“Coffee’s a $465 billion industry, and it’s the most traded good for third-world countries after oil and is the most drunk liquid on the planet after water,” says Bartholomew Jones, co-owner of the coffee company Cxffeeblack. “Amidst all of those things, the people who discovered coffee, which are people in Africa, receive less than 1 percent of that revenue.”
Seeing this gap, Jones and his co-owner and wife Renata Henderson wanted to go back to the “root.” “We believe that if we honor the root of the coffee, that’s how we solve the problem surrounding preserving the fruit of coffee,” says Jones. “We learned about the history of coffee that was very different than our experience with coffee growing up and what we had been told about it. And so there was this opportunity for coffee to be this thing that builds communities together, not just for productivity, but rather as a tool to become more connected and curious as people. … Coffee was supposed to be a seed of peace, and it was meant to establish peace, and so that was something that we’re really inspired by and felt like it was a different perspective on coffee that I think a lot of people need to know.”
In 2023, Cxffeeblack embarked on the Cxffeeblack Barista Exchange Program, which brought four African-American aspiring “coffee nerds” on a two-week origin trip to Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Kenya to learn about pre-colonial Black coffee culture. Now it’s in phase two of the program, which means bringing four African baristas to the States to share about their respective coffee cultures. The baristas are Beamlak Melesse Bekele (Ethiopian), Elise Dushimimana (Rwandan), Smayah Uwajeneza (Rwandan), Charles Lukonge (Ugandan), and Mario Alberto (Afro-Colombian).
Mario Alberto shares his coffee knowledge. (Photo: Bartholomew Jones)
“We get to welcome our brothers and sisters from across the seas, to come and commune with us and learn our history,” says Henderson. “We were separated at origin, so we call it a family reunion. We get to be reunited with our brothers and sisters that we were taken from, and so it’s a really impactful process, just because we’re able to learn history and skills and the rest, but it’s healing in a different way.”
This phase of the exchange program includes brew ups and collaborative coffee conversations in Memphis, Nashville, Atlanta, and Raleigh-Durham. This week, Memphis can look forward to a screening of Part 1 of the Cxffeeblack docuseries “Cxffee Makes You Black,” a coffee brewing demonstration, and Q&A about the indigenous history and science of coffee at the Museum of Science & History on Thursday. (The docuseries will continue with this phase of the exchange program.) Then, on Saturday, Jones will deliver a TED Talk called “Could You Change the World by Drinking Your Coffee Black?”
Every year, the Memphis Flyer asks our readers to nominate the city’s best and brightest young leaders. From sports to government to tech, here are the Memphians who will be shaping our future.
Photo: Matthew Hise
Carrie Bernans Actor, stunt performer, film producer
Carrie Bernans had already lived all over the world by the time she came to the Bluff City. “I loved Memphis. It’s a place that I consider home — the longest place I really stayed in my childhood.”
She turned down scholarships at Fordham and Vanderbilt to study international business and theater at the University of Memphis, where she became a track and field star. “I wanted to be a black belt. I speak six languages, and I knew some martial arts, but I needed to learn more. So I got into it and found out that there was a niche market for girls like me.”
Her athleticism made her a natural stunt performer. “It became a very lucrative side job,” she says. “People were hustling tables to make ends meet, and I was just going to sets to do some stunts.”
In 2018, she was cast as a Wakandan warrior in the Dora Milaje in Black Panther, a role she reprised in Avengers: Endgame. “Show business for me was a way of telling stories that were important to tell. I want younger people of color to see themselves on screen in other ways beyond what we were already used to. It wasn’t only rappers and drug dealers, but also astronauts and warriors and many other things.”
Photo: Courtesy Alfonso Canady
Alfonso Canady Lead Software Engineer, Cinilope
It was a middle school Minecraft obsession that introduced Canady to programming. He recalls the first time he was able to make a computer say, “Hello world!” “Even just doing something really simple like that, I was dumbfounded by the power at my fingertips.”
Now, Canady works on more complex problems. At the Memphis tech company Cinilope, he develops new technology for drones and self-driving cars. “You get a lot of titles when you’re in a start-up,” he says.
While he was at Rhodes College, he found another passion: introducing others to programming. “CodeCrew is a nonprofit organization that brings computer science classes and programs to individuals who are historically underrepresented in the field.”
