Screenshot from video showing Tyre Nichols skateboarding as a teen. Shared on YouTube by WaltCoAct.
The Flyer will not be showing the Tyre Nichols video on our website.
We trust that our readers will be able to find it elsewhere if they choose to watch it.
In this space, though, we want to offer readers a place to celebrate the life of Tyre Nichols and reflect on the words of the Rev. Lawrence Turner of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church: “We demand a system that manifests justice for all, not the privileged few. In Tyre’s name, systemic justice is what we must demand and fight for — each day going forward until we overcome.”
Director Kyle Edward Ball channels surrealist cinema as everyday objects take on sinister import.
Every 10 years since 1952, the British Film Institute and Sight and Sound magazine conduct a poll of the world’s most prominent film critics, asking to list their favorite films. For decades, Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane topped the list as the greatest film ever made. Then in 2012, Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo edged it out. Then in 2022, a funny thing happened. A movie that had never appeared on the list of 100 before debuted at No. 1: Chantal Akerman’s 1975 film Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, 1080 Brussels.
Akerman didn’t live to see herself crowned as the greatest director in film history. She committed suicide in 2015. But if she had ever made a horror film, it would probably look like Skinamarink. In Akerman’s first film, 1973’s Hotel Monterey, she took her camera into every nook and cranny of a run-down flop house in then-decaying Manhattan, blurring the lines between the building and the people who lived there. For the first 20 or so minutes of Skinamarink, director Kyle Edward Ball does something similar with an average suburban house in what the opening credits tell us is 1995.
It’s the middle of the night, but 4-year-old Kevin (Lucas Paul) and 6-year-old Kaylee (Dali Rose Tetreault) are restless. Kevin is a sleepwalker, and Kaylee is trying to make sure her little brother doesn’t hurt himself on his nightly rambles, as he has done in the past. The night is full of subtle terrors. Is that daddy (Ross Paul) on the phone, talking about us to some stranger? Is mom (Jaime Hill) crying? Is there another presence in the home — maybe something less natural? Wasn’t there a door here before?
The operative word for Skinamarink is “creepy.” Ball has a YouTube channel where he dramatizes people’s nightmares, and since “writing down dreams and visions from transcendental meditation” is pretty much David Lynch’s MO, that’s a pretty good pedigree for a horror director. Shot on a reported budget of $15,000 (although I will wager that figure doesn’t include the final sound mixing, which is exceptional), Ball’s Kubrickian insistence that you look at every square inch of the frame makes a virtue out of poverty. He keeps his camera low, shooting up to give the film the point of view of a kindergartner. Everyday objects take on sinister import. The staircase bannister looms like a colonnade. He borrows disorienting techniques from the earliest example of surrealist cinema, Un Chien Andalou. Is that heavy breathing, or just a burst of static from the television tuned to a blank channel? Is that a figure in the darkness, or just an illusion made of swirling film grain? Ball assiduously avoids faces, showing his kiddy protagonists only by their sock feet and spilled crayons. When he finally does show a face, you’ll wish he hadn’t.
Skinamarink is not going to be for everyone. Ball’s hypnotic pacing will grate on some smartphone-blasted attention spans. But like another recent lo-fi horror masterpiece, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, that’s kind of the point. Skinamarink is not a rubber mask, jump-scare fest. It’s made to tap into something primal — call it “object permanence horror.” It’s that fleeting memory of how your toys were strewn across the floor of your room the day your parents told you they were getting a divorce. It’s that little voice in your head telling you to do bad things, and the fear that this time, you’ll listen to it.
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.
Every year, the Memphis Flyer asks our readers to tell us all about the outstanding young people who are doing their best to make the Bluff City a better place. This time, we had a record number of nominees, and narrowing it down to just 20 was more difficult than ever. Speaking to an immensely talented 20 never fails to fill us with hope, and allows us to introduce Memphis to the leaders who will be shaping our future.
Here they are: Your 20<30 Class of 2023.
Brenda Lucero Amador President, Voices United
“I was born in Mexico and moved to the U.S. when I was 3 years old,” says Amador. “My parents came here to give [us] a better future, something that couldn’t be offered in Mexico.” Amador grew up in Atlanta and came to Christian Brothers University on an Opportunity Scholarship. Under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), she and thousands like her must reapply every two years to stay in the country. “I didn’t really get into advocacy until I got to college.”
Now, she fights for immigration reform with Voices United. “DACA has been around a long time and we haven’t seen any progression, but if we keep advocating, sharing our stories, and organizing, something can happen in the future.”
The education major is now a student teacher at Idlewild Elementary. “I want to be not only an activist, but also a leader, because education is the root of everything. If we can fix the system or make it better, then everything else will fall into place. Because that’s the future generation.”
Dr. Adam Chan Chief Resident Physician, UTHSC Adult Psychiatry Residency Program
“Growing up, mental health was always a taboo topic in my community,” says Dr. Chan. But during his medical education, he saw a need to destigmatize the topic. “I felt the absence of treatment options in low-resource settings during rural Tennessee rotations and international medical mission trips.”
Now, he’s a leader in researching innovative techniques to treat disorders like depression. “Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive procedure that involves using electrical currents generated from magnetic fields to stimulate different structures and connections in the brain. If your brain was a ‘muscle,’ I like to think of it as helping it train!”
But improved treatment is no substitute for building a healthier society, he says. “Prevention is power! Health and mental health are intimately tied to their sociocontextual components.”
“Dataworks is the first time since FedEx started that we started a brand-new operating company,” says Chasteen.
“The goal of Dataworks is to make supply chains smarter for everyone, and really optimize and make our networks more efficient, and offer our customers more products faster. For instance, Dataworks was behind the vaccine distribution. I really knew that Dataworks had that startup environment, and it was new territory for us. So being able to come over and start building something from scratch, and especially in the talent acquisition world, was a great opportunity.
“My passion is bringing people in. I always say, someone took a chance on me, and I was able to build my career.”
