Tag: Black History Month

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Dive Into Thought-Provoking Conversations at Hattiloo Theatre for Black History Month

Charles McKinney at a previous Black History Symposium (Photo: Courtesy Jennifer Sharp)

Black History Month, as we all know, is a month dedicated to celebrating Black culture, the history of Black people, and the willingness one must have to learn more about it. Black History Month is coming to an end soon and what better way to close out the month than by attending the final installment of the Black History Symposium Series?

The symposium, hosted by the Hattiloo Theatre, is intended to give people in the Memphis community the space to talk, share their experiences, and learn something new by discussing the struggles Black individuals have faced through storytelling. “The only way that a person can relay a thought is by telling stories. They tell a story of experience. They tell a story of a book that they read. They tell a story of a class that they took or a conference they attended,” says Ekundayo Bandele, executive director and founder of Hattiloo Theatre. “And so one of the things that we’re doing is looking at more ways of storytelling, and not just storytelling but culturally relevant storytelling.” 

Bandele encourages anyone to come and let their voice be heard: to offer solutions, listen and ask questions, and think critically about the current situations that are affecting Black communities around the country. “There has to be a response, and a response isn’t necessarily the symposium itself. The response is from people to see that they are part of a community, for individuals to ask themselves questions that they may not have otherwise considered on their own,” says Bandele.

So far, two of the three symposia have already passed, having been led by keynote speakers Charles McKinney, associate professor of history at Rhodes College, and Charity Clay, visiting assistant professor of African-American history at Rhodes College. The final one will be this Saturday, February 22nd, from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., with president of the National Civil Rights Museum Russ Wigginton delivering the keynote address. There will be plenty of opportunity for discourse, and there will also be light refreshments available and two 15-minute breaks before the closing segment.

To learn more information about the Black History Symposium and to register to attend for free, visit hattiloo.org/black-history-symposium-series/.  

Black History Symposium Series: The Gentrification of Black Culture, Hattiloo Theatre, 37 South Cooper, Saturday, February 22nd, 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., free.

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Art Art Feature Theater Theater Feature

Young Actors Guild Performs ‘Sunday Morning: Dance to Freedom’

Young thespians conjure up that Sunday morning feeling. (Photo: Juan Self)

Sunday mornings have always held special meaning in the fabric of Black culture. They’re filled with the hustle and bustle of getting ready — women waiting for curling irons to heat to the perfect temperature while men both young and old perfect the knots of their ties.

Congregations then begin to file into church pews as ushers greet them with white gloves. Church mothers fill the front rows dressed as elegantly as the grace they exude. The angelic choir voices sing songs of hope, faith, and praise before a sermon the pastor has mused to echo those sentiments.

“We all know Sunday morning,” Sabrina Norwood, executive director of the Young Actors Guild (YAG), says. “When you think about Sunday morning, that’s you getting up and getting dressed and coming to be rejuvenated. There’s a lot of hand clapping, a lot of foot stomping, and beautiful music that will not only connect you but will reinvigorate you.”

While images of these mornings may be different through the years, themes of hope mixed with the spirit of congregation remain. It’s an important scene to capture, one that YAG is working to encapsulate in their performance, aptly titled Sunday Morning: Dance to Freedom, on February 23rd at the Mt. Vernon Baptist Church, located at 620 Parkrose Road in Memphis, TN.

The performance is timely — the organization celebrates Black History Month and its own 34th anniversary this February — but it also reflects the empowerment needed during this political climate. 

“I think we’re all operating in uncertainty,” Norwood says. “One thing that stays true is the arts, and love for the arts, and everybody can relate to it. We hope it’s both healing and reflective to others.”

Community has been a mainstay for the organization since its inception. Founder and creative director Chrysti Chandler recalls coming back to Memphis in 1991 after seeing there were many children who didn’t participate in after-school activities. She was shocked to find out it was because students couldn’t afford it.

“Many of the young people we serve are from underrepresented populations,” Norwood says. “Those students are able to attend our program for little to no cost because we believe arts should be accessible for all.”

Norwood says through Chandler’s vision, more than 41,000 young people have come through their doors. YAG houses a performing arts academy that operates year-round with students ages 8 to 17. And Norwood says being in the Orange Mound community allows young people a platform they haven’t typically had. They are able to showcase their talent and creativity while also giving a voice to their generation.

