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Iguodala Acquisition Means Decision Time for Grizzlies

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Sunday, during the first night of NBA free agency, the Memphis Grizzlies, as expected, were quiet as far as trying to sign a new player. But that didn’t mean that they weren't active. The team acquired veteran wing Andre Iguodala in a deal with the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors were desperately trying to come off of Iguodala’s contract in an effort to make room to facilitate a sign-and-trade involving Kevin Durant and former Brooklyn Nets point guard, D’Angelo Russell. The Grizzlies were able to absorb Iguodala's contract into their own $25 million trade exception that was created as a result of the Mike Conley trade. As compensation, the Grizzlies also received a conditional future first-round draft pick from the Warriors. 
The pick has very favorable protections for the Grizzlies — starting with a top four pick protection in 2024. If not conveyed, the pick becomes number-one overall protected in 2025 and is completely unprotected in 2016. Since Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green will be 36, 34, and 34 years old, respectively, in 2024, the assumption is that the Warriors will be rebuilding by the time that the trade is available. If so, the Grizzlies more than likely would be receiving a lottery pick from them.

This could be an enviable opportunity for the Grizzlies, in the event they are able to acquire a high-draft pick from a Warriors team in transition. The Grizzlies could add a young player to their own roster or they could use the pick as a trade piece between now and then. Since the Grizzlies also own a future Utah Jazz first-round draft pick, they could package the two assets along with other players to acquire a star level talent via trade. This happens often when star players decide to part ways with their team and the team lays desirable assets on the trading block to acquire or replace a missing piece.

Iguodala should definitely be able to contribute and help this rebuilding Grizzlies team — on and off the court — if that is the direction that the team decides to go. A former NBA Finals MVP, Iguodala is a proven professional and one of the best defenders and crunch-time shot makers in the league. At 35, he is past the form that once had him labeled as one of the most athletic and versatile wings in the league, but he's still a capable contributor who can help accelerate the Grizzlies' rebuilding process. Whether Iguodala is willing to be a part of a team that's rebuilding is still a question mark.

One of the best outcomes would involve the Grizzlies being able to trade Iguadola to a contender for another future asset before the coming season’s trade deadline. In the event that the Grizzlies are able to obtain not only the pick that came from the Warriors, but a second draft pick for Iguadala, it would be a definite win for their new front office.

There has also been rising speculation about the Grizzlies simply buying out the $16 million remaining on the final season of Iguadala's current contract. This would allow Iguodala to go to any team he chooses. There are reports that if the Grizzlies did agree to a buyout agreement with Iguodala, he would join Lebron James and Anthony Davis with the Lakers. This narrative has been inflated by some in the national media. If Iguodala does not, in fact, want to be a part of a rebuilding and non-contending team in Memphis, that would be understandable. My hope is that the Grizzlies don’t allow their hand to be influenced by those media narratives. Iguodala is under contract with the Grizzlies now, and, regardless of anyone else's opinion, it's ultimately their decision about what to do with him.

The Grizzlies may not want the blow-back of negative criticism that could come if Iguodala says he wants to be traded and the team holds him “against his will.” But, whether it is mutually agreed upon that Iguodala can be a benefit to the team or not, the hope here is that the Andre Iguodala era in Memphis — however long it lasts — is one that ends on a positive note for all.

Bar Ware Opening Soon

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Libby Wunderlich's human baby is due July 13th. Her business baby is due July 12th.

Yup. It's cutting it close. But Bar Ware and the juice bar, Juice Brothers, is scheduled to open next week.

Both establishments are side by side in Phase II of 266 Lofts building at 276 South Front. They are just north of Gus's on the same side, across from Old Dominick.

David Boone (Memphis Pizza Cafe) will act as general manager.

Wunderlich has worked in the restaurant business since she was in high school, both front of house and back-office-type jobs. She says she felt like it was time to do something on her own.

"There's still a big learning curve, though," she says. "I'm still learning a lot."

Inside, there are leather couches, nice rugs, and big round tables. It's got a clubhouse feel, with a masculine vibe. It's definitely a place you can settle in and hang out.

Wunderlich says that she was going for comfortable, something that harkened back to old style bars. Natalie Lieberman, who did work on The Liquor Store and the new hotel at the train station, helped her with the interior design.

Next door, the juice bar is the polar opposite in terms of styling. It's bright and pristine.

Juice Brothers was founded by a friend of Wunderlich's. She says this friend, who is also a fashion designer, went to Amsterdam and noticed there weren't a lot of juice bars there, so she started one and the company has grown from there.


Juice Brothers will offer a number of juices, tonics, "mylks and brews," waters, shots, and smoothies. As for food, Wunderlich is envisioning a grab-and-go section with salads and wraps and protein bites.

Bar Ware's food will have a healthier bent as well. The focus will be on shareable plates using seasonal ingredients. 

According to Kevin Quinnell (Itta Bena, Southern Social), chef at Bar Ware, they plan to have health conscious salads and sandwiches, deviled eggs, charcuteries boards, and more upscale dishes. Nothing fried.

"It's food that's not to be expected from a bar, but not pretentious," he says.

Jacob Leonard (Second Line) is heading the bar. He says he plans to craft cocktails taking advantage of the juice bar. He promises that these cocktails will be good but won't take 10 minutes to make.

"It won't be too fancy," he vows, "but yummy."

Wunderlich says that plans for the bar predated the baby. "That's just how life goes," she says.

JuiceBrothers:
Tuesday-Saturday 7 a.m.-6 p.m.
Sunday 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Monday Closed

Bar Ware:
Tuesday-Thursday 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
Friday-Saturday 11 a.m.- midnight
Sunday 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Monday Closed

Zoo Parking Problem? Nah. Go Valet.

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The Memphis Zoo, home to what was the most controversial parking problem in Memphis, has a newer, easier parking option for guests. (See the how-it-works video at the bottom.)

Construction begins this month on a project that will add 415 new parking spaces for the Memphis Zoo. The project will forever end parking on the Overton Park Greensward.

Zoo parking on the field has been a controversy for some three decades here. But it boiled again in 2016 and roiled until a plan was finalized in 2018. That plan will increase the number of parking spaces from 865 to 1,280.

Here's the official word on the new construction from the zoo:

"Parking construction begins in mid-July at Overton Park and Memphis Zoo. The first stage will focus exclusively on the Prentiss Place parking lot. Prentiss Place (the road) will be open to through traffic on all but three or four days during construction. It is anticipated that the first stage of construction will continue through October or November."

But if you want to just avoid all that, valet that whip.

Memphis Zoo announced a new valet service Wednesday. It's an add-on service, provided by A+ Parking Services, "which provides high-end valet parking for venues like Hardrock Café, The Orpheum, National Civil Rights Museum, Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, and more."


"The zoo’s valet attendants will not only make parking easier, but will unload and load coolers, strollers, backpacks and anything else guests bring along when visiting the zoo," reads a statement. "A text-to-retrieve option is available for visitors who choose valet, which allows them to text ahead of time and have their vehicle waiting."

VIP valet parking at the zoo is offered at an additional cost of $5 for members and $10 for nonmembers."

Wanna see what zoo valet looks like? Check it out here:

The Chandler Parsons Error Comes To An End

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In their 18 years of existence in Memphis, the Memphis Grizzlies have had their fair share of eras. There was the “Young and Hungry” era that kicked off their first years in town, with players like Pau Gasol, Shane Battier, Jason Williams, and Stromile Swift. There was the “Three Year Plan” era that consisted of a rebuilding unit focused around Rudy Gay, Hakim Warrick, Kyle Lowry, and Mike Conley. Then there was, of course, the “Grit 'n Grind” era that included the Mt. Grizzmore of Grizzlies lore: Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol, Mike Conley, and Tony Allen.

