Always look for silver linings. (Photo: Soumyadip Sarkar | Unsplash)
“Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better to take things as they come along with patience and equanimity.” — Carl Jung
As we near the end of 2022, I’m reflecting on the year that was, one in which I learned more than any prior about the importance of taking things as they come with patience and equanimity. Personally, it was one of the toughest in recent memory, not counting 2020 — I think we can agree that was one big WTF for us all. But this year brought a great deal of loss for me (three of my grandparents and an uncle passed away). And a great deal of stress (one notable experience: I panic-bought a house). Though it wasn’t without its celebratory moments (panic or no, I did become a homeowner). And successes (I was promoted to editor-in-chief of this fine publication).
At my age, “I’m sorry for your loss” has become more a part of regular dialogue. And fumbles and foibles are standard fare. Getting older has its growing pains (literally and metaphorically), and consistently presents new learning opportunities. We’re all figuring things out as we go, and there are no perfect days — but some are better than others. And the not-so-great ones help remind us to savor the near-perfect ones and to take things in stride. Because there will always be more “things” to get through.
This year, too, has been one of losses and triumphs for Memphis, as you’ll read in this — our double issue. For our staff to have the fortunate ability to take some time off around the holidays, we present this year-end edition, dated December 22nd through January 4th, which will be on newsstands for two full weeks. Within, we’ve used the cover story “Let’s Get Wild & Free” for predictions, and a look ahead, for 2023 — in business development, politics, music, film, and sports. Our writers have utilized their regular column spaces for year-in-review features — a recap of news and more from 2022. It reveals some of the low, even horrific moments our city — and country — endured. But it also displays how much we’ve rebounded from the pandemic peak, with the sports, live music, and film worlds flourishing once again.
Even with all that’s happened in the last 12 months — the ups and downs and stagnant in-betweens — it still somehow feels like we just shot off the bottle rockets on New Year’s Eve. A strange thing, time. Maybe in 2023, we can embrace this chance to start anew, recognize the lessons in hardships, pause for clarity when necessary, and face what may come — the good and the bad — with empathy and courage.
We’ll leave you with this issue until our next newspaper hits stands (January 5, 2023). In the meantime, some final thoughts for you. This week, a friend shared a 2021 tweet from J.S. Park (@jsparkblog) that still resonates. It read: “My therapist, instead of saying ‘happy holidays,’ says, ‘May you have a gentle holiday.’ Her reason: The holidays are not happy for everyone. The hope is that they’re gentle for us, that we are gentle on ourselves. #selfcare.”
In the hustle of the holidays, remember that not everyone has family or friends with whom to celebrate — or the means to give as generously as they’d like to. It can be a solitary time for some, and an overwhelming time with many road trips and gatherings for others. The stores are packed, retail and restaurant staff are spread thin. Package sorters, delivery drivers, and postal employees are working overtime to get your gifts to where they need to be. In this often stressful season, remember to be gentle on yourself. But remember, too, to be gentle with the people you encounter. You don’t know what they’re going through, and your smile might be one that lights an otherwise dark day.
Best wishes to you all as we ready to rock a brand-new year, wherein there will surely be both light and dark but also a hell of a lot of promising possibilities.
After her father passed away, Katrina Perdue began patching a pair of his old jeans, the last pair he’d worn. Though she had knit and sewn a bit before, this was her first time mending a piece of clothing, but the act of repairing loved and worn clothes was therapeutic in itself. “It’s kinda slowing down and having something that’s calm and meditative to do in a busy world,” she says. “I found that it was a very healing process and it really helped me through that grief.”
So, after that first pair of jeans, Perdue turned to mending as often as she could, wanting to bring new life to the materials around her — from her childhood blankie to her daughter’s stuffed bunny to a chair from her partner’s studio. Before long, Perdue broadened her scope beyond the personal. In her exhibit at Crosstown Arts, Perdue has gathered some of these items that she’s mended — some personal, like her blankie, and some not so personal, like a mended plastic bucket found among curb-side trash.
“Part of it is really studying the way something’s made and thinking about how, even though there are these huge factories and these machines, it still requires a human hand to piece those things together, and we are so removed from it,” Perdue says. “In the last 20 years, fast fashion has become a thing and we are now seeing the result of that in how much waste there is — these literal mountains of waste landfills.”
With this in mind, the act of mending, for Perdue, is more than just extending the life of an object; it’s honoring it, too, by not treating it simply as disposable among our material and consumerist abundance. Perdue even uses bright, colorful stitching to highlight this idea. “It brings attention to the wear instead of trying to hide it,” she says. “That’s a metaphor for life, thinking about sharing our struggles, sharing things that are difficult — you know, our scars that are a part of our story.”
Light of my life, fire of my roasted chestnuts. My spirit, my cheer, ’tis the season of approaching the light, not the light — this isn’t a Charles Dickens’ story — but the twinkling lights. And boy, oh boy, does Memphis have the twinkling lights for you, but time is ticking.
For starters, the Memphis Botanic Garden has brought back its Holiday Wonders, this year with an updated layout covering eight acres and featuring larger-than-life characters from the “Alice’s Adventures” exhibition. Only this time, the large sculptures will be covered with lights, instead of greenery and flowers. Guests will also enjoy interactive activities, and on December 22nd, dogs are welcome to take in the spectacle, too. Holiday Wonders lasts through December 23rd.
Meanwhile, the zoo is hosting its annual Zoo Lights, on select nights through January 1st, with gorgeous displays, new and old, from the classic Twinkle Tunnel to the brand-new Chinese lanterns. Guests can take a ride on the Ferris wheel and a spin on the ice rink. Plus, Magic Mr. Nick will make an appearance or two, and so will some of the animals for meet and greets.
