters appeared on the show at Madison Square Garden, but none of them were prepared, she says. “I was so scared. Thank God, you can’t find it on line. I’m truly blessed.”
When they returned from Nashville, Maggie had to get “back in the rhythm of a normal life. I continued doing home schooling and graduation. I put music on the back burner. But when I was 17, me and my sister, Andie, started a group together. We called it ‘Zuster.’”
Describing “Zuster,” which is a Dutch word meaning “sister,” Maggie says, “It wasn’t Southern or country or anything. It was like electronic folk. ‘Electronic’ is kind of the wrong word. It had elements of electronics like a synth keyboard. It had guitar. It was very based in harmonies.”
Zuster released two singles, including Do You Want Me with a video, on the Blue Tom label at the University of Memphis. “I think that one is still up. But I don’t think they ever put out the actual album we were working on.”
The song, which she and Andie wrote, is “just about really loving somebody and wanting them to feel the same way.”
Maggie then decided to take a break to figure out what she wanted to do. “I never really thought I would do something on my own. Singing harmony live with myself is almost impossible. So, I took a little break. And then I met Robert.”
Robert recalls the first time he heard Maggie sing: “It was this huge, crazy party and I thought, ‘What is that sound?’ And I followed it and she was out there singing.”
Robert and Maggie Anthony of Midnight Sirens (Credit: Michael Donahue)
He saw her again about three years later at a friend’s house. “She whipped out her guitar and started playing these original songs. And I was just really blown away by her songwriting, her lyrics.”
He told Maggie, “Wow. You’re deeper than your age.’ We started talking. We were friends for a while and then we started dating.”
Robert found “a lack of pretense” in Maggie’s lyrics.
In addition to playing country songs for him, Maggie also played songs by Melanie. “I was like ‘Where did you hear this?’”
He discovered Maggie “had the ability to come up with an original song with a catchy hook. Original catchy choruses. Songs that have a complete melody. “
Her lyrics were “way beyond her years, as well. She was singing powerful lyrics about deep subjects.”
Maggie already was familiar with Robert’s work. “I had heard about his bands through the grapevine,” she says.
But, she adds, “I didn’t listen to any of his music or anything, like Lord T & Eloise.”
“Never met them,” Robert interjects.
She liked Robert. “He’s very witty and clever. He’s a great conversationalist. He’s just good at making people feel at ease and comfortable. He made me laugh. We’re just very kindred spirits. A lot of people in my life think we’re very, very similar. Other people might disagree.”
Maggie finally saw a Lord T & Eloise show. “I liked it,” she says. “I thought that it was unique. And it’s just something you have to see to believe. When I first saw his live show, I was floored. It was just an extremely well-orchestrated performance.”
And, she says, “Robert is the creative direction of each show.”
But Robert won’t admit he’s the “Lord T” in the group. “I’ve never been in the room with those guys,” he says. “I’ve always wanted to shake their hands.”
Maggie and Robert Anthony of Midnight Sirens (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Midnight Sirens began during the pandemic and so did his piano playing, Robert says. Their daughter wanted him to teach her how to play a child’s Yamaha keyboard, but Robert, who plays guitar, didn’t know how to play the piano. “I started to play it, much to Maggie’s annoyance.”
He played it all the time, Maggie says.
In addition to learning how to play the piano, Robert thought there was “an ‘80s vibe” to the sound of the Yamaha.
Midnight Sirens “started on a cheesy Yamaha,” but, Maggie says, “It really shaped the songwriting aspect of it. I’m used to writing deep, not sad, but maybe, songs. And this Yamaha keyboard was so silly, it really kind of lightened up my songwriting in a very healthy way.”
“I was writing songs with the intent for Maggie to sing them,” Robert says, adding, “I wanted to record an album with her since I met her.”
Maggie recalls when she became captivated by Robert’s songs. He was playing The Admiral, which he describes as similar to “an epic folk song,” on the Yamaha. “I was sitting in the bathtub, just a normal day” she says. “I heard him playing this song on this cheesy Yamaha keyboard. I thought, ‘That song makes me feel so happy.’ And it turned from a normal bath into the most magical bath I’ve ever had in my life. That’s when I realized I want to live in his music.”
“Literally, it was after six months of me annoying her she started writing these songs,” Robert says.
Maggie originally thought, “I have nothing to write.” But “something clicked” when she heard that song. Maggie took his lyrics and made them “singable,” Robert says. “I have a tendency to overwrite.”
