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Historic Clayborn Temple Burns

We had a tragedy this week in Memphis when Clayborn Temple burned down. I covered the fire for Associated Press.

The historic Clayborn Temple, a landmark from the civil rights movement with ties to Martin Luther King, caught fire Monday, April 28, 2025, in Memphis, Tennessee.

As a photojournalist in Memphis, I have had to cover many painful things over the years. There is nothing like hearing the wailing and mournful cries of people in pain at a news scene. It stays with you forever. It can be hard to pick up my camera and document it. But I do. As I explained to someone this week, just as important as showing the burning building, as a storyteller, I need to show that this isn’t just a building; this building meant something to people. Sharing and showing the grief and pain of the people who came to the scene helps people see how important and sacred this place is.

Sadyya Rockett-Miller and her husband Andre LeMoyne Miller prayed their way through their grief and anger outside of the historic Clayborn Temple on Monday. Andre is asking God to help him and give him some peace. Miller’s grandfather had a connection to the Civil Rights Movement and Clayborn Temple. His anger was raging.

The neighborhood folks worshiping at Clayborn Temple over the years.

Carolyn Michael-Banks, founder of A Tour of Possibilities in Memphis, Tn. gives black history-focused tours. I did a story about her and her tours in Memphis Magazine last fall. Clayborn Temple and its history is a highlight of the tour. She reached out to me after the fire and said “ This incident has made me more committed to what I do. If you know the history, fire can’t destroy it. “

https://www.karenpulferfocht.com/blog/2024/11/1/a-tour-of-possibilities

The Clayborn Temple has been under renovation for a few years. For more information https://clayborn.org/

CBS NEWS did a nice job covering the story. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tennessee-church-fire-mlk-civil-rights/

Gayle Rose wrote a beautiful column for The Institute For Public Service Reporting about it also. https://www.psrmemphis.org/fire-consumed-clayborn-temple-but-it-cant-destroy-the-dream/

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The Stax Documentary

A SPECIAL PLACE IN MY HEART FOR STAX

STAX ARTISTS THROUGH THE YEARS

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 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 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.

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 he tells about it here in this short video I did before he passed away.

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 to help 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

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

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Folk Alliance International Conference 2023 Highlights

MEMPHIS WAS THE FIRST “CITY OF HONOR”

https://folk.org/announcing-our-first-city-of-honor-memphis-tennessee/

By Michael Sangiacomo

KANSAS CITY, MO — The folk music old guard that dominated the Folk Alliance International conferences for the past 35 years has passed the guitar to a new generation that is younger, energized, and mostly female and non-white.

And the kids are all right.

In the BC years (before covid), the annual five-day conference that draws more than 1,000 musicians from around the world was largely the province of aging performers and music lovers.

This year, the beat has changed. Most of the performers were young, female, and non-white lending a whole new energy to the event that was held this past weekend in Kansas City. The LGBTQI community was also well-represented.

Memphis was everywhere, chosen as the “First City of Honor” with Memphis-oriented workshops, speakers, and a slew of talented performers including Amy LaVere, Bailey Biggers, Talibah Safiya, Yella P of Memphisissippi Sound, violinist Alice Hasen and the brilliant Aquarian Blood.

Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, poet, and actor Valerie June astounded with her keynote speech that said love and hope can defeat hate and fear.

As she spoke about the global crisis, the “technological hacking of the human mind and body” and nuclear war, she abruptly stopped and flashed her trademark smile. She walked to center stage, picked up a banjo, and played a delicate version of “What A Wonderful World” in defiance of the doomsayers.

Wherever she walked she was treated like royalty. Women and children rushed up and hugged her.

She now lives in Brooklyn but said she would always consider Memphis her home.

Like the rest of us, June went from concert to concert to hear the young artists.

The annual gathering is designed to allow music critics, agents, disc jockeys, and concert and festival bookers to get up close and personal with new artists and discover new talent.

It’s also a chance for singers and musicians to strut their stuff in the smaller, intimate venues of the Westin Hotel and gather new fans. There are organized workshops and concerts during the day and evening, though much of the action started at 10:30 p.m. and continued almost to daybreak in hundreds of hotel rooms converted into makeshift music spots. Sometimes a performer played for just one or two people, a memorable experience.