And, of course, no Memphis holiday would be complete without a drive through Shelby Farms Park’s Starry Nights, where millions of lights will dazzle you in creative displays. The event also happens to be Shelby Farms’ largest fundraising event, with proceeds going to support daily operations at the park and the Shelby Farms Greenline. On Tuesday, December 27th, the attraction will be closed to cars for a Walk + Bike the Lights Night, where guests can take a walk or ride their bikes through the glowing nights. Starry Nights runs through December 30th, concluding with the annual BuffaGLO run. The BuffaGLO run is a family-friendly 2.25-mile fun run, with strollers and leashed dogs welcome. For more information, visit shelbyfarmspark.org.
Restaurant Iris’ new location is probably the most anticipated restaurant opening of the last year. The restaurant at 4550 Poplar Avenue, where the old The Grove Grill was located, is stunning. The main dining room includes serpentine booths and Italian glass-balloon-looking fixtures that add to the energy. Executive chef Russell Casey describes the fare as “classic New Orleans” with some Iris staples. Additional murals, private dining spaces, and even more serpentine booths make the new Iris an exciting place to dine.
Tonica, another elegant/tasty addition, is at 1545 Overton Park. It’s two doors down from Ecco, which, along with Libro, is one of the bar/restaurants from Sabine Bachmann and her sons, chefs Armando and Mario Gagliano and general manager John-Paul Gagliano. The food, Armando says, has “a Spanish influence with a little bit of Italian-Mediterranean twist.” The decor is “as close to a Mediterranean Spanish style” as they can get, John-Paul says.
South Point Kitchen at Downtown’s South Point Grocery at 136 Webster Avenue serves sandwiches, most of them created by chef/musician/comedian Josh McLane. They include HEELS, named after his band that consists of himself and Brennan Whalen. It’s made of spicy peanut butter, jalapeño strawberry jam, bacon, and provolone cheese.
Jimmy “Sushi Jimmi” Sinh introduced his Poke Paradise food truck, which will officially hit the road in 2023. He now is booking the food truck for events. Recently, he has been busy doing pop-ups, special orders, private dinners, and other catering events. Poke is diced fresh fish, usually served with soy sauce and onion.
Tops Bar-B-Q is known for its great hamburgers. But during the year, Tops introduced new food items. Smoked BBQ Bologna, which launched in April, was the first new Tops item in 10 years. “We score it and season it with our rib rub and then we smoke it,” says Tops Operations LLC vice president Hunter Brown. “After smoking it, we grill each one to order.” They then put it on a bun and add their “famous slaw and our signature Tops barbecue sauce.”
Then in November, Tops introduced its Fire-Braised Chicken Sandwich with Memphis white sauce. It’s chicken seared over fire and then topped with the sauce, says Tops CEO Randy Hough. — Michael Donahue
New Wing Order, one of Memphis’ most popular food trucks over the past couple years, found a roost on Beale Street earlier this year. The truck continues to operate, but owners Cole Forrest and Jesse McDonald set up their first brick-and-mortar shop inside Ghost River Brewing Co. Now, brewery-goers can sip on their favorites ales while munching on Memphis Buffalo, Ja’s Sweet Heat, or any of the other delectable sauces. “Having this space really allowed us to increase our capacity,” says Forrest. Adds McDonald, “We get to experiment with a lot of new menu items now, too.”
The former Pontotoc Lounge space is open once again, but with a whole new concept that draws upon OG Memphis’ roots as an Egyptian city. Called IBIS, the new bar and lounge by Jeremy and Matthew Thacker-Rhodes promises plenty of craft cocktails and fine dining in a chic space on Main Street. Think lobster rolls, lamb meatballs, and plenty of other colorful mixed drinks that will wet your whistle (I recommend the tequila- and grapefruit-based “Por Que”). Look forward to gospel and mimosa Sundays, drag shows, live music, and plenty of other live programming in the upstairs lounge.
Carlisle Restaurant Group launched the first unique dining concept planned for the One Beale project. Fancy’s Fish House opened back in April in The Landing Residences, offering a wide variety of fresh and raw seafood to Downtown diners. But the menu recently underwent a complete makeover thanks to new chef Nate Henssler, who has quickly put his stamp on things. A raw bar serves everything from East and West Coast oysters to ahi tuna tartare, and there’s a gargantuan seafood tower that combines all the raw bar options for a full seafood bounty. Meanwhile, Henssler focuses on simple flavors and techniques to elevate his à la carte fish dishes (the miso-marinated cod is a must-try). There are some other surprises, like a delicious steak frites entree or the rosemary roasted half chicken. Some interesting cocktails, like a chai old fashioned or frozen pineapple margarita, round out a compelling riverside experience. — Samuel X. Cicci
And just like that, it’s another year gone. With the snap of a finger, 12 months have flashed by and, gulp, is it the end of December already? Every year since 2020, we’ve wondered if maybe, just maybe, this upcoming year will be the one where we all shake off the doldrums of a post-Covid reality, rush out to the street en masse, and burst into glorious song and dance. Maybe not quite so much exuberance, but things are certainly ramping up. A completed Tom Lee Park is on the horizon, our local music scene is going strong, Memphis sports are gearing up for championship runs, and mayoral hopefuls are quietly slipping the gloves off. If that’s enough to get you giddy with anticipation, well, you’ve earned it. Prepare to take off the handbrake, and read on for our predictions for 2023.
