TrueSouth episode 8 review: Memphis, TN
We’re going back in time this week to season two, soaking in the smoke and blues of Memphis.
By: Bossman Slim
Photo: via @johntedge
This is a classic TrueSouth episode. The people, the history, the incredible food, and the search for the soul of a city. In 2019 to cap season two, Edge went to Memphis, on the map in Tennessee but with lingering Mississippi blues.
We’re not just in Memphis, we’re in a gritty, poverty-stricken area of Memphis called Orange Mound. Edge tours the former plantation-turned-black-development with 8Ball and MJG, a duo of Memphis rappers who hail from Orange Mound. While the news would have you believe that this place is “like Fallujah or somethin’” as Edge notes, this episode points out the dichotomy and complexity of the place. Yes, there are high crime rates and problems to tackle. No, that is not all there is here - there is community, charity, love, and the spirit of those who once marched with Dr. King.
Memphis has long carried with it traditions of the Delta, as it sits right on the border of Tennessee and Mississippi. Black Americans have migrated here from the Magnolia State since the 1800s, most using it as a stopping ground to continue their journeys farther north. But many stayed, building much of the Memphis we know of today. The heart of Memphis is still Mississippi - some still going back to see family and gather in the state just to the south, while others carry the scars of long ago and won’t travel across that southern dividing line.
This is another dichotomy. While Mississippi has well-known scars of slavery and mistreatment of African-Americans, Memphis bears one of the ultimate scars of racism: the place of Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination. This is a cloud that still hangs over the city, as is noted by Georgetown professor Zandaria Robinson. 50 years after King’s death, the city is still in mourning. The blues came from Mississippi to Memphis, in more ways than one.
It ain’t all blues, though. 8Ball and MJG take us to Pop’s Hot Tamales, where Edge meets “Pop” Lee Crumb. Pop is a mild-mannered tamale wrapping machine, whose take on the Mexican hot tamale is famous in Orange Mound. During these times of corona, there’s just about nothing I wouldn’t do to grab a six-pack, half a dozen tamales, and watch a baseball game or a concert. Later, Edge takes us to Miss Girlee’s Soul Food Restaurant, where Enkia Leach and her 80-year-old mother Jimmie Leach serve up food that will wash away your blues for a day. The place is steeped in history, as the late-patriarch Baxter Leach marched with Dr. King in 1968. Miss Girlee’s serves up fried chicken, cornbread muffins, candied sweet potatoes, oxtail and more. I’d eat my heart out in this place. If I had a heart attack in my chair at Miss Girlee’s, I’d ask that you don’t revive me because I died in heaven. Miss Girlee’s is the glue of the community. If you come through those doors, you will be served by loving, Christian people.
A city can often be complicated. One place can wear many hats. The soul of the city is found where it’s usually found; the people, the food, the history. It’s found in people like Dr. King, Baxter Leach, “Pop” Crumb, MJG and 8Ball. Here in Memphis, that soul is brighter than most outsiders might believe.
You can watch the episode now on ESPN+ or set your DVR for the next airing on SEC Network. No announcement on a new episode for next week, so we’ll continue on our reverse journey. Next Monday we’ll review season two episode 7, taking you to the birthplace of Honest Abe: Hodgenville, Kentucky.