There was also an era that started in the summer of 2016 that included the hiring of David Fizdale as head coach, drafting Wade Baldwin, and acquiring Deyonta Davis, Rade Zagorac, Troy Daniels, and James Ennis. This era was also headlined by the signing of Chandler Parsons, who will probably go down as the worst signing in franchise history.

Now it's over. The Grizzlies have traded Parsons and his $94 million contract to the Atlanta Hawks for Miles Plumlee and Solomon Hill.

Parsons wasn’t to blame for all of the things that have happened to the team since his acquisition, but it would be hard to believe otherwise, based on fan and media opinion. Whether it be memes, jokes about how he never plays, or cheap shots taken at the condition of his knees, Parsons has been the butt of many jokes and the scapegoat for most of the Grizzlies’ perceived shortcomings. No money to sign someone? Blame it on Chandler Parsons. Zach Randolph is coming off the bench? Parsons’ fault. No good wings? Yep. Chandler Parsons.

Parsons was supposed to be the bridge from the Core Four into a new Big Three era consisting of Conley, Gasol, and Parsons.

It didn’t happen.

A healthy Chandler Parsons would have been just what the franchise needed. A tall, play-making wing who could shoot from three and had decent enough defense to hold his own. But yeah, that never happened. Parsons was damaged goods when the team signed him, and his efforts to rehab and get back into form from his knee injuries, although admirable, were cringe-worthy.

I was never among the crowd that took pleasure in Parsons suffering what amounted to a career-ending injury while trying to salvage a career. But Parsons didn’t do much to help his own case, either. He wasn’t conscious of how certain things came off to the fan-base.
Showcasing his playboy lifestyle and the spoils of his riches while the fans weren’t getting any payoff on the court was a bad look. It’s not his fault that he had Chick-O-Sticks for knees, but he did a horrible job of understanding or empathizing with the fan base. “Chancun,” anyone?
Some things said about Parsons were either overblown or false. Many fans assumed that because they were disgruntled with Parsons, the players in the locker room had issues with him as well. Although they wanted him to be able to produce, I’ve been told by a number of sources that Chandler was among the locker room favorites, and seen as a professional by his teammates.

In any event, finding a taker for Parsons — and his knees and his contract — is a great thing, especially considering that the Grizzlies didn’t have to send out any additional assets or take on a contract that extends beyond this season. It blows away a cloud of incompetency that still hovered over the franchise from the previous regime and gives the current front office a fair shake and a clean slate.

It’s the end of an era and the end of an error.

Food Flight: Eating In or Eating Out?

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We had become embarrassingly close to addiction with food delivery services, until we stepped back from the brink and realized the consequences, not just monetarily, but socially as well. There was a time in the not-so-distant past when you had two choices of food delivered to your door: Chinese or pizza. No more. Now, the finest restaurants in town will pack it up and zip it right out to you, and your only task is the occasional 15 seconds in the microwave. You don't even need dinnerware anymore. You can eat it right out of the sectional plastic tray.

The food delivery business has popped up like mushrooms in a cow pasture, or maybe Uber. Of course, it's not just food anymore. Need toothpaste and Dr. Scholl's insoles? Push a few buttons and someone will rush it right over. Don't feel like Krogering? There's an app for that. Where they once made it so inconvenient that you had to drive over there and have someone load up your groceries, they deliver now. In fact, if you hurry, Kroger is having a sale for your July 4th festivities. Nathan's Skinless Beef Franks are $2.99 a pack, their famous mustard potato salad is $3.99 for three pounds, and American flags have been marked down from 49 cents to 44 cents. The beer is regularly priced, but it eliminates what used to be a rite of passage for young males — the beer run. If beer is too pedestrian, they'll bring you a nice Sauvignon Blanc for $19.99. This is a dream come true for agoraphobics. Now there really is no need to leave the house.

As with any addiction, there are plenty of enticements to draw you in, like free delivery and daily specials. For a hefty deposit, you can get free delivery in perpetuity. It's especially fun to track your order. The restaurant will inform you when your driver leaves the store and when he'll arrive. On some services, a little car will pop up on the screen and you can follow it directly from the eatery to your driveway.

Our first experience was with Meals in Motion, which contains some of our favorites but is limited in their number of restaurants. We quickly signed up for Uber Eats, Bite Squad, and Door Dash. We tried Postmates, but they wanted some ridiculous amount of money in advance to put on your credit card, so they got deleted. Grubhub has yet to arrive on my block. The rest operate in pretty much the same way: Choose a restaurant, give them your credit card, pull up the menu, press a few buttons, and some nice person will drive your food over — tip included, even if you feel like a bag of Krystals. There's no waiting for a table, no dealing with a harried server, no wondering why the next table got served when they came in after you, and no deciphering the difference between 15 and 20 percent.

As with any new service, you learn some things by trial and error. For instance, in a restaurant, if they overcook your cheeseburger, you can send it back. Delivery offers that same option, but it will take an additional hour to correct it, and by then you've decided that you're hungry enough to go ahead and eat the overcooked burger. It's the same with the occasional menu mistake. There's no mistaking beef tacos when that's what you ordered online, but when they arrive beefless, what are you going to do? The restaurant will give you a credit, but that doesn't make up for a spoiled meal. If you order something from a favorite restaurant, say, a beef chimichanga, it's not quite the same as when they bring it fresh from the kitchen.

We didn't realize how deeply we were descending into the hedonistic lifestyle until the night we had a hankering for some ice cream. We live within short driving distance from two Baskin-Robbins ice cream shops and one of them is a drive-thru, but they were on the list of stores that delivered. We ordered a variety of scoops in a cup, but it took a while. I kept checking my phone for updates while our cream-cravings intensified. When it finally arrived, the check not only included the cost of the ice cream, but a healthy tax, a pre-arranged tip for the driver, and a $5 delivery charge that was supposed to be free. The guilt over our obscene laziness was palpable. We could have gone Krogering and had a couple of gallons sent over for the same price.

There's an additional reason that we've scaled back on dinner delivery, and it's the same reason we never use self-checkout in a grocery store or any other discount store chain. We figured for every self-checkout lane, a cashier or sacker will lose a job, and although there's no stopping automation, we can do our part until it replaces the entire workforce. The same goes for restaurants. Eating at home is easy, but it doesn't quite match going to an actual restaurant, sitting down at a table, and enjoying a meal. Since I'm not trying to promote any individual restaurant, let's pretend you have a particular favorite, and for the sake of argument we'll call it "Patrick's." It's a down-home meat-and-three restaurant. Their food is good and reasonably priced, the atmosphere is convivial, and they have an Elvis wall right in the same spot where I used to play gigs when it was a nightclub in a previous incarnation. Delivery is great, but then we wouldn't get to see our favorite host, Ben Sumner, or the best server in town, Jo Jo Chetter, whom we have followed from her days at Kudzu's and who can enthrall you with tales of Ireland.

Delivery services create new jobs for drivers and profits for restaurants, but before you order the next time, remember the cooks, servers, busboys, and cashiers who depend on you putting on your pants and making a personal appearance.

Randy Haspel writes the "Recycled Hippies" blog.

Seeing CBD

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Even on your grocery list.

Kroger announced it will soon sell CBD products, according to Supermarket News. But don't expect to find pre-rolls next to the pretzels. The company will begin with items like CBD-infused creams, balms, and oils. Expect to see CBD products in CVS stores and The Vitamin Shoppe as well.

Memphis Needs CBD

Memphis ranked eighth among America's top 25 cities that need cannabidiol, according to the CBD Awareness Project, an industry awareness group.

Why? The city ranked high for its number of adults with poor mental health, those who get less then seven hours of sleep per night, and those with arthritis or diabetes.