(Top) Tom Lee Park (Photo: Memphis River Parks Partnership)
Breaking News
Tom Lee Park
Maybe the most anticipated opening of 2023 is the renovated, completely re-imagined Tom Lee Park.
The massive, $61 million project is expected to completely transform Memphis’ riverfront, drawing visitors — locals and tourists alike — to see it. Gone will be the flat, wide-open plain of grass between the Mississippi River and Riverside Drive. It will be replaced with low hills, native plants, lookouts, bathrooms, sports and recreation areas, play equipment, concessions, and more. When the project was announced back in 2019, the new design was described as “a blend of landscaping and architecture meant to mimic and restore some of the 30-acre river park’s natural ecology and better connect the city to the river.”
The anticipation of the park’s opening comes with both excited expectation and some anxiety. The new park design is expected to better connect the park with the rest of Downtown Memphis, to the delight of city leaders. All of those tourists will come at the delight of Downtown business owners.
However, the new design will bring growing pains for Memphis in May. The organization has already predicted a much smaller festival in the park and, maybe, higher prices for festival-goers to pay for the higher fees for using the park.
Memphis River Parks Partnership officials said in September that the project was halfway complete. The park has to at least be ready enough to host Memphis in May in a few short months. Officials said a grand opening of the park will be held after May’s events.
The park’s opening was one major reason travel magazine Condé NastTraveler named Memphis one of the top places to visit in 2023, one of only two places in the U.S. — Toby Sells
Memphis Sports & Events Center (Photo: Frank Murtaugh)
Memphis Sports & Events Center
Expect to (probably) see the inside of the brand-new and newly opened Memphis Sports & Events Center (MSEC) in 2023. The $60 million facility was built in 18 months and will be the centerpiece of the new sports tourism hook for Liberty Park (or the Mid-South Fairgrounds if you’re old-timey).
At 227,000 square feet, the MSEC has a footprint the size of four football fields. Each of two wings features eight basketball courts that can convert into as many as 32 volleyball courts. The north wing includes stadium seating to accommodate 3,500 spectators, along with four VIP suites and boxes for media and recruiters.
The center is a gamble by city leaders that it will attract new visitors to Memphis via youth sports travel teams for indoor sports like basketball, volleyball, and more. Funding for the center, though, is expected to come from tax revenues generated from a zone around the facility, presumably enough to pay for itself. — TS
Moth Moth Moth (Photo: Moth Moth Moth)
Outlawing Drag
The state of Tennessee saw numerous controversies regarding drag shows in 2022. In September, what was advertised as a “family-friendly” drag show at the Museum of Science and History (MoSH) was canceled after a group of Proud Boys showed up to the event armed. The Jackson Pride drag show was limited to participants aged 18 and older after weeks of battling between event organizers and lawmakers in Jackson, Tennessee.
Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) recently filed legislation for the 113th Tennessee General Assembly that could potentially make drag performances in Tennessee a crime. This legislation would define drag shows as “adult cabaret” and would prohibit these performances in public places.
The bill also goes on to make performing in “adult cabaret performance” on public property or “in a location where the adult cabaret performance could be viewed by a person who is not an adult” a Class A misdemeanor. Repeat offenders face a Class E felony.
Local LGBTQ+ activists in Memphis such as Moth Moth Moth (Mothie for short) have voiced their concerns over social media and are actively working to raise awareness and fight back.
“This is a slippery slope that aims to force drag artists into our homes and LGBTQIA+ people out of public sight,” said Mothie in a Facebook post. “How can you fight this? Call your reps. And scream at them.”
It might be a while before this sticks, as the legislature does not reconvene until January. If passed, the law would take effect in July 2023. — Kailynn Johnson
Jim Strickland (Photo: City of Memphis)
On the Political Horizon
Much of the New Year will be devoted to the selection of a new mayor and city council by Memphis voters. The quadrennial process, which actually got under way in the late months of 2022, will formally conclude on Thursday, October 5, 2023. Long before the resolution of that contest, however, the actual first election of the year, a special election for the state House District 86 seat, will have already occurred. The primary date for the special election, which was called to decide a successor to the late Barbara Cooper, who died in October, is January 24th, with the general election scheduled for March 14th.
A referendum on the November 8th ballot allowing for a third term for the Memphis mayor and members of the city council was rejected by the city’s voters, thereby foreclosing on a possible re-election bid by Mayor Jim Strickland and ensuring that a new face would be at the helm of city government, come October 5th. The reality of an open seat also made it likely that the mayoral field would swell to include numerous challengers, several of whom had announced in late fall and early winter, with more expected after the turn of the year.
The first gauge of true candidate viability will come on or around January 15th, when end-of-the-year financial disclosures will be required of the mayoral hopefuls, with information on their campaign war chests to be made publicly available. Several of the so-far announced candidates — notably Sheriff Floyd Bonner, former County Commissioner and NAACP head Van Turner, and president/CEO of the Downtown Memphis Commission Paul Young — are thought to have good fundraising prospects, with the potential to scare off rivals. Race is unlikely to be a factor, since all the actual or rumored candidates to date have been African Americans — a development consistent with the city’s demographic profile. Gender could be important, however, especially if either school board chair Michelle McKissack or state House Democratic leader Karen Camper stay in the race and get up a good head of steam. A few long-odds candidates, already in or thinking about it, include former TV judge Joe Brown and former County Commissioner Justin Ford.