Ultimately, he wants to help make the Bluff City a world-class tech hub. “That would mean people taking the initiative, these young people who are intelligent, who are bright, staying in Memphis. That’s what we’re doing here within Cinilope.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Kevin Carpenter Music educator, Shelby County Schools
“My mom’s family is full of teachers, and my dad’s family is full of varying degrees of musicians. I had two amazing elementary school music teachers when I was a kid, and then had great band directors after them. I grew up with church choir.”
When the trumpet player first stepped in front of a class to teach, he knew he had found his calling. “The most important thing for me is to be a meaningful agent of change. And that means delivering equitable, high-quality music education to every student that needs it.”
When the pandemic hit, he used his skills as a recording engineer by organizing the Memphis Area Virtual Youth Choir. “It was a really beautiful thing to see come together. Then I realized this isn’t just a thing that our kids need here. This is a thing that everybody needs access to everywhere. So I opened up my own virtual performance studio and have put together performances for over a thousand musicians, all around the world.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Irah Gates Mental Health Outreach and Engagement Specialist, CMI Healthcare Services
Irah Gates says attending Rust, a historically Black college, “was very important to me, to learn about myself, my history, about our people and give back to the community.”
Giving back has been a major theme in her life. “That’s just the way my mother raised us,” she says. “I had lost my father at the age of 7, so she struggled to put us through school, my two big sisters and myself. So we built that resilience.”
She has organized volunteers for St. Jude’s Pantry Restock project through her church, New Allen Chapel African Methodist Episcopal; raised funds for Ronald McDonald House; and spearheaded the Operation Warm Hearts winter clothing drive. She traveled to South Africa, where she tutored and organized after-school programs in the low-income townships near Cape Town.
“My passion is working with children since I went through what I went through at an early age, and I just wanted to give back and let people know — and their students know — that it’s okay to go through adversities in life. You can always turn that into positivity and you can accomplish anything that you put your mind to.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Alex Gordon Project Manager, LEO Events
“We are the only destination management company in Memphis. We work with a lot of outbound or inbound, groups and corporations. … I feel very fortunate to be able to wake up and love what I do every day.”
If you were one of the 20,000 people who ran the St. Jude Marathon, you were greeted in the Edge District by Alex Gordon. Organizing comes naturally for her.
Gordon is also on the Edge District board of directors, and volunteers with Best Buddies International, where she helps throw the Joy Prom, an annual event for high schoolers with special needs. “It’s so awesome,” she says. “You get to walk them down a red carpet, get their photo taken, and then you just go and dance all night! It is just such a great thing because those kids are so happy to be alive.”
Photo: Brandon DIll
Margaret Haltom Director of Emergency Rent Assistance and Housing Policy, The Works Inc.
“Urban planning to me is all about building relationships and working in partnership with communities,” says Haltom. “I wanted to start my planning career working in the city I knew best, my hometown.”
She’s come a long way since her first job at Shelby Farms. “I tended to the giant compost pile of bison manure after school and on the weekends,” she recalls.
Now, she works to save pandemic-strained families from losing their homes in the midst of a nationwide eviction crisis. “Since March of 2021, we’ve paired over 6,000 households facing eviction in Shelby County with free legal representation, and administered over $40 million in rent relief across over 15,000 households. … I want to build a city where all Memphians have access to stable, high-quality, affordable housing, and when crises come, have the support they need to stay in their homes.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Alex Hensley Former Special Assistant to Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris
“I’ve had a sense of injustice since I was little and always wanted to make life a bit easier for folks,” Hensley says. Through their work at BRIDGES and the county mayor’s office, they have devoted themselves to the larger good. “What is rewarding about my work is tangibly improving quality of life — even if it’s for a few families. Policy-level work has allowed me to make change on a larger scale and that’s rewarding as a big-picture kind of human.”
Hensley became notorious when Councilman Edmund Ford obnoxiously objected to their email signature identifying their preferred pronouns. “I use both ‘she’ and ‘they’ pronouns because my sense of myself goes beyond being a woman,” they say. “We don’t have to understand how people identify to respect it. Our communities and our world is better when everyone can feel safe to embody themselves authentically.”
