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News News Blog News Feature

UofM Unveil University Crime Information Center

Photo credit: University of Memphis

The University of Memphis unveiled its new University Crime Information Center which will operate year-round to enhance campus safety.

In a statement released by the university, the center is “technology infused” and will provide “real-time data” which will allow university police to be proactive in stopping crime. The center will feature 24/7 monitoring, the ability to locate someone on campus by description, issue suspicious activity alerts, and provide virtual escorting.

“The mission of our University Crime Information Center is to provide our agency with the ability to capitalize on a wide and expanding range of internal technologies which allows for efficient and effective policing for our university community,” University of Memphis Police Chief Keith Humphrey said. “The center will be a repository for our technology resources that are utilized to ensure the safety of our campus.”

The center will be staffed 24/7 year-round with security specialists. Humphrey said this will aid in Police Services commitment to being transparent and “delivering unbiased, procedural justice.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) 2023 Crime on Campus report showed a majority of crimes committed on campus were larceny and theft. There were a total of 105 offenses reported to the university and only five of those (4.8 percent) were cleared. 

Destruction and vandalism were the second largest category with 98 offenses and a 6.1 percent clearance rate.

Last year, the Tennessee Legislature passed a recommendation from Governor Bill Lee that allowed the University of Memphis to receive $5.488 million for campus safety and security upgrades. This was a non-recurring investment that was to be used during fiscal year 2023.

The university used the money to upgrade and install LED lighting, perimeter fencing, intelligent camera installations and more.

Categories
Opinion The Last Word

Memphis Is My Boyfriend: Back to School

An Arabic breakfast with red tea (Photos: Patricia Lockhart)

Moment of honesty: These first few weeks of school have thoroughly and unapologetically kicked our butts. 

The kids are 16, 12, 12, and 10. The adults are 40 and 39. Waking up at 5:30 a.m. to stretch, because the body I went to bed with isn’t the same body I wake up with, is meh. Trying to help the kids remember which days are “even days” and which are “odd days” according to their respective school calendars is confusing. At this point, may the odds ever be in their favor. Hubby is getting tired of restating the importance of completing one’s homework before pickup. And Life360 tells us every time y’all make a detour to McDonald’s. So after a successful professional development, the turning in of late assignments, permission to proceed with their STAR Tutoring program, and the start of ballet season, we decided we needed a break!

Cellar Tabletop Games & Comics

I’m a big proponent of literacy. Kids need to know how to read and comprehend what they’ve read. And I’m a firm believer that reading shouldn’t only take place at school or be a form of punishment. That’s why, when the kids needed a break from school but not from reading, we headed to our local comic book store. Comics are great for increasing vocabulary in kids and adults. Plus, they’re really, really interesting!

We went to the Cellar Tabletop Games & Comics. As it was a Saturday, the place was packed! There were Pokemon games going on, as well as Dungeons & Dragons. My kids went straight for the Marvel comics, while a DC comic, Nightwing: The Secret Origin of Bea Bennett, caught my attention. My husband gushed over the Superman comics and tried earnestly to get the kids’ attention. They were almost about to fall for the bait until they found an Animal Crossing comic. They couldn’t resist a comic with their favorite video game characters. The kids also scored some Scott Pilgrim comics. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what your teen or tween is reading, as long as they’re reading. Comic books? Great! Lego instructions? Wonderful! Reading the back of a cereal box? Cool! Reading the cheat codes to your favorite video game? Even better! Reading the Memphis Flyer to find events to add to the family calendar? Get to it!

Picking out reading material

Aldar Cafe

I remember when I was in 10th grade, someone told me, “Prior proper planning prevents a poor performance.” So in order to have a good week, I like to take time to plan out things that need to be done and add items I’d like to remember to my calendar. This has worked really well for me. So I’ve decided to get the kids used to this same habit. So we went to Aldar Cafe on Summer to plan out our week and read. I ordered the sensible Arabic breakfast with red tea since it was 9 in the morning. Hubby had a latte and pieces of my breakfast platter. The kids, on the other hand, ordered a vanilla milkshake, a strawberry milkshake, a cream cheese croissant, and a slice of cheesecake. 