In Nashville, the Republican legislative supermajority, somewhat further entrenched after redistricting, remains in charge, and two bills that are aimed at the state’s LGBTQ+ community have already been filed, and, with administration acquiescence if not outright support, will doubtless go to the head of the class. One would prohibit gender-affirmation surgery on behalf of transgender youth; another would place serious restrictions on public drag shows. Legislation to update the revenue sources undergirding the IMPROVE transportation act sponsored by former Governor Bill Haslam in 2017 is considered urgently necessary, especially in anticipation of the forthcoming needs of Ford’s BlueOval project at the West Tennessee megasite. Governor Bill Lee has made it clear, however, that further increases in the state’s gasoline tax are off the table.
Meanwhile, the version of the Shelby County Commission elected in August is Democratic-controlled (nine Democrats vs. four Republicans) and conspicuously more liberal (in every sense of the word) than the GOP establishment in the state Capitol. In a meeting just before Christmas, the commissioners put together a wish list of financial favors it wants from the state that may have hard going with the parsimonious Lee and his legislative leadership.
The commissioners’ list includes millions for Regional One Health (long known as The Med and, now as then, regarded as financially ailing) and more millions for new schools, a new jail, sewer expansion, mental health, and broadband improvements. All in all, the requests add up to $1.2 billion.
For some decades now, tension has developed between spokespersons for Shelby County and the state political establishment (regardless of political-party issues). Especially in view of the state’s apparently ever-mounting efforts to limit local options, the coming session should underscore these further. — Jackson Baker
Artina McCain (Photo: Courtesy Artina McCain)
Rock On: Live Music in 2023
With in-person performances roaring back to life over the past year, there are plenty of concerts to look forward to in 2023, though the various viral hazards still at large may still yet cause cancellations. For starters, of course, New Year’s Eve shows are just around the corner, including Blind Mississippi Morris and band at Blues City Cafe, Louder Than Bombs at B-Side, the Memphis Funk-N-Horns at Neil’s Music Room, and a double header of Formerly Known As and Twin Soul at Lafayette’s Music Room. With Jerry Lee Lewis’ recent death, many will likely flock to Hernando’s Hide-a-Way as they ring in 2023 with Jason D. Williams, who carries the Jerry Lee torch in his own inimitable way.
As January rolls on, local venues are bringing the entertainment without a pause. Lafayette’s general manager Julien Salley Jr. says, “It’s pretty exciting to see our ticketed shows return to full speed after what Covid did to us. Beyond a heavy schedule of the best local artists in Memphis, we also have incoming: Geoff Tate of Queensrÿche, Samantha Fish, Tab Benoit, Marc Broussard, Adelitas Way, Smile Empty Soul, and a ton of other exciting acts.”
Meanwhile, even more exquisite concerts will grace Memphis concert halls. The Germantown Performing Arts Center (GPAC) already has the likes of Tommy Emmanuel, Stacey Kent, and The Milk Carton Kids in January; Neko Case, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Pilobolus, and Samara Joy in February; and Step Afrika!, Marie-Stéphane Bernard, and Anthony Wilson in March.
Crosstown Arts will host more classical concerts than ever in the new year, including the Mahogany Chamber Music Series, three shows curated by Artina McCain that spotlight Black and other underrepresented composers and performers. There’s also the intriguingly titled “Mozart and Electric Guitar Concerto” by the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and Iris Collective’s “Spacetime.” But it’s the jazz curation that should win Crosstown medals, as they begin with guitarist Jimmy Bruno, then go deep in March when Crosstown’s “jazz month” will include another guitar giant, Peter Bernstein, as well as Marc Ribot, The Bad Plus, Deepstaria Enigmatica, singer Morgan James, and James Sexton’s The Otis Mission.
Of course, the rock world choogles on, so keep checking the offerings at Hernando’s, Growlers, Hi Tone, Bar DKDC, Young Avenue Deli, Railgarten, the Cove, Lamplighter Lounge, and B-Side. If you’re thinking big, Graceland Live will keep bringing the national touring acts — like Cinderella’s Tom Keifer and Mr. “Pretty Little Poison,” Warren Zeiders, in February. The Orpheum and Halloran theaters have even more on deck, from the Black Love Live soul concert to Don Bryant and the Bo-Keys, not to mention Mark Edgar Stuart’s ongoing songwriter series, Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros., the McCrary Sisters in February, and a smashing lineup of Buddy Guy, Patti Labelle, Van Duren, and John Mellencamp in the months to follow. — Alex Greene
Timothée Chalamet returns in Dune: Part Two.
Future Film
There was much kvetching about the future of the theater business in 2022, as box office returns ranged from extraordinary (Top Gun: Maverick made $1.5 billion) to job-killing (Disney’s $100 million loss on Strange World cost CEO Bob Chapek his career). But 2023’s release calendar looks a little more stacked, money-wise, than 2022’s pandemic-ravaged offerings. January starts strong with M3GAN, a creepy doll robot horror movie, and a reboot of the ’90s hip-hop classic House Party. February has Soderbergh sprinkling stripper fairy dust with Magic Mike’s Last Dance, the year’s first Marvel movie Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and a true story whose name says it all, Cocaine Bear.
In March, star Michael B. Jordan takes to the ring as director of Creed III. Memphian Henry Gayden returns as writer for the sequel Shazam! Fury of the Gods, Keanu Reeves kicks all kinds of ass in John Wick: Chapter 4, and Chris Pine leads an attempt to translate Dungeons & Dragons to the big screen with Honor Among Thieves. April dawns with The Super Mario Brothers Movie, featuring the other, lesser Chris — Pratt — as the Italian plumber, for some reason. Chris McKay helms Renfield, starring Nicolas Cage as freakin’ Dracula and Nicholas Hoult as the vampire’s thrall. Later, a new crew takes on the Deadites in Evil Dead Rise, and the beloved Judy Blume novel Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret finally gets an adaptation.
