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In Nashville, preserving a Black neighborhood’s music legacy

In Nashville, preserving a Black neighborhood’s music legacy

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In Nashville, preserving a Black neighborhood's music legacy

 Country music capital Nashville was once also a hotbed of blues, rock and jazz, thanks to a historically Black neighborhood that brought then-budding greats like Jimi Hendrix to town.

But Jefferson Street’s vibrant community and its robust club scene faced mid-20th century decimation after the construction of an interstate highway slashed it in two, a classic tale of ruinous urban planning that all but extinguished the area’s rich musical legacy.

Lorenzo Washington, a lifelong Nashville resident who grew up in the area, has been vying to keep that history alive, operating a small museum out of his home that’s chock-full of music ephemera as well as records and maps exhibiting the district’s long-lost vitality.

“We had it all. We had banks, we had grocery stores, clothing stores, flower shops, ice cream parlors — just whatever you would need to survive as a community was right here on Jefferson Street,” the 81-year-old told AFP.

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He recalls a strip lined in revelers spilling out from supper clubs, speakeasies, dance halls, dives and pool rooms, a string of venues where on any given night you might catch stars from Hendrix to Etta James, Ray Charles to BB King.

“Everybody had fun on Jefferson Street,” Washington said with a wide smile, sporting a sharp blue suit jacket and felt hat. “That’s just the atmosphere that we had built.”

For decades Jefferson Street was a hotspot on the Chitlin’ Circuit, a network of venues where Black entertainers were welcome to perform in the era of racial segregation in the United States.

Hendrix arrived in the early 1960s, nabbing a residency at the Club Del Morocco and living in a Jefferson Street walk-up.

But the 1968 construction of Interstate 40, a major east-west thoroughfare, cut directly through the neighborhood, displacing more than a thousand Black residents and destroying the cultural and business district, triggering a severe economic decline.

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The clubs shuttered and all but one, Club Baron, was demolished.

Artists gravitated elsewhere — Memphis or Chicago, for example — and “the blues left Nashville,” said Washington.

“That was tragic to the city when we lost Black music,” he continued, saying the city was focused on its country scene and paid little attention to Jefferson Street.

“It was tragic to see our musical culture being split up like it was, the different artists and musicians just sort of scattered,” Washington said. “They went to wherever they could find work, or a record label, that would record them.”

“So it all left Nashville, and it was heartbreaking.”

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‘My part of town’

Washington is not a musician himself, but he did own a record shop throughout the 1970s and grew up surrounded by artists, his friends including Jefferson Street fixtures like Herbert Hunter and Marion James.

He moved back to the neighborhood in 2010, inspired by a newspaper article he’d seen in which a councilman friend of his said the only way to revitalize Jefferson Street was for Black folks to return and open businesses again.

“I need to move back to Jefferson Street — to my part of town,” Washington recalls thinking.

“And so that’s what I did.”

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Friends of his including the late James — Nashville’s “Queen of the Blues” — encouraged him to open the museum in a bid to “do more about keeping our legacy going.”

“They said you could be the curator. And I said, ‘The curator? Now what does a curator do?’” he remembers with an infectious chuckle. Well over a decade later, he says, “I’m still here on Jefferson Street representing the artists and musicians.”

Along with the museum, which officially opened in 2011, Washington operates a recording studio out of his home, along with a small performance space.

Washington was integral to ensuring the Club Baron — where then up-and-comer Hendrix lost a famous guitar duel to Nashville bluesman Johnny Jones — would get protection via designation as a local historic landmark.

The building now is owned by the local Elks Club, a fraternal order, and efforts are underway to begin hosting shows there once more.

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Today’s Nashville is “an aggressive city” compared to the city Washington knew growing up, he said, where high rollers call the shots.

“It’s sort of sad to see that all of this isn’t existing now,” Washington says, as he points out all the old haunts on a lot map hanging in his museum.

“My intention was to… encourage other businesses to move back to Jefferson Street, so we could pick up sort of where we left off at.”

“This little place has gotten attention,” Washington said. “There’s not a lot that’s going on publicly in this city that represents the Black community, and that’s what we’re representing.” “It’s not huge, but I can see growth.” 

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Harvey Weinstein expected in New York court after rape conviction overturned

Harvey Weinstein expected in New York court after rape conviction overturned

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Harvey Weinstein expected in New York court after rape conviction overturned

Harvey Weinstein is due to appear in state court in Manhattan on Wednesday for the first time since New York’s highest court threw out his 2020 rape conviction last week.

The hearing before Judge Curtis Farber will give prosecutors and Weinstein’s lawyers a chance to address the next steps for the former film mogul, which could include a new trial.

“Harvey is looking forward to his day in a fair court,” said Weinstein’s spokesperson, Juda Engelmayer.

Weinstein, 72, has been serving a 23-year sentence in a prison in upstate Rome, New York. He is currently at Bellevue Hospital, where he was transferred following last week’s order, according to Engelmayer.

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Jurors in Manhattan convicted Weinstein in February 2020 of sexually assaulting former production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006 and of raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013. They are among more than 80 women who have accused him of sexual misconduct.

The conviction included charges of first-degree sexual assault and third-degree rape. Weinstein, who has denied having non-consensual sexual encounters with anyone, was acquitted on other charges.

The verdict was hailed as a milestone for the #MeToo movement, in which women accused hundreds of men in entertainment, media, politics and other fields of sexual misconduct.

Last week, the New York Court of Appeals found that Judge James Burke, who presided over the trial, made a critical mistake by allowing three women to testify about alleged sexual assaults by Weinstein that were not part of the criminal charges against him. The court said this “prior bad acts” testimony violated his right to a fair trial.