We organized our calendars, adding after-school meetings and activities, Mario Kart tournaments, sewing clubs, and important assignment due dates. The kids also got into good games of Uno and Jenga. All of our shoulders relaxed and we smiled. Now as soon as we got home, pajamas were in full effect.

And yes, we’re still buying school supplies! A moment of transparency: We did not purchase everything on the kids’ school supply list. We pulled mostly from our supply stash and reused old binders. We made sure they had pencils and paper, but our wallets truly dictated when and what supplies we bought prior to school starting. But those aren’t what we’re still shucking out money for. We are now in the band dues phase. We are parting with our dinero for leotards and jazz shoes for dance class. We’re saying au revoir to our wallets for STEM supplies. And the 16-year-old’s college art class necessities are costing a crisp Benjamin! Luckily, his professor created an Amazon cart of all the supplies needed, and his art teacher vetted the list and told us local places to find the items even cheaper. (Now Mr. Benjamin Franklin doesn’t need more friends.)

And we will continue to ensure they have whatever they need to be successful in school. They might not get it when they want it, but they’ll definitely have the supplies when they need them.

Meanwhile, don’t forget to take your own break from back-to-school busy-ness! 

Patricia Lockhart is a native Memphian who loves to read, write, cook, and eat. By day, she’s an assistant principal and writer, but by night … she’s asleep. @memphisismyboyfriend

Categories
Astrology Fun Stuff

Free Will Astrology: Week of 09/05/24

Dario Bronnimann | Unsplash

ARIES (March 21-April 19): In 2015, a large earthquake struck Nepal, registering 7.8 on the Richter scale. It was so powerful, it shrunk Mt. Everest. I mention this, Aries, because I suspect you will generate good fortune in the coming months whenever you try to shrink metaphorical mountains. Luckily, you won’t need to resort to anything as forceful and ferocious as a massive earthquake. In fact, I think your best efforts will be persistent, incremental, and gradual. If you haven’t gotten started yet, do so now.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): We don’t know the astrological sign of Egyptian Queen Cleopatra, who ruled from 51 to 30 B.C.E. But might she have been a Taurus? What other tribe of the zodiac would indulge in the extravagance of bathing in donkey milk? Her staff kept a herd of 700 donkeys for this regimen. Before you dismiss the habit as weird, please understand that it wasn’t uncommon in ancient times. Why? Modern science has shown that donkey milk has anti-aging, anti-bacterial, and anti-inflammatory qualities. And as astrologers know, many of you Tauruses are drawn to luxurious and healing influences that also enhance beauty. I recommend you cultivate such influences with extra verve in the coming days.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In two trillion galaxies stretched out across 93 billion light years, new stars are constantly being born. Their birth process happens in stellar nurseries, where dense clouds of gas coalesce into giant spheres of light and heat powered by the process of nuclear fusion. If you don’t mind me engaging in a bit of hyperbole, I believe that you Geminis are now immersed in a small-scale, metaphorical version of a stellar nursery. I have high hopes for the magnificence you will beget in the coming months.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): The planet Mars usually stays in your sign for less than two months every two years. But the pattern will be different in the coming months. Mars will abide in Cancer from September 5th to November 4th and then again from January 27th till April 19th in 2025. The last time the red planet made such an extended visit was in 2007 and 2008, and before that in 1992 and 1993. So what does it mean? In the least desirable scenario, you will wander aimlessly, distracted by trivial battles and unable to decide which dreams to pursue. In the best scenario, you will be blessed with a sustained, fiery devotion to your best and most beautiful ambitions.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Famous rock musicians have on occasion spiced up their live shows by destroying their instruments on stage. Kurt Cobain of the band Nirvana smashed many guitars. So did Jimi Hendrix, who even set his guitars on fire. I can admire the symbolic statement of not being overly attached to objects one loves. But I don’t recommend that approach to you in the coming weeks. On the contrary, I believe this is a time for you to express extra care for the tools, machines, and apparatus that give you so much. Polish them up, get repairs done, show them you love them. And if you need new gizmos and gear to enhance your self-expression, get them in the near future.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In all of world history, which author has sold the most books? The answer is Agatha Christie, born under the sign of Virgo. Readers have bought over 2 billion copies of her 70-plus books. I present her as a worthy role model for you during the next nine months. In my astrological opinion, this will be your time to shine, to excel, to reach new heights of accomplishment. Along with Christie, I invite you to draw encouragement and inspiration from four other Virgo writers who have flourished: 1. Stephen King, 400 million in sales from 77 books. 2. Kyotaro Nishimura, 200 million in sales from over 400 books. 3. Leo Tolstoy, 413 million from 48 books. 4. Paulo Coelho, 350 million from 28 books.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Centuries before the story of Jesus Christ’s resurrection, there was a Greek myth with similar themes. It featured Persephone, a divine person who descended into the realm of the dead but ultimately returned in a transfigured form. The ancient Festival of Eleusis, observed every September, honored Persephone’s down-going and redemption — as well as the cyclical flow of decay and renewal in every human life. In accordance with astrological omens, I invite you to observe your own version of a Festival of Eleusis by taking an inventory: What is disintegrating and decomposing in your own world? What is ripe for regeneration and rejuvenation? What fun action can you do that resembles a resurrection?