Arkannabis

Greenlight Dispensary was given the green light to open in Helena-West Helena last week and opened on Friday, becoming Arkansas' fourth medical cannabis dispensary.

Native Green Wellness Center in Hensley was inspected last week and could quickly open if approved. Fiddler's Green in Mountain View was to be inspected this week.

As of last week, 258 pounds of medical cannabis had been sold in Arkansas for sales of $1.7 million.

Criminal Injustice: How the System Traps the Poor

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DeAndre Brown says he was a career criminal. He started selling drugs on the streets of North Memphis at age 19, and by 28, he'd worked his way up the chain of command to head the operation. Brown says he was a nerd growing up. Despite having to navigate his mom's crack use at a young age and commuting back and forth to rural Arkansas for grade school, he says he was a good student. He even got a full scholarship to Rhodes College and planned to become a doctor.

But there was a problem: He needed gas money to get him from his mom's house in Raleigh to campus. Like so many growing up in poverty, Brown says he turned to illegal means to earn money because it was instant gratification.

He connected with guys in his neighborhood who were selling drugs out of the house next to his mom's. "I saw the opportunity to make some quick money," Brown says. "It looked easy for those guys to stand on the corner with some dope in their pockets and walk up to cars. So that's what I did."

Twenty-five years later, just a few miles from where Brown ran a drug operation for nearly a decade, he now sits in his office in a converted Frayser house. It's where he's run an ex-offender re-entry program called LifeLine to Success since 2009. Brown believes he's an anomaly, because when someone — especially someone in poverty — gets into the criminal justice system, it's hard to escape.

In the System

Josh Spickler, executive director of Just City, a Memphis organization striving to mitigate the damages caused by contact with the criminal justice system, says the system is "complicated and nuanced.

"It involves rules of court and rules of evidence," Spickler says. "It involves laws. It involves procedure and so many things that you have to know to navigate it clearly and successfully."

When someone in poverty is accused of a crime, those challenges are intensified, Spickler says. Wealth and poverty impact a defendant's experience from pre-trial to post-conviction, and possibly forever.

"People in poverty have had a lot more trouble getting back to even in the criminal justice system," Spickler says. "And people of means, who didn't do anything too terrible, can usually buy their way back to even."

When the poor are accused, they are appointed counsel, while "people of means and wealth have always had the ability to hire the best criminal defense lawyer. The appointment of counsel is probably the biggest differentiator."

The country's public defense system was established by the U.S Supreme Court's 1963 Gideon v. Wainwright decision, which acknowledged the right for a state-appointed attorney under the Fourteenth Amendment.

Spickler says this decision was a "great win for civil rights in America," but "what's followed has been anything but fully securing that right." He says the indigent systems are an "afterthought" in many communities. Public defenders largely lack significant resources and investigative tools private lawyers have, such as expert witnesses, which Spickler says are especially important in serious matters.

"There are great public defender offices, and we have one right here in Memphis," Spickler says. "But, as great as they are, they have bad circumstances. They're representing 35,000 people with like 90 attorneys. You don't even have to know much about the law to know you don't want a lawyer with that many cases."

The Shelby County Public Defender's office currently has 90 full-time attorneys and handled more than 24,000 cases in 2018. Approximately 2 percent — $9.3 million — of the county's general fund is allocated to the public defender's office. Another $5.5 million comes from the state. The public defender's office provided the numbers above, but declined to be interviewed further.

Another "glaring" issue, Spickler says, is pre-trial detention, which is solely meant to deter the accused from committing another dangerous crime or fleeing to avoid prosecution if released. "But the way we do that, in this community especially, is with money," he says. "Based on a British system that's centuries old, we decided a dollar amount is the answer to that problem."

The idea, Spickler says, is if you have money on the line, you're incentivized to return to court and to not commit another crime. "We put a price tag on it, but the fact is, money has nothing to do with it," Spickler says. "With pretty high certainty, we can predict who comes back and who doesn't come back and who reoffends." Spickler says there is readily available data that should be used to assess people's risk instead.

"But, we just say if you can pay this, you can get out, and if you can't, you can't," Spickler says. "That has nothing to do with who's risky and who's not. In fact, if you have the means, you're more of a risk. So why would we make it about money?"

Defendants who can't make bail must remain behind bars until their trial date, which could be a year or more down the road. Building a defense takes participation from the accused, which is hard to give in jail, Spickler says.

"Strike two, if you're poor, is that you have to make decisions about your case while you're behind bars." Most often, people in that situation enter a plea bargain, Spickler says.

"People are detained in cages before their guilt or innocence is determined," he says. "They are desperate to get out. They don't have the time or the resources nor the patience to build a defense in jail. Their incentive is to get out. A guilty plea is a better alternative."

Pleading guilty means they now have a criminal record and, depending on the crime, still might serve additional time behind bars.

Permanent Punishment

Spickler says with a record, ex-offenders face "a myriad of challenges that are extremely insidious," impacting all parts of life. Lawyers refer to this as "collateral consequences."

"Collateral is a really bad word to use," Spickler says. "It implies it's an afterthought or not all that important, but it's everything. Moving on after life within the criminal justice system is next to impossible for a lot of people, especially if you're poor."

One reason is expenses add up after incarceration, he says. "Every sentence passed down comes with a bill. A literal bill. Like a credit card bill." Post-conviction court costs can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars. Spickler says Tennessee is "particularly bad" because the consequence for not paying them is drivers license suspension.

"The costs aren't based on reality anymore," he says. "They've added costs for this, costs for that. If you go down the list, it's shocking the things we assess costs for. Things like building law libraries. It's astounding the amount that can rack up for relatively minor offenses. If the crime is at all serious and there's any jail time, then you can get into the thousands really quickly."

Spickler says a lot of Tennesseeans have lost their licenses because of this law. "I'm talking about 40,000 to 50,000 Tennesseans who can't move around legally."

And if ex-offenders can't drive, then they can't get jobs to afford to pay their court costs, Spickler says. If they do drive in order to get a job and are pulled over and found guilty of driving without a license, then there'll be more court costs to pay. "It just keeps going. For so many people, they can never pay it back." As a result, people are locked out of the mainstream economy, housing, and educational opportunities.

"When we lock people out of the mainstream economy by taking away their drivers license or not hiring them because of prior history, we are steering them toward other means of supporting themselves," Spickler says. "And some of those are criminal. At best, they're underground and not paying taxes. But at the very worst, they're heading toward a world where crime is lucrative and appealing. The cycle builds on itself pretty quickly."

A big piece of Just City's work is helping policy makers understand the full impact of their policies, Spickler says. "There are real consequences years and years later after criminal justice involvement," he says. "Perhaps there should be for certain offenses, but for so many, even after they are released, damage unnecessarily continues to rack up. We have to turn that around."

Spickler says these continuing consequences are anything but collateral. "Permanent punishment" is a better phrase for it, he says.

"When we pass laws dealing with people who've broken the law, it's important to maintain a civil and safe society," Spickler says. "But, we have to start thinking about how long we want the punishment to go on."

A Lifeline

DeAndre Brown knows the struggle of re-entry all too well. Brown was incarcerated for the last time 14 years ago. In his first week of that 25-month-long prison sentence, Brown says he decided it was time to "try something different.

"Reality set in really quickly," Brown says. "I made up my mind then to figure out a way to help other people be right."

When he was released, Brown turned the janitorial service he once used as a front for his drug operation into a legitimate business. Brown says he and his family were doing well for about two years, until a hospital where his company was contracted to clean asked him to be a volunteer chaplain. When the hospital did a background check, his contract was terminated.

"The minute they found out I had a criminal history, they took the keys," Brown says. "They told me I had to go."

