StoryBoard 30

“History’s not stuffy. And it’s not as far away as you think it is. And either looking at the images and wondering ‘where is this?’ and ‘why is it different?’ and ‘what does that mean?’ . . . makes you feel more connected to the city and with the past. You realize that ‘Oh, these are people like me, and they have the same concerns and the same fears and same challenges.’ I find it inspiring to see how people overcame these challenges in the past and how it informs the future...

“Private wealth and public poverty . . . the notion is that while in America we’ve accumulated vast wealth in the private and corporate sector, that when we look at the public sector, in terms of public facilities it’s a status of real impoverishment. And that certainly would be the case with the loss of a facility like this . . . The church was everything. Like so many of us growing up in the South, the church is your second home. I lived on Summer Avenue growing up, and that was home...

“Somehow my performing created this safe place where they could talk and share their stories. . . and the conversations that came from that. . . it was really something. People were moved, not just by what I shared, but they were moved deeply by what each other shared, Black and White, about what it was like to grow up in Memphis, Black and White, and to know about racism and deal with that...

“Livability has never been more important . . . at the very moment when city revenues are in decline and city leaders are challenged by managing through a pandemic and big shifts in the economy, I think you’re still going to have to look ahead and be bold and not be afraid of asserting changes amidst this chaos. There’s the tendency when you’re fearful, you hunker down, you cover up, you go to your comfort food . . ...

“Today we are going to be talking about housing, and what is really a set of crises as a result of the pandemic and economic shutdowns. As many of us in Memphis and around the country are in isolation, workers are working from home, parents are teaching from home...

“The first obvious one that will be affected for quite some time is office space. Employers and employees are realizing a lot of work can be done from home – that was a bit of an eye-opener for me. When I realized how easy it was to work from home it was a bit scary – I think it’ll interesting to see how many businesses come back. I don’t think they’ll come back at a 100% working from the office.”

That’s architect Chooch Pickard of ArchInc...

“Oh, yes. This is everybody’s favorite question. And also, my favorite question to ask people as well. . . Mainly it is because the inspiration that I get from talking to other Memphians propels me every single day...

“It becomes an equity issue. We can’t forget that for a very long time there was a large segment of the population that was excluded from enjoying Overton Park. Whatever we do with the master plan… we have to be sure we’re including everyone. We need to make sure that we are welcoming, that we are undoing those years when people felt excluded...

“. . . to the people who make a living playing music, it was shocking in a way that was different than for you and me. They were trying to figure out how to pay rent. If you wake up every day and you say, ‘I’m a musician and I play live music every day,’ and then someone says, ‘that actually doesn’t exist anymore, that’s not even a thing’ . . . that does something not only to your paycheck, but also to your sense of identity...

“That’s what some nonprofits are facing . . . if your mission and work doesn’t line up with direct service it’s a more challenging fundraising environment. How do we do publicity in this context? We’re in the middle of a paradigm shift. Nonprofits have to think, ‘How is our message relevant in this new context?'”

That’s Marvin Stockwell, director of media relations for St...