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The coming weeks will be an excellent time to take inventory of your community and your network of connections. Here are questions to ask yourself as you evaluate whether you already have exactly what you need or else may need to make adjustments. 1. Are you linked with an array of people who stimulate and support you? 2. Can you draw freely on influences that further your goals and help you feel at home in the world? 3. Do you bestow favors on those you would like to receive favors from? 4. Do you belong to groups or institutions that share your ideals and give you power you can’t access alone?

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “Progress was all right. Only it went on too long.” Sagittarian humorist James Thurber said that, and now I’m conveying it to you. Why? Well, I am very happy about the progress you’ve been making recently — the blooming and expanding and learning you have been enjoying. But I’m guessing you would now benefit from a period of refining what you have gained. Rather than even more progress, I feel you need to consolidate and integrate the progress you have so robustly earned.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): The people of Northern Ireland have over 70 colorful slang terms for being drunk. These include splootered, stonkied, squiffy, cabbaged, stinkered, ballbagged, wingdinged, bluttered, and wanked. I am begging you, Capricorn, to refrain from those states for at least two weeks. According to my reading of the omens, it’s important for you to avoid the thrills and ills of alcohol. I am completely in favor of you pursuing natural highs, however. I would love you to get your mind blown and your heart opened through epiphanies and raptures that take you to the frontiers of consciousness.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Beginning 11,000 years ago, humans began to breed the fig. It’s the world’s oldest cultivated food, preceding even wheat, barley, and legumes. Many scholars think that the fig, not the apple, was the forbidden fruit that God warned Adam and Eve not to munch in the famous biblical passage. These days, though, figs rarely make the list of the fruits people love most. Their taste is regarded by some as weird, even cloying. But for our purposes, I will favorably quote the serpent in the Garden of Eden: “When you eat the fig, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God.” This is my elaborate way of telling you that now may be an excellent time to sample a forbidden fruit. Also: A serpent may have wise counsel for you.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The coming weeks would be an excellent time to file lawsuits against everyone who has ever wronged you, hurt you, ignored you, misunderstood you, tried to change you into something you’re not, and failed to give you what you deserve. I recommend you sue each of them for $10 million. The astrological omens suggest you now have the power to finally get compensated for the stupidity and malice you have had to endure. JUST KIDDING! I lied. The truth is, now is a great time to feel intense gratitude for everyone who has supported you, encouraged you, and appreciated you for who you really are. I also suggest you communicate your thanks to as many of your personal helpers and heroes as you can. 

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

Good Groceries Market & Cafe Is Taking Off

The Getchel family (Photo: Michael Donahue)

Good Groceries Market & Cafe is good news for foodies.

The business, owned by Leah and Chad Getchel, is open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. It’s at 585 South Cooper, where Mo’Bay Beignet Co. previously was located and, before that, a Muddy’s Bake Shop.

“Our grand opening was on July 7th,” Leah says “We had two bands. We had Real Good Dog Rescue. We had the Compost Fairy there. … We adopted out three dogs that day, which was awesome.”

It probably goes without saying, “We love the community,” Leah says.