Whether it’s affecting change at the governmental level or bringing together artists for the Art Kognito collective, Hensley says, “Organizing is crucial because we can only address the urgent issues of climate change and social and economic injustice by electing and building power among folks who prioritize people over profit.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Emily Jennewine Pediatric nurse practitioner, Lifedoc Health
Keeping Memphis’ children healthy is a big job, but Emily Jennewine is on the case. “Providing care to patients in the school setting not only provides healthcare that students may otherwise not receive, but also allows for early intervention to address identified health concerns. Together with a team of school nurses, we are able to provide close, school-based follow-up and coordinate further care for these patients. Beyond that, through community partnerships, we are able to provide interventions such as nutrition education and access to nutritious foods through a food bank at the schools,” Jennewine says.
“My goal is to build a future for Memphis that is healthier. I believe we need to invest in preventative healthcare for our children and shift the focus to disease prevention. This should include an emphasis on health education and access to health resources. One of the first places we can start to build a healthier Memphis is in our school systems.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Valencia Jennings Human Resources, Baptist Hospitals, COO HomeT3amHoops
“During my undergraduate years, I realized I needed to have a career in business where I can be around people,” says Jennings. “I am very much a people person, and I thrive off human interaction.”
After earning a master’s degree in human resources, she joined Baptist Hospitals two years ago. “HR healthcare professionals must acknowledge that the group of individuals under their stewardship includes not only employees who receive a paycheck, but also patients who are receiving treatment,” she says.
Outside the hospital, she co-founded HomeT3amHoops. “Since high school, I’ve known that I wanted to create a non-profit to afford the youth of my community opportunities that are not usually afforded to them. My best friend and I [Trey Draper, 20<30, Class of 2019] created this vision in 2021. Our focus is to not only impact the lives of youth by helping them gain the fundamental skills through basketball, but also by giving them needed life skills, educational resources, and volunteer opportunities. We want to ensure that the children of our community know that there are opportunities for them in arms reach and we will help get them there.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Marissa Manthongkham Director of Operations and Educational Programming, PRIZM Ensemble
Raised in a music-rich Memphis household, Manthongkham left to pursue her career as a clarinetist, eventually earning a Ph.D. at Michigan State University. “After 11 years of performing and studying in various regions of the country and abroad, I realized I wanted to return home to apply these global perspectives. I am so thrilled to be back in Memphis as a leader in the local musical community.”
With PRIZM Ensemble, she helps provide musical opportunities for a wide range of marginalized groups. “It has been proven that students who study music excel academically above their classmates. These studies show that music is the key to a more well-rounded education. Since I have personally benefited from these advantages, I feel obligated to share my knowledge and experiences with others in an effort to encourage more youth to study instrumental music. As an advocate, I will ensure that I reach as many young children as possible to inspire them to recognize the full benefits of music. As a woman of color, I understand the importance of community and how music functions within the cultural structure.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Andrew Mok Category Manager, AutoZone
The son of Korean immigrants, Andrew Mok knows what it’s like to struggle. Now he is one of the youngest executives at AutoZone. “I’m very fortunate to be in the position that I am today at such a young age, but I wouldn’t be here if it was just me working. I had leaders in the community who really invested in me to help me get to this point.”
Mok gives back to the community with the Technical Center at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Memphis. “I don’t want us to just focus on the big things, like making Downtown better. There are a lot of areas that need our help. That’s the reason why I am drawn to the Boys & Girls Club. I volunteered to take the lead on that project because I know what they’re going through. I’ve seen it firsthand growing up.”
He is also on the board of directors for the University of Memphis Alumni Association, a position that “means everything to me. There’s a lot of characteristics and qualities and traits that I have today that I wouldn’t have had if it wasn’t for the University of Memphis.”
Photo: Ja Morant courtesy of Joe Murphy / NBAE | Getty Images
Ja Morant Point Guard, Memphis Grizzlies
Memphis has seen our share of basketball stars, but no one has ever thrilled our city like Ja Morant. The 2020 NBA Rookie of the Year has led the Memphis Grizzlies to a record 11-game winning streak, putting the team in playoff contention and his name in the conversation for MVP. In the process, he has become the hero to the city.