Brown says he, along with his wife and children, were homeless after that. Looking to support his family, he says finding a job was "out of the question." So he returned to the idea that sparked in prison — finding a way to help others in his situation. Brown says the termination of the hospital contract was the impetus for starting LifeLine to Success.

Brown says many ex-offenders are stuck when they're released, and finding an environment that's conducive to positive living can be the initial challenge. "With drive and determination to prove the world wrong," Brown sought to change that in Memphis.

Through classes, volunteer work, employment, and therapeutic group settings, the LifeLine to Success program teaches conflict resolution and basic life skills, with the goal of showing ex-offenders how to survive in the world without resorting to crime. Since 2009, 1,216 ex-offenders have completed the program.

"We have people who were living on the sidelines of life but now have the desire to be involved," Brown says. "They'd wake up, sit on the porch, get high, and play video games, but now they want to be productive because they've tasted what real life can be like."

Brown says the program takes in people with multiple offenses that are mostly violent. They often have low skills, minimal education, and some mental health issues. "We take the folks people run from and are afraid of and put them in a room together," Brown says. "And it works. It's all love."

The program works similar to a gang, Brown says.

"We're just flipping what we know works in the hood and turning it around into something positive," Brown says. "We give them a culture, a color, and some lit — literature, I mean. Sorry, that's the gang code."

When participants start the program, they are not officially "on the team," Brown says. But after they meet initial requirements, they receive a green T-shirt, indicating they've made the payroll. "The shirt makes grown men cry," Brown says. "They've never really felt a part of anything and now they are and they didn't have to get beat up to get in."

The program's mission is to change the perception of what it means to be a convicted felon to both the community and ex-offenders, and Brown believes "we've exceeded that mission."

Over-Criminalized

The number of people brought into the criminal justice system and accused of crimes far surpasses that number from 40 years ago, Spickler says.

The Tennessee prison population is the largest it's ever been. In 1990, the state prison population was 13,975, according to Tennessee Department of Corrections data.That number rose to 30,799 in 2018.

"We filled up our jails and prisons and our courtrooms," Spickler says. "We've created so many more crimes. The criminal justice system has been grown to tackle a lot of things in society." That's why Just City advocates for a smaller criminal justice system.

"When we say smaller, we mean a smaller budget and less use of the system for problems it can't fix. We have to depend less on the criminal justice system."

Thomas Castelli, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Tennessee agrees. He says, as a society, the country has over-criminalized certain behaviors.

"The government has the power to regulate certain conduct by citizens," Castelli says. "There's all different ways to do that, but the most extreme is to criminalize that conduct. We have a tendency when we don't like something and want to discourage it, to make it a crime."

For example, Castelli says in Tennessee it's a crime to drive with a suspended license. He says in some cases it might be warranted, but in thousands of cases, people just can't afford to renew it. "So we criminalize that instead of finding a civil way to handle it."

Castelli also says "we're really bad at understanding motivations for criminal conduct like mental health or addiction."

Typically, people in poverty have less access to health insurance and quality health care and are more susceptible to addiction and mental health issues, he says. This means they are also more likely to enter the system.

"Our criminal justice system is kind of a hammer," Castelli says. "The solution is you get tossed into the system. Sometimes that's the only way for people to actually get treatment."

Castelli says Tennessee should consider pre-booking diversion programs, which allow people to enter treatment programs to address mental health or addiction without "getting sucked into the whole court system." This is a way to address those underlying causes of criminal behavior before you get involved in the criminal justice system on an ongoing basis, Castelli says.

"We can do better at identifying those causes before people are arrested," he says. "Instead of arresting them, get them in the programs trying to make an effort to address these issues. See if that works before we start using criminal laws as the cure-all."

System Overhaul

Addressing the various issues with the criminal justice system will take a holistic approach, Castelli says. "Multiple things need to be fixed. Some things need to be scrapped and reinvented. It'll take a lot of laws."

Castelli says there are "a lot of moving parts" in the criminal justice system: "There's no one part we can fix and say, 'There, it's done.' Some of it goes beyond the justice and legal system and relates to public health and wealth equity."

There is a role for every level of government to play in addressing the issues, he says, but the "heaviest lift lies with the state." Local governments can do certain things like diversion programs, while the federal government can provide funding or create initiatives affecting federal criminal law.

"The state sets the majority of the criminal laws and what the punishments for them are," he says. "They're the ones who authorize these fees and costs. It's a state law that takes away drivers licenses, sets fees for appointed counsel, and takes away people's voting rights. These are all fixes that have to come from the state."

Castelli says with Tennessee Governor Bill Lee entering his second year in office, "it will be interesting to see whether the governor has any initiatives to address some of these issues."

In May, the governor, who has been vocal about criminal justice reform, signed a law removing the fee for ex-offenders to have their criminal record expunged. Lee said last month the move is an effort to remove the barriers to finding employment many face upon re-entry.

"We need to remove those obstacles for those who've served their sentences and paid the price for their crime," Lee said. "We need to remove obstacles to make it easier for them to re-enter. I think anything we can do to remove a barrier for someone who has re-entered or is in the process of working, trying to get their feet back under them, trying to be a taxpayer, instead of a tax taker, we improve their success rate, and expungement fee reductions will improve that process." Lee's office did not respond to the Flyer's inquiry for additional comment.

"At the end of the day, what we're doing is taking away someone's liberty," Castelli says. "The most crucial civil right you have is your liberty and your right to live free and not be incarcerated. The consequences are huge."

Harris, Biden, and Busing

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We have no objection to the sudden rise to viability as a presidential contender of California U.S. Senator Kamala Harris. As the sentient world knows, Harris' ascension to contender status was shaped last week by her strong performance during the second nationally televised debate of Democratic candidates.

It came at the expense of former Vice President Joe Biden, the putative Democratic front-runner, who was slow on the uptake when challenged by Harris for his previous remarks regarding his ability, while serving in the Senate, to co-exist and seek common ground with out-and-out segregationists like then-Senators James Eastland of Mississippi and Herman Talmadge of Georgia, "old bulls" who, due to the prevailing seniority system, had outsized power over the Senate committee system and could obstruct or facilitate legislation.

Biden's point was that he retained the ability to work constructively with political figures of different persuasions from his own — something likely to be highly relevant in post-2020 Washington. Still, Harris' well-stated rebuke was on point and timely, given today's different sense of priorities and impatience with foot-dragging on matters related to human justice.

And we like Harris' prosecutorial style, hitherto in her public interrogations of disingenuous functionaries of the Trump administration.

We are not so enamored of Harris' follow-up point in her confrontation with Biden, wherein she took him to task for having, as she alleged, opposed busing back in its heyday as a means of desegregation. The fact is that, in urban locales ranging from Boston in the northeast to our own case in Memphis, the ultimate outcome of court-ordered busing, however well-meaning, was to foster, not integration, but resegregation via a host of hothouse private schools and new residential enclaves beyond the reach of judicial orders. Court-ordered busing in the Memphis case in 1972 was upheld 2-1 by a federal appeals court, but, as former Flyer writer John Branston noted in a retrospective years afterward, "History would show that it was dissenter Paul Weick who got it right: 'The burden of eliminating all the ills of society should not be placed on public school systems and innocent school children.'"

In 1973 and 1974, as Branston further noted, "Some 30,000 students left the Memphis public school system in white flight in reaction to court-ordered busing for integration." That out-migration, augmented by a generous number of middle-class blacks, increased year by year, to the point that what remains of the Memphis City Schools system, now reorganized ironically as Shelby County Schools, is virtually segregated, serving an impoverished population, while most white students are cloistered in a small network of "optional" schools or attending classes in private institutions or in public schools operated by the county's suburban municipalities.

Perhaps the best verdict on busing was rendered by the federal judge who ordered it, Robert McRae, who recalled in his retirement, "I was disappointed in the reaction to Plan Z. But I had to keep a stiff upper lip because this [reaction] was an act of defiance. Still, I was disappointed that we hadn't come up with something that worked."


