The slow-motion death of George Floyd, by a Minneapolis police officer kneeling upon his neck in full view of the public, has revived the national conversation about police brutality and Black Lives Matter.

Since mid-March, Curtis Jackson hasn’t had any lines to memorize. The local theater company where he performs canceled all shows due to coronavirus so the actor’s idle hands went in search of work. 

“I couldn’t go work in a hospital or anything,” he says over Skype from his Midtown home. “So it was like, ‘Oh okay, well I can sew.’” 

The COVID crisis has left many kids without access to learning, because they don’t have access to technology. Locally, Shelby County Schools (SCS) wants to bridge the so-called “digital divide” by providing every student and teacher with a laptop — by August.

Educators say that’s just the first step towards protecting the district’s most vulnerable students.

“Spotlight on Lifelong Learning” with Laura Loth, is a weekly look at some of the exciting public conversations upcoming around Memphis. Laura Loth is a professor at Rhodes College.

Pantry staples during quarantine or anytime. 

In the next week or two, the Shelby County Health Department will have a better idea of how well people behaved over the holiday weekend. That is: did they stay at least six-feet away from others, not share communal items and wear face masks in public? 

Whether you like them chewy, cake-y, glazed, with nuts or without … I think all will agree that brownies are downright delicious!