Norwood says this age group is known for an outspoken and unconventional approach to social justice, and these themes are interwoven through Sunday Morning intentionally.

“This performance is all about a dance to freedom,” Norwood says. “About them finding ways to create their own avenues to bring justice, equality, accessibility to their community, and to create sustainability. This production will provide an opportunity to not only unify our young people but unify our community.” 

As she reflects on YAG’s students, she says they’re a generation who will move mountains, and art gives them the opportunity to advocate on their behalf while celebrating how far their heritage has come. To amplify this, the production will include a performance from Orange Mound-founded band Black Cream. Gospel artist Deborah Manning Thomas — whom Norwood calls a “vocal powerhouse” — will also join. Rooted Souls, a group that developed from parents of YAG, will perform. And Sharonda Mcfield will come in from North Carolina to join the production, along with Kevin Davidson.

“Gospel music certainly is healing,” Norwood says. “We all know that. Just walking through that Sunday morning of getting there and sometimes feeling so burdened down, but leaving feeling like you can take over the world. That’s the experience we want to be able to create, and hopefully it’ll revive us with the climate we’re in. We really want this to be an amazing presentation of revival.” 

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Music Music Features

Stax Meets Motown

Rickey Fondren III center with microphone (Photo: Claire James)

“If you want to master something, teach it,” the great physicist Richard P. Feynman is said to have remarked. “The more you teach, the better you learn.” That’s certainly borne out by the recent experiences of students who teamed up to create a new musical film and instructional package on African-American history for the Soulsville Foundation. Once it premieres online this Friday, February 2nd, it will be available as a free download for educators and students throughout Black History Month and into September. Producing such a film for the national event is a tradition the foundation began after Covid made live performances risky, and it’s continued ever since. And taking the project’s mission to heart caused this year’s student-producers to learn much along the way.

“What Stax wants to do is keep the history and message of soul music alive, but especially that of Stax Records, and the impact that the label had not only on the Memphis community, but the world at large,” says Anaya Murray, a high school senior and Stax Music Academy (SMA) student who served as the film’s co-writer and co-producer. “Black History Month is an opportunity to remind people of this important part of Black culture and American culture. In our film, Stax Meets Motown, we focus on two record labels who were rivals and competitors, and what they both contributed to music, but it’s about more than that.”

Anaya Murray (Photo: Ayanna Murray)

Indeed, the film and companion study guides delve into the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, the Detroit Riots of 1967, the history of Black radio, the recording industry, and fashion. At the same time, the topic is also perfectly suited to a musical. “Think High School Musical and Grease,” Murray says of the film, which she masterminded with fellow high-schoolers Andrew Green and Rickey Fondren III. Green and Fondren attend SMA, as does most of the cast.

“There are moments where they’ll break out into song, where there’s dancing, and it’s all Stax and Motown music. And then, I’m one of the songwriting students at the Academy and we wrote an original song for the end credits. So we pay homage to Stax and Motown and then add something new. And all the sounds that you hear are Stax students singing and playing.”

That includes Murray herself, who also studies voice at SMA, and the story, set entirely in Booker T. Washington High School (which many Stax artists attended), is designed to both teach and give performance, recording, and songwriting students a chance to shine. As Murray explains the plot, “Lisa, the lead, moves from Detroit to Memphis, and it’s the simple story of her learning about Stax and the culture, but also of the Memphis kids learning from her about Detroit and Motown.”

Yet ultimately the film reveals the SMA’s support for more than music. As Murray says, “I’ve been a student at Stax Music Academy since my first year of high school, and once I started to show an interest in filmmaking over the past two years, Stax noticed that and gave me an opportunity to assist on the script for last year’s [Black History Month] film.” She also developed her own material, winning the 2023 Indie Memphis Youth Film Fest Jury Award for her film, Father’s Day.

Eventually she was tapped to write this year’s screenplay. “I’m really excited about the opportunity because screenwriting is something I love to do,” she says. “Then I was able to get Andrew Green, one of my film friends, on board. He’s also planning to go to college for screenwriting and directing. And Rickey is a singer at SMA, but acting is really where his passion lies. He’s actually co-starring in the film as the love interest, but he was really excited to go into screenwriting as well, so he helped a lot with doing research to make sure that we were really providing accurate information.”

Thus did the writers learn as they progressed, and gaining the Soulsville Foundation’s stamp of approval was proof positive that they got the facts right. Now the film and instructional materials are being readied for their premiere. As Murray explains, all involved are aware of how important this educational mission is: “When it goes live, they send that link out to students not only in the United States, but worldwide as well. It is a global event.”