“Since day one, Memphis made me and my family feel comfortable here and made us feel like home. I love everything about it, from the front office down, the fans, the community. Me and my family couldn’t ask for anything better, I want [Memphis] to receive more recognition. I feel like we have something good going here and just got to continue to grow.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Jonathan Mosley Program Director, Memphis in May International Festival; actor
As an event manager, Mosley has been responsible for Diner En Blanc, the Downtown Riverfront Market, and the Covid-era “Santa in a Bubble.” “Luckily in Memphis, it’s not too hard to have a good time! You can throw a rock and hit singer or DJ, the community will always come through, and our city has some of the best scenic backdrops for any event-type venue. Mix in a good cause and you’re bound to have a good event for good people looking for a good time.”
Mosley’s passion is acting. In 2018, he got the role of a lifetime at Hattiloo Theatre. “Playing the role of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an extreme honor, privilege, and challenge. This was my first lead role in the city that MLK died in, and the show was running during the 50th anniversary of his assassination. The pressure was on, to say the least, but with the help of Hattiloo, I was ready. One of the most rewarding moments from that run of shows was being able to perform in front of seniors who had actually seen and heard Dr. King in person. Their compliments, stories, and comparisons are words that I will cherish forever.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Cori McCleskey She-E-O, Remember Media
“I wasn’t a leader growing up,” McCleskey says. “I was really, really shy. I couldn’t even go through a drive-through or order a pizza over the phone. It was that type of social anxiety. I did not like that about myself.”
The Marion, Arkansas, native sought to overcome her fears by facing them head-on. Her first exposure to social media was as an art gallery coordinator for the University of Arkansas. “At one point in college, I was running a little agency. I had eight accounts, and that led to me doing social media for the Arkansas Razorbacks for two football seasons.”
McCleskey was working a corporate job when the pandemic forced her to re-evaluate her path. “I knew it was time for me to jump off that entrepreneurial ledge. Around that time, all my friends were asking me to manage their social media accounts for their small businesses. So I was like, ’Why do I keep refusing?’”
Her company Remember Media now counts many Downtown businesses among its clients. “Even through the highs and lows of running a business over the last 18 months, I’ve always believed in myself and believed in my team. We can overcome anything together.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Nora Murray Director of Community Impact, New Memphis Institute
When Murray moved to Memphis in 2018, she says she had a lot of trepidation about a place where she knew no one, and which gets a lot of bad press. “Memphis and Memphians quickly wrapped their arms, souls, and hearts around us, and we love sharing that experience to continue working to change the narrative about Memphis.”
Now, greeting newcomers is one of her duties at the New Memphis Institute. “Having been a newcomer myself, I love to ensure that each person I meet becomes connected to Memphis and feels a sense of community here.”
Last year, she took over as the organizer of TEDx Memphis. “Bringing TEDx Memphis to a new, outdoor location certainly had its challenges, but it was so rewarding to see the tradition continue and to amplify the Memphis voice on a grander stage. We have so many incredible people in this city doing really innovative work,” she says.
“What makes our city unique is that when Memphians have an idea, they can quickly garner a community to support that idea and put it into action.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Louise Page Musician
Louise Page didn’t expect to stay in Memphis after graduating from Rhodes College. “But I’ve just never wanted to move. I love it here. I’ve established myself in a really good community of artists and musicians.”
The English major worked as a librarian for two years before quitting to pursue music full-time. “I started playing the original songs I’d been writing since high school, but never performing, right after I graduated. That was organically picking up steam, and I felt like I could make it my real job.”
Since then, she has released three independently produced albums, most recently Play Nice, a collection of solo piano and vocal songs she wrote during the pandemic. “All of my songs are really personal,” she says. “I don’t necessarily write what I think will be popular. I write what I need to write.”
Before the pandemic sidelined her gigging and touring, she devoted time to organizing benefit shows for organizations like Mariposas Collective. “My parents instilled these values in me,” she says. “If you have more than you need, you should share. You should help your community. You should do good things for people just because they’re good, not because you want something in return.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Justin J. Pearson Founder, Memphis Community Against Pollution
“I’m an unlikely leader of the environmental justice movement,” says Pearson. “I didn’t truly understand those words until our fight with the Byhalia Connection Pipeline.”