The big guns come out in May, when James Gunn takes his final bow as a Marvel director with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and Fast X brings all the family back together to drive fast some more. In June, Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse will test if Marvel can keep its Spider-streak alive. The next week, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will no doubt supply me with fodder for an entertaining pan. June 16th, everyone who’s anyone (Swinton! Cranston! Hanks! Goldblum!) will be in Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City, while walking PR crisis Ezra Miller tanks The Flash. The month ends with Harrison Ford’s swan song as the world’s favorite archeologist in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
In July, Tom Cruise hopes to repeat 2022’s box office triumph with Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One. July 21st brings the strangest pairing of any weekend, with Christopher Nolan’s biopic of the man who invented the atomic bomb, Oppenheimer, and Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. For the record, I’m up for both. August slows down with a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles flick, Disney’s long-delayed Haunted Mansion, and Blue Beetle. In a September with The Equalizer 2, The Nun 2, and The Expendables 4, the only potential bright spot is the latest installment of Branagh’s Agatha Christie kick, A Haunting in Venice. Kraven The Hunter leads October, and Saw X rounds out Halloween weekend. Return to Arrakis on November 3rd with Dune: Part Two (if you thought the first one was a snoozer, this is where all the good stuff happens). Was anyone asking for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes? At least DreamWorks’ windfall from Trolls 3 will help pad Justin Timberlake’s retirement account. Currently scheduled for December is Timothée Chalamet in Wonka, a remake of The Color Purple, and a currently untitled Ghostbusters sequel, before the year squishes to a close with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. — Chris McCoy
Penny Hardaway (Photo: Larry Kuzniewski)
2023 Tip-off: Memphis Sports
It’s the Sweet 16 or bust for Coach Penny Hardaway and his Memphis Tigers basketball team. This is especially the case for the nine(!) seniors that make up virtually the entire rotation for the fifth-year coach. New arrival Kendric Davis — a transfer from SMU — could pull off the rare feat of winning his league’s Player of the Year honors two years in a row for different teams. If Davis stays healthy and continues to excel, and supporting veterans like DeAndre Williams and Alex Lomax make the right kind of impact, reaching the NCAA tournament’s second weekend for the first time since (gulp) 2009 is within reach.
Three questions will follow the Memphis Grizzlies into 2023. Can Ja Morant win the MVP award (would be a franchise first)? Yes. Can the Griz win the freakin’ NBA championship? Yes. The third question is the most problematic: Can the Memphis Grizzlies ever play at full strength? The team has climbed to the top of the Western Conference standings without playing a solitary game featuring Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Desmond Bane all in uniform. Should the team be able to unleash their big-three on the rest of the NBA for a sustained stretch — preferably into May and June — there may be a large parade this summer on Beale Street.
The Memphis Redbirds will take the field for their 25th season in a refurbished AutoZone Park, a brand-new playing surface complemented by a brand-new video board. And the St. Louis Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate may feature two of the top prospects in all of minor-league baseball. Slugger Jordan Walker — a third-baseman and outfielder — could make the club’s big-league roster out of spring training despite his tender age (20). Shortstop Masyn Winn is another elite young talent, with an arm that makes many pitchers blush. The Redbirds are looking to make their first playoff appearance since joining the International League in 2022. — Frank Murtaugh
Memphis 901 FC are coming off their best-ever season after making it to the USL Eastern Conference semifinals. With titans in defense, midfield, and attack, coach Ben Pirmann unlocked the full potential of this squad, who were a penalty kick away from the conference finals. Pirmann will unfortunately no longer lead the team next season, having accepted an offer from USL rival Charleston Battery FC. Next year it’s Scotsman Stephen Glass, who has previous coaching experience in America with MLS side Atlanta United and its USL affiliate Atlanta United 2. And crucially, the organization has gone to great lengths to retain key players. Rather than building from scratch, star striker Phillip Goodrum (21 goals last season), midfielders Aaron Molloy and Laurent Kissiedou, defender Graham Smith, and captain Leston Paul, among others, will all return. Memphis came close to reaching the conference finals. For the following year, taking that next step is a distinct possibility. — Samuel X. Cicci
Three Black women will lead the Tennessee Senate Democratic Caucus for the 113th General Assembly.
According to the Tennessee Senate Democratic Caucus, “this election marks the first time in history any legislative caucus in Tennessee has been led by two Black women — let alone three.”
Sen. Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis) will serve as Senate Democratic leader, Sen. London Lamar (D-Memphis) will serve as the Senate Democratic Caucus chairwoman, and Sen. Charlane Oliver (D-Nashville) will serve as the Caucus vice-chairwoman.
Outgoing-leader Sen. Jeff Yarbro nominated Akbari for the position.
“It was my pleasure today to nominate and support my friend Raumesh to serve as Senate Minority Leader for the 113th General Assembly,” Yarbro said. “She will be the first African American woman to serve in this role and will do an absolutely amazing job.”
Akbari has served since 2013, and said “it has been an absolute honor to serve the people of Shelby County in the Tennessee General Assembly.”
“Today and every day, I stand on the shoulders of legislative trailblazers like Lois DeBerry, Barbara Cooper, and personal heroes like my mom, Lisa Akbari, and sister Raumina Akbari.”
Lamar said that there are “serious challenges facing the people of Tennessee, and it is an awesome responsibility to defend our values at the state legislature.”