They began their Good Groceries Mobile Diner food truck during the pandemic. Chad had been chef de cuisine at River Oaks Restaurant. Leah was a personal chef and also did catering. “The food truck is still running. We never stopped. We started that in 2020.”

But, she says, “The food truck is too small to do all the food that we do.”

It was time for a brick-and-mortar. “We needed a commercial kitchen.”

So, Good Groceries now offers breakfast between 7 and 10 a.m. “And that includes a continental breakfast bar, so people can come in and do the breakfast bar or have to-order items.”

The continental breakfast bar includes sage-roasted potatoes, scrambled eggs, gravy, and choice of beef or duck sausage. “And we have all our bread items — biscuits, muffins, sometimes croissants.”

Their brick-and-mortar fare is “the same as the food truck menu.” They offer items, including the duck confit sandwiches, the smoked brisket BLT sandwiches, a crispy tofu sandwich, and salmon burger.

Their grab-and-go items are offered all day. “We have premade sandwiches, salads, soups, and take-home make-and-bake-and-eat meals — grab-and-go meals, family-style.”

She describes their menu as “to some degree seasonal, but fairly standard.”

They include gluten-free items because of her health issues, Leah says. “Just about everything is gluten-free.”

People who have to eat gluten-free won’t have to “feel like they’re singled out: ‘Oh, I have to eat from the sides menu.’ Because that’s what I have to do.”

Regular and gluten-free desserts are also featured. Depending on the day, these may include brownies, chess and other pies, and cakes, including Leah’s butter crumble cake and three-layer chocolate cake. “And Chad’s making ice cream. He started that just after we opened. He makes the mix himself and he uses the commercial ice cream maker.”

The Getchels began their first wine pairing dinner August 29th at Good Groceries, and Good Groceries still caters. “We’re doing intimate birthday parties to big parties.” They can do off-site or in-house events.

The name “Good Groceries” came from her former fiancé, Leah says. After he tasted dinners she made for him, he said, “These are some good groceries.”

When she told that to Chad 20 years later, he said, “Oh, that’s good. That’s got potential.”

Now, the name is used for their food truck, cafe, and sauces, which they make. “Mango, pesto, the green tomato relish. And we sell them in the shop.”

They also make their own teas and lemonades, including lavender lemonade made with fresh lavender.

The location between Peabody Avenue and Central Avenue is the perfect spot for what the Getchels want to do. “We’ve got a good mix of neighbors that are like us: parents with kids and folks who just want to come and hang out and play. There’s a big yard out there.”

They also offer “kid-friendly” menu items.

The couple’s 6-year-old twins — Albert and Oscar — also take advantage of the yard. Leah wants to instigate some outdoor events, including movies, this fall. “And just have kids come out and sit and watch and play and do whatever.”

Good Groceries has already become a neighborhood spot. “There are several offices and things around there. We have someone who comes in almost every day from the dialysis center. It’s a nice break for folks who just want to come in. We have some people who come in and study until we close.”

Leah describes the cafe/market as a “homestyle kind of business. And it’s not so mainstream.”

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We Recommend We Saw You

WE SAW YOU: The End of the World Party at Black Lodge

Ellington Thomas, Ariel Thomas, Ilya Green, and Thelonious Thomas (Photos: Michael Donahue)

It was called “The End of the World Party,” but the closing night soirée for Black Lodge at its 405 North Cleveland Street address, which was held August 24th, wasn’t the end of the line, says Matt Martin, Black Lodge creator and co-owner.

Mars McKay
Matt Martin
Azim Minareci and
Kaylee Haggart

He’s “working to open another location,” Martin says. He’s already looking at a couple of places.

The movie collection and the screenings will definitely move, but he’s not sure of the “club nights,” Martin says. And 901 Wrestling will move to another location.

Madd Keys
Parks Dlugach
Trey McGovern and
Laura Robertson

About 1,000 people attended the party, which began at 7 p.m. and ended at 6 a.m. “Black Lodge has always been Memphis’ underground cultural crossroads for artists, musicians, movie makers, taste makers, lovers of night life,” he says. “It’s always been that. Even before we had a new place. Twenty-five years we’ve been that.”

