By Courtney A. Smith

The city of Memphis is considered to be the home of delicious barbeque along with having some of the best talent in sports, especially basketball. With food and sports being the talk of the town, art is another great aspect of Memphis that should be in the conversation.

Take the Five in One Social Club for example. The establishment has been in Memphis for a year and has already made its mark in the art industry.

Michael and Alice Andrews, who celebrated the Five in One Social Club one year anniversary last week, are originally from Wisconsin and came to Memphis looking for a perfect location to start their business. They eventually found the perfect spot on 2535 Broad Ave.

“We moved to Memphis seven years ago and started an art space called Five in One and social club was part of that, like a component of that where artists can get together and hangout and draw on their sketch books,” Alice said.

"A year we heard about a program called MIM Shop. MIM Shop is a small business that the mayor’s innovation team is running and we heard of it like a grant. So we heard about that and thought well what if we turned social club into a business where we taught people how to do things and open a store where we sold things made by all of the awesome local artists that we know," she added. "So that’s how we got started. We applied for a grant and we won the grant and now it’s a year later and things are going pretty good over here.”

Christopher "Dumma Boy" Gholson is a well-known music producer from Memphis, Tenn. He has worked alongside top Hip Hop artist such as Young Jeezy,
T.I. and Two Chainz.

He is the founder of Drum Squad Foundation and an activist in his community. Recently, Drumma presented a grand opportunity for Shelby County School (SCS) students to participate in a contest and have a chance to win $2500. 

The "Dream Summit" was a competition that served as a way for Drumma to give back to his community and provide young entrepreneurs a chance to showcase their talents. 

The event was held Saturday, April 26, 2014 at the University of Memphis in the FedEx Institute of  Technology. 

SCS students, parents and teachers attended the event to learn more about opportunities in the music and sports industries from a panel of industry leaders.

Ron Highsmith, Executive Director of Drum Squad, detailed the importance of the event is to expose the youth to understanding curricular development and gain knowledge about the business side of multi-million dollar industries.

"It is important to present more opportunities and careers they may not learn about in school,"
  said Highsmith, "This is such a broad and diverse industry, and they will benefit tremendously from this summit."

The objective for the contest required students to create and present a business plan of their choice, including branding, budgeting and other market strategies that strive to benefit the
community.

By Darnesha Cotton

Rapper Preauxx, pronounced "Pro," has been busy  perfecting his craft and making a name for himself since 2008.  With a growing fan base and plenty of enthusiasm, he still has the ambitions of a new artist.

His hard work has not gone unnoticed as the Student Activities Council asked him to perform at the first Spring Fling Music Festival opening up for Big Sean. Here is what he had to say about his fans, inspiration, music and the future of his career.

By Akilah Speaks

In efforts to promote his new singles, "Leverage" and "Magnolia Trees," Apache demonstrated his political approach by giving back to the community and influencing the youth.

Contributing donations to the Mid-South Food Bank, independent artist Apache El collected food donations from students at the U of M to feed families in need.

"The future is now, we are the future" is the slogan for the campaign supporting the Future Now Youth food drive because he believes the youth control the changes needed to be made in society.

By Cormac Parker Jr

When some people think of mission trips, the first couple locations that come to mind are deep in the jungles of Africa, parts of China or maybe even the local mission serving the homeless.

However, for more than 100 University of Memphis students, Orlando can be added to the list.

Affectionally called the Orlando Project, the 10-week program, starting May 25, sets out to “give students tools that would help them share their faith with their families and friends while growing closer to God,” said Denny Catalano, campus director of the Orlando Project.

Campus Outreach is an interdenominational organization whose "mission is to glorify God by rising up labors on the campus within a lost world." The organization reaches thousands of college students each year with eight college sites across the nation.

When asked why the city of Orlando was choosen, Catalano shines a light on the diversity that the city naturally possesses. 

“We go to Orlando because it is one of the most visited cities in the world, a melting pot of the nations,” he said.

By Kirstin Cheers

When cacophonic harmonies and tragic memories dance together in Memphis, they create a stage of epic proportion.  

In true Memphis fashion, the anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will traditionally consist of candlelight vigils, silent marches and rowdy sermons from preachers who remember holding conversations with the great civil rights leader.