“The Senate Democratic Caucus remains committed to fighting for working families, the middle class, young people and seniors, or those who feel left behind or targeted by politics as usual. We will not waver in our fight for the people. I look forward to serving my senate colleagues and the citizens of Tennessee.”
Oliver said that she is honored that her colleagues have trusted her to lead, and her top priorities are “to do what’s in the best interest of my district and do the people’s business in the Tennessee General Assembly. I am ready to work.”
The 113th Tennessee General Assembly will begin Tuesday, January 10th, 2023.
It took George Miller 18 years to shepherd Mad Max: Fury Road from pre-production to release. He went down blind technological alleys; wrote, produced, and then canceled an anime version; and went through multiple Maxes and Furiosas. But the false starts and revisions paid off — Fury Road was the best film of the 2010s, and arguably the greatest action movie of all time.
James Cameron’s been cooking his sequel to 2009’s Avatar for 13 years. The Way of Water was originally scheduled to bow in the summer of 2014, but underwater motion capture photography, which had never been attempted before, turned out to be much harder than the director anticipated. Then came the pandemic.
Miller used his time to refine Fury Road down to its essence, assembling a stripped-down hot rod of a film that goes full throttle for two hours. The years of delay had the opposite effect on Cameron. His original idea for an Avatar trilogy expanded into a pentalogy, and TWOW is a bladder-bursting 192 minutes long — comparable to the running time of Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King but with fewer endings.
We return to Pandora to find that just about the same amount of time has passed there as in real life. Jake (Sam Worthington), the runaway space marine, has married Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) and now permanently inhabits his blue Na’vi body. He’s the chief of the tribe, and they’re raising quite a brood: two sons, Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) and Lo’ak (Britain Dalton), and their daughter Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss). They’re also raising Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), the Na’vi daughter of the avatar of the late Dr. Grace Augustine (also Sigourney). Who Kiri’s father is, or how any of that works, biologically speaking, is left a mystery for future installments. In the midst of all the techno-wizardry, using mo-cap to empower Sigourney Weaver to play her own teenage daughter turns out to be Cameron’s greatest stroke of genius.
Two Sigourney Weavers meet in Avatar: The Way of Water.
The strangest member of the mixed Sully clan is Spider (Jack Champion), the biological son of Col. Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), Jake’s former commanding officer who died during Avatar’s final battle. Spider was abandoned on Pandora after the humans withdrew and was adopted by the Sullys.
But Col. Quaritch’s story isn’t over. The Resource Development Administration (RDA) backed up his consciousness as a way of preventing the loss of institutional knowledge. The powers that be implanted his mind into a Na’vi clone. When the RDA returns to Pandora in force, clone Col. Quaritch is sent on a mission to hunt down the traitor Sully and terminate him with extreme prejudice.
Had TWOW been released on time in 2014, the last decade at the movies would look very different. It’s quite possible the 3D revolution Avatar inspired wouldn’t have fizzled in the mid-teens. Cameron understands the technology better than anyone. Instead of just throwing things at the screen for cheap shocks, he uses 3D to add depth to scenes. Cameron’s goal is to be immersive. And with TWOW, “immersive” becomes literal. The director’s other obsession besides filmmaking is scuba diving, and one gets the impression that he would be perfectly content to jettison all of this annoying story and just take us on a 3D swim with space whales — and I’d watch it.
The Sully family meets the space whales, who are called “tulkuns,” when they flee for the coast to hide among the Metkayina, or “Reef People.” Na’vi who are aqua-green instead of turquoise, the Reef People are led by Tonowari (Cliff Curtis) and Ronal (Kate Winslet), who, like many female Na’vi in this film, is what I like to call “skinny-pregnant.”
Kate Winslet and Cliff Curtis in Avatar: The Way of Water
Cameron’s ambition for his story is to become the Tolkien of the screenplay format, with Avatar as The Hobbit. Instead of Tolkien’s high European fantasy, Cameron’s idiom is the “hard” science fiction of the 1950s, with a sprinkling of New Wave influence (primarily from Ursula Le Guin, whose A Wizard of Earthsea provides inspiration for The Way of Water’s archipelago setting). Cameron’s gender politics blind spots and gung-ho militarism reflect the limitations of his chosen genre. On the other hand, TWOW is an anti-colonialist work, The Last of the Mohicans as eco-science fiction. Even though he’s a hero to his adoptive world, Sully and his kids are stuck between cultures. The human colonists are mostly craven xenophobes, but even the enlightened Na’vi carry their own prejudices.
TWOW is big, unwieldy, and sometimes clunky. But it is also truly epic in a way very few films have ever been. After a long wait, James Cameron finally delivers the goods.
Tyson chicken barns, like these in West Tennessee, house more than 624,000 chickens each and produce massive quantities of waste. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Brenda Scott’s father came to west Tennessee as a sharecropper. By 1971 — as a result of hard work and government loans — he had 129 acres of his own, some of which his descendants occupy today.
His adult children and grandchildren belong to an enclave of Black farming families that have lived in Henderson County’s Cedar Grove community for generations. Some continue to raise hogs, cattle and crops. Others, like Scott, left for college and jobs, only to return to raise their kids.
Scott, along with many Cedar Grove families, have now become part of a novel legal challenge to a federal government farm loan program they say has allowed industrial poultry operations to proliferate at a cost to the long established community.
I really want to stress the fact that this was a predominantly Black community growing up; it’s legacy land we want our kids to grow up on and enjoy the freedoms and experiences we had growing up. . . My fear now is that there’s no regulations for these chicken operators.