“I’m the oldest of four, and my mom raised us all by herself,” says Desiderio. “She’s a single mother, so a lot of my drive and determination, I always credit back to her.”
Desiderio works full-time as a marketing coordinator for a commercial real estate company, while also pursuing a master’s degree in integrated strategic media at University of Memphis. “It kind of encompasses journalism, public relations, marketing, advertising — all of the things that I like in one very long name.” She also serves as vice president of communications for the U of M Graduate Student Association.
She’s a mentor in the STREETS Ministries Pathways program. “It is in the Berclair/Nutbush area. That’s actually where I grew up with my mom and all my siblings. It resonated a lot. They talk about first-generation college students, and how these kids really don’t have a strong support system, and how having a mentor in their life can really help.”
Lily K. Donaldson Miss United States 2022
“I’ve only been Miss United States for two months now and I’ve gotten to go to almost every region of the U.S. so far,” says Donaldson. “It’s been really fun to meet people from all walks of life and all the places across the U. S. and get even more new perspectives than I had before.”
For Donaldson, competing in pageants is a way to flex her communications skills. She holds a computer science degree from American University and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in agriculture, focusing on the development of urban vertical farming. With nonprofit Art Technically, she promotes STEM and arts education. “I took a computer science class my first semester and ended up loving it. It wasn’t something that I had ever really had an opportunity to pursue or interact with. … Art Technically is all about trying to present those opportunities to underserved students, so they can see for themselves if it’s something they would like to pursue.”
Shanice D’Shara Dowdy New Ventures Strategist, ALSAC/St. Jude
“I come up with social media-heavy activations to make St. Jude and Memphis relevant all over the world,” says Dowdy. “We’ve been successful, and because social media is not going anywhere, I bring that sophistication to help us stay cool to young people. I bring innovative solutions to advance philanthropy. I study industries that we haven’t tapped into before.”
Dowdy remains active in Memphis’ Beta Epsilon Omega chapter of AKA sorority, recently organizing a benefit for struggling Black-owned food trucks. She’s the mother of two children and, on New Year’s Eve, married Darry Dowdy Jr. at her grandfather’s church in Greenwood, Mississippi.
“I’m a Baptist who went to a Catholic school, and have traveled around the world to do missionary work,” she says. “It’s being able to embrace differences that allows others to embrace your differences.”
Gunter Gaupp Musician, Composer
Crosstown Arts’ 2022 Composer in Residence has a degree in jazz guitar performance from Rhodes College, but you’ve probably seen him playing bass around town with folks like Louise Page. “It’s such a cool place that it’s hard to leave,” says Gaupp. “Immediately, the music community was so much more inviting than it was for me during 18 years in Baton Rouge. … Every culture I can imagine has a music space here.”
Recently, Gaupp has made the leap to teaching music at the Memphis Rise Academy High School. “I’ve been teaching guitar lessons since I graduated high school, but full-time in the classroom is definitely a different beast. It’s as rewarding as it is challenging. … I think with any of the arts, we’re trying to teach people how to be people.”
Fred Griffin Fashion Designer, Founder of Swish
Have you seen those pink U of M Tigers shorts? Those were Griffin’s idea. “I started making apparel in middle school,” he says. “Anything that I do, I always try to have meaning behind. My mother and my father are really both big into community work. We’ve always done things with breast cancer awareness.”
Griffin designed and made a limited edition of the now-iconic streetwear in 2020 through his brand Swish. “I shot a commercial and put it on Instagram, and I couldn’t turn my phone off because the reaction was crazy. And that was in the middle of a pandemic! I love the fact that the people of Memphis appreciated it enough to where they still talk about it. People still love them, people still wear them.”
Griffin has parlayed his success with Swish into jobs with Nike and the Memphis Grizzlies. “Fashion is really tough because there’s so many people doing it,” he says. “I still keep at it because I’ve been doing it for so long, and I have such a passion for it. The ideas that pop in my brain and the concepts I come up with are able to stand alone by themselves.”
Sarah Jemison Director of Strategy and Services, Alco Management Inc.
Finding affordable housing is an increasingly difficult problem for low-income Memphians. “HUD [United States Department of Housing and Urban Development] has defined affordability as 30 percent of your income or less going to housing — but plenty of people are spending 50 to 60 percent,” says Jemison. “We have the added issue in Memphis of out-of-state and out-of-country investors who are buying up rental properties to make a profit on them. These are people’s homes, and they can’t live there because their rent goes up or the property’s not well-maintained.”
Alco Management is committed to providing quality, low-cost housing to those who need it the most, with rents based on percentage of income. “We have a Memphis that works really well for people like me who went to private school and are white and privileged,” says Jemison. “I think we need to deeply examine the ways in which that system makes the rest of the city not work for so many people.”
Dante Lizza Lawyer, Bass, Berry & Sims
Originally from rural Pennsylvania, Lizza came to Memphis during his first year of law school in 2019. “I fell in love with the city instantly,” he says. “I think the thing I like the most is just the culture of the city, the spirit of perseverance, grit and grind. People are very proud of the city and want to make it a better place. I’m from a small town, and I went to law school in Washington, so I’ve had the big city experience, and I’ve have the small town experience. For me, Memphis is the perfect balance.”
He currently practices healthcare law, helping pharmacies and clinics comply with regulation, while also providing free legal services for elders in Orange Mound. “I really enjoy getting involved in the local community in Memphis and helping people have access to resources and advice that they otherwise may not be able to get. I know I’m in an incredibly privileged position, and I feel it as my duty to pay it forward.”
Meghan Meadows-Taylor Pre-Award Coordinator, University of Memphis School of Public Health
It was coincidence that Meadows-Taylor earned her Ph.D. in epidemiology just as the coronavirus pandemic was exploding in March 2020. She quickly found herself in charge of a $13 million CDC grant to the Shelby County Health Department to serve under-resourced populations. “It’s been extremely rewarding, seeing the impact of what we do in the community,” she says. “There’s some challenging aspects for sure, dealing with the political aspect. There’s a lot of resistance to change, but I think Memphis is open to making sure we have a healthier community.”
