This post doesn’t really have much to do with optometry. Well, maybe it doesn’t initially. When I wrote this on Memorial Day, before the Game 4 showdown between the San Antonio Spurs and the Memphis Grizzlies, I didn’t even initially write this for an SCO audience per se. But, the more I thought about it, the more I thought that maybe this is actually applicable to our community. Thus, I am going to tell you honestly what I think about living in Memphis. While this post has everything to do with Memphis, in a sense it will have to do with optometry as well. You cannot separate an institution such as ours from its surroundings; they are interwoven quite intricately. Let’s get started.
I believe that there are two sides to Memphis, as demonstrated in this picture from December of last year:
One side is represented by the long-abandoned Sterick Building, on the right. When it was built in 1930, it was the tallest building in the South. Likewise, Memphis was in similar prosperous straits. Did you know that around the same time, Memphis was determined by a committee to be the cleanest city in the country? Over the years, however, the building once known as the “Queen of Memphis” slowly faded into disuse and has been abandoned since the 1980s. Likewise, the city seemed to fade as well. Since World War II, only four buildings taller than 100 meters have been built in downtown Memphis, while those of other southern cities (Atlanta, Nashville, etc) have boomed.
For some (maybe even many) Tennesseans and people from other states, and even from some (maybe even many) Memphians themselves, this is the side of Memphis embedded deep within the collective psyche. A huge, monolithic structure from which nothing but shadows lie. High crime rates, urban blight, rampant poverty, a stagnant economy, corruption, decades of racial issues – these and many other factors have contributed to that feeling. This pessimistic sentiment can be summed up by one inebriated Memphian I overheard following the Grizzlies’ Game 3 overtime loss to the San Antonio Spurs: “God hates Memphis, and he always has!”
However, that’s slowly changing. To paraphrase the Commercial Appeal’s sports columnist, Geoff Calkins, all of a sudden it seems that the historic pessimism of Memphians is giving way to optimism and faith in Memphis, as epitomized by one sports mantra reverberating throughout the city’s streets: Believe Memphis.
This sentiment at its core forms the other side of Memphis, which in the picture above is represented by the illuminated First Tennessee building. Contradictory to the shadowy side of Memphis hinted at by the Sterick building, this city has always possessed a certain brightness to it. I’ve always maintained that if you put your ear to the ground and listen, you can clearly hear the heart of the city, vibrant and strong, with a rhythm of its own. This rhythm is the foundation for the city’s daily grit and grind, to quote yet another Memphis basketball mantra.
The brightness extends beyond the soul of the city. This is the city where miracles happen daily at St. Jude and Lebonheur Children’s Hospital. In a similar vein, a study by the Chronicle of Philantropy that measured the charitable giving of metropolitan areas showed that overall, Memphians donated the second-highest percentage of discretionary income to charity.
Look around, and you can see bright, palpable signs of the Memphis Renaissance. Overton Square, derelict and quiet even just two years ago when I first moved here, is now bustling, busy, and bright. The long-abandoned Sears Crosstown building, not far from school, is being redeveloped into a mixed-use urban community “vertical village.” The Greenline keeps extending its reach, and talks are underway of converting part of the Harahan Bridge crossing into Arkansas into a pedestrian/bike-friendly track. If accomplished, one could feasibly bike from the Mississippi River out to Shelby Farms and then on out towards Fayette County! The Hotel Chisca too will find new life. These are just a small sampling of the good things happening around Memphis every day.
The Memphis Renaissance too is represented in the picture above. The First Tennessee building, representing the innate brightness of the city, seems to spring forth from the Autozone Park mural, aptly named “A Note of Hope.” Colorful and contemplative, the mural represents the people of Memphis and their creativity. After all, from where else does the city’s brightness spring forth but from its people? It is the people of Memphis that create change in Memphis. It is from within that this process of amelioration has begun.
To that note, the timely renaissance of the Memphis Grizzlies appears to match that of the city’s. In just a short span, “Believe Memphis” has become more than a rallying cry for the city’s basketball dreams. It has taken on the semblance of a prayer. The city, for once, has faith in itself. This is such an interesting and exciting time to be living here.
But yet, the two sides of Memphis live side by side. After all, there are always two sides of everything. In the consciousness of many, the side of shadows looms larger than anything else. However, brightness can outshine any shadow, despite how tall it may be. And that’s why it didn’t matter that the outcome of Game 4 against the Spurs wasn’t in the Grizzlies’ favor. Despite that, “Believe Memphis” must continue. We cannot let “Believe Memphis” fade away. Memphians must continue to believe in Memphis by finding ways to make it better.
And that’s precisely where optometry can enter the picture. Southern College of Optometry is located in the heart of Memphis, a prime location for participation in this amelioration. A better Memphis leads to a better SCO. Likewise, a better SCO helps create a better Memphis. If you are here in Memphis now, or especially if you’re going to be here in the future, I encourage you to be part of the upswing, this renaissance. It doesn’t matter whether you live here one year, four, or twenty – if you do something to leave Memphis a better place than when you found it, you will have done that much to make Memphis better not just for yourself, but for others and for generations to come. Volunteer with an organization somewhere. Give some of your time to the various campus groups doing important community outreach in the city. Support your local establishments. Explore the city. Be involved. Participate. Most importantly, above all, believe.
Believe, Memphis. Believe.