I found myself at City Hall yesterday with no ride in pretty relentless rain, so I decided to find somewhere close to eat and wait both out. I’m not one to splurge on impromptu lunches, so I was happy to run across Joey’s New York Deli, whose menu boasted lunch specials under $5.
I got the massive chicken sandwich and yummy German potato salad you see here, plus a soda, for $5.50, and they’ve got a sizeable list of other lunch options. Thumbs up!
Indie Memphis will take over most of Midtown for the weekend, with plenty of quality work to peruse. But I wanted to let you guys in on the free stuff the festival has to offer – with everything from films to discussions to video installations, here’s how to do Indie Memphis on the cheap.
Now in its seventh year, the Gandhi-King Peacemaking Conference has been successful enough to get several requests to move to larger cities. But good attendance and enthusiasm from academics and activists from all over the country make it clear that Memphis is the best place for the conference.
“It’s a location that people need to come to and learn from: This is one of the most at-need communities in the country,” says Jacob Flowers, director of the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center and co-chair of the conference’s steering committee. “People who visit the conference from around the country always say they love coming here, because it gives them an idea of how beneficial what they’re doing can be in our community.”
The conference works to create that connection between experienced peace promoters and community members who are just getting interested in the nonviolent process. Anti-racism activist Tim Wise heads up this year’s team of speakers, backed by Jaribu Hill, founder of the Mississippi Workers’ Center for Human Rights, and the Rev. Billy Kyles, civil rights leader and one of the last people to talk to Martin Luther King Jr. A free screening of The Little Town of Bethlehem, a documentary on the nonviolent movement in Israel and Palestine, will be followed by a discussion with the film’s director.
“We in Memphis need to learn from the very best how to cure some of the most serious social ills that we’re finding in our own backyard,” Flowers says.
The slate of speakers, the various workshops offered, even the number of venues indicate the collaborative nature of the conference.
“The conference has really grown organically out of the different people and institutions that bring it about,” Flowers says.
Each presenter and sponsor adds something to what Flowers calls the conference’s “special flavor.” The National Civil Rights Museum will host free screenings of I Am a Man and Nelson Mandela, Legacy as part of Indie Memphis’ Freedom Series. BRIDGES will throw a PeaceJam Slam, which nearly 300 high school and middle school students from the Memphis area are expected to attend. As well as mingling with other conference participants, they’ll talk with playwright Spirit Trickey-Rowan, daughter of one of the nine students who integrated Little Rock’s Central High School in 1957.
“What it is and has always been is a community-driven effort of people who know that we need to be having these conversations,” Flowers says. “We need to be training with each other and learning from people around the country. We need to bring those things to bear in what we do in our community.”
The Internet may have changed the world of fashion, but most shoppers agree that there’s nothing like browsing the racks with their own two hands.
That’s the principle behind the success of Strange Fruit Vintage, an online store for vintage clothing that also takes it to the streets in the form of pop-up shops. And this Friday, Strange Fruit Vintage will up the ante with its “Everyday People Fall and Winter Fashion Show” at the Artist in Memphis Co-Op Studios on Madison.
DJ Manus, along with performances by Artistik Approach, Knowledge Nick, and Lila, will provide ambience at the show, which will showcase more than 70 looks from Strange Fruit’s extensive 1980s clothing selection. Each outfit will be carefully styled by Strange Fruit mastermind Shalishah “Petey” Franklin, whose modern sensibility and eye for quality pieces have been the driving force behind Strange Fruit’s success.
The Co-op Studios on Madison is the latest local venue on Strange Fruit’s resume, which includes earlier pop-ups at Broad Avenue’s Odessa and South Main’s Muse Inspired Fashion. So if you are already pining for leather jackets and stirrup pants, don’t worry. You can stick around for Strange Fruit’s pop-up shop after the show. We promise you won’t leave empty-handed.
“Everyday People Fall and Winter Fashion Show,” 287 Madison, Friday, October 22nd. Doors open at 5:30 p.m; the show is at
6:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door.
Last week, East High School — and education in general — got
a celebrity endorsement.