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Food & Wine Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Beale Street Brewing’s New Beers Are Black History Month in a Can

Credit: Beale Street Brewing Co.

Celebrate Black History Month with some beers this year. 

Beale Street Brewing Co. has just released a new beer, Soul Stew, and reissued a 2020 collaboration, Black is Beautiful, with Soul and Spirits Brewing Co. 

First up is Soul Stew, a brown ale with vanilla, coffee, and cinnamon. That coffee is the Onyx blend from Memphis-local J. Brooks Coffee Roasters. The coffee is a mix of Sumatra Mandheling and Mexico Turquesa coffees. 

Soul Stew is brewed with Madagascar vanilla beans and cinnamon sticks to “round out this amazing, complex Vanilla Mocha Brown Ale.,” Beale Street said in a statement. In all, the beer brings a hint of “toffee and peanuts in a round and creamy body” that “leaves a nice, lingering caramel note in the finish.”

That’s what’s inside the can. Outside the can is art that will reside in garage beer-can collections for years to come. Watch for them on eBay in 2042 and say, “I remember that. Wished I would’ve kept those.”

The pint cans (tallboys, basically) feature “social influencers and unsung heroes that made a lasting impression on the Bluff City.”

Credit: Beale Street Brewing Co.

They feature former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton in a photo from his exhibition boxing match with former heavyweight champ Joe Frazier in 2006. Another can features Memphis Minnie with her guitar. Another has Robert Church, the South’s first Black millionaire. The final can has country singer Charley Pride, decked out in his baseball uniform during his stint as pitcher for the Memphis Red Sox. 

“Memphis, considered a melting pot of the Delta, saw many people migrate for the vibrant music scene, rich culture, and thriving cotton industry,” Beale Street Brewing said in a statement. 

Soul Stew brings 6 percent alcohol by volume (ABV). It’s available in a four-pack of 16-ounce cans. The company said it pairs well with “Memphis Soul Stew,” by King Curtis and “He’s In the Ring (Doin’ the Same Old Thing)” by Memphis Minnie.    

Credit: Weathered Souls Brewing Co.

San Antonio’s Weathered Souls Brewing Co. started the nationwide collaboration of its Black is Beautiful beer last year in the aftermath of the public killing of George Floyd. The effort was to raise awareness of the “to the injustices that many people of color face daily,” according to the beer’s website. Portions of the sales of the beer were to go to local organizations working for equality or those working for police reform.  

Several local breweries collaborated here to make their versions of Black is Beautiful from a stout base issued by Weathered Souls. Each collaboration tweaked the beer to make it their own. Beale Street Brewing paired up with Soul & Spirits, Memphis’ newest brewery, for a 2021 version of Black is Beautiful. 

“Our mission is to bridge the gap that’s been around for ages and provide a platform to show that the brewing community is an inclusive place for everyone of any color,” reads a statement from Beale Street Brewing and Soul & Spirits.

Their version of the beer is an imperial stout with cherry notes. Then, it’s loaded with Madagascar vanilla beans and toasted coconut to create a “Coconut Macaroon Imperial Stout.” 

This version of Black is Beautiful clocks in at 9 percent alcohol by volume (ABV). It’s only available in Memphis in four-pack pint cans or small kegs. The breweries say the beer pairs well with “Respect Yourself” by The Staple Singers and “Say It Loud — I’m Black and I’m Proud” by James Brown. 

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Memphis Gaydar News

OUTMemphis New Hire Talks Black History Month

This month, Kab Browley is the latest addition to the OUTMemphis team as  communications coordinator.

Browley says it is important for him to see Black LGBTQ+ people during Black History Month. He is one of several Black employees that work at the OUTMemphis headquarters in Midtown. Shared experiences with people in the LGBTQ+ community here is what has led him to take this job.

Browley, 22, started in January 2021 at OUTMemphis, which is an LGBTQ+ community center. The nonprofit agency provides wellness, hygiene, and overall personal care for Memphians who identify as LGBTQ+.

Browley’s role as communications coordinator will be to assist communications manager Shira Grant with all things communications: fundraising, events, website development, e-newsletters, and social media. During a pandemic, and with a small crew, he hopes to boost awareness and resources for their patrons.

