When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”
— Fred Rogers
Just a few weeks into the new year and Memphis has already had its fair share of “scary things in the news.” Feeds are inundated with seemingly endless reports of homicides, shootings, car thefts, robberies, and near abductions.
Last week, five officers with the Memphis Police Department were fired after the death of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols — a father with no criminal record — following a fatal traffic stop. An administrative investigation determined the officers “violated multiple department policies, including excessive use of force, duty to intervene, and duty to render aid,” according to a statement from MPD. Nichols’ family was allowed to view the body-cam footage this past Monday, and their attorney Ben Crump says the last words Nichols spoke on the video were calls for his mother.
We’ve also lost a handful of Memphis icons this month with the passing of Gangsta Boo, Lisa Marie Presley, Vincent Astor, and Dr. Charles A. Champion. These tragedies and losses just scratch the surface of these first 23 days of 2023 — and this is without mentioning the horrors beyond our city, state, and country. It has been a rough start. And with so much bad news circling, it can be difficult to see the good that’s still — and always — happening in our periphery.
To bring some of that good to the forefront — and highlight a few of those much-needed “helpers” — we’re happy to share with you the 20 < 30 Class of 2023. Within this annual issue, we feature a group of 20 individuals under the age of 30 who are doing work in our community to ignite innovation and push for positive change. The Flyer first introduced this cover feature in 2010, and in the years since, we’ve found determined young people working in various fields, from healthcare to scientific research, advocacy to activism, restaurants to real estate, arts to education, and much more in between.
Each year, we ask our readers to submit nominations for the best and brightest 20-somethings they know, and each year without fail, we receive dozens of emails introducing us to the younger generation aimed at making Memphis a better place. Our team sits down and sorts through these nominations to select just 20 among them to profile in our pages — narrowing this kind of talent pool down is a task I wouldn’t wish on any of you. Every one of them deserves recognition, and we’d love to include them all.
Without further ado, we welcome you to read about this year’s honorees as we celebrate their accomplishments, goals, and contributions to the progress we so hope to see. These are the young people paving the way; they’re the helpers lighting the path toward a brighter future. Let their aspirations be a hopeful beacon for us all.