People realized Black Lodge was going to “leave that home,” he says. “A lot of them had already fallen in love with that place and wanted to have one last giant party and have fun in it.” 

Categories
Theater Theater Feature

Coconut Cake at Hattiloo Theater

These retirees meet to spill the tea. (Photo: Marlinda Shorter | Unspeakable Joy Photography)

Ten years ago, my ex-husband and I lived with his grandfather, a 92-year-old patriarch of the family. He was routine-oriented, and for many years he made a habit of meeting up with friends once a week for coffee and breakfast at a local fast food joint, usually Hardee’s or McDonald’s. The setting of Hattiloo Theatre’s production of Coconut Cake couldn’t be more relatable, as it portrays a glimpse into the day-to-day lives of four retirees who meet every Monday at McDonald’s. Here’s the thing, though, these characters aren’t just meeting up to drink coffee — they’re here to spill the tea. 

Coconut Cake is a (mostly) quiet, intimate look at the lives of three Black friends, plus the somewhat out-of-place white brother-in-law named Hank but nick-named “Republican,” played by Bart Mallard. The characters — all men — slowly reveal they are each going through hardships that end up driving them apart, despite the fact that their individual struggles could bring them closer. The event that throws their lives into disarray is the arrival in town of a mysterious woman, who, because of her beauty and sophistication, becomes the subject of fascination for the quartet. The other wild card in Coconut Cake is the unhoused man dubbed “Gotdamnit” because of his penchant for repeating the word. Played by Jesse L. Dunlap, Gotdamnit is the type of character who whirls in and steals the show. He is a source of comic relief, though there are moments of emotion and a struggle with mental health that are poignantly delivered. 

While the characters may at first seem like stock characters, a theme becomes apparent as the show progresses: All people contain hidden depths. Mallard has been acting since high school and speaks to the process of the characterization of Hank: “My character is hiding some truths about himself from even those closest to him. So I am asking myself deeply and honestly, what do I keep hidden away … is there a truth that I have not allowed to be seen … is there a truth in my heart, soul, and gut that I need to or could benefit from shining a bright light onto?” 

One notable aspect of the play is that, though it is comprised of an entirely male cast, the playwright Melda Beaty is a woman. Watching a play that is about the male experience, but depicted by a woman, was a fascinating experience. I’ve grown up inundated by female characters who are poorly and unrealistically dreamed up by men. The internet is full with memes criticizing how women are rendered by male writers, so I found it refreshing to see a play that flipped the script — pun intended. Beaty’s frank and honest portrayal of these men is what makes the play so gripping. Here is a place where they are allowed to be vulnerable, and it’s obvious how meaningful that refuge is. Symbolism is rife in Coconut Cake, from the sanctuary represented by the innocuous setting of McDonald’s, to the game of life portrayed in a chess board. 

Though on the surface Coconut Cake is a simple dialogue-driven play, it is a piece of theater that should not be looked over. Accurately cutting out a slice of life that remains deeply entertaining without ever compromising its realism is no mean feat, but Beaty has managed to do so with success. This play comes with a message that audiences will be hard-pressed to miss, as Mallard puts it, “The deepest intention is to shine some light on the truth that the act of openly, truthfully, and patiently walking your path will allow for you to find your own truth and light and then to honestly stand in it … to take the stage.” 

Coconut Cake runs at Hattiloo Theatre through September 8th. 

Categories
Politics Politics Feature

Showdown!

JB Smiley (Photo: City of Memphis)

It is no accident that many savants in the legal/political universe regard the 1962 Baker v. Carr decision of the U.S. Supreme Court to be second to none among landmark judicial decisions.

This decision was brought on by a suit from Charles Baker, chairman of what was then the Shelby County Court, precursor of the present Shelby County Commission. On behalf of Shelby County, rapidly urbanizing at the time, as was the nation as a whole, Baker sought relief from un-democratic districting guidelines imposed by the state of Tennessee that unduly favored the state’s rural population.

The court held in essence that the Fourteenth Amendment required that the principle of one person-one vote be applied in the determination of legislative district lines.