A Memphis native, Browley graduated from the University of Memphis in fall 2020 with a degree in music. While studying, he started volunteering at OUTMemphis in 2018 and won the volunteer of the year award in 2019. Now, as a paid employee, he is looking forward to bringing greater support to the LGBTQ+ community here.

“Seeing African Americans throughout history can help with navigating and understanding yourself,” says Browley.

This month, OUTMemphis celebrates black history pioneers in the LGBTQ+ community. People like James Baldwin, Marsha P. Johnson, Angela Davis, and Alvin Ailey are among the LGBTQ legends they have highlighted on their site. There are short descriptions under each honoree, that can help readers understand the major contributions Black LGBTQ+ people have made to American history.

“Seeing people that look like you is often a great thing and I think that’s with any representation,” says Browley. “For me, I am someone who dabbles in music. I don’t sing. I don’t perform. But I do the business side of it. So seeing people who look like you who are in this part of the community really helps.”

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Stax Hosts Virtual Black History Month Celebration

CREDIT: Courtesy of Stax Music Academy

Traditionally, the Stax Music Academy has hosted live, in-person performances in celebration of Black History Month. That’s now history due to the COVID-19 pandemic and safety-related issues.

This year, an online variety show will be made available for free to students, schools, and youth organizations. A pay-what-you-can donation option will be available for others to enjoy this show honoring Black history.

The performance event, Rhythm & Revolution: Expressions of Struggle, Collaboration, and Peace, will feature songs by well-known artists in a blend of R&B classics mixed with original music from Stax Music Academy students, plus Civil Rights Movement music and more.

Courtesy of Stax Music Academy

Young Stax Academy performer

“As important as the Black History Month lessons are in this virtual production, it is more than anything a show of sheer entertainment,” says Stax Music Academy executive director Pat Mitchell Worley.

Companion study guides will be available for those who register as “Educator” on Eventbrite. The guides will offer a deeper educational experience helping young people to process some of the thoughts and feelings that arise in the concert topics. Youngsters in grades 4-12 can also enter a songwriting competition with a cash prize for the winner.

Significant locations in Memphis including Stax Museum will be featured in the show. Also online for Black History Month is the Stax Museum Virtual Tour, featuring elements of a traditional museum tour with other components highlighting the history of Stax Records and Memphis music through those who lived it and continue to be impacted by its legacy.

Black History Month Celebration: Rhythm & Revolution: An Expression of Struggle, Collaboration, and Peace, Online from Stax Music Academy, staxmusicacademy.org, and Stax Museum, staxmuseum.com, Wednesday, Feb. 17, free with registration.

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Music Music Blog

Stax Music Academy Students Bring Rhythm & Revolution Online

CREDIT: Courtesy of Stax Music Academy

The Stax Music Academy (SMA) is buzzing with activity these days, as students and instructors work in its studios, and fan out across the city, for a little R&R.

No, they’re not taking a vacation, and this is not for rock ‘n’ rollers only. Rather, the entire academy has shifted into high gear for its upcoming online presentation, “R & R: Rhythm and Revolution: Expressions of Struggle, Collaboration, and Peace.”

Courtesy of Stax Music Academy

Young Stax Academy performer

This virtual show replaces the two live performances typically held by the academy in celebration of Black History Month. Though most musical fans will be asked to pay a donation, the program will be made available at no cost to students, schools, and youth organizations across the world.

And the SMA is taking that last part seriously, offering a study guide so educators can present the show to students in a considered way. The guide includes a set of questions that can be used to help young people process some of the thoughts and feelings that may arise on topics the concert will address. And, for the first time ever, the SMA study guide also includes a songwriting competition for students in grades 4-12, with a cash prize for the winner.

Billie Worley

Stax Music Academy students creating video for Rhythm & Revolution

Aiming to be an “upbeat production designed especially for students who are currently lacking access to the arts during the COVID pandemic,” the online show will feature renditions of soul classics and original music by SMA’s students. Music of the Civil Rights Movement and more recent anthems will be highlighted, along with songs made famous by the likes of Aretha Franklin, the Staple Singers, Al Green, The Jackson 5, Janet Jackson and Albert King.

Billie Worley

Stax Music Academy students creating video for Rhythm & Revolution

The virtual Black History Month show is even now being filmed in various locations in Memphis, including the I AM A MAN Plaza at historic Clayborn Temple, Beale Street, the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, and Royal Studios, home of Hi Records, and artists like Al Green and Ann Peebles.