“He writes these epic novels,” Maggie says. “When I sing, I like to use less words to create kind of a picture, more descriptive words that are slightly vague, but you understand.”
She shortened Robert’s lyrics and “put a girly spin on them. There’s a different perspective when a man’s writing it. He wrote the basis of the ‘novel.’ And I took it and chopped it up and whittled it down.”
Maggie “popped out 12 songs start to finish,” Robert says. “She would go in our shower stall where our microphone is and she would come back out with these songs totally written with all the parts.’
Robert and Maggie Anthony of Midnight Sirens (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Writing the songs was “kind of an escape from Covid. You’re locked up in your house. So, we created this happy little cymatic universe.”
They later reproduced those silly and fun rhythm and beats on a Roland Juno-60 vintage keyboard from 1982. “I said, ‘We can record that vibe with a good keyboard,” Robert says.
Elliott Ives, a songwriter/co-producer and a longtime studio and touring guitarist with Justin Timberlake, heard UV Ray, one of the songs written on the Yamaha, at Young Avenue Sound, which he co-owns. “He thought it had some potential,” Maggie says. “And so did some other people.”
They played some of the songs for Blair Davis at Young Avenue. “He got really interested in it when he heard it,” Robert says. “He agreed to mix the whole record for us.
“We did the method for this super old school. Meaning there are no punches, no loops, no pre-set sounds, no auto tune on any of the vocals. And everything was done in a single performance. Including the vocals. Which is how they used to do it back in the tape days. A kind of throwback approach that makes for a more dynamic vibe. I hope.”
And, he says, “Ryan Peel is playing drums on these alongside my digital beats, which helped a lot.”
Describing U. V. Rays, which has a “bossanova beat,” Maggie, who wrote the song, says, “I was kind of imagining myself in an dreamworld of being on a sailboat with this man who happens to be my husband. And kind of playing on the Ra sun god kind of concept. Honestly, just a moment in time with my husband in a dreamworld escape.”
She’s never been on a sailboat, but, Maggie says, “After writing this song, I feel like I lived that song.”
Footage in the U. V. Rays video was taken at his sister’s house, Cielito Lindo, in Palm Beach, Florida, Robert says. “We were just kicking it,” he says, adding, “That video, honestly, was vacation footage.”
He wanted to shoot a music video, but nobody wanted to. They were “just having fun sitting in the sun. I thought, ‘OK. I’m going to shoot that.’ We were in my sister’s magical backyard with this giant beehive, iguanas everywhere.”
As for their writing styles, Robert says, “Maggie has more of a tendency to sing traditional old music where I’m coming at it from an outer-space angle. I want to vibrate you. And adding a lot of disco elements to it.”
He describes his music style as “if Abba/ELO had a baby in the South.”
“I grew up writing all these country songs with these four-part harmonies,” Maggie says. “Consequently, I wound up writing songs with the same method. A lot of the structure of the melodies with harmonies remind me of the Southern kind of music background that I have. But it’s not country.”
Robert and Maggie are going to do a full-length Midnight Sirens album. It will feature their songs, which Robert describes as “a weird fusion of retro and new school.”
“With a little Southern twang to it,” Maggie says.
The cast of "Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird" as Richard Thomas, center, gets a standing ovation opening night at The Orpheum (Credit: Michael Donahue)
To Kill a Mockingbird is how I became a writer.
We had to read the book by Harper Lee during my sophomore year at Christian Brothers High School. I loved it. John Lavecchia, who was my English teacher, then told us we could write our own short story, but not for extra credit.
So, I did. And my short story, My Small Island, was pretty much To Kill a Mockingbird without the wit, charm, or good writing. I think I still remember the melodramatic last line of my story: “Miss Cake, Constance shot Feb.” But that fledgling short story got me writing. And I never stopped.
I still love the 1962 movie starring Gregory Peck as Southern small-town lawyer “Atticus Finch.” The movie score by Elmer Bernstein is one of my all-time favorite pieces of music.
I could hardly wait to see the stage adaptation, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, at The Orpheum. I was there on row G opening night, August 16th. It’s the most powerful live play I’ve ever seen. All the characters get to you. I loved it.
Richard Thomas, who played “Atticus Finch,” was superb. He’s not the Gregory Peck character. He seems more of a Mr. Nice guy than the Peck version, but it works wonderfully. Of course, Thomas also goes by “John Boy” when you’re talking about him because that was the likeable character he played in TV’s The Homecoming: A Christmas Story, which was followed by the long-running weekly spinoff show, The Waltons.