– Brenda Scott, Cedar Grove, Tennessee farmer
Chicken farms have rapidly expanded across rural west Tennessee in recent years in order to supply product to Tyson Foods, the world’s largest poultry producer. The Fortune 500 company’s footprint has been rapidly expanding in the state.
Last year, Tyson opened a $425 million meat processing plant in nearby Humboldt, Tenn., its third large-scale Tennessee plant. The operation was made possible, in part, by $20 million in taxpayer incentives from the administration of Gov. Bill Lee.
Tyson relies on contract growers located within about a 60 mile radius of their slaughtering plants. The contractors raise chicks supplied by Tyson in massive barns built according to Tyson specifications and bring them to Tyson’s Humboldt plant for slaughter in order to get paid.
Scott, who is 56, said her community shares the same concerns as family farmers in adjoining counties who in recent years have tried — and failed — to get local or state governments to more closely regulate industrial chicken farming operations.
The operations produce vast quantities of chicken manure that she fears will pollute the well water her family relies on for drinking, the streams and creeks they fish for catfish and the quality of life that beckoned her back home to raise her two sons.
“I really want to stress the fact that this was a predominantly Black community growing up; it’s legacy land we want our kids to grow up on and enjoy the freedoms and experiences we had growing up,” she said. “There’s nothing like country living.”
“My fear now is that there’s no regulations for these chicken operators. What’s going to happen to my grandchildren drinking our well water? What about the air quality? I have asthma. So do members of my family. And nobody is telling us anything.”
Gov. Bill Lee greeting workers at the 2021 opening of a Tyson plant in Humboldt, Tennessee. (Photo: John Partipilo)
A new lawsuit brought by the Southern Environmental Law Center, representing Scott and neighbors who banded together to form “Concerned Citizens of West Tennessee,” is now challenging the federal government’s role in providing tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer-backed loans to Tyson contract growers.
The litigation claims the United States Department of Agriculture, through the Farm Service Agency, is illegally subsidizing industrial chicken operations through a federal lending program intended to provide “family farms” with startup and operational capital.
“The FSA loan guarantees are illegal corporate welfare that contravene federal lending rules,” the lawsuit said.
“The federal loan guarantees are illegal because the lending program is reserved for helping ‘family farms.’ Because Tyson controls virtually all aspects of the industrial chicken growing operations, those facilities are not ‘family farms’ under applicable lending rules.”
The lawsuit also accuses the Farm Service Agency of failing to follow its own rules in conducting thorough environmental impact studies of farm operations seeking the loans — or in keeping local communities informed.
Instead, the federal agency only conducts perfunctory environmental reviews, before issuing “rubber stamped approval,” according to the suit.
The lawsuit names a pair of affiliated operations across the street from one another in the Cedar Grove community that are owned by two limited liability companies — Trang Nguyen, LLC and Nguyen LLC. Each LLC is owned by one individual.
Each operation has 8 chicken barns, massive single-story structures the length of a football field that hold 624,000 Tyson chickens at any given time.
The barns, along with an open-air chicken waste dumping area, lie adjacent to a subdivision of more than a dozen homes and are located within 3 miles of the Cedar Grove community’s four Black churches, Scott said. On the far side of the barns, a Mennonite farming community has lived for decades.
Scott is a longtime member of Bible Hill Baptist Church. Her husband pastors two of the other churches: Mount Pleasant Methodist and Seats Chapel Holiness Church.
“We see them every Sunday,” Scott said. “I can see them on my way to church.”
The USDA did not respond to a request for comment, and contact information for Trang Nguyen LLC and Nguyen LLC’s could not be immediately found.
Poultry farmers that contract with Tyson buy land and build barns in communities surrounding the company’s processing plants to serve as sole company suppliers. Many of the farmers have little or no prior farming background. A growing number of Vietnamese-American families have moved to Tennessee from elsewhere in the nation to start their own Tyson-contracted chicken-growing operations.
In 2017 — the same year Tyson announced its plans to open its Humboldt facility — Tennessee lawmakers rolled back a requirement for poultry growers to obtain water quality permits from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
According to the lawsuit, Trang Nguyen, LLC bought 152 acres in Henderson County and Nguyen, LLC bought 128 acres; then the two farmers collectively secured federal loan guarantees of approximately $3.5 million to purchase, construct and operate the facilities.
The federal loan assistance can take the form of direct loans of up to $600,000 from the Farm Service Agency or up to $2,037,000 through a commercial lender with FSA loan guarantees. The loans are confined to farmers and their family members
The rules guide agency officials to define a “family farm” as one that is “recognized in the community as a farm,” and that has “day-to-day management operational decisions should be made by members of the family farm”
Tyson financed a large portion of the cost of the building the Nguyens’ facilities, contributing more than $960,000 in construction funding, the lawsuit said.
“The Nguyen’s will not be poultry ‘farmers,’” the lawsuit alleged. “They will be poultry caretakers who own neither chicken nor feed. They will be much like indentured servants, strapped with tremendous debt and laboring within an industrial meat complex in which they are required to follow Tyson’s rules, lest they suffer extreme financial consequences.”
The lawsuit notes that other government loan programs have determined that poultry contractors do not qualify for loans because of their integration into corporate operations.
Our legislature has passed laws that make it impossible for neighbors suffering or losing their home values to go to court. The courthouse doors to these individuals are closed.
– George Nolan, Southern Environmental Law Center
Tyson “exercise(s) such comprehensive control over poultry growers that those growers do not qualify for small business loans,” the lawsuit said, noting that the Small Business Association refuses to consider the poultry growers as “small businesses” for the purpose of loans because of their control by corporate poultry corporations.