An author of 20 published research papers, she’s only getting started. “Violence prevention is another aspect of public health. We’re trying to build a violence prevention center within the school. … I want to make sure that we can all come together. I think diversity is important, everyone has their place, but we all need to take care of each other.”
Moth Moth Moth Drag Performer
Two weeks after graduating from Memphis College of Art, “I put on a wig and dress and started performing at nightclubs. I’ve had part-time to full-time work doing that ever since my very first gig. I’ve been very lucky.”
That first pro drag show was a benefit for victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting. “Drag for me is much less about being fierce or whatever. Plenty of people are really good at that. Drag for me is like being a nun or something. It has a huge community service component. The most important people I serve as an entertainer are the lonely people and the people who need connection.”
Moth Moth Moth has become the most recognizable drag figure in the Mid-South, doing events for the Focus Center Foundation and hosting a podcast, Musing with Mothie. But that visibility has come with an increase in harassment and threats from conservatives, and now the Tennessee Legislature is considering legislation that would ban drag performances in public. “Y’all should be focused on making sure that mamas and babies are not starving across the state. They’re mad at me for reading stories to children in a yarn wig? Please.”
Kayla Myers Programmer & Black Creators’ Forum Manager, Indie Memphis
Myers had always loved film, but it wasn’t until she was studying digital storytelling at the University of Missouri that she wanted to make a career out of it. Now, she’s preparing to program short films for her fourth Indie Memphis Film Festival. “I’ve learned so much in my time with Indie Memphis, not just as a person, but thinking a lot about what it means to be a programmer and to advocate for independent filmmakers and especially filmmakers from marginalized backgrounds,” she says. “I’m constantly thinking about ways to expand my own taste, or recognizing that this [film] may not be for me, but I think there’s someone in Memphis who may really enjoy this experience and get something out of it.”
Working on the Black Creators’ Forum has been an especially meaningful experience. “I think it’s really important for Black filmmakers to have a space where they don’t feel like they need to be representing all Black artists, all Black people. … We’re always trying to make sure the Black Creators’ Forum is a space for connection and gathering and warmth, but also honesty about the ways that this industry really works.”
Daniel Stuart Nelson Actor, Director, Choreographer
Since he first auditioned for Playhouse on the Square seven years ago, the Kansas native has appeared on Midtown’s biggest stage 27 times. In the process, he discovered a talent for choreography, made his directorial debut with Smokey Joe’s Cafe, and earned three Ostrander awards. “I got to fill a dream role last season,” he says. “I got to be Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors!”
These days, he splits his time between Playhouse and his position as advertising manager for the Orpheum Theatre. “It’s interesting to have these calls with marketing reps who are from LA or New York or Chicago,” he says. “They want to know about the Memphis market and what’s the best way to spend ad money here. I tell them, try as much as you can to make a personal connection with Memphis. That’s the way to go. Never be fake here.”
Alex Robinson Educator, The Collective Blueprint
“I teach young people about the art of getting jobs,” says Robinson.
A Memphis native, Robinson went to college in North Carolina and decided to enroll in Teach For America when she graduated. “Teach For America sent me back home, which ended up being one of the best things I think could have happened to me.”
After her TFA hitch was up, she moved to The Collective Blueprint. “We work with young adults without college degrees. We help them train for a job field where they’re able to make a living wage. That was really important to me after being an elementary school teacher. I saw just how big an impact poverty has on absolutely everything. You can’t learn if you’re hungry. You can’t learn if you’re stressed. It was really important for me to get into a space where I was able to help combat that economic inequity in this city.”
Kelsey Seiter Project Engineer, Memphis Light, Gas & Water
The Mississippi State graduate is the president of the Memphis chapter of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers. At MLGW, she’s a mistress of all trades. “Basically, I do process improvement projects,” she says. “If there’s something at the company that they don’t really know who could tackle it, they ask our group to do it. I’ve done a lot of different types of projects, from workload studies for staffing to cost analysis. Right now, I’m doing a company-wide truck inventory.”
She also finds time to volunteer for the United Way steering committee and MLGW’s Mobile Food Pantry. “When it comes down to it, our biggest mission is to serve the customer,” she says. “I don’t think everybody even realizes that we are not a private company; we’re a public [utility.] We try to do a lot of stuff in the community, like our bottled water drive when we had the boil water advisory, our mobile pantry, and the Share the Pennies program, where we ask people to round up on their bills, and we use that money to weatherize people’s homes.”
Amber Sherman Political Strategist
While Sherman was a student of political science, legal studies at University of Tennessee, Martin, the UT system tried to outsource the jobs of the schools’ maintenance workers. “I organized the first protest there in like 20 years,” she says.
That was the beginning of a lifetime of scholarship and advocacy. “I took an unconventional path from my parents and my family in general,” Sherman says. “They work in government or have stable corporate jobs. I just knew that that wasn’t what I wanted to do. I was really passionate about making a difference in people’s lives, beyond being a teacher or something like that. I really wanted to like be in the action, and be the reason a policy was changed, or writing new laws, or advocating for people. I wanted to be right in the thick of it.”
Sherman has worked on campaigns all over the country, but her greatest visibility is her podcast, The Law According to Amber. “I created the podcast because I like to talk, and I’m passionate about policy and law. It’s a great way for me to explain stuff to people in layman’s terms they can understand, so they don’t feel like they’re being left out.”
Jazmyne Tribble University Relations Coordinator, International Paper
When she was a struggling college freshman, a mentor from STS Enterprise helped Tribble stay in school. Now, she pays it forward as a mentor herself. “I love STS. They’re like a second family to me,” she says. “A lot of young adults in Memphis just don’t have that positive role model who could tell them the ins and outs of what life is like really like after high school, after college. I like being that voice of reason sometimes for students because I think, especially now, you see students who have big dreams and aspirations, but no real guidance, no road map to get there.”