The action in this stage adaptation by Aaron Sorkin can be fast, with sets on rollers quickly moving about to turn the court room into the Finch’s front porch, and back again. But things slow to the right pace when they have to with all the tenderness, humor, and ugliness (as far as the way human beings are capable of acting).
I love the way the characters of Dill Harris, their summer visitor (played by Daniel Neale), and mean old Mrs. Henry Dubose (played by Mary Badham, who played “Scout” in the movie version), are broadened in the play. Dill becomes even more endearing. And the audience can see why Mrs. Dubose, who calls Scout (Atticus’s daughter played by Melanie Moore) “ugly little girl,” is really the ugly one. She doesn’t like Scout’s brother, Jem, (played by Justin Mark), either. And, as the play proceeds, she probably hates him forever. But no spoiling.
The role of the Finch housekeeper, Calpurnia, also is expanded and given more depth in the play. Jacqueline Williams, who plays her, is wonderful in every way. The audience duly noted that with their rising applause during the curtain call.
I also really was impressed with Joey Collins, who played the realistically horrible “Bob Ewell” and Arianna Gayle Stucki, who played the realistically pathetic and horrible “Mayella Ewell.”
Greg Wood’s “Judge Tate” was somebody you’d just like. Period.
And Yaegel T. Welch, who played “Tom Robinson,” was perfection.
Again, don’t expect the movie version verbatim. The play is not arranged the same way. And scenes and lines are left out. A woman in my row who thought she knew the line that was coming next suddenly blurted out, “There’s good in everyone.” That line didn’t happen. Then she started to say, “Thank you for my children,” out loud because she thought that was the obvious next line. It wasn’t.
I did tear up two or three times. And that, to me, is always a sign a movie or play is good. But there’s so much more to signify that Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, which runs through Sunday, August 21st at The Orpheum, is great.
Note: Thomas didn’t play “Atticus Finch” the next night, August 17th. David Christopher Wells, who played Sheriff Heck Tate the night I saw the play, played Finch that night.
No comment from The Orpheum on Thomas and his future performances in the show at The Orpheum.
Vicki and Ron Olson at Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird (Credit: Michael Donahue)Eric Key and Rufus Smith at Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird (Credit: Michael Donahue)Dan Spencer and Shelby Spicer at Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird (Credit: Michael Donahue)Katie Rempaul and Matthew McCutchen at Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird (Credit: Michael Donahue)Alice Kerley and Sarah Luscombe at Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird (Credit: Michael Donahue) We Saw You
A federal judge ordered Thursday that the seven Memphis Starbucks employees who were fired for attempting to organize a union must be reinstated.
Federal Judge Sheryl Lipman ruled that Starbucks must fully reinstate the group, which because known as the Memphis 7, within five days. Lipman ordered Starbucks to no longer engage in the type of activities that gave rise to the case. Those activities include discharging, disciplining, or discriminating against employees because of their union support and activities.
The Memphis 7 were fired from the Starbucks store at Poplar and Highland. Five of them were members of the organizing committee. Advocates said that after they were fired, Starbucks fired over 80 union leaders across the country, and shuttered three union stores.
“We’re beyond thankful the federal court ruled in our favor, and this just goes to show that Starbucks will do everything in their power to silence us,” said Nabretta Hardin, a lead organizer from the Poplar and Highland store. “Memphis is a union town. We remain the only store to have organized in Memphis for fear of workers being fired like we were.
“We hope this ruling brings comfort to our partners in the Memphis area and shows them the power they can have in a union. There is no need to fear retaliation because the [National Labor Relations Board – NLRB] will protect them as they have protected us.”
The NLRB charged Starbucks with a number of federal labor law violations. The agency is now prosecuting Starbucks on 20 administrative complaints across the country.
A jury convicted a Black man in a Tennessee jury room decked out in Confederate portraits, flags, and memorabilia, and a panel of high-ranking Tennessee judges ruled that this is perfectly fine.
The Tennessee Criminal Court of Appeals failed to grant a new trial to Barry Jamal Martin, in an opinion made public Tuesday. The appeal came from a conviction from the Giles County Circuit Court. Pulaski, the Giles County seat, is known as the birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan and Martin’s jury deliberated his fate in what court papers call, simply, “the Confederate Room.”