As part of Get Schooled’s National Challenge and Tour,
R&B performer Ciara, MTV veejay Quddus, and rising star K.
Michelle surprised students with a mini-concert and the message
that education matters.
Get Schooled, founded by Viacom and the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation, aims to increase high school and college
graduation rates. Motivated by statistics that show a high school
student drops out every 26 seconds, Get Schooled uses stars
such as Ludacris and John Legend to get students’ attention.
Though the delivery was light-hearted, the agenda was serious.
The three entertainers explained how education helped
them, even in talent-driven careers.
“If I didn’t have math, I wouldn’t know how to count my
money,” Ciara pointed out. She urged the students (to thunderous
applause) to set goals for themselves and to work hard to
achieve them.
“It would mean so much to me,” she said, “but it would
mean so much more to you.”
Native Memphian K. Michelle underlined her experience, telling
students that they could become successful if she could.
Quddus offered some practical advice. “Go to class,” he said.
“It’s the first and easiest thing you can do.”
The students responded to each piece of advice with the same
enthusiasm they’d shown when the stars were introduced. And
that’s all part of the plan: Once Get Schooled generates interest, students are directed to a webpage where they can watch videos from the show, post pledges and success stories, and find tools for college funding.
You all know Molly’s La Casita is delicious, I presume. But I’ve always categorized it in the higher end of low-price restaurants, especially relative to most Mexican restaurants.
But yesterday, my powers of a-la-carte meal-meaking prevailed! I enjoyed a well-rounded, filling meal at Molly’s for just under $5, and discovered a great new dish in the process.
That dish was the black bean soup, which I ordered in the “cup” for $2.50 (the “bowl,” which I was told is only slightly larger, was $3.50). It came with a dollop of sour cream on top and pico de gallo and a flour tortilla on the side, and was – let me say it again – just excellent.
I personally believe Mexican food is best when it’s all mixed up, so I ordered a side of rice ($1.75) and stirred it in with the soup. It added a nice texture, and when I’d eaten most of it, I shoveled the rest into the tortilla for a little taco of sorts.
That’s $4.25 total, for those of you keeping count at home.
Delicious and cheap – and honestly, I had trouble finishing it. Success!
When Sherman Dixon was in college, there was a moment when he thought he might like to be a writer.
“I mentioned it to a teacher of mine who had read some of my themes, and she said, ‘You know, Sherman, some people are born to be writers and some are born to be readers.'” Remembering this, Dixon laughs. “Point well taken.”
Indeed. Dixon has been an avid Friends of the Library volunteer for 32 years, sorting — and reading — the library’s donated books.
A graduate of East High and the University of Memphis, Dixon is a retired postmaster who began his career as a buyer for Sears. But it wasn’t until his late 30s when he stumbled across his first Friends book sale that he found a passion for volunteering.
“I used to haunt bookstores,” he says. “I just like looking at old, used books.”
There’s a lot of looking involved. In the Benjamin Hooks Central Library basement where donated books are housed, there are more than 60,000 volumes at any given time. The rest are in the library’s bookstore, Second Editions, or waiting to be priced and posted on Amazon.com.
Dixon is part of a team of dedicated volunteers who each manage a different part of the process, though all do quite a bit of sorting. The volunteers — among them, retired teachers, a retired doctor, a zoo employee, and another retired postmaster — have widespread interests. Dixon’s English degree means that he oversees the sorting of the literature books, as well as presiding over the art and religion sections.
“We’re such a small group, but we have every section covered,” Dixon says.
When Dixon started volunteering, the library occupied the corner of Peabody and McLean, and the Friends averaged $12,000 from two annual booksales. Now, in the massive Poplar Avenue building, they’ve expanded to three annual sales and year-round book sales through Second Editions and Amazon — bringing in at least $185,000 this year.
Many books sell for less than a dollar in the sales or in the bookstore, though rare books bring much better returns on the Amazon site. The most valuable books, Dixon says, are the ones that go straight into the library.
“We call those ‘cost avoidance’ donations,” he says, noting that saving the library money on buying books is as good as bringing in extra revenue. The Friends do their fair share of donating as well, letting nonprofits peruse the leftover books from the annual sales, taking whatever they can use.