In her role at International Paper, she’s always on the lookout for fresh student talent. “I think there’s a lot of opportunity, and I see Memphis growing all the time, especially in the work that I do. There’s so much potential here, and I want to pay it forward by staying here and doing what I can to help bring the city up.”
Ana Vazquez-Pagan Ph.D. Candidate, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
A native of Puerto Rico, Vazquez-Pagan decided to dedicate herself to medicine after a pregnant family member died in the 2009 influenza epidemic. Now, she researches the effect of pregnancy on vulnerability to infectious disease in one of the most prestigious Ph.D. programs in the country. After defending her thesis this spring, she will be traveling to Ghana as a Fogarty Global Health Fellow to study malaria in pregnant women and infants.
“I’ve always just been innately curious about everything around me, from nature to the way things work. Science allows you to ask questions, the most basic questions we can think of. And research allows you to answer those questions. I love that I get to be creative and ask the questions I’m most interested in, that we think have potentially a very big impact globally as well.”
Oakley Weddle Founder, Jubilant Communications
There aren’t many people Weddle’s age who have started their own PR firm, much less work full-time as marketing manager for an IT firm as large as ProTech Services Group, all while still in school. “I majored in public relations as an undergrad, and I’m getting my master’s right now in journalism and strategic media. So I’m all about communications. I think it’s incredibly important.”
Weddle was homeschooled, and now he runs a theater program for other homeschoolers. “I’m teaching these kids at a young age that it’s important to stand up for themselves, to use their voice,” he says.
The PEYitforward Foundation is a nonprofit he founded with his family after the 2016 death of his brother Peyton, and it recently established a scholarship at the University of Memphis Fogelman College of Business and Economics. “That’s where he went to school,” says Weddle. “He unfortunately was not able to finish college, so we have a scholarship there for people who want to pursue higher education but may not be able to afford it.”
Jamie and Kaari Morant (Photo: Courtesy of Jamie Morant)
So, what do beleaguered County Clerk Wanda Halbert and a wallaby have in common? Well, one of them was found wandering around near Lick Creek in Overton Park last April after having escaped the flooded Memphis Kanga Zoo. The other was seldom to be found, as her office struggled mightily for months to get new Tennessee license plates to Memphis drivers. They have in common the fact that both of their stories were among the Top 10 viewed in 2022 on memphisflyer.com.
It’s an odd list, sort of representative of the year past, but also representative of just how easily some offbeat stories can go viral, well, just because. It can be a matter of lucky timing, or maybe a national website picks up a story, or maybe it just gets a lucky tweet from a celebrity.
Consider the human-interest story that Flyer Grizzlies writer Sharon Brown posted in May. She’d spent weeks trying to get an interview with star guard Ja Morant’s mother, Jamie Morant. When Brown finally got the go-ahead, she struck gold. Morant was forthcoming and frank and opened up about her own childhood and how she taught Ja to respect women. Here’s one exchange from the story:
Brown: Ja once said that you are his best friend and that you taught him to celebrate women every day, that he carries with him in his treatment of his sister, his daughter, and other women. Why was it important to you to teach that to him?
Jamie Morant: Treating everyone with respect is important, but as a man you should treat women with the utmost respect. I mean, you came from a woman, right? We see enough of the opposite in the world and I wanted more for my son.
Thanks to a few retweets from national writers and influencers, Brown’s insightful story became the Flyer’s most-read piece online in 2022.
Right behind that story was a clear example of how serendipity can shape readership — and not in a heart-warming way. Arguably, one of the darkest days in Memphis last year occurred in early September, when a young woman named Eliza Fletcher was kidnapped and murdered while on an early morning jog near the University of Memphis. A man named Cleotha Abston was soon charged with the crime, as we reported at the time. But strangely, it was not Abston’s first appearance in the Flyer, as googlers from all over soon discovered.
“Durand was walking to his car around 2 a.m. on May 25, 2000, after attending a party on Beale Street when a lone gunman walked up behind him, took his wallet, and forced him into the trunk. The abductor, Cleotha Abston, drove around and picked up friends then, after about two hours, escorted Durand into a Mapco station to withdraw money from an ATM. A uniformed Memphis Housing Authority officer entered, Durand yelled that he had been kidnapped, and the kidnappers ran away.”
So, it turned out that 22 years before he kidnapped and killed Eliza Fletcher, Abston had kidnapped someone else. No one had publicly made this connection until we noticed Branston’s story getting a lot of web traffic later in September. Abston pled guilty in 2001 and served nearly 20 years before being released — with disastrous and tragic results.
Also scoring in the Top 10 was Toby Sells’ story about a controversial, Democrat-hating preacher from Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, named Greg Locke. Sample quote: “If you vote Democrat, I don’t even want you around this church,” Locke said in a sermon. “You can get out. You can get out, you demon. You can get out, you baby-butchering, election thief.” Yeah, so, he’s a lot like Jesus, and our readers gobbled it up.
Rounding out our top stories of 2022 were a couple that you might have expected to get a lot of traffic: a column (with pictures) that I wrote about exploring the Mississippi River bottom at its all-time low, and another photo feature in which Flyer film editor Chris McCoy posted a bunch of amazing shots of the same phenomenon. Sometimes the bottom can rise to the top, I guess.
In the olden days, these were used to contact people. Send us an email instead. (Photo: Quino Al | Unsplash)
ICYMI, last week we announced some new and exciting things happening here at the Memphis Flyer. We’re still working out the kinks on a few items, but we have welcomed the glorious return of Rob Brezsny’s Free Will Astrology horoscopes and the always-fun (if not gross or creepy) News of the Weird column. We’ve got the bigger, better New York Times crossword puzzle for your brain-teasing enjoyment, and we’ve revived our After Dark live music schedule.