There were a few older performers here, like Tom Paxton and Janis Ian, who acted in more of a non-performing, advisory capacity. Ian received a well-deserved lifetime achievement award. Paxton said he was just there to be inspired by the young people.

Instead of the usual performances by folk icons like Livingston Taylor, John McCutcheon and Eliza Gilkyson, visitors chose between blues singers from Memphis, storytellers from Ireland, brash bands from Australia, and new Americana voices from everywhere,

The toughest challenge is choosing who to see since every concert choice means missing hundreds of other mini-concerts going on elsewhere.

In one, Josh White Jr. seemed a little baffled when his co-performer, 92-year-old jazz genius, composer, and orchestra conductor David Amram asked him to play “House of the Rising Sun” a second time. But he smiled and acquiesced.

Amram impulsively invited young musicians he just met hours earlier to join them. Violinist Rahel-Liis Aasrand of Estonia and percussionist Natalia Miranda from Guatemala nervously joined Amram and White in an impromptu jazz number, as if they had played together for years.

Amy Lavere has a voice much larger than her lithe frame which was dwarfed by the stand-up bass she played. Her voice is at once sweet and powerful and her accompanying guitarist and violinist could not have been better.

Alice Hasen and showed just how versatile the violin could be, switching gears from classical to folk to almost hip-hop.

There was music around every corner. In one room, Brit Shane Hennessey played an instrumental tribute to Chet Atkins. In another, the laid-back Aquarian Blood’s J.B. Horrell played the guitar upright between his knees while his wife, Laurel, sang along.

And the talent goes on and on, stretching out through the halls and into the early morning hours as it expands the definition of folk music far, far beyond the notion of a guy with a guitar.

For more information on the Folk Alliance and how to attend next year’s conference, go to www.folk.org.

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See my blog post of the spontaneous memorial popping up at Graceland following the death of Lisa Marie Presley. Photo gallery and videos of Lisa Marie at www.karenpulferfocht.com

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Congratulations to Austin Butler for his best actor award in Golden GLobes. How does Austin Butler feel about playing Elvis?

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Rollin' Rowan

playful baby Orangutan, Rowan, which means “little redhead,” rolls around his playground at the Memphis Zoo where he was born to his mother, Jahe. She is a first-time mother and an excellent mother, the two are inseparable. He was born March 19, 2016. Babies stay with their mothers up to eight years. There are only a few thousand of these animals left in wild.

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The Magic of Christmas

A child delights in a hug from Santa at Wolfchase Galleria . It was the two-year-olds first ever visit with Santa and one she will remember. (Karen Pulfer Focht 2002©)

THE MAGIC OF CHRISTMAS

When I am long gone, this is one of the images that I will be remembered by.

Most photographers and artists have a few images like that.

 But here is The Rest of The Story~

 As a photojournalist, I have always loved to photograph Santa and the children each holiday. As a matter of fact, I love photographing children in general, children have always been one of my niches. Over the years, I often shot Santa on a slow day in the days leading up to Christmas.

 To be honest, my enthusiasm was usually met with grumbles from grumpy old newsmen who had little tolerance for “cute.” But I had a special relationship with my readers. They loved my slice of life photographs of children, animals, and the elderly. I regularly fought to get them in the newspaper. I considered my human interest features the spoon full of sugar to help the medicine (harsh news of the day) go down.

 We need to be reminded of goodness, kindness, and the beauty in the world.

 Almost 20 years ago, I was working the early morning shift at the Commercial Appeal which at the time was a major regional daily newspaper owned by Scripps Howard. I listened to the police scanner. I heard a robbery in progress of a Brinks truck, at the Wolf Chase Mall. It was Dec. 23rd.

 I went to the mall to cover the story.  

 I shot the scene. While waiting for the inevitable press conference, I called the newspaper and said I’d like to shoot photos of Santa while I was at the mall. They assured me there was no room for Santa and we had had enough of Santa Claus this year. (Picture the Grinch face here)

 I could not resist. I think as a photographer, especially a photojournalist, we need to continue to shoot the photographs that make us happy, even if they will not be used in the newspaper or ever seen by a client. Sometimes we lose that desire to shoot for ourselves. It becomes all about work.

