Don't Mess with Memphis

A while back my good friend Amy L. jokingly allerted me that Memphis had been listed as the #3 "Most Miserable City in America" by Forbes Magazine. This sort of Memphis bashing is surprisingly common place, and I've written in regards to it before.

Growing up in Clarksville, TN, an ex-urb of Nashville all I ever really heard about Memphis growing up was that it was dirty, poor, crime-ridden, and filled with "them" (i.e. black people). There's a running "joke" that Tennessee should sell Memphis to Arkansas or Mississippi (a ludicrous idea which if feasable would actually remove a huge chunk of TN's economy, history, and culture). I'm not bashing middle Tennessee here, I was born and raised in middle Tennessee and I love it. 

The negativity Memphis drew was strange to me because my family has strong connections to Memphis,  my dad's siblings and his aunt live here, and my experiences in Memphis had been overwhelmingly positive. When I was younger I would often spend a week or two in Memphis during the summertime, staying with my Aunt Karen and taking swimming lessons from my Aunt Michele. I loved Memphis. Memphis was a great place to be a kid; there was the pink palace, the zoo, big parks and great food (all stuff Clarksville lacked).

Then in high school I spent a month at the University of Memphis for the Tennessee Governor's School for International Studies. We visited the National Civil Rights Museum, the South Main Arts District, Beale Street, and of course the Zoo (they had just received two pandas from China). I even met one of Ghandi's grandsons who was in town for the annual Ghandi-King Conference on Peacemaking.  That summer I really fell in love with Memphis. 

When it came time apply for college I applied to both Rhodes College and the University of Memphis. Although I ended up attending Pepperdine, when it came time for me to apply to law school the U. of M. was honestly my first choice. 

So yes, I love Memphis, and the Forbes post hit home. So when IloveMemphis mentioned Mayor Wharton's letter for Forbes today, I was estatic. 

I encourage you to read it. But here's the heart of the letter: 

Memphis is not a miserable city, not by any definition, not by any metric....

Memphis is a city of joy. You can hear it coming up from our high school gymnasiums and football fields every Friday evening.  You can hear it rocking on Beale Street late every Saturday night. You can hear it in our churches every Sunday morning....

Memphis is a city of resilience. Floods, fire, pestilence, and poverty may have tested us, but they have never broken us.  We are a city built on a bluff, positioned to withstand storms that other cities cannot.  If the rates of unemployment, high school drop outs, and crime are to be our new battlegrounds, then we will join those fights, and we will prevail.  For all of the problems you might show me, I can point to a legion of government agencies, non-profit organizations, churches, volunteer groups, and grassroots activists working together as one Memphis to find the solutions.

Maybe it’s something in our water.  Maybe it’s something in our soil.  I think it’s something in our souls that makes us Memphians.  We know who we are – and miserable is not part of the definition.

We know too that our city’s song is not complete.  It is being written every day, and it is sung by a chorus of hopeful, energetic voices that will resonate for generations.

Tennessee

Text from Carter: You always were more of a Memphian than a Nashvillian

My Reply: Never really been either bro, just a small town Tennessean who tries to make the best of wherever I am.

So yeah, I've written a lot of about Memphis this year, but that's just because that's where I'm living right now.

The truth is, I love Tennessee in general.  Yeah, Tennessee definitely has it's negatives: white trash, rednecks, an extremely regressive sales tax, pompous evangelical churches, lingering racism, etc. 

On the other hand, it is the musical heartland of America: Blues, Rock N' Roll, Country, Rockabilly, Soul, Gospel, Bluegrass, and Alt-country all came out of Tennessee.

You can't beat our barbeque, our catfish, our our meat n' three's. 

Tennessee produced Andrew Jackson, one of the greatest men in American history. Don't like Jackson? Well you can thank him for the state of florida and the very existence of the U.S. for his military genius at the Battle of New Orleans; so bite me. 

Yes, I may be a little more "Memphis" than "Nashville," but I still love our capital (even if it is painfully yuppified). It's a beautiful city, with gorgeous neighborhoods, great parks, good food, live music, and yes, a full-scale replica of the Parthenon. 

So yeah, come to Tennessee, I can guarantee you'll like it.

 

home

I think Memphis suits my personality perfectly.

Loud, southern, outlandish, and a little shady....ok, really shady.

I love it here- so glad I can say that now.

City of Graceland

Memphis, City of Graceland, where has your voice gone to?

In cities to the East they speak only of your poverty and crime.

Have they forgotten how small they are in the stream of time

When held against your pillowed bluffs, drenched in history?

Surely when our Republic's day are done,

Memphis' name will remain, strung throughout the stories,

The songs and ballads of our people, the legends of our heroes.

Memphis, you are the great American crossroads.

You are always a stop along our national journey. 

People come to Memphis with reason: to listen and to learn.

Your songs and stories give us comfort,

They tell us who we are, and who we are to be.

Memphis, you have always been a city of deep contrast. 

The stark divide of black and white has almost torn you apart.

Sorrow and joy run down your streets like blood and wine.

But is human life itself not an exercise in contrast?

Are we not born somewhere between angels and animals?

Within your constant struggles we can see ourselves,

The good, the bad, the hideous, and the noble.

Surely this is your blessing, and your curse.

I believe that the American soul is a battlefield.

Our heroes and villains are forged in wars, both real and imagined.

And Memphis, to how many battles have you born silent witness?

Yes, you baptized the Forrest whose anger lit the Southern nights

With flaming crosses and the moans of your disinherited children.

But how many heroes have ennobled your streets?

Did you not crown a King of Hearts, and still hold him in his tomb?

Did you not bear witness to the selfless death of another,

There with an evil gun shot, upon a cold steel motel railing?

Is that prophet's dream now forgotten among your children?

Memphis, you have always been a city of song.

You do not whisper of days gone by like Charleston.

You do not scream to be seen and heard like New York.

Your voice, once deep and powerful, was heard across the world.

From Tokyo to London, men still sing your songs. 

The energy of your Rock and Roll has made us dance.

The power of your Soul has made us love.

The sorrow of your Blues has made us weep.

Memphis, raise your voice again to us now.

Our nation needs your songs,

To light our nights, to lift our hearts,

To tell us we are not alone in our loneliness and sorrow.

Memphis, sing to us your songs; sing to us our songs.

Remind us where we have come from, and where we are yet to go.