Martin was convicted of possession of cocaine, cannabis, and drug paraphernalia and sentenced to 12 years in confinement. His attorney argued he should get a new trial for many legal reasons concerning evidence, trial errors, and more. But his attorney also argued Martin should be given a new trial because jurors sitting in the “Confederate Room” were exposed to racist ideas that could have swayed their decisions.
The frosted-glass top panel of the jury room door displayed the Confederate flag and read “U.D.C. Room” in gold lettering beneath. “U.D.C” stands for United Daughters of the Confederacy, the group that supplied the memorabilia for the room. The room had two Confederate flags, portraits of Confederate leaders, and Confederate documents.
In June, Giles County and the UDC successfully won approval from the Tennessee Historical Commission to move the items from the jury room to the National Confederate Museum in the Elm Springs mansion outside of Columbia. It wasn’t immediately clear if the items had already been moved or not.
The move to remove the Confederate memorabilia came after another Black man, Tim Gilbert, won a new trial in December, arguing that the jury in his case was influenced by the items in the room. A different panel of judges with the Tennessee Court of Appeals approved the new trial and vacated his conviction.
That court decided the Confederate flag communicated Black subjugation, was government speech because it was displayed in a government courthouse, and that speech exposed the jury in the Gilbert case to “improper outside influence.”
But in the Martin case, a different panel of Appeals Court judges disagreed. Its ruling said that the “the memorabilia in the jury room did not pertain to the defendant, to any fact of the case,” or to other rules that apply to a criminal trial. Further, the panel said they questioned “whether the average citizen would recognize the portraits of Jefferson Davis or John C. Brown, the insignia for the United Daughters of the Confederacy, or the third national flag of the Confederate States of America.” However, the well-known Confederate battle flag was framed and on display in the room.
“While we certainly do not condone the presence of the memorabilia in the jury room, we conclude that the defendant failed to show that any specific extraneous prejudicial information was improperly brought to the jury’s attention or improperly brought to bear upon any juror (or grand juror),” reads the opinion. “Therefore, no unequivocal rule of law was breached.”
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said Wednesday the ruling could hinder justice for other Black defendants in the future.
“The idea that a Black defendant could receive a fair trial in a room adorned with symbols of white supremacy and slavery is preposterous, and that fact should have been recognized by the court,” said CAIR national communications director Ibrahim Hooper. “This ruling may unfortunately prevent a necessary reexamination of possible unjust, biased convictions of Black defendants.”
Hard Rock Cafe’s bust of the late Jimi Jamison (Photo: Scott Innes)
The late Jimi Jamison will be honored August 21st at the Hard Rock Cafe. A bronze bust of the lead singer of Survivor, Target, and Cobra will be displayed in a new custom showcase. A special wall will feature Jamison memorabilia.
The event also will be the release party for Rock Hard, a deluxe CD edition on the Iconoclassic Records label of Jamison’s unreleased album from 1990.
Performers will include John Cafferty, Jim Peterik, Ronnie McDowell, Jimmy Davis, Todd Poole of Roxy Blue, and Deb Jam Band fronted by Jamison’s wife, Debbie Jamison.
A longtime Jamison friend, Scott Innes, a promoter and a voice-over actor for movies and characters, including Scooby-Doo, was instrumental in having the bust commissioned after the entertainer died September 1, 2014.
“Jimi and I became best friends when I worked at FM-100 in 1989, and we started a 25-year friendship,” Innes said in an interview from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Jamison confided in Innes. “There’s an old saying, ‘You can’t be a superstar in your own hometown.’ And that bothered Jimi. It bothered him for years. Here is the Hard Rock in Memphis and there was nothing about Jimi Jamison or Survivor in there.”
Jamison participated in charity events Innes held for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “He had a passion for St. Jude and I did, too.
“He used to tell me — he was joking — ‘Man, when I die, you’re doing my funeral.’ When he died, his family asked me to help out. I said, ‘I want to do an event at Hard Rock because Jimi always wanted to be in there. And, by golly, we’re going to put him there.’”
Julien Salley, Hard Rock general manager at the time, had some memorabilia installed. But Innes wanted more. “I wanted to have a bust. When you have a bust done, that means you’re a somebody. You don’t just make a bust of somebody that’s nobody. So that, to me, solidified that Jamison was a rock star.”
Innes got donors, including Lynyrd Skynyrd and Johnny Van Zant, to help pay for a bust sculpted by Matt Glenn from Big Statues in Provo, Utah.
They held the bust unveiling, but, Innes says, “As things happen in life, there was nowhere to put it currently in the Hard Rock. It ended up living in the basement.”
