A Tour Of Possibilities

Carolyn Michael Banks

The Memphis Skyline

Beale Street, Memphis

Mississippi River

Mississippi River

Mississippi River

Blues Musician

Lorainne Motel

Tom Lee

Mississippi River

Slave Haven

Rosa Parks

Pridefully driving around Memphis, bragging on all things great that derive from the Bluff City, Carolyn Michael-Banks, founder of A Tour of Possibilities in Memphis, Tn. gives black history-focused tours. 

With blues playing on her radio, Michael-Banks, also known as Queen, takes visitors to sites of historical and cultural significance to African Americans.

She highlights the best things about our city.  But Queen does not sugarcoat the history.

Driving along Riverside drive, touting the majestic Mississippi River, the colorful bridges, the remarkable story of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the Pyramid, our amazing musical history and Beale Street, she reminds her guests, “if this body of water could speak, I can only imagine the stories it would tell.” 

Looking over the river, Michael-Banks offers a view of the city from a different vantage point. “On this body of water, two commodities were transported that changed the economy of this area;” she says as her voice tone changes, she pauses “cotton and enslaved people. On this same river, many used to escape slavery as well.”

For two-and-one-half hours, she highlights black owned businesses and the contributions that African Americans have made to make Memphis a such a great and significant city. She boasts about our soul food, blues music and B.B. King, COGIC, Stax, Robert Church and Obama’s visit.

But the guided historical tour also does not hide the darker side of the city’s history including injustice, segregation and racism.

Queen reminds Chicagoans Maryann and Reginald Marsh, touring on this day, that in front of them is the location where Nathan Bedford Forrest once had “Fresh Negro’s For Sale.”  Woven through the ride that includes various wonderful landmarks, magical stories of inspiring people and popular Memphis attractions, she also tells of people who lived in fear of lynchings, of city riots, a civil rights struggle and the Martin Luther King assassination.

There’s no doubt about her love for the city.  What she loves to share most is a sense of hope, optimism and deep respect for the people that came before her, the people like Tom Lee, Rosa Parks, Danny Thomas and Ida B. Wells, “the people who saw things that appeared to be impossible, but made them possible, in spite of.”

That is why she has named her tour A Tour of Possibilities.

By Karen Pulfer Focht ©2024

The Stax Documentary

A SPECIAL PLACE IN MY HEART FOR STAX

STAX ARTISTS THROUGH THE YEARS

Photo gallery includes: Rufus Thomas, The Memphis Horns, Isaac Hayes, Justin Timberlake, Barack and Michelle Obama, David Porter, The Memphis Horns, Booker T. and the MG’s, Sam Moore, Marva Staples, Charlie Musselwhite, Al Bell, Albert King, Steve Cropper, Jerry Lee Lewis with Ben Cauley, Doobie Brothers Michael McDonald with Carla Thomas, Kirk Whalum and the Stax Kids and Graziano Uliani.

SOULSVILLE: The neighborhood around Stax, and home to many musical greats!

It’s no secret that what made me fall in love with Memphis and made me want to stay in Memphis for so many years was the music. The people, yes, the warm climate, yes, the fantastic professional opportunities, yes, the central location, yes and the low cost of living, yes. But the music-- absolutely yes!

I‘ve always loved jazz and the blues. My father entertained me with silly songs any child would love, like Slim Gaillard- Potato Chips and “Flat Foot Floogie.” He went to an elite school in the northeast and had to listen to this “race” music secretly, as it was frowned upon.

Memphis is home to The Blues Foundation because of the rich blues musical history and heritage. Memphis and the Mississippi Delta are like Mecca for blues fans and blues pilgrims.

As long as I’ve lived here, I have noticed that Europeans were very knowledgeable about Memphis music, much more so that many Americans. Americans came to Memphis to see Graceland.  But it’s always been the Europeans who were savvy on the blues, R&B, and the soul music that has its roots in Memphis. The Stax Documentary explains this.

