As I type these words, it’s Tuesday morning, September 21st. I’ve made several false starts on this column, looking over what I’ve written and deciding to start over.
I had hoped to use this space to acknowledge some high points for Memphis over the past week or so. I’m sure we could all use a moment to celebrate, and I don’t want to become one of those people who spouts anger or doom-and-gloom on a weekly basis.
The three-day mission of Inspiration4 marked the first all-civilian flight to orbit the Earth, and one of the crew was Hayley Arceneaux, a former patient of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and current St. Jude physician assistant. The mission raised $210 million for St. Jude. If that’s not something to celebrate, I don’t know what is.
In other good news, the University of Memphis Tigers beat the Mississippi State Bulldogs at the Liberty Bowl last Saturday. I don’t know much about football, but people seem pretty excited about that turn of events. Go Tigers!
Also last weekend, I drove past the Luciann Theatre on Summer, its marquee lit up and glowing. The Luciann is the as-yet-undecided business making its home in the former site of the Paris theater, itself the former site of the former Luciann Theatre. Whatever confusion with names — or what the building’s eventual use will be — is, to me at least, secondary to the knowledge that a cool, old building in a too-little-celebrated part of town will be put to use instead of being torn down. William Townsend, the Luciann’s owner, discusses potential options for the space in a great Memphis Business Journal article, published last summer, by Jacob Steimer.
Memphian Carmeon Hamilton’s Reno My Rental premiered on discovery+ and HGTV on Saturday, September 18th, and seems to be getting a lot of well-deserved attention. I hope the show brings Hamilton all the support and success.
Finally, philanthropists Hugh and Margaret Jones Fraser and the Carrington Jones family of Memphis donated 144 acres to T.O. Fuller State Park.
So, yes, that’s all good news, and I think we should all take a moment to celebrate it.
But the news this morning is not so good, and I felt a little sick to my stomach trying to will the bad to the back of my mind in order to write more about the celebration-worthy successes I’ve mentioned above. Images have surfaced depicting U.S. Border Patrol agents chasing and apparently whipping Haitian migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. They are not pretty pictures. Men mounted on horseback seem to snarl at the barefoot men and women they tower over. It is as clear an abuse of power as I’ve ever seen, not to mention that it’s, put simply, inhumane. Seeking asylum is legal. It’s a basic human right, and it’s a foundational principle of this country. Or at least, we like to say it is.
The Department of Homeland Security has vowed to investigate. Meanwhile, Senator Marsha Blackburn has made hay, tweeting about the crisis, the security of the border, and that old standby, “The solution to ensure this doesn’t happen is to build the wall.”
I know that it’s how the political game is played, but there is something incredibly cruel about labeling human beings with nothing more than the clothes on their backs as “threats.” These are people, human beings. I don’t claim to have a solution, but pointing fingers at the U.S. immigration system when it’s time to fundraise without ever attempting to make it work for those who need it is no solution at all.
In other distressing news, The Tennessean’s Brett Kelman reports that Tennessee state government is recommending that the monoclonal antibody treatment for Covid be denied to vaccinated patients with the disease. This will not apply to vaccinated Tennesseans who are immunocompromised or immunosuppressed, which is one small mercy at least.
On the one hand, unvaccinated people who contract Covid are more likely to need that highly effective treatment. Of course, the surest way to prevent being hospitalized with a severe case of the disease is to be vaccinated. It reminds me a little bit of an unvaccinated friend who is helping several Covid-positive members of her church. “Don’t worry,” she said. “We’re taking precautions. We’re taking supplements.” Doubtless, those supplements are not approved by the FDA, but she refuses to take the Pfizer vaccine, which does have FDA approval. It does not make sense.
This week’s column has been a bit of a roller coaster, I know, but so has the last week. I hope we can all take a moment to acknowledge the good — and that it gives us strength to keep doing the work to make sure the good news is not ever in short supply.
Jesse Davis
jesse@memphisflyer.com