May we all be as resilient as this volunteer cherry tomato plant growing out of a literal crack in the pavement 3 feet above sidewalk level

Since H.R. 1, nearly 100,000 Tennesseeans have lost their SNAP benefits. That's over 14% of recipients. I've witnessed folks waiting in their cars at Memphis' free community fridges to grab whatever gets dropped off. People are hungry and out of options. Map/data: www.cbpp.org/research/foo...

At least two people were shot today at OUTMemphis, my city's main LGBTQ+ nonprofit and resource center. The center, currently behind a police barricade, is 2 blocks from my apartment. I helped build the raised garden beds in its back yard. How can news be anything but personal? Visceral?

Trying again with a new photo... I was on the scene at xAI's Colossus 1 plant on Friday, where activists staged a protest to call attention to the air pollution and other impacts of the facility on southwest Memphis. I heard from them directly about why this fight matters: mlk50.com/2026/05/05/t...

The lead image for this piece is getting incorrectly flagged as graphic-- it just depicts protestors lying on the ground. Here's another beautiful photo from the protest taken by my colleague Andrea Morales:

I'm at the XAI Colossus plant with @mlk50.com covering a die-in protest by local activists opposing the air pollution produced by the facility. Y'all know the drill: other outlets will have their stories out quicker, but ours will include perspectives no one else captures.

Also this photo by @scottanger.bsky.social should have been the lead image on this piece, I can't think of a more striking visual showing the impact of glyphosate:

Make that two sitting City Councilmembers

Having a super normal time here in Memphis, where a sitting City Councilmember is posting about how the snow on the ground is actually made of plastic... www.facebook.com/share/r/16kc...

As a journalist, it's best practice not to share my opinions when they may come across as political. So instead I'm going to share this:

Double rainbow spotted in Memphis 🥰

offering a reward to anyone who can tell me what "Minneapolis Sound" is

Something to keep in mind as you hear narratives about Memphis being a "crime-ridden," "dangerous" city requiring a National Guard crackdown is that BY FAR its most commonly recorded crime is shoplifting. This is according to the city & police dept's own data. app.powerbigov.us/view?r=eyJrI...

A group of supporters of Tyre Nichols' family are marching through downtown Memphis currently on South Main

For my fellow government nerds: this graphic didn't make it into my story, but here's a simplified version of how USDA food aid distribution is supposed to work. Recently, officials have frozen half of 🟦 TEFAP's budget and eliminated the 🟥 LFPA entirely.

same 😅