Memphis Community Against the Pipeline fought the construction of a new oil pipeline that would have bisected the predominantly Black, Southeast Memphis community where he grew up. “What I believed, and what I think our team and neighborhood association believed was, ‘We may not win, but they don’t expect a fight. So they’re not prepared for us; whereas, we mentally can be prepared for them.’”
But after a bruising few months of protests and City Council meetings, win they did. Now, Pearson has pivoted the organization he founded to fighting for environmental justice for all Memphians. “I want to build a Memphis where we can live in peace,” he says. “People deserve to not live in fear that the air we’re breathing is going to kill them.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Lyndsey Pender Research and Evaluation Specialist, The Works Inc.
“I’ve always been really interested in people — making authentic connections and genuine interactions with people,” says Pender.
The Memphis native decided to switch course from photojournalism to anthropology while in college, and returned from Kentucky to her hometown. “I was lucky because the anthropology program at the University of Memphis is nationally ranked, a great program.”
Now, with The Works, Inc., her mission is to make life better for all the people of Memphis. “We are a Community Development Corporation, a 501c( 3), and our focus has historically been on housing,” she says. “But we really take a holistic approach. For the health and wealth and safety of a family, you have to have a stable home environment, but we understand that you can’t address housing without addressing some other problems at the same time. … I do work across all of our programs. My background is medical anthropology.
“I think Memphis is unique, in that we are a predominantly Black city. But like a lot of Black Americans, our Black citizens don’t have the same job opportunities and educational opportunities. I want a city where everyone can flourish, regardless of the ZIP code that they were born into.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Shelby Smith Director of Communications, Choose901
“I was always talking about moving away,” says Smith, who grew up in the eastern portions of Shelby County. It was a college internship at Choose901 that changed her mind. “I wasn’t really coming to the city very often, because the media was only telling me about the bad things. I wasn’t hearing about the good things.”
Now, it’s her job to tell people about the great things her city has to offer. “I’ve been here my whole life, and I’d rather put on my gloves and fight than see someone from a different city think they know what’s happening here and try and fight that battle on their own,” she says.
Smith “grew up as a dancer” and taught for Collage Dance Collective before the pandemic. “Dancing is my happy place. If I’m on stage, it doesn’t matter if I’m wearing shoes or if I’m barefoot, if I’m in my Nike Dunks or my heels, that form of expression is a release for me.”
Smith is set to continue spreading the good news about the Bluff City with an upcoming partnership with Unapologetic. “I want to continue to build a Memphis that’s proud of itself.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Brennan Steele Author & Director of Advancement, Believe Memphis Academy
Brennan Steele says he was drawn to teaching by the many small acts of kindness he received from teachers. “I was taught to whom much is given, much is required,” he says. “Over the course of my educational journey, I was afforded a lot of educational wealth by people, specifically teachers and counselors, who were looking out for me. … What really pushed me over the edge was when I had my first and only Black male teacher in the 11th grade.”
Having an AP English teacher who looked like him made Steele believe anything was possible, which “made me want to have that impact on all students.” Soon after he came to Memphis to teach, he had the idea for Breathe: A Guided Healing Journey for Black Men, a journal with 45 days of writing prompts designed to facilitate self-discovery. “I think there are so many times where Black people are reduced to a hashtag, especially after people have been murdered,” he says. “This is like the active reclaiming of your story.”
Bruce is out for the next two weeks, so I’m taking over the column. I know! Listen, no one is sorrier about this state of affairs than I am. You’ll just have to bear with me. Stop struggling. It will only hurt a bit.
And, so, a few thoughts and observations …
• Bruce mentioned in this space last week that when the graves of Nathan Bedford Forrest and his wife are dug up, it’s going to cause a national stink. But what he doesn’t know and what I’ll tell you now is that the graves are already empty.
I’ve already mentioned my personal conspiracy theory on Twitter, but it bears repeating here. Stay with me, as it’s complicated: Several weeks ago, the city issued a press release that a backhoe had been stolen and was last seen at 3 a.m. (3 a.m.!). The city asked for any information on the missing backhoe, knowing full well that MLGW’s smart meters had meanwhile told Zimm the monkey how to escape the enclosure in the Memphis Zoo and, furthermore, told her how to elude capture. So while we were all fixated on the monkey, the city used the “stolen” backhoe to dig up the grand wizard and his wife. When the coast was clear, Zimm was finally nabbed. That Zimm has been kept out of the public eye since means that she knows too much.
