Get To Memphis

The past nine days have been a whirlwind of various planning workshops, air travel, car travel, carrying furniture down stairs, and celebrating a long-time friend’s retirement. All of this, while also layering in a head cold in the middle of the week. After posting today’s essay, my Sunday will truly be a much-needed day of rest.

Two Fridays ago, Lori and I flew down to Memphis so that we could attend a day-long personal planning session at the home of Andy Bailey, a fellow EO member who did an excellent, though abbreviated, workshop in Columbus earlier this year. The program is called Boundless, and it honors all of the same principles of EOS, just applying them more to individuals rather than organizations. When I suggested to Lori that we attend, I saw it as an easy way to dedicate some focused time to thinking about our future, in a nice setting (Andy’s farm property is beautiful). And it very much delivered on that vision.

The workshop happened all-day Saturday. Our flight back to Columbus on Sunday didn’t board until around 3pm, so we had a fair amount of time to explore Memphis. We cruised around Beale Street, and took a peak at the recently-closed Comeback Cafe. I discovered Comeback’s coffee sodas in the cooler at Copia Farm a year or two ago, and was instantly smitten. So I started following them on Instagram. They are scrappy, creative entrepreneurs with a great product. Although they did close their café, their canned beverage business goes on. I’m hopeful that by simplifying their business, it will more easily grow. You can order their unique sodas online, so give them a try.

“What about the National Civil Rights Museum?” Lori asked me as we were poking around the internet, looking for things to do before heading to the airport. My first instinct was to resist this idea - it felt too much like doing my homework in grade school rather than enjoying my brief window of time on a Sunday. The reviews of the museum are stellar, which convinced us to check it out, and I’m so glad that we did.

My first instinct was right, in that visiting the museum did require something “extra” of me. It was not just a Sunday in a new town, bopping around. It was heavy. Located in the building formerly known as the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated April 4th, 1968, the tone of the visit was appropriately somber. Touring this museum meant re-absorbing things I had previously learned about the civil rights struggle, and adding so much new information on top of that. For every Rosa Parks, Dred Scott and Thurgood Marshall, there were ten new names for me to learn, of people making similar sacrifices in the effort to fully claim their rights as citizens of this country.

I cannot do the experience justice with my words, but I will say this: Every single American should tour this museum. No matter how much education you have received, visiting the National Civil Rights Museum will take your understanding to a much higher level.

Sharing the emotions that I felt last Sunday are a better way to get at why everyone should visit this hallowed ground. The first emotion was sadness - sadness at the misery experienced by West Africans - kidnapped, forced to row across the ocean so that their entire lives could be spent farming crops and being treated like livestock. The second emotion I felt was shame - shame for every time I chuckled at a racist joke, shame for not calling out the joke-tellers, shame for allowing people to reinforce bullshit stereotypes. I felt immense gratitude for all of the people who have leaned in to the Civil Rights effort, and the way in which they went about their efforts. As an oppressed people, to embrace Ghandi’s nonviolent approach to resistance, working within the U.S. legal system to secure rights that were already codified in our Constitution is nothing short of amazing. Lastly, I felt a fair amount of anger - anger that people had to spend decades working through a legal system to verify that yes, indeed, these rights do apply to everyone. Anger at how our fellow citizens refused to acknowledge these legal rulings even after they were adjudicated.

This experience put the present moment into clearer perspective. It’s easier for me to see how racism still exists in our society, and is working to regain leverage within the legal power structures of America. Get to Memphis. See for yourself.

Sunday Supper

The head cold that both Lori and I have had this week will be graciously escorted to the curb thanks to this Chicken Pho recipe. I’m substituting some fresh veggies from the farmer’s market, as well as some Cajun sausage and homemade beef stock to give it an extra healing kick. This Buttermilk Corn Pasta recipe looks nice, too.

Sunday Music

Memphis is the theme this week, so the Blues is on tap for our music recommendations. This 2011 performance by B.B. King at Royal Albert Hall is definitely a good listen. This 2023 performance by Gary Clark Jr. at the Beale Street Music Festival is really something too. Enjoy!

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Have a great week ahead!  You can do anything you set your mind to. Let me know how I can help.


Peace & Love,