 So, while I waited, I went over to shoot Santa, for myself.

 The thought of missing all the magnificent fleeting moments that are all around us every day haunts me. It always has. The kind of photography I do is authentic and real. I often wait hours in anticipation that a special moment may unfold. Sometimes I position for months. There is a lot that goes into great photography. It takes patience, planning, anticipation, and intuition.

 So, I waited, watched, and had fun shooting the children with Santa that day.

 When I realized that I had captured a magnificent fleeting moment of this little child with Santa, I was so happy. I hoped they would make room for this special image.

 Once they saw the image, the discussion began. Can we make room for Santa? Where should it go? Should it be on page one or inside?

 The way I best remember it, our Managing Editor Otis Sanford loved this image and helped fight to get it in. He made a point of telling me how much he liked it and my work that day. He saw the specialness of this photo.

 This is a typical newsroom story.

 There have been times in my career that photos have made readers cry, photos that inspired them to action, photos that touched them in intangible ways. I have always strived to take those kinds of photographs. At a certain point, it becomes about the relationship I have with my readers, my community, my city, and my calling as a photojournalist.

 Often, they are photographs that are difficult to get into the paper for one reason or another. They may even touch people in a way that makes them uncomfortable. That is when I know I have hit a home run. Do people feel something when they look at my images? Do the images make them think? Does my photo garner some kind of response?

 When this photograph ran, I got calls and letters for days. People loved it, an elderly man told me it made him cry, many people said I captured the spirit of Christmas, it brought them joy.

 I always appreciated hearing from readers.

 For almost 20 years, people have told me they kept the clip and bring it out each Christmas, they post it, I post it. We share it repeatedly.

 I don’t take all the credit. I was listening to my heart, but some pictures I take are bigger than me. I am just the instrument. Something special came through me that day. A much-needed gift for our community.

By Karen Pulfer Focht ©2021

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Feeding the Needy Butterflies

Each year I plant milkweed to help host the monarch butterflies on their 3000- mile migration. Today I found three caterpillars munching away. The number of monarchs has decreased significantly over the last 20 years. You can help too by planting milkweed.

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Stax Music Academy Launches Fundraiser #MusicMustContinue

Zalissa Stewart sings out some soul music to entertain the crowd during a vaccine incentive event outside the Stax Museum on Friday August 6, 2021. Free Moderna COVID vaccines were administered by Christ Community Health Services for those who qualified. Anyone who got a vaccine received two free guest passes to the Stax Museum.

Soulsville Foundation's indoor/outdoor Solid Gold Soulsville event presented by the Stax Museum and Stax Music Academy on Aug. 6, 2021. The event featured live music by 926 (the Stax Music Academy Alumni Band).

The Stax Music Academy has just launched its #MusicMustContinue campaign to assist students with tuition funding. Since many of their families have been so negatively affected by the COVID pandemic, this year 90% of their students qualify for financial aid as opposed to 50-70 percent in recent years. Their goal is to raise $50,000 so that no student is turned away for financial reasons.

Donation link is here:https://soulsvillefoundation.networkforgood.com/projects/136155-musicmustcontinue2021

Source: Soulsville Foundation Summer Newsletter

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DENNIS QUAID DROPS INTO HERNANDO'S HIDE-A-WAY

Actor Dennis Quaid dropped in to perform at Hernando’s Hide-A-Way nightclub in Memphis, Tennessee on July 28, 2021. Quaid, who played Jerry Lee Lewis in the movie Great Balls of Fire, performed many of Jerry Lee’s songs to full house. Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley used to play this historic club, which is just up the street from Graceland along with many other notable musicians.

Country music artist Dale Watson bought the club and has brought it back to life. Watson is an independent creative visionary with a smooth beautiful voice, thick perfectly coiffed white hair, a great sense of humor and a passion for music.

Watson plays at the club and lives in Memphis with his wife Celine Lee when he is not touring.

He has also brought the Ameripolitan Music Awards to Memphis. Watson hopes Hernando’s Hideaway will be a hub for Ameripolitan music.

What a great asset to Memphis Watson has become helping keep the vibe that made Memphis music famous worldwide alive.

If you can’t make it in person, you can follow what’s going on at Hernando’s Hide-A-Way TV here.