A Vibe on the Island Independence Day Celebration

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This musical event features Ping Rose and the Anti-Heroes, Black Cream, and Marcella & Her Lovers.

Pack your chairs, coolers, and picnic blankets and walk, scooter, or bike to Mud Island River Park for A Vibe on the Island. A monthly event, July's AVOTI falls on Independence Day. To ring in the holiday and the fireworks is a three-parter musical event featuring Ping Rose and the Anti-Heroes, Black Cream, and Marcella & Her Lovers.

"I've never played a show with any of the openers," says Ping Rose, a soul, rock, and funk artist based in Nashville, but who hails from Memphis. "But one of the members of Black Cream is one of my longtime friends," he says. "I'm excited to play with them."

Rose is due to release a studio album, Sketchbook, in July, and he plans to post a single from the album to Spotify before this event for a special preview. Also, be sure to check out Black Cream's new single "All I Need Is You" and Marcella & Her Lover's EP The Bronze Age.

The event is free, but those who want to watch the fireworks and hear some music from the sidelines can float on the Wolf River Harbor in a kayak rented from Kayak Memphis. The fireworks show can also be viewed from nearby Tom Lee Park or River Garden. Riverside Drive will be blocked off to cars after 5:30 p.m., but visitors can still walk, scooter (Bird or Lime), or ride bikes (Explore Bike Share) to any of the parks. Fireworks will begin at 9:15 p.m.

A Vibe on the Island, Mud Island River Park, Thursday, July 4th, 6 p.m., Free.

Yesterday

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The comedy that dares ask the musical question, what if there were no Beatles?

There is a video that occasionally pops up online, but usually gets taken down quickly. It's an August 3, 1983, benefit concert at First Avenue for the Minnestoa Dance Theater — the night Prince debuted his new band, The Revolution, and played "Purple Rain" for the first time.

Every other time Prince plays "Purple Rain" from that moment until his tragic death in 2016, the opening chords are met with ecstatic cheers, and the audience sings along to the "woo woo-woo wooooo" of the coda. But not that night. When the anonymous First Avenue videographers who captured the moment pan across the crowd, most of them are half-ignoring Prince. Who cares about some new song that doesn't sound anything like "1999"?

But for some of them, there is a growing recognition that something wonderful is happening. When Prince plays the climactic guitar solo like he's calling the angels down from heaven, a girl in the front row clasps her hands and bows her head as if in prayer. The guy beside her turns to his friend and, slack-jawed, jabs a thumb at the band. "Are you hearing this?"

That feeling of being there at the creation, when it suddenly felt like the world was new, is what Yesterday is all about. Jack (Himesh Patel) is a singer/songwriter from a sleepy English coastal resort town who splits his time between his music and working part-time at a Tesco-like warehouse superstore. Ellie (Lily James), his friend since childhood, is his "manager" and biggest fan. She comes to all of his gigs, which range from busking on the street to being ignored at children's birthday parties. Finally, she gets him a spot at the Latitude Festival in nearby Suffolk. He's excited. This could be his big break! But since it turns out to be in the locals tent, he once again plays to no one.

Terminally frustrated, he decides to hang up his guitar for good and return to teaching. But when he's riding his bike home after a row with Ellie, a mysterious worldwide blackout happens. In the darkness and chaos, Jack is hit by a bus. When he awakens in the hospital, he's missing a couple of front teeth. But the world, he soon finds out, is missing something more significant: The Beatles. No one but Jack can remember John, Paul, George, and Ringo. When he searches for them, Google asks, "Did you mean: beetles?"

So what does a singer/songwriter do when he's slipped into an alternate universe where no one has heard "Yesterday"? He struggles to remember the chords and lyrics, then passes the song off as his own. Jack's own personal First Avenue moment comes when he plays "Let It Be" for his indifferent parents. But slowly, word gets out about this kid who had a head injury and then starting writing incredible songs, and Jack is on his way to fame and fortune.

There are a lot of fascinating "what ifs?" along these lines, moments when a subtle twist here or there would forever change history. What if Elvis hadn't made a big impression on Sun Records' Marion Keisker and she never told Sam Phillips about him? What if DJ Kool Herc's family never migrated from Jamaica to the Bronx? What if Mark David Chapman's wife called the cops before he murdered John Lennon? But the real question is, would any of those scenarios make a better light comedy by Trainspotting director Danny Boyle and Love, Actually writer Richard Curtis?

Yesterday has its moments. Patel, a veteran British comedy actor, is charming and charismatic. He's no Sir Paul, but he can actually sing okay. English songster Ed Sheeran appears as himself, and he can actually act okay. The film finds some teeth when Kate McKinnon shows up as Jack's agent and starts dripping venom on the music industry.

But there's not enough of that. Like most music nerds, I'm a fan of the Fab Four. But I understand how folks are turned off by the hype from the Beatle Industrial Complex. The film treats it as a given that the world would be unrecognizable if no one had ever heard "I Saw Her Standing There" and that "Help" would be a hit in 2019 if you just punked it up a bit. Yesterday plays it safe and provides pleasant entertainment. But The Beatles took big chances and never took their own press too seriously. That attitude would have made for a more interesting — and funnier — film.

Yesterday Now playing at Cineplanet 16

Opens Friday at multiple locations

MEMernet

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A round-up of Memphis on the World Wide Web.

Why they lyin'?

Leodan Rodriguez, "the first Latino Sigma in the history of the University of Memphis," tweeted this beautiful scene:

It got some comments: "Why they lyin?" "This is hilarious and so wrong." "It doesn't snow in Memphis...this is fake."

Yes, it was.

Crucified

Need some eye bleach from all the terrible stuff you've read on the internet?

Head on over to the Memphis subreddit for Tell Me Something Good Tuesday. Here's an example from last week:

bonsaibo - The golden hour pre-sunset light tonight was gorgeous.

MemphisMoon - Only 5 more months 'til I get to visit Memphis again.

CodySpring - Got our offer accepted for the house we are looking into in Memphis. Now to just hope the paperwork and appraisal go through alright.

P.S. Please don't crucify me but I tried it on my second visit to Memphis and didn't find Central BBQ to be all it is hyped up to be. Any other recommendations?

BBQspaghetti - We stopped crucifying people 4 or 5 years ago.

More Power to You: TVA Plan

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TVA’s new energy plan includes more solar and wind and less coal.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) will harness more solar energy over the next 20 years, more wind power if it gets cheaper, and less power from coal. But some say its environmental goals don't go far enough.

The TVA dropped its final Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) late last week, the culmination of a process that began in February 2018. That plan is a basic roadmap the nation's largest power supplier will follow to meet the ever-growing needs for power to 154 local power companies and 58 other customers throughout the Valley.

At the heart of the plan is the mix of energy sources TVA says it will likely use over the next 20 years. Picking that mix was driven largely by the need of diverse and flexible sources of energy and a federal mandate for low costs, TVA said in its report issued Friday.

TVA measures that mix in megawatts, or 1 million watts of power, enough to power about 750 homes at once. So, how much does it need? In its 2018 fiscal year, TVA provided more than 163 million megawatt-hours of electricity to its customers.

Coal power will reduce as TVA retires two coal-fired plants, in Paradise (Kentucky) and Bull Run (Tennessee). TVA will try to renew a 20-year license to operate its Browns Ferry (Tennessee) nuclear plant. It will up its use of combined cycle plants, like our Allen plant, over the next 20 years. How much, though, (maybe up to 9,800 megawatts by 2038) depends on demand and natural gas prices.