• I know all the winners of this year’s Best of Memphis. Well, not by heart. One upset surprised me. You can check it out when the Best of issue hits the stands September 30th.
• Cotton candy grapes … I don’t … I can’t …
• The other day I was working the front desk when a woman called in who wanted to talk to someone about Elvis. I told her it was a broad topic, could she narrow it down? She said the history of Elvis. I transferred her to a coworker.
• I’m about a third of the way through Andy Weir’s The Martian. Really enjoying it so far. Soon to be a major motion picture.
• I recently joined Instagram. The account’s devoted to my dog Janet. (That’s her pictured at top.) I read somewhere that Grumpy Cat has made something like $100 million, and while Janet is no Grumpy Cat, I thought maybe she was worth a fraction of that. I only have 10 followers, so I’m thinking I might have possibly been unrealistic. In any case, @janetellisthedog.
• A couple weeks ago, my mother sent me 24 dish towels. Seriously, I have no clue, except that I’m now set in dish towels for life.
• I followed Saturday’s TEDxMemphis on Twitter. The theme was “What’s Next.” Lots of enthusiasm. A few of the highlights of many I gathered from Twitter were Todd Richardson’s “Civic pride produces economic development”; Marco Pavé’s call for more support of the arts; Melissa Sweazy on free-range parenting; and Kimbal Musk’s “Obesity is not a barbecue problem” and “real food is the new internet.”
It was hard to get the full context of TEDxMemphis via Twitter. So, what’s next, Memphis?
TEDx will be arriving in Memphis this weekend, and it’s all thanks to a high school senior.
Patton Orr, a senior at Memphis University School, has been interested in TED Talks — which stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design — since he was a freshman. And now Orr is the brain behind launching a Memphis version, which will feature multiple monologues of 18-minutes or less on one particular topic, on Saturday, August 29th.
Kimbal Musk
The one-day TEDx event will feature entrepreneur Kimbal Musk, hip-hop artist Marco Pavé, Memphis Grizzlies President of Business Operations Jason Wexler, Church Health Center CEO Dr. Scott Morris, New Ballet Ensemble founder Katie Smythe and 12 others, ranging from backgrounds of education and art to business and nonprofit. TEDxMemphis is sold out, but the event will be available to watch online around September 7th.
Marco Pave
Orr’s sister, who attends the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, attended a TED conference and eventually went on to work in their TEDx program, which helps independent organizers create a TED-like speaker event in their own cities.
Orr became curious about the organization and its events. He found himself looking at a map of TEDx offerings and saw a hole.
“To me, it looked like Memphis was really the largest market in the United States still remaining without a TEDx event,” he said. “So instead of waiting around for someone to organize that, I decided to do it myself.”
After Orr got into the process, he realized he couldn’t do TEDx justice if he continued alone.
“I’m only 18 years old,” he said. “I soon realized if I tried to control this conference myself or be the sole person trying to organize it, it was just not going to be the kind of large event that could really impact the city the way I wanted it to.”
Ownership over the event wasn’t important to him, Orr said. Anna Mullins, the director of marketing and communications from the New Memphis Institute, attended the early committee meetings and stepped in at the request of Orr. The New Memphis Institute focuses on attracting and retaining local talent.
TEDx events usually have an overarching theme. TEDxMemphis’ theme this year is “What’s Next?”
“The ideas are typically thought-provoking, innovative, provocative in some way,” Mullins said. “They’ve become very diverse in their topics. There are really popular talks that are three minutes long that talk about tying your shoes, and there are talks that are 18 minutes long that talk about food scarcity globally.”
“We really see this as an opportunity for ideas to converge and challenge one another,” Mullins said. “Hopefully, it’ll spark discussion.”
“So many people, and teenagers especially, are always saying, ‘Get me out of Memphis,'” Orr said. “It just makes me sad. I love to see when people take pride in our city, when people share ideas with each other, when people showcase the positives in Memphis, because there are so many. There are so many great things happening here, especially within the last couple of years.”