Speaking on the latter, please help us fill out this schedule with your events! Send your live music info to afterdark@memphisflyer.com to be included in our online and print (space permitting) calendars. For other events — arts, fests, fitness, theater, film, etc. — as always, send those to calendar@memphisflyer.com for inclusion. It doesn’t cost you a thing to submit your listings, and we’ll do our best to fit them in our weekly print editions, as long as you send them two weeks in advance of the issue date. Also be sure to check out the full calendar of events online, any time, at events.memphisflyer.com. It’s searchable by category and date, and perfect for planning your free-time fun stuff!
We also want to hear from you for 20<30 nominations. Every year, we highlight 20 inspiring folks under 30 years old who are doing outstanding things in our community. And believe us, there are a lot of you out there — narrowing down and selecting 20 from the list of nominees each year is a difficult task! For our 13th 20<30 class — the class of 2023 — we’re looking to find and honor 20 of the city’s best and brightest young people. Candidates must be no older than 29 on January 1, 2023. Know someone who fits the bill? Send a brief bio/summary of the nominee’s work and activities, along with a photo, to under30@memphisflyer.com. Use “20<30 Nomination” in the subject line. Deadline for nominations is December 9, 2022. Honorees will be announced in our January 26, 2023, issue. We want to hear from you on other stuff, too! What would you like to see more of? Less of? What are we doing right? Or just plain awful at? What about bringing back our “I Saw You” missed connections? The personals ads? Do you have a lead on something we should investigate? Is your neighbor’s cat using your planter as a litter box and destroying your begonias? We won’t regret at all asking you to email or call (but really, who makes actual phone calls anymore?). So please do! Carrier pigeon, smoke signals, or messages in a bottle are all acceptable forms of communication, but you’ll probably fare best by emailing. And I will personally respond (even if it’s to tell you, “Heck no! We’re not pestering your neighbor or their cat! But sorry about your begonias.”). If you’re not already, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (are people still using that or is it a dumpster fire now?), Shplerble, Tweedle-Dee, and Tweedle-Do. (No, those last three aren’t actual things.) Add our website to your browser bookmarks. There’s always more happening beyond these pages. We’ll see you back here, same place, next week.
“Shout-out to whoever grew this at the Memphis Zoo,” Jimmy Cassidy wrote on Facebook last week. The post blew up with 274 comments and 889 shares as of press time. The “um, actually” crowd jumped in hot to point out the plant is “a weed, not the weed you think lol.”
Holy Weather
Posted to Facebook by WREG
Facebook commenters loved and hated WREG for using a Bible verse in a weather report last week.
Evan Hurst asked why a news station was posting Bible verses, to which Rich Martin replied, “Because we can. Now go f.” Hurst responded with, “Go ‘f’? You can type the word, big guy. Jesus already knows you thought it.”
Memphis AF
Posted to Twitter by Kollege Kidd
“Ja Morant’s rookie card got Young Dolph and Key Glock on it,” tweeted Kollege Kidd. Yes, that was way back in May but it’s still [fire emoji]. H/T to MemphisAsFuck.
I am so excited! I wish you could have seen me last week when I realized I was going to be able to bring some old favorites back into the pages of the Memphis Flyer. Just giddy as all get-out! Grinnin’ and whistlin’ and dancin’ a jig … well, I wasn’t really whistling. I’ve never been able to get much out aside from a tea-kettle-like whisper. Anyway, after our tasting for the fall beer guide we published a couple weeks back, we (may have been buzzed and) got to talking about changes we might want to implement, what new and exciting — or simply reader-friendly and engaging — things we could do to make the paper bigger, better, and weirder.
We’ve still got some ideas stewing, but we really went for it this week. And I am excited for y’all, too! I’m also excited for the handful of coworkers who are going to be just as surprised as you are when they crack open this week’s issue. I did my best to keep this a secret outside of the folks who work in the design and copyediting trenches of producing this paper.
Longtime readers will surely recognize some changes — and the return of some fun and super-useful content — all in a slightly larger, 32-page package that allowed us the breathing room to TCB on these goals. Some of you may remember the weekly insights offered by Rob Brezsny with his Free Will Astrology horoscopes. His work has been syndicated for years by alt-weeklies across the U.S. and was in our very own paper for a long time. It was cut some years back when so many publications like ours downsized and focused more closely on original content in limited print space. Another item that was cut — that I continue to be asked about when the Flyer comes up in conversation — is News of the Weird, a compilation of strange and surreal news stories from headlines across the globe. Well, guess what, lovelies? They’re baaaaack!
Also gracing these pages once again is our After Dark live music calendar. This is a bit of a trial run on those listings, as we’ve not printed them since the Before Times. But live music is kicking and thriving in the city now, and we believe this to be a valuable resource. If you’re in a band or do promotions for local venues, please send your music events to calendar@memphisflyer.com with the subject line AFTER DARK.
Were you tired of having to dig out a magnifying glass to read the clues on The New York Times crossword puzzle? Did you have to use the smallest pen in the world to fill in the answers in those teeny-tiny boxes? We’ve got great news for you (and for the many folks who’ve complained about it over the years) — we upsized the puzzle!
Lastly on the new-and-different front this week is a “now playing” conclusion to the film/TV section, where we’re testing finishing up there with a rundown of must-see films currently in theaters.
I’m new to this position and title, but I’m not new here, as you may have read in my introductory official editor’s note a few weeks back. I started out as a reader more than two decades ago — literally just a kid. I looked to the Flyer for the fun stuff — like astrology and weird news from around the world, long before we all scrolled viral videos on our phones. The extensive live music, arts, food, theater, film (etc.!) event listings helped me plan my weekends, and showed me just how much Memphis had to offer in terms of entertainment. And of course these were icing on the cake for the unmatched news reporting, politics analysis, event highlights, music and film reviews, food coverage, poignant opinion pieces (etc.!) that could be found in every issue, every single week.
We’re hoping you all will find these additions, along with our outstanding standard content, informative, fun, and useful — and we’re hoping some new readers will join us on this journey as we make the Flyer bigger, better, and weirder! (And boy, there are a lot of exclamation marks in this column! Did I mention I was excited?) With that said, after you’ve read through this week’s issue, pass your copy along to a friend or colleague. Share the love and legacy of Memphis’ alternative weekly newspaper — and stay tuned for what comes next!