As for renewables, TVA said they're definitely in the mix. Solar power could expand on the TVA grid (as much as 14,000 megawatts by 2038) if the demand is there. TVA said it could add up to 4,200 megawatts of wind power to its mix by 2038 if it becomes cost-effective.

Environmental groups gave TVA some credit for "moving in a smarter economic and environmental direction," according to a statement from the Sierra Club's Southeast region chapter, but the agency has a long way to go.

"Renewable energy technologies are smarter and safer than fossil fuels, and it's now known that they're the cheapest form of new electricity generation across most of the world — cheaper than both coal and gas," said the Sierra Club's Al Armendariz. "So, even as TVA is making positive strides in this new plan, its leaders must start planning for an energy future that doesn't just trade coal for gas — which not only exposes customers to a volatile market, but also worsens the climate crisis."

The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) did note that TVA's new plan does include "recommendations for greater energy efficiency, transparency, and renewables." But the group called the energy plan "outdated and a blow to customers."

For one, it said, the plan undervalues energy-efficiency savings for customers. For example, Duke Energy Carolinas customers get seven times more savings from efficiencies than TVA customers.

Also, TVA's solar plans, SACE said, would only benefit big business customers like Google and Facebook. Residential and small business customers here are "being left out and left behind" on potential solar savings.

Council Race Switcheroo; Tax Rate Questioned

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Petitions for elective positions on the October 3rd city of Memphis ballot continue to be pulled, and there has been one major surprise of late — a switch of intent on the part of city council candidate Cody Fletcher, who has withdrawn his petition for the Super-District 9, Position 1 council seat and has picked up another petition for the Super-District 9, Position 3 seat.

The change does not alter the geographical location that Fletcher, a University of Memphis development specialist, hopes to represent, but it certainly shakes up the dynamics of races for the two council positions.

Fletcher's withdrawal from the Position 1 race basically leaves that contest a one-on-one between two major contenders, Shelby County Schools teacher Erika Sugarmon and developer Chase Carlisle. Previously, Sugarmon, daughter of the late African-American legal eminence Russell Sugarmon, was in a position to take advantage of vote-splitting between Fletcher and Carlisle, who drew on similar East Memphis business constituencies.

Fletcher now finds himself essentially in a mano-a-mano battle for the Position 3 seat with Jeff Warren. It remains to be seen whether the shift, recommended by consultant Brian Stephens, who advises both Fletcher and Carlisle, actually increases Fletcher's chances since he and Warren, an early and well-established entry in this year's election, also draw upon similar bases of support.

,
• As previously noted in this space, the Shelby County Commission managed last week to approve both a budget and a tax rate, thereby beating the timetable of preceding commissions, which generally were still wrangling well past July 1st, the traditional beginning of a new fiscal year.

One longtime observer of county government isn't so sure that such promptness was called for or even desirable. Jimmie Covington, longtime reporter on Shelby County government for The Commercial Appeal, before his retirement some years back, still keeps a close watch on county affairs.

In a Facebook post, Covington wrote: "Did the Shelby County Commission act contrary to state law when it approved this year's county property tax rate on third and final reading on Monday, June 24? For 30 years or so, the commission has been setting the tax rate after July 1 of each year.

"One year, when the late Vasco Smith was serving on the commission, commissioners set the rate before July 1. Smith, who objected to the move, filed a lawsuit in which he charged that state law prevented the county from setting the rate before July 1. Smith won the lawsuit.

"Every year since then, the county has been holding third reading on the rate after July 1. Last year, the rate was set on July 9. ... With a new county mayor, new county attorney, and eight new commissioners in office this year, did a mistake occur?"

Covington cites state law: section §67-1-701(a) [our italics].

"Establishment of county tax rate: It is the duty of the county legislative bodies, on the first Monday in July, or as soon thereafter as practicable, to fix the tax rates on all properties within their respective jurisdictions for all county purposes, except that in any county having a population in excess of seven hundred thousand (700,000) ... establishing tax due dates other than the first Monday in October each year, in accordance with §67-1-701(a), shall have the authority to fix tax rates for all county purposes at dates prior to the first Monday in July."

Apropos the seeming loophole of that last clause, Covington notes, "The due date for collecting taxes in Shelby County has not been changed from the first Monday in October."

Hmmm. "No foul, no penalty" is our guess.

Lies and Damned Lies

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There was a popular meme flying around Facebook this week. It was a picture of Mark Twain, accompanied by this sentence: "No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot."

That's a provocative quote, and it sounds like something Mark Twain might have said. It's appealing to everyone, because everybody thinks the facts are on their side and only an idiot would disagree. But Twain didn't say it. Nor did he say most of the things you see attributed to him on social media. In fact, there are websites entirely devoted to debunking or verifying Mark Twain quotes.

Here are some other things Mark Twain didn't say:

"Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint."

"The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."

I could fill most of the editorial space in the Flyer with misattributed Mark Twain quotes, but I won't because — as Mark Twain also didn't say: "I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time."

There was another, more troubling, meme making the rounds this week. It was a picture of Democratic presidential candidate and California Senator Kamala Harris and her parents. The text claimed that Harris' father was Jamaican and her mother was Indian and that Harris was falsely claiming to be African-American. Other variations of the meme that were circulated claimed that Harris was the child of immigrants and born and raised in Canada.

An entire network of bots began tweeting the same allegation, word for word, within an hour or so of the second Democratic debate's conclusion. Even Donald Trump Jr. retweeted it, before later deleting his tweet.

Here we go again, America. Birtherism, part deux.

Harris' father was a Jamaican of African descent, i.e. black. (Ever wonder why black folks were brought to Jamaica?) Harris was raised in Oakland, California — which is still part of America, as far as I know. She has been described since her election as "the first black senator from California," and no one seemed to object. She was bused to school with other black children for the purpose of desegregation while in elementary school. She is as black as President Obama, Tiger Woods, Beyoncé, and millions of other Americans who have a mixed-race heritage that includes African roots.

Questions about Obama's citizenship, parentage, and place of birth were famously promoted into a full-fledged conspiracy theory, mostly by Donald Trump. That "issue" distracted and divided the American public for years. Now it's Harris' turn to become the target of a coordinated disinformation campaign questioning her race and citizenship. Daily Stormer and other neo-nazi sites have been leading the charge, as well as at least one foreign-based bot network. And it's being helped along by thousands of folks on Facebook, most of whom have no idea of the meme's origin.

I'm hard-pressed to think of a parallel in American history — of a time when propaganda and false "facts" were as easily spread among the populace. It's compounded by the fact that newspapers have shrunk and disappeared to the point where many communities have no reliable news source and where many Americans consume and take for truth whatever is fed to them on social media.

It's a fact that malign entities, foreign and domestic, are seeking to undermine our democratic systems and turn this country into an autocracy, similar to those of North Korea, Saudi Arabia, China, and Russia. That the president seems to be more comfortable with the leaders of these countries than with our traditional democratic allies is unsettling, to say the least. Destroying the reputations and credibility of would-be challengers to the president in 2020 is just part of the process. Trump hasn't come up with a derogatory nickname for Harris yet, but it's only a matter of time.

I'm not sure who actually said, "No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot," but these days it seemingly takes very little evidence to persuade an idiot. So check the sources of the information you receive before passing it on as gospel. Don't be an idiot. Your country's future is depending on it.

Bruce VanWyngarden

brucev@memphisflyer.com

Lawyer Popped for Harboring Son After Murder

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A Shelby County attorney was censured by state officials Tuesday for harboring her son after he murdered a man during a drug deal in 2016.

According to WMC, 17-year-old Sebastian Vaughn was indicted on a first-degree murder charge in 2017 for killing Marlo Williams at a Memphis IHOP in June 2016. Vaughn, who attended Bartlett High School, told investigators he shot Williams, 35, with a sawed-off shotgun in the front seat of the victim's car during a dispute during a drug deal at the Sycamore View Road IHOP.