The federal loans and loan guarantees must also include an environmental assessment of the planned farm operations to “determine whether a proposed action would significantly affect the environment.” and to “involve the public in the environmental review process as early as possible.”
The federal challenge follows years of failed efforts by family farmers in other rural west Tennessee communities to challenge poultry growing operations. Those efforts have largely been stymied by state deregulation.
In 2017 — the same year Tyson announced its plans to open its Humboldt facility — Tennessee lawmakers rolled back a requirement for poultry growers to obtain water quality permits from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
In 2021, Tennessee legislature removed the power of local health boards to regulate industrial animal operations on health grounds, a preemptive move that came as the boards of health in Henderson County and adjacent Madison County weighed whether to regulate Tyson contract growers on health grounds.
And, noted George Nolan, an attorney with the environmental law firm, residents have little recourse to take legal action against the massive chicken operations because Tennessee is a Right to Farm state, a reference to a 1982 law enacted to protect farmers from nuisance lawsuits by city or suburban dwellers who moved to rural communities, then protested about the noise, odor and pesticides from farms next door.
“It’s a very problematic situation,” he said. “Our legislature has passed laws that make it impossible for neighbors suffering or losing their home values to go to court. The courthouse doors to these individuals are closed.”
James Lavel, who retired from the U.S. Navy, is an outspoken critic of the Tyson factory farms moving to west Tennessee. (Photo: John Partipilo)
James Lavel, a retired Navy commander in Henderson County, who has advocated for greater poultry operation regulation, said last week he has been frustrated by local and state elected leaders actions, and inactions, in the movement of large scale animal operations to the area, where the dangers of air and water pollution, and the overwhelming smell generated by chicken feces, have disrupted quality of life.
“I’ve gotten a hodgepodge of excuses from them,” Lavel said. “And then the FSA comes in here and uses our taxpayer money for this. If you just keep putting the people at risk you’re trying to feed, what’s the point? We need regulations. They exist to protect the people.”
Scott said the willingness of the federal government to provide Tyson contractors with federally subsidized loans and loan guarantees carry a particular sting for her, a second generation African-American farmer.
In 2018, Scott applied for the same loan program to grow watermelons on the tract she inherited from her dad, who passed away in 2003.
She was denied, she said, because she lacked “managerial experience.”
Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on Facebook and Twitter.
For our final “regular season” Music Video Monday of the year, we’re featuring something a bit different.
Unapologetic has been spending the last few months building a new studio in Cooper-Young called Outerspace. Mastermind producer IMAKEMADBEATS teamed up with Tylon Monger for this video tour of the new musical mecca. As you would expect from Unapologetic, it’s not your average unboxing video, although there is some boxing. Or, at least some light wrestling.
We’ll be back next week with our Top Ten Memphis Music Videos of 2022, but in the meantime, here’s a trip to Outerspace.
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
Steven Adams jumps for the opening possession against Aleksej Pokusevski. (Photo by Zach Beeker/NBAE via Getty Images)
After sweeping a five-game homestand, the Grizzlies hit the road for the next four games. First up was another meeting with the Oklahoma City Thunder in what should have been an easy win.
Spoiler alert: It was not. The final score was 115-109 in favor of a Thunder team missing its two best players in Shai Gilegeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey.
Let’s get into it.
The first point the Grizzlies put on the board was Steven Adams splitting a pair of free throws after being fouled on the first possession and that should have been a sign of what was to come.
First half woes were the biggest contributors to the Grizzlies demise against the Thunder, culminating with the undue ejection of Ja Morant with 43 seconds left in the second quarter.
Morant was assessed two back-to-back technical fouls within less than a minute, the second under contested circumstances when he allegedly made derogatory remarks about the officiating to some Memphis fans near the court. Dillon Brooks also ended up acquiring a tech when Morant was ejected.
From Ja Morant postgame via NBA.com: ”I got my first tech for saying I got hit in my f**king face. Didn’t curse at him,” Morant said. ”Another situation where he’s in my conversation and I get another tech for talking with a fan. I feel like when these fans came here, went online to buy these tickets, they didn’t say Ray’s (Acosta) name to come watch.”
Oklahoma City outscored Memphis 64-43 in the first half with the Grizzlies shooting 27.3% overall and 19% from beyond the arc. The Grizzlies outscored the Thunder 66-51 in the second half, but it was not enough to overcome the huge deficit they accumulated in the first half.
Memphis shot a season worst 26.7% from three-point range. Ironically, they had a better than usual free throw percentage (78.4%) although they still missed 8 free throws in a game they lost by 6. Poor shot selection and the inability to defend without fouling in the second half hurt the Grizzlies more than poor free throw shooting.
Nothing to do but move on to the next one. Despite this loss, the Grizzlies remain the top team in the Western Conference.
By The Numbers:
Dillon Brooks had a game-high 32 points on 10-of-24 overall shooting and 6 of 15 from beyond the arc.
Jaren Jackson Jr finished with 16 points, 8 rebounds, and a rare zero block game for him.
From the bench unit, Tyus Jones closed out with 15 points, 2 assists, and 2 steals.
Brandon Clarke had 10 points, 8 rebounds, and one block and Santi Aldama put up 7 points and 5 rebounds while shooting 5 of 5 from the free throw line.
Who Got Next?
The Grizzlies are headed to Denver to take on the Nuggets Tuesday night, December 20th. Tip-off is at 9 PM CST and unfortunately there is no local broadcast for this one, so fans will have to watch this one on TNT.
