MAY 2020
As the month of May started, it appeared people had settled into the new Coronavirus normal. People have started to learn to live with the virus.
Record unemployment, hunger, and fear, record deaths all still are a problem.
Many TV news people have been reporting from home. I find it really interesting to see their home environments and decorating styles.
Seems hospitals are doing a better job of having what they need to take care of the sick.
The Commercial Appeal building is complete as a field hospital.
The First Pentecostal Church in Holly Springs, Mississippi was burned down in a fire. It is believed to be arson. The church filed a lawsuit about a month ago questioning the city’s restrictions on gatherings. A misspelled message on the parking lot, “Bet you stay home now you hypokrites.”
But the virus still lurks. It thrives on our desire to be together. Virus snitching is a thing. People are calling the authorities when they see or hear of people not following social distancing regulations.
People have been settling into drive-by Mother’s Day celebrations, graduations, and virtual birthdays. Wearing masks does not seem strange anymore for many. Some are still resisting.
Memphis has been slowly opening up. One of only 330 outside theaters in America, The Malco Summer Drive-In has opened up, the churches, restaurants, Graceland and the Memphis Zoo all serving less than capacity crowds, as people learn how to get out and about, slowly and carefully within social distancing guidelines.
Many are suffering from depression. Overdoses are spiking as some people turn to substance abuse as a way to cope with loss of jobs, family pressures, and grief. There is record unemployment.
Panic buying continues. Toilet paper still at a shortage in many stores, the aging populations still standing in line, before COSTCO opens, and then they rush in and mob the corner where the Lysol spray is freshly stocked. Many supplies are being limited to one per purchase. Lysol wipes and other cleaning supplies still in short supply. They sell out as quickly as they arrive.
People felt relief as the city moved into moved into phase one and phase two of reopening. As anticipated, the numbers of Coronavirus cases are rising.
Memorial Day there was a call for American trumpeters to stop wherever they were and to play taps at 3 p.m. It was a beautiful thing.
Then this happened.
After passing a counterfeit bill, a black man, George Floyd, died at the hands of a policeman in Minneapolis who knelt on his neck for 8 minutes. The incident was recorded and the world watched him call for his mama, say he can’t breathe and then die.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/us/george-floyd-investigation.html
The country became outraged; protests began. In Memphis hundreds of protesters paid tribute to Floyd by kneeling in the street for the 8 minutes it took him to die, chanting, “I can’t breathe” “say his name.”
There has been rioting all over the country.
The Apple Store in the affluent suburb of Germantown was boarded up as well as lulelemon. There is a curfew now in Memphis.
Memphis, has been peaceful for the most part. Activist DeVante Hill has led peaceful protest at the Civil Rights Museum, in the spot where Martin Luther King was assassinated. Last night he led the crowd to sing Amazing Grace outside the Mason Temple where MLK gave his Mountain Top Speech.
https://www.facebook.com/WMCActionNews5/videos/250579536224803/