Karen Camper as a freshman legislator in 2008 (Photo: Jackson Baker)
Depending on how one interprets the recent announcement by Michelle McKissack as to her political intentions, there are either one or two women in the running for Memphis mayor. There are still those who regard McKissack, the school board chair and former TV anchor, as having been equivocal or hypothetical in her formal announcement. Did she say she was running or merely indicate she was thinking about it?
There was no such ambiguity about Karen Camper’s intentions. The minority leader, declaring her candidacy from a position next to her grandmother’s front porch in South Memphis, proclaimed herself “ready” and reinforced the immediacy of her candidacy with some striking words: “From the front porch, we can see the conditions of our streets. We can see whether it is littered with potholes. We can hear the engines of cars roaring out of control. We can hear street racing. We can hear gunshots.”
She declared, “Memphis needs a mayor that’s willing to meet with you on your front porch.”
In so dramatizing her effort, positioning herself as having sprung right from the grassroots of inner city Memphis, Camper was ingeniously minimizing one of the potential shortcomings of her position — that her basic governmental experience, however renowned, has taken place at something of a remove from home.
Camper’s race can usefully be compared to that of a previous mayoral aspirant, Carol Chumney, who sought the office in 2007, against then incumbent Mayor Willie Herenton and MLGW CEO Herman Morris.
Like Camper, Chumney, now a Civil Court judge, had served for many years in the Tennessee state House. She did not become her party’s leader, as has Camper, but Chumney was an influential legislator, particularly in the field of children’s services, which she turned into a major public concern, and she held several leadership positions in the Democratic hierarchy, which in those days actually controlled the House.
Chumney had credentials, but they were, like those of Camper today, amassed primarily in an environment, Capitol Hill in Nashville, that was physically distant from the constituency of greater Memphis and not nearly as familiar to its voters as the governmental arenas for those public officials who had served closer to home.
Had Chumney chanced a mayoral race on the basis of her legislative qualifications, she would likely have had far greater difficulty than she did in the 2007 race, where she was a major contender from beginning to end. Indeed, she had made a Democratic primary race for Shelby County mayor in 2002, while still a legislator, and had run respectably, but well behind, against eventual winner AC Wharton, then the county’s public defender.
In 2003, though, Chumney had said goodbye to the General Assembly and run for a seat on the Memphis City Council against fellow hopefuls George Flinn and Jim Strickland. She won that race and wasted no time in broadening her acquaintance with the city’s voters and theirs with her.
In the four years leading up to the 2007 mayor’s race, Chumney was the most visible member of the council, posing challenge after challenge not only to the more questionable actions of Mayor Willie Herenton but to the good-ol’-boy presumptions of a council where pork was ladled about by members like so many reciprocated scratchings of each other’s back.
In so doing, Chumney ruffled some feathers in city hall, but she got the attention of the voters, enough so that she finished a close second to Herenton in the three-cornered mayor’s race, leading to speculation that she might have won in a one-on-one.
Karen Camper doesn’t have the advantage that Chumney had of recent and close-up tangles with the powers-that-be, but, to judge by her unusual mode of announcement, she has good grassroots instincts. And, of all the contestants, she may be most familiar with the ongoing threats to home rule posed by today’s state government. Which may be more of an issue than it may seem.
As we shop around to find the perfect gift for family, friends, and loved ones, resist the impulse to scroll over to Amazon and let Jeff Bezos fix all your problems. Local businesses are the bedrock of any city, and there are plenty of well-known shops and hidden gems that can provide the perfect present, no matter the festivity. From art to socks to whiskey, our alternative Black Friday guide has Memphis shoppers covered, helping create a cheery holiday spirit for both Bluff City customers and entrepreneurs.
The much-beloved Holiday Bazaar continued the Memphis College of Art’s (MCA) 69-year tradition when it opened last week at Arrow Creative. For all of those years, Memphians were well used to finding MCA’s Rust Hall in Overton Park, where the public was welcomed into creative spaces to find the work of the school’s students, faculty, staff, and alumni. The school closed in 2020.
That’s when Arrow picked up the mantle to continue the Holiday Bazaar tradition. But Arrow leaders changed the weekend event into a month-long affair with a ticketed First Dibs Party (last week), private shopping experiences, and creative classes throughout the month.
Local artists and creatives remain the focus of the bazaar — a free shopping event — now in its third year at the Cooper-Young-area Arrow. The bazaar will feature one-of-a-kind gifts including art, jewelry, home goods, accessories, apparel, and more from more than 80 local artists. Shoppers will find sculpture, ceramics, painting, fine art, fashion design, fiber arts, photography, woodworking, the Memphis Flyer coloring book (just sayin’), and more.
“The excitement is contagious,” said Arrow artist Terri Scott, describing the event. “With a cup of wine, you weave through the crowd. You have a mental note of the tables you want to visit first. A table of carefully crafted jewelry beckons you forward and you can’t resist gazing upon colorful paintings and sculptures inspired by sea life. “Everyone is lively, carrying their treasures to check-out, and feeling a little drunk on wine and holiday cheer.” — Toby Sells
Bazaar runs through December 23rd, 653 Philadelphia St., 213-6320, arrowcreative.org
Launch a budding artist’s career at Art Center on Union. (Photo: D’Angelo Connell)
Unlock Your Inner Artist at Art Center
Inside Art Center, everyone has a chance to be an artist. Conveniently placed on Union Street, the Art Center offers a plentiful selection of well-known and quality products for any art project. Their shelves are always stocked with the best and most popular supplies — Golden Acrylic, Gamblin Oil, Princeton Brush, Fredrix Canvas, Copic Markers, Montana Spray Paint, a dozen sketchbook brands in multiple sizes, a fully stocked drawing supply section, a children’s art supply section, decorative papers, and much more. Aside from the quality and quantity of products offered, the staff is eager to help you plan your next project. Whether you’re an art teacher, an aspiring designer, or just looking for a new hobby, each staff member will welcome you with open arms. If this isn’t enough, the windowed storefront invites you to enter and explore.