While the decision had immediate and lasting repercussions on determining matters of voter eligibility, both in Tennessee and elsewhere in the nation, it has by no means eliminated gerrymandering based on partisan politics (e.g. witness the Republican legislative supermajority’s strip-mining away of Democratic Party rights in Nashville’s Fifth Congressional District), nor has it much diminished the edgy relationship between urban and rural interests in policy-making.

The latter issue has flared up again in the quarrel over whether Memphis voters should be allowed to vote their preference on several gun-control measures embedded in a referendum proposed by the city council but now endangered by the action of the county Election Commission in removing it from the November ballot.

In so acting, the Election Commission — dominated 3-2 by GOP members according to state mandate — has clearly responded to overt threats from the state’s Republican leadership to withhold from the city some $78 million in state revenues, if the referendum should go through as scheduled.

This was some of the “stiff resistance” promised by House Speaker Cameron Sexton, who articulated things this way: “Local governments who want to be progressive and evade state laws will lose shared sales tax funding.” The speaker likened the city’s referendum plans to “subversive attempts to adopt sanctuary cities [and] allow boys in girls’ sports.” 

Some Memphians were expressing concern that the state’s retribution could also be visited on various large local projects dependent on previously pledged state subsidies, like those involving the zoo, FedExForum, and Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium.

It is worth recalling the actual import of the endangered referendum, authorized earlier by the council’s unanimous vote. In the words of its chief sponsor Councilman Jeff Warren, “Memphis voters will be asked whether they approve amending the city’s charter to require a handgun permit, restrict the storage of guns in vehicles in many cases, ban assault weapons sales after January 1, 2025, and enact extreme risk protection orders, sometimes called Red Flag Laws.”

All the referendum would do is solicit voter opinion, it would seem. Sexton chooses to see it otherwise, as a direct challenge to state authority.

Whichever interpretation is correct, the ongoing confrontation between city and state over a host of policy matters, of which gun safety is only one, is rising to fever pitch, as evidenced the rhetoric employed last week by Council Chair JB Smiley and various supportive council members, who announced their intent to sue the Election Commission to reinstate the ballot measure.

“Memphis has been shot and is bleeding out,” said Councilwoman Jerri Green. “We won’t back down, and we damn sure won’t be bullied,” proclaimed Smiley.

Memphis Mayor Paul Young meanwhile seemed to be trying to position himself at the nonexistent calm center, saying he understood the council’s “frustration” but expressing the view that the referendum ultimately would be “futile.” 

Categories
News News Feature

Funding Your 401(k)

Photo: Kenny Eliason | Unsplash

If you’re making regular contributions to an employer-sponsored retirement plan, such as a 401(k) or 403(b), congratulations! You’re taking steps toward a more secure financial future. However, even those who participate in a 401(k) plan may worry they’re not contributing enough to achieve their retirement goals. 

Unfortunately, as with so many financial planning challenges, there’s no single guideline to ensure you’re putting enough aside. Even if you have an idea of the dollar amount you’ll need to comfortably retire, the amount you need to save varies based on a wide range of factors, including when you start investing, your portfolio allocation, market events, lifestyle goals, spending habits, inflation, etc. 

A general rule of thumb is to invest 15 percent of your income in a retirement account, but your exact savings requirements may differ widely from that number. Rather than focusing on a specific percentage, consider implementing the following tips to help maximize your employer-sponsored retirement plan benefits. 

1. Start contributing early. 

Thanks to the power of compound interest, it’s typically more advantageous to start contributing to a 401(k) as early as possible, even if you’re only able to commit to a small amount. 

2. Maximize your employer match. 

If someone offered to give you $3,000 each year with no strings attached, would you take it? Of course you would! Yet many people pass up retirement savings opportunities by not contributing enough to their 401(k) to receive the full value of their employer’s matching contribution. That’s essentially saying no to “free” money. 

  3. Increase your contributions by 1 to 2 percent each year. 

Once you’re contributing enough to receive your full employer match, consider increasing your contributions each year or whenever you receive a raise. Even a 1 to 2 percent annual increase can have a big impact on your savings over time, and you’re unlikely to even notice the impact on your take-home pay. 

4. Diversify your contribution types. 

Many employer-sponsored retirement plans offer the option of contributing to a traditional (pre-tax) 401(k) or a Roth (after-tax) 401(k). 