There is the Poretta Soul Festival, in Rufus Thomas Park the third week of July, every year, in Porretta Terme, province of Bologna. Graziano Uliani, frequently comes to Memphis seeking out new local talent for his festival.

I have a vivid memory of Rufus Thomas telling me how excited he was that they were naming a park after him.

It’s the music created here in this region that draws people from all over the world, to Memphis.  

In the last decade, Memphis has risen to the top of places to visit by influential travel magazines like National Geographic and Condé Nast . “Memphis is one of two destinations from the U.S. highlighted in Condé Nast Traveler's “23 Best Places to Go in 2023,” which covers 22 countries and six continents,” a Commercial Appeal story reported.

I got to know Stax artist Rufus Thomas when I first moved here from Chicago. Rufus captivated me right away and quickly became of my favorite entertainers. He was SO MUCH FUN! He was an amazing entertainer with roots in vaudeville. He could still get a crowd going with Funky Chicken and Walking the Dog, into his 80’s. I have many fun memories of seeing him perform on Beale Street. He used to say, “If you could be black for one Saturday night on Beale Street, never would you want to be white again.”

His daughter Carla, who still lives in Memphis, was also a successful Stax artist. You can still find Carla out buying flowers, or as a guest or singer at one of the many Memphis music events held over the years. Carla is Stax royalty. She had the good fortune to record with Otis Redding before he was killed in a plane crash in 1967.

Redding’s music is so soulful, it just pierces right into your heart.

As with many great artists, he died way too young at age 26.  Stax music was experiencing some real success when Redding and many band members died in a plane crash.

As a photojournalist in Memphis, over the years I covered the only survivor of that plane crash, Ben Cauley.  Other influential Stax artists like Booker T. and the MG’s, Isaac Hayes, Albert King, Marva Staples, David Porter, Steve Cropper and Sam Moore have all been in my camera’s viewfinder.

The documentary goes into the run of bad luck that followed Redding’s death, the assassination of MLK in Memphis and the signing of a bad contract by Stax owner Jim Stewart, who in a very Memphis way, trusted the people he was working with, and in the end, the trials of Stax record executive Al Bell.

By the time I had come to Memphis, Stax had closed. But there was an appreciation for the Stax contribution to Memphis music legacy.

The documentary helped me appreciate more deeply the people, their experience and the music that is so deeply woven into the fabric and culture of Memphis.

I covered the opening of the Stax Museum and the music programs they had for the kids of Memphis. These programs are still teaching our city’s youth about the magical musical legacy here while cultivating the next musical generation. I went to New York City to cover the Stax Kids when they played at Lincoln Center and I also was on assignment when Memphis Music, including several Stax artists, Justin Timberlake and harmonica great Charlie Musselwhite were honored at the White House by Michelle and President Obama.

Wayne Jackson , and his wife Amy, were good friends of ours. He was one of the Memphis Horns.  Jackson and partner Andrew Love were on hundreds of Top Ten and Number One hits, gold and platinum records. They were considered the Rolls Royce of horn sections. Jackson fully appreciated the experience and told about it in this short video I did before he passed away. He says “Memphis was just on fire! And Andrew and I were walking right down the middle of that street. We played on hit records every day”

Memphis is just such a musical treasure box that never ceases to amaze and entertain me. Living here you run into these folks here and there. Most of them have always been very accessible.

“Indeed, many musical luminaries either hailed from or resided in the Soulsville neighborhood,” writes Alex Greene in Memphis Magazine.

Even though I felt like I knew the Stax story and many of the players and much of the music, the Stax documentary opened my eyes with more intimate details, historical glimpses, and great storytelling that helped me appreciate what the artists and producers went through, good and bad to create and capture the “Memphis sound.”