Pat Mitchell-Worley

“As important as the Black History Month lessons are in this virtual production, it is more than anything a show of sheer entertainment for students of all ages and parents alike,” said Stax Music Academy executive director Pat Mitchell Worley. “Our students are performing for other students and have been involved in every aspect of the show, from designing costumes to engineering and production to even filming dance lessons for other young people to emulate and enjoy.”

“R & R: Rhythm and Revolution: Expressions of Struggle, Collaboration, and Peace,”  available on the Stax Music Academy’s website starting February 17, 2021. Register as an “Educator” in the EventBrite Link for access to study guides.


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We Recommend We Recommend

“Dis/contented Realities” Exhibition Opens at Urevbu Contemporary

CREDIT: Courtesy Urevbu Contemporary

You may have heard that the pioneering and ambitious Art Village Gallery on South Main in Downtown Memphis has been renamed Urevbu Contemporary. After a one-year hiatus, the gallery is debuting its first physical exhibition in time for African-American History Month.

The exhibition, “dis/contented realities,” presents a range of works from five emerging artists to watch from Nigeria, Cameroon, and the United States: Sophia Azoige, Samuel Dallé, Árá Deinde, Amarchi Odimba, and Kaylyn Webster.

To promote safe art appreciation, the gallery offers socially distanced art-viewing appointments in seven different time slots.

Courtesy Urevbu Contemporary

Untitled work by Árá Deinde

“Though the paintings in the exhibition are unified by their figurative imagery, each of the artists approaches their subject from a fresh perspective according to their own individual aesthetics, representing a spectrum of styles ranging from the abstract to the naturalistic,” explains Urevbu Contemporary in a post to social media.

Through layers of oil and acrylic — and, in some cases, unexpected additional media — the paintings of “dis/contented realities” are informed by the rich, personal histories and experiences of the artists they represent.

Confronting issues of race and identity, immigration and diaspora, beauty and friendship, the artists grapple with issues of the current moment. Some of the individuals in the exhibition advocate for a restructuring of reality, others stimulate their audience to confront the political and social landscape. The paintings are placed in conversation with one another, allowing the viewer to appreciate and explore the connections and the conflicts of the artists’ respective viewpoints.

Opening reception for “dis/contented realities,” Urevbu Contemporary (formerly Art Village Gallery), 410 South Main, Saturday, Feb. 6, 5:30-9 p.m., free with registration.

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News News Blog

TN Voices Honors Black Mental Health Leaders for Black History Month

TN Voices, a mental health support services nonprofit, is working to increase access to mental health for Black Tennesseans by honoring Black mental health leaders on social media during Black History Month.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) reports that racial and ethnic minority groups in the U.S. are less likely to have access to mental health services, less likely to use community mental health services, more likely to use emergency departments, and more likely to receive lower quality care.

During the month of February, TN Voices is working to educate Tennesseans about the importance of improving access to mental health care and treatment. They seek to help dispel negative perceptions about mental illness.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Mental Health:

● Black Americans living below the poverty level, as compared to those over twice the poverty level, are twice as likely to report psychological distress.

● Suicide is the second leading cause of death for Black Americans ages 15-24.

● The death rate from suicide for Black men is more than four times greater than Black women.

● Black females, grades 9-12, are 70 percent more likely to attempt suicide, as compared to non-Hispanic white females of the same age.

“There’s a great stigma not only in mental health but especially the Black community,” says TN Voices chief operating officer Will Voss. “We don’t seek treatment or we don’t think these things are affecting us in a negative way, but they are, so we have to be aware of the signs and symptoms that we’re seeing and that we’re feeling.”

“By seeing the contributions that Black people have made to the mental health community, it gently chips away at the stigma associated with mental illness and seeking help in our own community,” says TN Voices chief development officer Michelle Thomas. “We are working to normalize mental illness in the Black community and beyond.”

Tennesseans who are unemployed or without insurance and in need of mental health services can call the TN Voices Hope Fund hotline for help at 615-269-7751.

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Calling the Bluff Music

Wave Chapelle Celebrates Black History Month with New EP

In recognition of Black History Month, Wave Chapelle has released a four-song EP entitled New Black History.

The CMG representative uses the effort to address civil rights, reflect on legendary black activists, and also shed some light on personal struggles.

Stream New Black History below. 

Wave Chapelle Celebrates Black History Month with New EP

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