That’s when Gwen Smith went to work. Smith, a longtime friend of Jamison’s, worked on tributes for the Memphis entertainer for years.
Smith kept in contact with Hard Rock about putting the bust back on view. In addition to talking to Zak Abdallat, the club’s general manager at the time, Smith also met with Hard Rock vice presidents from the corporate office.
Finally, Abdallat told her they were going to have a custom case built for the bust and hold a tribute, she says.
“I don’t know anybody who’s got a voice like that,” Smith says. “It was so rich and soulful. Of course, he had that Southern drawl and everything, but he had so much feeling in the way he sang.
“He was so appreciative of his fans. When I would go to shows with him, the rest of the band would go back to their room. He would stand there and get a picture made with everyone. He gave autographs to the last one. I was so impressed with that.
“His fans loved him and he loved them.”
Smith asked Innes to produce the tribute. Innes plans to serve bowls of jambalaya, one of Jamison’s favorite dishes, at the event.
“It’s going to be a party,” he says. “A big family reunion of Jimi’s friends, band members.”
And, he says, “In the end, we walk away with Jimi in the Hard Rock, where he should have always been because he was a rock star. And now that bust will solidify what I have always known: that Jimi is the eye of the tiger.”
Jimi Jamison Memphis Hard Rock Reveal at 6 p.m., August 21st, at the Hard Rock Cafe at 126 Beale Street. Doors open at 5 p.m. Reveal at 7 p.m. Free admission.
Here it is: the chance to pen the Flyer’s famed “Letter From the Editor” column. This week, I hold the keys to this journalistic kingdom and can lead off with whatever topics I deem fit. At last, an opinion column! Sounds like fun, right?
The reality is that as press day ticked ever closer, my Google Doc remained the same, a lone cursor blinking steadfast in the upper left corner. What did I want to say? Do I have anything to say for a piece like this? There are already so many voices needlessly screaming into the internet ether; do I really need to add another one? Should I even be penning such a column? I’m an editor, sure, but for our sister publications Memphis magazine and Inside Memphis Business. My co-workers all expect a column about soccer, but no, I won’t give them the satisfaction.
But my existential pondering didn’t matter; deadlines still exist, and time was almost up. You may have noticed that the Flyer’s letter from the editor has featured several different names over the last month or so, mine being the fifth to appear in this “temp-editor” carousel. As we continue our hunt to find a new editor to help carry our alt-weekly forward, I like to think of us as a motley crew of mad hatters, each with a staggering variety of headgear piled high as we juggle myriad responsibilities and adjust to the demands of 21st century journalism. The writing, editing, social media, event planning, endless conveyor belt of irrelevant emails, and who knows how many other random miscellaneous tasks every week add up to quite a bit, but we soldier on.
That packed schedule that we all deal with has got me thinking about “time” lately. My perception of it has faded into dust since we entered Covid lockdown back in 2020, and it’s all hazy from there. That trip to Kentucky I took recently? That was actually in 2016. Didn’t I go to the Bar-B-Q Shop last month? Nope, that was back in March. But again, it’s the looming deadlines that fill me with the most anxiety.
I looked up at the calendar and, wow, it’s been almost seven years at Contemporary Media, a good bit longer than my initial two-year plan. My 30th birthday approaches in several months; does that milestone signal the end of fun, and a long, slow decline into bitterness? Or is that when the fun truly begins? When my lease expires in March, does that mean I buy a property and take on a mortgage that will stretch my finances to the brink, or do I re-up on an overpriced ramshackle apartment because “the rent is too damn high”?
The big decisions and milestones coming thick and fast get you thinking about your time, and what you do with it. I imagine it’s been easy for many over the past couple of years to just end up drifting as the world burns, as social media platforms demand our attention and try to dictate our lives, and as puffed-up malcontents in government try to dismantle our country piece by piece. What you do with your work, and what you do outside of it, matters greatly. It doesn’t necessarily mean big-picture, but rather, finding that thing which brings your zen or purpose.
Some might say you need to be constantly productive in your spare time. They’re wrong, of course, just as I’d be wrong to say that overloading on leisure time is key, because there is no one-size-fits-all solution. I head home after work and glom in front of a TV after booting up my PlayStation 5; others might grind out a side hustle or work on a passion project. Ignore all the noise and find what works best for you. It can be hard to tune it all out, but a small respite, even just a little peace of mind, goes a long way after the years we’ve had.