WMC reported also that Vaughn took a photo of the victim at the time and sent it in a message friends with the caption, "I just killed a Mfer 10 minutes ago."

Vaughn to pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in February and will be required to serve at least 45 percent of a 15-year prison sentence, according to WMC.
Vaughn's mother and Memphis attorney, Summer Rhoden, did not contact law enforcement officials when her son came to her home the afternoon of the murder. She didn't facilitate his surrender until the next morning. For this, she was charged as an accessory after the fact. In March, she pleaded guilty to a reduced misdemeanor charge of criminal attempt. 

On Tuesday, Rhoden was given a public censure by the Tennessee Supreme Court's Board of Professional Responsibility, the board that oversees attorneys in the state. Her actions after the murder violated state conduct laws for attorneys, according to the board.

A censure is a public rebuke and warning to an attorney here but does not affect the attorney's ability to practice law.

The Other Red, White & Blue: Orquesta Akokán Brings Cuba's Finest

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Old Glory isn't the only red, white and blue we can celebrate this weekend. That other revolution, nearly 200 years after the United States', may have shaken up the traditional stew of influences that always made Cuba a musical dynamo, but the island's deep lineage is as powerful as ever today. Orquesta Akokán, appearing at the Levitt Shell on Saturday, July 6, is proof positive. Touting a Grammy Award nomination for "Best Tropical Latin Album," and making the "Best Of" lists of numerous media outlets, the big mambo sound of the band is catching on fast. And it was all spurred on by a record cut live to tape over a three-day session at Havana’s hallowed state-run Estudios Areito, one of the longest operating studios in the world.

The album was produced by Jacob Plasse and arranged by Mike Eckroth, and I recently had a chance to ask Plasse about the album's genesis and how it spawned the current juggernaut touring band.

Memphis Flyer: Cuban music is fascinating because it's hard to wrap my head around the syncopation and the timekeeping, as a musician. I enjoy the way it mystifies me.

Jacob Plasse: I can definitely relate to that. Because I'm not Cuban, and I learned Cuban music coming from jazz. So it took me a long time and a lot of embarrassing gigs of getting lost, rhythmically, before I felt comfortable. And still, I feel like I can always get better. Some of the things you do are so simple, but to get them right, really in the pocket — it's very apparent in Cuban music the degree that you are or are not in the pocket. If you look at rock bands, like the Rolling Stones, things can be a little loose, and that's cool. That' s part of the style.

That is not the case with Cuban music. There is no “one”. Like the fourth beat is really one. In rock music you have a bass drum hitting on the one. In Cuban music, everything hits on the four. Mambo music less so than other types of Cuban music, which kind of makes it easier, but still even that too. The congas hit on the four, the bass hits on four, usually the piano or the guitar is accenting four.

With historically rich recordings and projects like the Buena Vista Social Club, it seems the Cuban musical scene has a keen appreciation of its past, that there's a great continuity with music of the 40s or earlier.

Not exactly. I'm not really a historian, but I think the most important event in Cuban music is the Cuban Revolution. Before that there was so much interaction between New York and Havana, and after that things split in two. You can hear things sort of change. Then a big part of mambo music actually happened in Mexico, and had to do with the Mexican film industry. Perez Prado came out of that. Basically, after the revolution the American recording music isn't as important; it can't go to Cuba and record.

So then the Cuban thing becomes nationalized, and what the Cuban government, Fidel and the Communist Party, wanna promote is not music like mambo, which is coming out of the casinos. That became frowned upon, so it sort of disappeared in a way. Other styles become more prominent. This big band sound that is so American falls heavily out of favor in that period.

Yet the old traditions were preserved enough for things like the Buena Vista Social Club to come together.

Well, I think in time the government gradually let all that come back. Because it was a money and cultural cash cow. And Buena Vista helped a lot of people become familiar with Cuban music. I think our music is pretty different than Buena Vista. It's very much related, it's still Cuban music, but with the instrumentation, the sounds, it's definitely a different thing.

Yet without the Buena Vista, I wonder how much interest people would have in my group. And that was how I was exposed to a lot of Cuban music too. It was a great starting point. And I fell in love with it and learned about all these other things. I think the Buena Vista is wonderful for what it's done for people's understanding of the music.

How do you understand Cuban music's cultural importance? What do we get from Cuban music?

What I love about Cuban music is its unification of what people can dance to and what's art music. It's all very advanced, harmonically and rhythmically, and yet people can dance to it. The way into all this is through dance. And if you listen to some mambo stuff, like Perez Prado and stuff, there's often a lot of dissonant harmonies. Those Perez Prado recordings from the 60s are weird! It's like nothing else. And full of pretty advanced ideas that you find more in film music or something. But because it's couched in these African dance rhythms, people can understand it and it's a gateway in.

How did Orquesta Akokán come to be?


Me and Mike Eckroth and singer José "Pepito" Gómez all lived in the New York area. And I had a musical, and Mike and Pepito had played sometimes in my band, Los Rancheros. So we knew each other from the New York scene. And then we started writing these songs. Mike especially is incredibly knowledgeable about this style and this time. He has a doctorate in Cuban music, if you can believe it. So we wrote these songs and tried recording them in New York. It was okay, but it wasn't anything earth shattering.

And then Pepito, the lead singer, was going down to Cuba. He's actually kind of a famous timba singer, which is a modern style of Cuban music. He said, 'Why don't you come down? And why not bring the arrangements, maybe we can work on the tunes.' And then he said, 'Let's book a studio!'

Then all of a sudden we were recording an album with all these legends of Cuban music that Pepito and Cesar had assembled. So Orquesta Akokán was sort of a recording project, and making records is what I do for a living, but this one, for some reason, everyone loved. Dap-Tone ended up releasing it, then they really wanted us to tour. So we became a touring band. And now it's this whole business or something. It's really incredible. The band sounds great and people are really receptive, which is wonderful.

How did the recording sessions in Cuba take shape?

Me and Mike and Pepito just wanted to make a cool album. It's not easy to get everything through production in Cuba, because there are these variables. But Cesar Lopez, our saxophone player, arranged it all. Recording it, we had this wonderful studio the size of a gymnasium in central Havana. Nat King Cole recorded there. All the legends. So you walk in there and you feel special. Like no recording studio I've every been at that. That room is really special. And that's really all you need.

What kind of scene and sound should people expect when they show up at the shell Saturday?

People should expect to dance. There's nothing like a really killing rhythm section live. The record comes alive in so many ways when we play it. It has a new energy to it. Those rhythms are meant to be felt and heard in person. There's a connection that happens that doesn't happen otherwise. 

Report: Tennessee Taxpayers Pay for White Nationalists' Security

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White nationalists from numerous organizations held meetings at a Tennessee state park last year and this year and, so far, Tennessee taxpayers are still on the hook for the meetings' security.

That’s according to a recent report from MuckRock, the nonprofit news site dedicated to government transparency. MuckRock reporter Kent Hoover said the groups still haven’t paid the $21,058 bill from last year’s event and federal judge ruled that they didn’t have to, according to The Tennessean.

In May, ”American Renaissance” rented facilities at Montgomery Bell State Park, just west of Nashville. American Resistance is the magazine and website from the New Century Foundation, a group founded by white nationalist Jared Taylor in 1990.

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) says the Foundation ”is a self-styled think tank that promotes pseudo-scientific studies and research that purport to show the inferiority of blacks to whites — although in hi-falutin' language that avoids open racial slurs and attempts to portray itself as serious scholarship.” The Foundation says it’s "a progressive, nonpartisan think tank that seeks to foster opportunity, reduce inequality, and promote security at home and abroad.”