• Traditional 401(k) contributions provide the benefit of lowering your taxable income during the year in which they’re made. However, these assets and their earnings are taxed as ordinary income when you withdraw them in retirement. 

Once you are retired and reach a certain age, the IRS requires you begin taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) from your pre-tax retirement accounts. These withdrawals are subject to ordinary income tax. 

• Roth 401(k) contributions don’t provide an immediate tax benefit, but assets can be withdrawn without federal income tax as long as you’ve reached age 59.5 and held the account for at least five years. 

In addition, Roth 401(k) contributions aren’t subject to RMDs, which means your assets can continue growing within the account throughout retirement. 

Contributing a portion of your retirement savings to both types of accounts offers a combination of tax benefits, including: 

• An opportunity to lower your current taxable income when you’re in a high tax bracket by making pre-tax contributions

• Flexibility and tax-planning opportunities in retirement that allow you to draw from accounts with different tax treatments, based on your changing needs, market conditions, and tax exposure. 

Gene Gard, CFA, CFP, CFT-I, is a Partner and Private Wealth Manager with Creative Planning. Creative Planning is one of the nation’s largest Registered Investment Advisory firms providing comprehensive wealth management services to ensure all elements of a client’s financial life are working together. For more information or to request a free, no-obligation consultation, visit CreativePlanning.com.

Categories
Letter From The Editor Opinion

An Extraordinary Machine

A bit of nature (Photo: Shara Clark)

It’s been a minute since I’ve written in this space, dear readers. Time both drags and zips by, and I hope you’ve all been well in the interim. For anyone who has followed my columns since April when I broke my foot, I’m excited to report that I’m walking again — without training wheels, so to speak. I ditched the orthopedic boot a month or so ago. I battled with and lost to the ankle brace — it was uncomfortable and none of my shoes fit over it, so it was sent to early retirement. The wheelchair and walkers have been locked in the vaults of my mind, a memory I hope to never revisit (except when I return those items to their rightful owners — thanks for the borrow, y’all!). I’ve finished week four of physical therapy, and I’m able to walk — in supportive shoes — with minimal pain. 

I say minimal. It still hurts, but compared to what I’ve endured since spring, this stage is a walk in the park. There’s nerve damage — a constant dull burn and numbness. My foot still swells if I’m up and about, even around the house, for more than a few minutes. And there are ligaments that feel like tight rubber bands pulling toward a snap with each step. I can’t seem to walk down a set of stairs — my foot doesn’t want to work that way — but I can walk up them. 

I was thinking about a form I filled out at my last physical therapy appointment. It asked to rate things like putting on socks and shoes or walking a mile on a 1 to 5 scale of difficulty. I answered “little difficulty” or “no difficulty” on a few items, which, in hindsight, I still have quite a bit of difficulty doing. But as I gave each task a score, I was mentally comparing them to how I felt two or three months ago. The fact that I can even do these things feels like a miracle now. (Still no hopping, jogging, or running, which all received a side-scribbled “N/A” on the scale.)

Another miracle is that I’ve gotten back to my almost-daily ritual neighborhood walks. Those sacred meditations in motion where I can see the seasons change in the leaves, admire the sunlight shimmering across puddles, feel the cooler breeze against my skin. It seems I missed all of summer stuck inside mostly immobile, and my body knows it. My muscles have had to put in extra work just to be upright — my back, shins, and calves aching from a measly mile walk. But I’m gradually adding more distance, more time with shoes to pavement, taking care not to overdo it. 

On a recent stroll, crisp leaves scattered the sidewalk in little cyclones, and the wind bent branches on decades-old trees towering overhead. I stopped, as I always have, to photograph flowers and butterflies and sprouts peeking through cement cracks. I spoke to my favorite old neighborhood dog, who, although she acknowledged me with a side-eye from her lounging spot in the yard, was too cozy in a sunning session to be bothered to rise and greet me. My lungs were full of fresh air and my soul filled with gratitude. For a while I walked with one earbud in listening to quiet tunes, but then there was a louder sound. Not the whir of speeding cars on the nearby thoroughfare or the chatter of neighbors conversing on their front lawn. It was a pulsing in my ear — my heartbeat. I paused the music and listened to my body’s life force, felt the drumming in unison with my steps. Reminding me that the past — that held so much pain — is gone. That my body — this extraordinary machine — is mending as it should. That this aching — this firing of blood and muscles — is necessary to fully heal. That my internal drum — pounding as I march ahead — forges on. As the last long sighs of summer give breath to fall, this path — right now (right now, right now) — is exactly where I’m supposed to be. 