The Art Center, for nearly 50 years, has never ceased making connections with the Memphis community. While browsing inside, find their decorated bulletin board of local artists’ business cards and information. These artists range from photographers, graphic designers, calligraphy artists, to influencers all in the Memphis area. While inspiring local artists to accomplish their goals, the Art Center also celebrates everyone’s potential to create a more colorful world. With discounted products and new sales every day, find your new favorite art supplies on every visit. — Izzy Wollfarth
Ornament at Cotton Row Uniques (Photo: Cotton Row Uniques)
Cotton Row Uniques
Nestled among the storefronts at the Poplar Collection strip mall, Cotton Row Uniques offers a carefully curated shopping experience. “We try to have something for everyone,” owner Shane Waldroup says. “We have everything from furniture to Turkish rugs to a gourmet food section to perfumes and colognes. It’s kind of that one-stop shop for your unique gift.”
Unique is a keyword in this store’s operation. Waldroup, along with co-owner Scott Barnes, sources items that extend outside the run-of-the-mill to appeal to the store’s eclectic customer base. “We love seeing mothers buying gifts for their kids, and then kids coming in and buying for their parents and grandparents,” Waldroup adds.
For this holiday season, Waldroup points to a few popular sellers, first among which is the HeARTfully Yours Christmas Ornaments by Christopher Radko. The charming ornaments are hand-blown in Europe, with proceeds benefiting causes including heart disease, breast cancer, AIDS research, and food insecurity. Another popular item this season, Waldroup says, is the “Walking in Memphis” down-filled pillow, with a design of the Memphis skyline and other Memphis references.
And, of course, there’s Cotton Row’s brand of candles, including the Memphis Creed, #901 Bond, Citrus Grove, Southern Garden, and Cotton Row. Of the candles, Waldroup says, “We’ve made sure that the fragrance would last until the candle is completely finished. They’ll burn for about a hundred hours.” — Abigail Morici
Jared McStay at Shangri-La Records (Photo: Justin Fox Burks)
Pick Up Some Vinyl at Local Record Stores
“Give the gift of music,” went the old promotional slogan, back when that could only mean purchasing an album or single on vinyl or CD. Streaming changed all that, of course … or did it? With vinyl’s share of the music market on the rise, record stores in Memphis are not only thriving, they’re multiplying. Shangri-La is the granddaddy of them all, and Goner has followed their example (and then some).
But don’t sleep on the Memphis Music shop on Beale Street, stocked with an impressive array of albums by Memphis artists past and present. And just a stone’s throw away is the relatively new River City Records, also doing brisk business. Finally, there are pockets of vinyl in stores focused on other products, such as the second floor of A. Schwab and, believe it or not, Urban Outfitters.
Note that the dedicated record stores above also feature oodles of other music-related delights, including CDs, cassettes, and books galore. It turns out you can give the gift of music. River City Records’ Chris Braswell notes, “The people that are really driving the increases [in record sales] are teenagers, 20-year-olds, and 30-year-olds. They’re becoming avid vinyl collectors. A lot of people think streaming services like Spotify hurt physical sales, but I think it’s the exact opposite. This most recent generation has started looking for a way to physically possess their music, and vinyl is just the coolest medium there is. You get liner notes and the cover art!” — Alex Greene
Hand-dressed candles at Broom Closet (Photo: Shara Clark)
The Broom Closet
This metaphysical shop on South Main has everything for the witchy giftees on your list. And you certainly won’t find these items in big-box stores. Herbs, essential oils, an extensive selection of crystals, candles, books, boxes, incense, goblets and chalices, and so much more. You can also book a personalized tarot reading, an aura and chakra analysis, or purchase a gift card so your special someone can choose for themselves.
Does your gift recipient wish to ward off the evil eye? Perhaps they could use a little money luck? The shop’s knowledgeable staff has prepared a variety of intentional smudge kits ($18) — for protection, love drawing, money drawing, and home cleansing and blessing — that include tools like sage bundles, incense cones, selenite sticks, gemstones, and chime candles for ritual assistance.
For manifestation work, they offer candles ($12), hand-dressed with oils, herbs, and gemstone sand, and blessed in-store for their purpose — cleansing, drawing money or love, protection, and more.
These are just a few of the unique goods you’ll find at the Broom Closet. Stop in, stock up, and give the gift of magic this season! — Shara Clark
Necklace by Penny Preville (Photo: Mednikow Jewelers)
Mednikow Jewelers
If you like your gifts to twinkle and sparkle, then you should go directly to Mednikow, the jewelry store that’s been bringing the best, the brightest, and the most shimmering stones to Memphis since 1891. With five generations of dedication to the art of jewelry, you’ll find gems in a wide range of styles and prices.
The store carries pieces by top designers, including David Yurman, Mikimoto, Elizabeth Locke, Penny Preville, Roberto Coin, John Hardy, Gurhan, Monica Rich Kosann, Charles Krypell, and Michael Bondanza. Pictured is one of Penny Preville’s striking creations, a diamond charm necklace with a toggle clasp and several charms. Mednikow not only prides itself on providing gorgeous, top-quality jewelry, but it also loves to work with you to help you come to a decision — after all, it has to be perfect, right? The experts there have decades of knowledge of what’s exceptional and they want you to be exceptionally happy. In fact, you may not know precisely what you want until you go inside, look around, and then see the exact engagement ring that catches your eye. Or bracelet, or earrings, or locket, or necklace, or — well, you get the idea. Whatever you decide, you or someone you love will be wearing a work of art. — Jon W. Sparks
Straight Tennessee Whiskey (Photo: Old Dominick Distillery)
Straight Tennessee Whiskey from Old Dominick Distillery
The holidays are a time for joy and cheer. But they’re also a time for family, which could go either way for many of you out there. If your “straight shooter” old uncle is going to be there at the end of the table, hogging all the Thanksgiving turkey and spouting alternative facts, then you’ll need some straight shootin’ of your own. To make sure the whole table is covered and to be supportive of local businesses at the same time, pick up a strong bottle of liquor from Old Dominick Distillery.