The office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has signaled it plans to retry Weinstein.

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“We will do everything in our power to retry this case, and remain steadfast in our commitment to survivors of sexual assault,” Emily Tuttle, a spokesperson for Bragg, said in an email last week.

The case was brought by Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus Vance.

Regardless of whether he is retried, Weinstein is not likely to be released from jail because he was also sentenced to 16 years following his separate rape trial in California. The two sentences cannot be served concurrently.

Burke is no longer on the bench, so any retrial would be before a different judge.

Weinstein co-founded the Miramax film studio, whose hit movies included “Shakespeare in Love” and “Pulp Fiction.” His own eponymous film studio filed for bankruptcy in March 2018.

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‘Operation Madonna’: Rio readies for singer’s free mega-concert

‘Operation Madonna’: Rio readies for singer’s free mega-concert

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'Operation Madonna': Rio readies for singer's free mega-concert

Madonna’s long-awaited free concert on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach has upended the neighborhood, with over a million fans expected — but for retired resident Mario Renato Borges, it’s the least the singer deserves.

“Welcome, Queen,” read some posters near the huge stage erected on the Brazilian beach, where Madonna will on Saturday give the biggest show of her 40-year career and the last of her “Celebration Tour.”

The 65-year-old American singer arrived in the coastal city on Monday after more than 80 shows in Europe, the United States and Mexico. This will be her only stop in South America.

The “Like A Virgin” and “Material Girl” performer traveled to Brazil with three planes and 270 tons of equipment, according to her production company.

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She has set up camp at the luxurious Copacabana Palace hotel, connected to the stage by a suspended catwalk that dozens of fans crowded under this week, hoping to catch a glimpse of the pop star.

The biggest dance floor

Thanks to free admission, organizers expect Madonna’s concert to produce the “world’s biggest dance floor” of up to 1.5 million people — a figure only reached on the same beach by the Rolling Stones in 2006.

“The traffic is chaos but the concert will be great, especially because it’s Madonna, the queen of pop,” says resident Borges, who lives in Leme, a neighborhood at the end of Copacabana Beach.

Madonna’s fourth performance in Rio will contribute some 293 million reais (US$57 million) to the local economy, an income 30 times higher than what city authorities invested, according to the mayor’s office.

Around 150,000 foreigners are expected to swarm the city, with most hotels already fully booked.

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“This will undoubtedly be one of Rio’s biggest international events. It will boost our economy and attract tourists from Brazil, Latin American and all over the world,” said the city’s Tourism Secretary Daniela Maia.

Return of the conical corset

Madonna fever is clear to see in Rio — the so-called “Marvelous City” — as the hours tick down to her performance.

At the Lix printing shop in the popular downtown Saara shopping district, the songs of the “Material Girl” are playing on loop to inspire devotees who can choose from personalized fans, hats or mugs.

Manager Livia Reis, 23, tells AFP that her store went viral on social media shortly after the concert was announced thanks to an influencer who visited the Madonna-inspired shop.

“A guy came in, took a photo and a video, and sent them to a fan club with 150,000 followers in Portugal. From there, it jumped to TikTok and Instagram,” she says.

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One particularly popular item is a replica of the conical corset created by French designer Jean Paul Gaultier, which Madonna famously wore on stage in 1990.

Sold as a bra or a top, the item is “doing very well,” says Reis, who expects there will be “queues out of the door” in the days ahead of the concert.

Patrols on the corners

“All this activity is good for tourism, hotels and restaurants. But let’s hope the security is up to the task,” says 68-year-old Rio local Borges.

The mayor’s office has prepared an operation equivalent to New Year’s Eve celebrations in Copacabana, one of the most famous in the world that typically brings down some one million people.

“Operation Madonna” will see some 4,500 agents deployed, working with drones and facial recognition cameras. There will be police patrols on almost every street corner in the neighborhood.

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Nagila Alves, 54, who works for a pest control company, was on her way to a client’s home when she stopped to take a photo of the impressive stage set up for Madonna.

“I will always love her. Madonna is timeless,” she tells AFP, adding she plans to delay her arrival on Saturday to dodge the crowds swarming to the front of the stage.

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Selena Gomez on social media: ‘I find it frustrating’

Selena Gomez on social media: ‘I find it frustrating’

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Selena Gomez on social media: 'I find it frustrating'

Selena Gomez feels frustrated by social media. The 31-year-old star has a huge online following, but Gomez often takes breaks from social media platforms to escape the negativity.

The brunette beauty – who has more than 400 million followers on Instagram – said at the TIME100 Summit: “I find it frustrating. Then I get a little mouthy and I want to defend the people I love.”

Gomez believes it’s important to take breaks from social media to retain a sense of perspective.

The actress – who is currently dating record producer Benny Blanco – explained: “I took four years off of Instagram, and I let my team post for me for those years. I felt like it was the most rewarding gift I gave myself.”

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Meanwhile, Gomez previously claimed that there’s “so much strength in being vulnerable”.

The Only Murders In The Building star has spoken openly about her mental health struggles over recent years, and Gomez admitted that she’s found it to be a “very freeing” experience.

She told Wondermind: “I don’t love giving advice because I don’t have all of the answers.

“I’d say, though, find a friend or a family member you feel comfortable talking with and open up about what you are feeling. It’s very freeing to open up to someone. There is so much strength in being vulnerable.”

Despite this, Gomez doesn’t have any regrets over how she’s dealt with her own struggles.

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The actress – who first found fame as a child – explained: “I try and not look back and wish anything could have been different. What I am happy about is that more people are opening up about their mental health.”

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