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Music Music Features

Celebrating Donald Brown

Donald Brown (Photos: Courtesy Donald Brown)

This coming weekend brings some overdue recognition to one of the city’s true jazz giants, Donald Brown. The pianist was born in Mississippi but raised in Memphis before going on to study at Memphis State (now the University of Memphis), where he was one of the “Memphis Three,” the trio of genius-level ivory-ticklers who emerged in the 1970s that also included James Williams and Mulgrew Miller. Of the three, Brown was arguably the most eclectic, ranging from classic straight-ahead jazz piano to more funk-influenced recordings over the course of 18 studio albums, plus appearances on records by the likes of Donald Byrd and Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. Through most of that time, he was a much-loved educator at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville from 1988-2020. 

This Friday, September 6th, at 7 p.m., he’ll receive a Beale Street Brass Note and a tribute to his life in music at the Museum of Science & History (MoSH), complete with a concert by the Memphis Jazz Workshop (led by Steve Lee, one of Brown’s former students). And Saturday, September 7th, at 6 p.m., the Scheidt Family Performing Arts Center will host a reading by Valeria Z. Nollan from her upcoming biography of Brown. It’s a pair of events befitting a career as distinguished as Brown’s, and yet the cruel irony is that he won’t be playing at any of them. 

That’s due in part to his aging. “I’ve been having problems with my hands, so I haven’t really performed for the last seven years, so it’s been kinda rough,” he says with some resignation. Yet, at 70, his mind is as sharp as ever, which bodes well for Nollan’s biography, slated for release in 2025.

Brown’s life since college has been single-mindedly focused on his mastery of the piano, but it wasn’t always thus. “I came to jazz kind of late,” he says. “Originally, I was a drummer, and then I played tuba in the marching band, baritone horn in the concert band, and trumpet in the ROTC band. Through high school [at South Side High School], even though I was playing trumpet and drums, I still knew enough about piano and harmony that I was arranging for my high school marching band. Playing trumpet probably influenced my writing more than my improvising, but playing drums definitely influenced me more as a pianist.”

And then there were the keyboardists who showed him the way, influences that came pouring out once Brown took to the piano as his main instrument when starting college. “All the great players that were in Memphis at the time just made me want to play the instrument. Booker T. [Jones] was a big influence. Marvell Thomas, Sidney Kirk, and other guys that were contemporaries of mine.” Like most Stax-affiliated players, these were virtuosos who were equally at home in jazz or pop settings. And that was true of Brown, too, as he progressed through college and began working more steadily.

“I played in a lot of top 40 bands and a lot of studio work,” Brown explains, “so I was influenced by the music of Motown and Philadelphia International, players like Bernie Worrell with Parliament-Funkadelic, Sly and the Family Stone, Prince. I was really into the group Yes and Rick Wakeman. So it was a very diverse amount of keyboard players and pianists that influenced me.” 

A grounding in funk is reflected in some of Brown’s greatest jazz work, where strong left-handed bass figures can be key, as in two of his tributes to civil rights leaders, “A Poem for Martin” and “Theme for Malcolm.” Yet even those reveal Brown’s subtle mastery of classic jazz piano as well, which comes to the fore in his piece “Phineas,” a tribute to the greatest of all Memphis pianists, Phineas Newborn Jr. 

Looking back on his storied life in jazz, Brown himself can hardly believe it. “I was blessed to have worked with so many other legends, like Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Donald Byrd, Toots Thielemans, and Johnny Griffin. But still, the highlight for me was playing with Art Blakey. I still have to pinch myself when I see recordings or videos and see that it actually happened. Even though I haven’t been there walking the streets with Bird and Bud Powell, I tell my students that that’s about as close as you can get to the source.”