“I’ve probably touched a million books in the last 30 years,” Dixon says, “but I still get excited when I find something valuable.”
Visit the Friends of the Library’s Amazon site at www.amazon.com/shops/
memfolbooks1
Bad news – my beloved MIFA store is closing at the end of the month. But why wallow in our sadness when we can procure some last-minute finds from their leftover inventory?
This week, MIFA’s having one of several great sales you’ll see before they close their doors – all women’s dresses are buy one, get one free for the rest of the week.
For an example of the excellent dresses to be found there, check out these matching beauties Hannah Sayle and I found last month:
Check their Facebook page for the rest of the deals they’ll offer this month. And check back here soon to find out what thrift maven (and soon-to-be former MIFA store director) Amy Hoyt will be getting herself into. It’s exciting, I promise.
Sometimes the best lesson is the one that sneaks up on you.
Through its “disguised literacy” program, Write Memphis mentors meet each week with a group of middle school girls from the Beltline neighborhood to talk and write about their daily lives. At the same time they’re dealing with illiteracy, group leaders hope to combat the problems associated with low self-esteem, such as drug use and teen pregnancy.
“For the most part, we get together and do writing exercises,” says Emma Connolly, who started Write Memphis after moving here from Jackson, Mississippi, where she led a similar writing group for women in a transitional shelter.
For Connolly, the real reward is giving young women a chance to express themselves: “Their feelings and emotions get put on the page. They become real for them,” she says.
The group promotes a non-hierarchical approach, where all members share stories and learn from each other. Mentors include former teachers, college students, retired professionals, and church volunteers.
“These are girls who may not have a terrific role model at home,” Connolly says. “We want to show them that people from humble backgrounds can do anything.”
Recently, the group added a new element. Adopting the curriculum of the True Body Project, a program that started in Cincinnati, Write Memphis will incorporate physical activities such as yoga, Pilates, and dance.
“We’ll intersperse those movements with writing about the process, how it feels to move with free abandon,” Connolly says. “My hope is that these girls will learn to respect, love, and understand their bodies.”
Write Memphis is also looking to expand: In October, they’ll start working with girls in the after-school program at Emmanuel Episcopal Center. While participation in the Beltline writing group has fluctuated, Connolly is looking forward to having more consistent attendance at Emmanuel. Residents of Frayser, Whitehaven, and Orange Mound have also expressed interest in starting writing groups.
“The girls we’ve worked with are still moving forward. They’re staying in school. They’re looking toward the future,” Connolly says. “There’s potential out there for growth, and we’re looking for more mentors so we can start more classes.”
For more information, visit writememphis.org.
In March, a survey of people living in the Vance Avenue area
revealed residents hoped for a cleaner, safer, and more active
community. In response, the Vance Avenue Collaborative is
working to make the neighborhood — a poverty-stricken area
where vacant and abandoned lots make up the majority of
the land and less than half of adult residents have high school
diplomas — a vibrant cultural center.
Residents of the neighborhood, bounded by Crump Boulevard,
Third Street, Beale Street, and East Street, decided their
initial plans would be to create a homeless service center, start
a minority youth entrepreneurship initiative, and focus on the
area’s musical history.
The meeting was led by University of Memphis faculty Ken
Reardon and Katherine Lambert-Pennington. Both stressed
the importance of relying on local resources and ideas to combat
the area’s challenges.
“We have many young men and women in this community
who have extraordinary energy, creativity, and a commitment
to redevelopment in this city,” Reardon said.
Overall, the Vance Avenue Collaborative identified more
than 50 projects it would ultimately like to do to improve
public health and safety, education, social services, economic
development, housing, and public transportation.
Various community programs have already been put in
place to work on those issues. The collaborative has established
a successful community garden near Linden and Lauderdale.
MIFA has plans to create a program called Promise Neighborhood,
based on New York’s Harlem Children’s Zone, that will
provide mentoring to area children.
“There are a lot of people thinking about the problems in
this community and how to reimagine it,” Lambert-Pennington said, “and those resources are out there to make it happen.”