According to Unicorn Riot, a nonprofit news organization, about 100 protested the American Renaissance conference in May. That group said the state’s security force was large and largely focused on the protestors.


"Law enforcement deployed for 2019’s American Renaissance event included Tennessee State Park Rangers on ATVs, Tennessee State Troopers, a Tennessee Department of Corrections Strike Team, and deputies from the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office,” reads the Unicorn Riot post. “A Tennessee Bureau of Investigation mobile command center and a Department of Corrections prison bus were both parked directly outside the conference center.”


Protestors told Unicorn Riot that they were denied a permit to rent a pavilion more than a half of a mile away from the conference center.


MuckRock reporter Hoover said, for now, taxpayers have to pay for all that protection.

“The extra security needed to prevent Montgomery Bell from becoming another Charlottesville costs money, and the state of Tennessee wants white nationalist groups that rent the conference center to pick up the tab,” Hoover wrote. “For this year’s conference, the state demanded that American Renaissance agree to pay for any extra security costs related to the protests and cover the costs of any damages to the park caused by protesters.”

The groups still haven't paid any money for the added security.

Last weekend, an event called the Nationalist Solutions Conference was held at Montgomery Bell park. That event was hosted by the Council of Conservative Citizens and the American Freedom Party, both white supremacy groups. The conference featured speakers like David Duke, a former KKK Grand Wizard, and James Edwards, host of the Bartlett-based radio show called "The Political Cesspool," which the SPLC calls “racist” and “anti-Semitic.”

According to news site News2Share, dozens of antifa protestors were there to protest. Its video shows mounted police, a TBI mobile unit, Rutherford County Sheriffs deputies, park rangers, and more.

Hattiloo’s Bandele Awarded Grant for Play on Confederate Statue Removals

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The Hattiloo Theatre has been awarded a near $20,000 grant to produce a play about the removal the city's Confederate statues.


Ekundayo Bandele, executive director of Hattiloo, is one of 42 creatives across the country who were awarded grants from the MAP Fund to produce live artistic performances. Grants range from $10,000 to $45,000.


Bandele was awarded $18,725 to write and produce the play Take ‘Em Down 901.


The MAP Fund “invests in artistic production as the critical foundation of imagining — and ultimately co-creating — a more equitable and vibrant society,” according to the program’s website.


MAP supports original live performances that “embody a spirit of deep inquiry, particularly works created by artists who question, disrupt, complicate, and challenge inherited notions of social and cultural hierarchy across the United States.”

Bandele’s one-act play will center around the grassroots movement that helped lead to the removal of statues of Nathan Bedford Forrest in Health Sciences Park, as well as of Jefferson Davis statue and Capt. J Harvey Mathes in Memphis Park in December 2017.


The play will tell the story “from the perspectives of the 50 concerned citizens who succeeded in legally toppling the controversial landmarks, in the process, upending the powerful institutions that had long protected them and the enduring legacy of oppression they represented for Memphis’ marginalized majority,” the project’s description reads.


The play is slated to premiere in 2021 with free performances in Health Sciences and Memphis Parks.


The Josh Jackson Project: Too Much for Memphis?

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As a reclamation project, Josh Jackson might be too much, even for Memphis.

I’m a sucker for reclamation projects. I admittedly have a soft spot for hard-heads. Whether it is a young person from the inner city who needs guidance and direction or a star athlete who needs a fan-base to embrace him, I have always been a fan of potential success stories. I am also a fan of — and cover — a team in a city that has prided itself on being a haven of reinvention for its athletes, a place for second chances. Grizzlies fans embrace troubled players and don't mind being called “The Island Of Misfit Toys.”

Zach Randolph, Tony Allen, Lance Stephenson, James Johnson, and Joakim Noah all come to mind as players who came to Memphis with off-the-court issues, controversial backgrounds, negative reputations, or some sort of low expectations, in general. Once they got to Memphis, the city worked its mojo and they became fan favorites, on and off the court. Maybe it’s some mystical magic that the city possesses. It shouldn't be surprising for a place that has as much soul and culture as this one does.

Now the Grizzlies have another potential feel-good story in newly acquired Josh Jackson, who was acquired in a trade this week with the Suns. Memphis sent Kyle Korver and Jevon Carter to Phoenix for Jackson, De’Anthony Melton, and two second-round picks. Jackson was the fourth overall pick just two years ago in the 2017 NBA draft. Many figured Jackson would be a key part of the Suns future, but the team cooled on him because of his off-court antics. The Grizzlies were willing to take him, perhaps in order to get a chance to assess him on their own. Or perhaps just to use him as a piece in another deal.

Jackson’s list of blemishes is pretty long. It includes flashing gun-like hand gestures at a fan, being arrested for fleeing and resisting arrest (after trying to enter a VIP section of a music festival led to a verbal altercation), smoking marijuana around his infant daughter, skipping out on a scheduled autograph session for Suns fans, vandalizing a female student-athlete’s car after a verbal altercation while in college at Kansas, and fleeing the scene of an accident after backing into a parked car. He has also been labeled as “un-coachable” and gained a reputation for shying away from his defensive calling card to focus (unsuccessfully) on being a scoring threat.

Jackson hasn’t been accused of murder or anything like that, but he has shown a lack of self-awareness, as well as anger-management issues. That's a scary combination for someone who's only 22, with more than enough resources and money to get him into more trouble. But Jackson has an issue that separates him from previous reclamation projects in Memphis, and that's his age.

Zach Randolph is the ultimate go-to for fans and media to reference as an example of how reclamation projects in Memphis can work. A major difference between Randolph and Jackson, however, is that Randolph was 28 when the Grizzlies acquired him. Jackson is only 22. Randolph was “aging out” of most of his negative habits, while Jackson could just be entering his prime. His most recent legal woes, as well as his being traded, could serve as a wake-up call, or it could just be a sign of more trouble to come. He’s a troubled young player who would join a Grizzlies team populated with even younger — and impressionable — players.

The Grizzlies have options with Jackson. These include trading him again, buying him out, or stretching his contract. But they also have to make a decision soon about the final year of Jackson's rookie deal, which ends in 2020. His 2020-21 contract becomes fully guaranteed if the Grizzlies decide to pick up their option on him by its October 31st deadline. The hope is that Jackson will show signs of being focused on making better decisions off the court, and can contribute on the court in a way that lives up to the expectations set for him as the number-four overall pick. If he succeeds, Memphis and its fans can proudly add Jackson to their collection of successful reclamation projects.

Man Man and Rebecca Black in Upcoming 1884 Lounge Show

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Lead man Honus Honus promises to deliver a fun show.

Experimental pop band Man Man hits Memphis this week with supporting act Rebecca Black — remember her 2011 hit "Friday"? Although the concert takes place on Wednesday, not Friday, lead man Honus Honus (Ryan Kattner) promises to deliver a fun show that may or may not involve "a jar of frogs, Billy Joel covers, and, if the air is right, maybe throwing a handful of spoons at a wall."

All jokes aside, the band will perform an array of songs from past albums spanning from Man Man EP (2004) to Life Fantastic (2011) to On Oni Pond (2013) backed by woodwinds, horns, guitars, keyboards, drums, and "men singing like women and children."

After a brief tour together in March, Rebecca Black is back on tour with the band throughout July. "I wanted to bring someone who is inspiring to be around," says Kattner. "I went and saw a friend perform in L.A., and she played afterward. I was familiar with the work she did when she was 13 years old, but I was really taken aback by how great she sounded at the show. She's blossomed into a great songwriter, and she does a great performance and has great stage presence. I also thought it would be an interesting juxtaposition because I hate going to shows where the opening band sounds exactly like the main band. Our fans have been really respectful of her."

Man Man, Rebecca Black perform at 1884 Lounge, Wednesday, July 10th, 8 p.m., $15-$17.

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