What we here at the Memphis Flyer choose to do with our time every day is to continue bringing you news, columns, and stories about anything and everything Memphis, and it means a lot when you pick up one of our issues and validate the hard work of our entire crew. If you really like what we do, consider becoming a Frequent Flyer and donating to the cause. Heck, you can even just give me cash directly (my Venmo is @Samuel-Cicci). And if you really, really, like what we do, then perhaps apply to become our new editor. If you’ve picked up this week’s issue, I hope the content is well worth your time. Anyway, looks like mine’s up for today.
The Memphis Flyer is now seeking candidates for its editor position. Send your resume to hr@contemporary-media.com.
When the lights and Wi-Fi go out, it’s no longer fun and games in Bodies Bodies Bodies.
Take a group of people, lock them away in a remote location, and start killing them off one by one.
No, that’s not my plan for the weekend — it’s a time-honored formula for a thriller. Agatha Christie used it as a jumping-off point for some of her most famous and innovative mysteries. Horror films like The Haunting adopted the device, and how could you even make a decent slasher movie without gathering your potential victims at Camp Crystal Lake?
Bodies Bodies Bodies is the latest story to dust off the cozy trope and twist it to satirical ends. It comes in hot, with a close-up of Sophie (Amandla Stenberg) and Bee (Maria Bakalova) kissing passionately. After a tryst in the woods, they drive in Sophie’s aging Land Rover to a secluded mansion. It’s the family home (or at least one of them) of David (Pete Davidson), Sophie’s best friend from childhood.
We meet the rest of the cast in the pool, competing to see who can hold their breath the longest — the first of many edgy games this toxic friend group plays. There’s Emma (Chase Sui Wonders), David’s attractive actress girlfriend; Alice (Rachel Sennott), the cocaine-crazed party girl; Greg (Lee Pace), Alice’s hunky beau; and Jordan (Myha’la Herrold), the no-nonsense overachiever who is the only person in this post-college clique not to come from money.
There’s a hurricane approaching, and the friends have gathered to wait out the storm with copious amounts of booze and drugs to pass the time. They’re surprised to see Sophie, who has lost touch with the group ever since they staged an intervention and sent her to rehab. But she claims to have responded to the group text — the main arena of friendship these days — and has such a deep history with David that he welcomes her. For Bee, it’s the first time she’s seen her new girlfriend in her natural element. She’s surprised to learn that Sophie’s family home is even bigger than this sprawling mansion. But the streak of destruction Sophie’s wild years left behind has alienated her family, and it’s obvious that the point of this trip is her return to the affluent world which exiled her.
As the dynamic between the friends reveals itself, we start to wonder why she would bother. These folks’ idea of a fun drinking game is taking a shot of tequila and then slapping the person next to you — and you’d better do it hard, or you have to go again. David is the passive-aggressive ruler of the roost, and he’s threatened by Greg’s presence. No one quite knows what to make of Bee’s Eastern European accent and proletariat mannerism. Finally, as the storm drives them from poolside, Emma suggests they play a new game: Bodies Bodies Bodies. They draw lots to determine who is the secret murderer and then turn out the lights and scatter. The “murderer” taps a victim on the shoulder, then the rest of the group tries to figure out who is the wolf in sheep’s clothing. At first, David objects to the game because every time they play it, a fight breaks out. “But that’s what makes it fun!” says Emma.
Sure enough, the game quickly goes sour. Greg and David storm off in a huff. As the storm intensifies, Bee sees David clawing at the window. His throat cut, he bleeds out before the groups’ horrified eyes. Paranoia (aided by the cocaine) ensues. Is there a killer in the woods or are they trapped in the house with the murderer?
Based on a story by Kristen Roupenian (who wrote the now-infamous “Cat Person”) and directed by Halina Reijn, Bodies Bodies Bodies shares a premise with Memphis director A.D. Smith’s Covid lockdown thriller Killer. But where Smith played it straight, Reijn twists it into dark comedy. In true slasher fashion, all of these people are horrifying jerks who deserve their bloody comeuppance. Stenberg and Bakalova have excellent chemistry as a new couple who slowly turn on each other, and Sennott (who was great in Shiva Baby) stands out. Davidson’s controlled, nuanced performance hints at talent beyond his smirking SNL presence. The digital noir cinematography by Jasper Wolf is often outstanding. At a crisply paced 95 minutes, Bodies Bodies Bodies is a satisfying cinematic snack.
Bodies Bodies Bodies Now playing Multiple locations