By Karen Pulfer Focht ©2024

Memphis Photojournalist

The Memphis Horns- “We laughed our way around the world”

Kirk Whalum- Delivering Music Soul to Soul-

Wayne Jackson - https://www.karenpulferfocht.com/blog/waynejackson-memphishorns

For a really in-depth read, Rob Bowman, author of Soulsville U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records is serving as a consultant on the series. Soulsville, U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records: Bowman, Rob

Amazon.com

Wild Horses of Corolla

Grazing on wild grasses, acorns, and sea oats, walking along the sandy beach of the

Atlantic Ocean, nearly-extinct wild horses have been living peacefully for over 500

years.

It is not known exactly how the wild horses of Corolla got there, but their DNA indicates

that they are of Spanish origin. The original Colonial Spanish Mustangs could have

survived one of the many offshore shipwrecks in the treacherous Outer Banks or maybe

they were left behind by Spanish explorers.

For centuries stallions and their harems have existed on a most unique diet, surviving

through hurricanes and hundreds of harsh winters. In earlier times, visitors were allowed

to take home whatever they could round up. But not anymore, it is now illegal to feed

them or get within 50 feet of them.

When roads were paved leading to their remote part of the cape, their numbers began

to dwindle significantly. Many were hit by cars, including a beloved stallion named Star

who was hit by a car and killed in 1991. They have since found ways to keep the herd

safer. The horses now have access to over 7,000 acres, about 3,000 acres of public

land and roughly 4,000 privately owned, in a beach and marine forest area north of

Corolla.

Not everyone buys into the poetry of these majestic creatures. Their biggest threat

today is development. Not everyone wants to wake up to a horse in their yard or lay out

in the sun with horses gathering around.

“They are one of the oldest and rarest strains left in the world and are listed as a

critically endangered/nearly extinct breed” according to the Corolla Wild Horse Fund, a

non-profit that preserves the heritage of the Mustangs.

For more information on the horses https://www.corollawildhorses.com/

Video of the Wild Horses of Corolla

Singing Nuns Record Again

After being separated due to growth in their order, enduring a series of shootings on their property, and a pandemic, The Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, reunited to record their first album in over three years. VIDEO ABOVE

Breaking the silence, the sisters breathe deeply. Then with ever so much control, they start singing in perfect unison. Without a word being spoken, the sisters intuitively know what Mother Cecilia is calling forth from them.

 Sweet harmonies fill the church as the sisters of the Benedictines of Mary record their latest album.  The hand-painted arches of their church resonate the sound so beautiful that it falls gently on a listener’s ears.

These are not just any singing nuns. These nuns are recording artists. These are chart-topping nuns who have had four albums reach number one on the classical Billboard charts. They were also the first nuns to be given Billboards Classical Artist of the Year award.

It’s been more than three years since their last album.

 Their latest album was released on Oct. 26, 2021.

 Every sister at the Abbey of Ephesus learns to sing. It is an integral part of life for the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, a cloistered order of nuns living by the ancient Rule of St. Benedict in rural Missouri.

 The lifestyle here may date from medieval times, but young women are flocking to this monastery.  Candidates seeking a life of union with God, in prayer, are between 17 and 30 and they come from all over America. They leave behind a world driven by pop culture and enter a world guided by the wisdom of St. Benedict.

 It is also a humble life. These young girls spend time in a lovely orchard- filled with fruits and nuts.   They milk cows by hand, gather eggs, make cheese and pull potatoes from the dirt. Self-sustainability is an ideal passed down from St. Benedict.

 They believe farm work keeps you dependent on God and that such work is conducive to simple prayer. Sister Scholastica adds, that as the grounds they work become more cultivated and civilized, they are literally working out their salvation. “We hope the ground of our own soul also becomes more cultivated and something beautiful for God.”

 The chanting and the musical life inside the monastery are a large draw. The monastery has grown so fast that they’ve had to split up and expand. “When the family grows large enough that we begin to lose the sense of the family, it is time for some "repotting," transferring portions to new soil” Sister Scholastica explains.

 So, some of the sisters have moved and have established another community in Ava, Mo., where they have purchased 350 acres. Catholic families wanting to live near the monastery have already purchased property from the sisters. Next spring, the Benedictines of Mary plan to break ground on a new large monastery and a church.