This year, however, the Memphis Symphony Orchestra (MSO) will celebrate one of the world's greatest revolutionaries with melodic strands of harmony, storytelling the emotions evoked from the sanitation marches in downtown Memphis to that fretful day on April 4, 1968.   

"Rebirth of the Dream" was inspired by the legacy of King as he stood at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, leading a generation of people from his years as a young preacher, father, but most of all- a radical- towards racial and economic freedom in America.  

The Memphis Symphony Orchestra seeks to revitalize the history, pains and victories with the power of music surrounding King and his contributions. In an unprecedented effort to unite individuals and communities, experiencing such an event could be compared to revisiting that period of time, witnessing the relevance and resilience of the Memphis community as they stood near King.  

Even though they go unnoticed, women in the 1960s stood with King just as much as men, and today, women stand even stronger as they seek to honor his legacy.

By Charles Gray

The city of Memphis has international acclaim for a few different reasons.  Homebase of both the blues and FedEx, the town is known as a cultural and delivery hotspot. Medical research at St. Jude brings people in need across the world to benefit from the Bluff City.

But one of the most well known things about Memphis that still evades local importance is the research being done at the University of Memphis' FedEx Institute of Technology, according to the Center for the Study of Adult Literacy Program Coordinator, Whitney Bare.

The idea that computers will soon gain the ability to serve and interact with humans is fast approaching, and some key research is being done in our own school through Auto Tutor.

"Auto Tutor is a program that attempts to model a person's tutoring strategies in an effort to adapt to a student or learners learning style," said former research assistant John Myers. "It's purpose is to produce the most robust tutoring system."

By Cormac Parker 

“God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, Thou who has brought us thus far on the way,” sang Breyanna Tillman, a student at the University of Memphis. 

Students gathered in the University Center River Room for the annual Black History closing ceremony on Friday, Feb. 28, at 1 p.m. with close to 75 students in attendance. 

A slight twist occurred when the main speaker, County Commissioner Henri Brooks, was running late due to unforeseen circumstances.

Approaching the stand out of breath, Brooks did not waste time reviewing the prominent history makers of the Civil Rights Movement. Instead, her approach was more thought-provoking. 

“The Civil Rights Movement was led by young people who stepped up to the plate,” Brooks said. “They fought for you to have a seat at the table. Now what are you going to do with it?”

By Darnesha Cotton

A crowd gathered at the 7 p.m. in the University Center Theatre Tuesday on the University of Memphis campus as actor, author and activist Lou Gossett Jr. spoke on the importance of education, unity and getting back to cultural roots.

“Although Mr. Gossett is still working in films, with an emphasis on faith-based stories, he is primarily dedicating ‘the last quadrant’ of his life to an all-out conscious offensive against racism, violence, ignorance and social apathy,” said Tori Thompson, a 20-year-old journalism student and host of the event, as she introduced Gossett.
 
The theatre was filled with students, faculty, and community members of all ages. The crowd of approximately 100 welcomed Gossett with a standing ovation.

Gossett was featured as the second celebrity guest speaker for the 2014 Black History Month celebration.  Honored with his own event, Gossett chose to title his speech, “The Education before the Education.”

“Here, lately, I don’t think too many people are teaching you. The manners that you learn at home that you take out into the world with you so that you are able to be teachable,” he said.

By Akilah Speaks

WUMR The Jazz Lover is a non-commercial radio station located on the University of Memphis campus. The station, which has been operating since 1979, is the only jazz outlet in the Mid-South that plays jazz tracks, spotlights community events and broadcasts sports.

Malvin Massey, music director and former jazz musician, is the station's general manager and has been with the station for more than 25 years.  In a recent interview, he shared his love for jazz music, the changes in radio and how his job title has benefited him over the years.  

Known as Le Pilot, Massey is a pioneer in the jazz world and a great mentor to upcoming personalities.

“I love having the opportunity to listen to all the new music first and having a good reputation in the music industry with record promoters and different labels," Massey said. "I stay fresh in the jazz world by keeping up with music. It’s a reassuring job and a great gig.”

His passion for jazz music has earned him a reputation in the music industry, and he has been fortunate to interview some of the greatest legends. For many years, he has worked in the radio business gaining the knowledge of broadcasting, meeting famous musicians and working alongside promoters and other radio executives.