We’ve all had the staples: the Formula No. 10 Gin, the Huling Station Straight Bourbon, the Honeybell Citrus Vodka. But this holiday season, focus on the distillery’s major new milestone. Released November 1st, Old Dominick officially launched its Straight Tennessee Whiskey ($35.99 a bottle, $69.99 for the bottled-in-bond variation), the first distilled, barreled, matured, and bottled whiskey in Memphis since Prohibition.
“As a Kentucky native, I did not think I would ever make a Tennessee whiskey,” says Alex Castle, master distiller at Old Dominick, “and yet, here we are.”
The whiskey is aged for a minimum of four years in West Tennessee White Oak barrels. “Straight Tennessee Whiskey opens with vanilla, tobacco, anise, and caramel on the nose. Sugar Maple Charcoal filtering delivers a mellow, medium-bodied whiskey, lightly sweet with caramel and crème brûlée with a hint of oak and vanilla for a silky finish.” Drink up, whiskey connoisseurs! — Samuel X. Cicci
Old Dominick Distillery, 305 S. Front St., 260-1250, olddominick.com
Allpa Del Día travel bag (Photo: Outdoors Inc.)
Allpa Del Día Travel Surprise Pack at Outdoors Inc.
Want a travel item that stands out? Each of these Allpa Del Día innovative travel bags are unique. Since they are made with repurposed remnant fabric of various colors, no two look exactly alike. But, looks aside, this well-constructed 35-liter travel essential is full of nifty features, including a low-profile harness suspension system, contoured shoulder straps, air-mesh back panel, adjustable sternum strap, and padded hip belt.
The bag also features a suitcase-style, full-wrap zipper opening on the main compartment that opens into a large, zippered mesh compartment.
It’s perfectly sized for carry-on, and its padded laptop and tablet sleeves are accessible via an exterior zipper. A subdivided compartment on the top is designed with passports and other small essentials in mind. As a security measure, all external zippers feature theft-proof webbing sewn across the openings. Additionally, four reinforced grab handles provide multiple carry points when the shoulder straps are tucked away. There’s even a high-visibility rain cover that stows into the pack.
Solidly designed and uniquely colorful, for $200, what’s not to like? — Bruce VanWyngarden
Outdoors Inc., multiple locations in Memphis, outdoorsinc.com
Rock Ya Sox (Photo: Michael Donahue)
Custom Socks at Rock Ya Sox
Jeff Farmer is quick to say he’s known for his socks. “At one point I had over 200 pairs of colorful designs,” he says. That was just his personal collection. So, it’s only natural Farmer is owner of Rock Ya Sox, which features more than 100 unisex sock designs, many of which Farmer created.
A native Memphian, Farmer decided to start his own sock business after he visited a store in Portland, Oregon, that just sold socks. A friend then told him where he could get socks in bulk and another place that created sock designs.
Farmer decided to design socks as well. Baptist Memorial Hospital reached out to him and asked him to “create something for a good cause.” So, he came up with a sock with “polka dots, contrasting colors.”
People tell him what they want. “If they want to get them in bulk, it’s $100 minimum.” But, he says, “If they want me to make the socks, it can be as little as one pair. I make socks at home.” A single pair of socks sells for $13. “If someone calls and wants me to put a picture of their face or dog on the sock, I can create those socks.”
Want something unusual? Farmer also carries “3D socks. They may have a nose on them or ears hanging on them. Or Superman socks with a cape on the back.” — Michael Donahue
Thistle and Bee Gratitude Box (Photo: Thistle and Bee)
Thistle and Bee Gift Boxes
Sweet treats are always popular as stocking stuffers, but this year, why not do some good at the same time? “Thistle and Bee is a nonprofit organization that helps women survivors of sex trafficking and addiction get back into society again and thrive,” says Bridgette House, social justice enterprise manager at Thistle and Bee.
Based out of Second Baptist Church on Walnut Grove, Thistle and Bee’s name refers to their means of production. “We have 40-plus hives that we use to harvest our own honey, and we make our products from the honey that we harvest. All of our products are made by survivors, and they’re packaged with a lot of love and a lot of care.”
Currently, Thistle and Bee supports a residency facility for 11 survivors; next year, they hope to double that capacity. Their premium wildflower honey is also available in a hot, pepper-infused flavor and whipped cinnamon. They also make their own custom blend of tea and granola. “We have the premium brand and then we have a lovely chunky and we have a seasonal apricot and pumpkin spice,” says House. “For the holidays, we have all types of soaps and stocking stuffers, like lip balm.”
Thistle and Bee gift box options include a sampler with all three honeys ($30) and the Gratitude Box ($38), which includes honey, granola, tea, and a beeswax candle. — Chris McCoy
Jackeli Bryant’s tufted rug company was born out of a new wave of artistry during the Covid-19 pandemic. Bryant would see the art form on TikTok, and this inspired him to purchase a tufted rug starter kit consisting of a yarn threader, a tufting frame, and other materials needed to get started.
While Bryant only started selling rugs about four months ago and received his first commission from a sneaker cleaning company in Memphis, he’s been able to make a number of tufted masterpieces featuring Kobe Bryant, Nipsey Hussle, and even a recreation of Brent Faiyaz’s EP, A.M. Paradox. Bryant considers his rugs a unique gift for the holiday season as they are extremely customizable, and he says that he can work with different types of images and “give that gift that no one else is going to have.”
Bryant said that everything that he does is “one of one,” as everything is personalized and handmade with high-quality materials. “Art never loses value. It’s something that you’ll be able to take to another house with you. It’ll be something that you didn’t go to the store and buy. You put in the order, found the image, and then I created it and brought it to life.” — Kailynn Johnson