 The two groups of nuns have missed each other terribly, not just in day-to-day life but in song. Their separation prevented them from putting out another album. They tried to recreate their sound with some of the new sisters, but it just didn’t work.

 Mother Cecilia asked the superior of the Ava house if she could spare three sisters for a short time so that they could reunite at the Abbey and record together again.  When the sisters from Ava showed up, they arrived in time for night prayers and snuck into the choir stalls so that when the rest of the sisters processed into the church, it was a huge surprise.

 It was a family reunion. “Once the Ava Sisters were here, we were back in our recording element. It was like old times” said Sister Scholastica.

 In mid-September, the veterans of recording from both houses, along with a few new voices, came together to form something of a “Dream Team.”

 It has been a tradition for Mother Cecilia to write at least one original song for each CD.  In hopes to put out an album this fall, she quietly waited for an idea.    

 Just the day before the recording was to start, she was divinely inspired and composed original music, setting it to a poem written by Sr. Wilhelmina, their foundress, an African American who died at age 95 in 2019.  The sisters very quickly learned their parts for the new song, “Hymn to Christ the King,” to record it live in the church.

 For two days, with the afternoon sun streaming into the church, the sisters stood in a circle beneath a statue of Mary singing their hearts out until sunset.

 Seeking perfection, each time a throat cleared, a shoe squeaked, or the walls cracked in the background, their brows would furrow. Every little sound was coming through to the recording engineer. They would have to start over.

 At times they would take a break, walk the grounds and rest their voices.  Then as they came together again and started fresh, they’d get a perfect take, they’d giggle, nod and smile because they knew-- yes, that was the best take!

 “We draw our strength from being set apart from the world with God and the sisterly support of one another,” says Sister Scholastica, “the music seems to be a perfect means to reach out to the world that we are always holding up in prayer. There is no compromise of our life, but we can share what we have, and we are happy to do so.”

Written By Karen Pulfer Focht ©

Freelance Photojournalist in Memphis, Tennessee

Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles

https://www.catholicsun.org/2021/11/01/benedictine-abbey-in-rural-missouri-draws-growing-number-of-young-women/

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED CONTENT RELATED TO THESE NUNS:

https://youtu.be/korbAzDw2yw

https://www.karenpulferfocht.com/blog/benedictines-of-mary-queen-of-the-apostles?rq=benedictines%20of%20mary

https://www.karenpulferfocht.com/blog/benedictinesofmarynewalbum?rq=Benedictines%20of%20Mary

https://www.karenpulferfocht.com/blog/2018/2/25/vespers-with-the-benedictines-of-mary-queen-of-apostles?rq=Benedictines%20of%20Mary

THIS ARTICLE IN FAITH MAGAZINE: https://issuu.com/karenpulferfocht-photojournalist/docs/mem1221_0

Photojournalist Karen Pulfer Focht Wins First-Place National Award

  Karen Wins First Place in Catholic Press Awards 2021

Memphis Photojournalist Karen Pulfer Focht has won a first-place national award for the heartfelt story she both wrote and photographed on the closing of the Poor Clare Monastery in Frayser. Faith Magazine, published by the Catholic Diocese of West Tennessee, dedicated an entire issue to tell the compelling story in a special edition after the Vatican ordered the closing of some shrinking monasteries worldwide. Focht has covered the Poor Clare sisters throughout her career in Memphis.

Judges Comments: The article and photographs complement each other completely and provide a depth of coverage neither alone could produce. An excellent compilation that draws the reader along on the journey.

Best Story and Photo Package

First Place

Faith Magazine, Karen Pulfer Focht, Saying Goodbye To A House of Prayer

She also won:

Best Photo Story - Feature

Second Place

Faith Magazine, Karen Pulfer Focht, Saying Goodbye To A House of Prayer

Judges comments: The article's photographs paint a picture of the impactful history of the monastery and display the bittersweet emotions of love and loss.

https://www.karenpulferfocht.com/blog/poor-clares-leave-memphis