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See more photos and videos of this amazing creature. 

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Sunflowers at Shelby Farms Agricenter

Video of the Agricenter Sunflowers, Memphis

Each year a field of flowers is planted at the Agricenter at Shelby Farms Park in Memphis, Tennessee. It has become a favorite Memphis attraction and photo opportunity spot.

https://www.agricenter.org/sunflowers

https://www.shelbyfarmspark.org/

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Zoo Gets New Baby Foxes As Part of Survival Program

VIDEO-

Zoo Gets New Baby Foxes As Part of Survival Program

The Memphis Zoo's bat-eared foxes, Raj and Helen, are now first time parents. Helen gave birth on May 25th inside Cat Country at the Memphis Zoo. This is a significant birth because it is part of a brand-new Species Survival Plan at the zoo. The parents were first put on exhibit at the zoo in February.

 The three little babies, also called kits, could be seen on exhibit napping, playing and nursing this week under the watchful eyes of their parents. The male fox is called a dog; a female is a vixen. The sex of these babies has yet to be determined.

 The African fox is known for its enormous ears, which are over 5 inches tall. Their ears help them hear insects moving around under the ground; termites, beetles and other insects make up most of their diet.  It is estimated that they eat 1.15 million termites a year.

 They typically weigh from 4-9 lbs. The gestation period is 60-70 days.

 As the human populations have moved onto the land occupied by wildlife like the bat-eared fox, many animals are losing their living space to humans. They are also hunted for their pelts.

 The Species Survival Plans manages the breeding of a species in order to maintain a healthy and self-sustaining population that is both genetically -diverse and demographically stable, according to Amanda Moses of the Memphis Zoo. The bat-eared foxes were just added to their program.

 The foxes belong to the dog family. The foxes mate for life and the family may use several dens in the wild. Both parents care for the babies.

By Karen Pulfer Focht ©

July 2, 2020

 https://dailymemphian.com/subscriber/section/metro/article/15234/bat-eared-foxes-species-survival-program-memphis-zoo

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Billboard Names Rhodes College a Top Music Business Program

Congratulations to Rhodes College for being named a top music program. I am proud to be a part of this. I got an insiders look in the fall of 2018 when I documented their program over a few months.

Rhodes College students have an opportunity to use Memphis’ rich musical heritage as a learning playground.

https://news.rhodes.edu/stories/billboard-names-rhodes-college-top-music-business-program

https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/9365285/billboard-top-music-business-schools-2020-list

https://insidememphisbusiness.com/editors-picks/movingtheneedle/

I made a prior post on this topic, Follow along on their journey as they visit legendary recording studios and create their own music as they learn. http://www.karenpulferfocht.com/blog/audio-engineering-rhodes-college

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Southern Chefs Food Tour In Israel

THE FOOD~

In the fall of 2019 three award winning and highly acclaimed Southern Chefs went on a food tour of Israel. Chefs Cassidee Dabney of Blackberry Farm in East Tennessee, Margot McCormack, Margot Cafe &Bar in Nashville and Kristin Essig of Coquette and thalia in New Orleans tasted their way through the best restaurants and markets in Jerusalem and TelAviv.

They also took side trips along the Mediterranean coast as they enjoyed panoramic views of Haifa, visited Daliat El Carmel Druze village on the slopes of Mount Carmel. They met with a cheese maker at the Shwartzman Dairy Farm in Bat Shlomo and tasted wine at the Tishbi Wine Cellar in Binyamina. They enjoyed a stroll and dinner at Helena Restaurant in the ancient port built by King Herod in Caesarea. They explored the nightlife, beaches and art galleries in TelAviv while also taking in a Culinary Street Food tour by Delicious Israel in the Carmel Market.

I found the food delightfully healthy, light and delicious. I especially enjoyed the way they prepared the many salads and vegetables that accompanied our main dishes. Hummus, eggplant, pomegranate, salads, Shawarma, seafood and Malabi, were some of the local favorites prepared for us sometimes more than once and in a variety of ways.

One of the things our chefs enjoyed the most, was a trip to Ein Kerem (traditional birth place of John the Baptist) where they experienced a new travel trend, a culinary workshop at the home of Kurdish resident Dalia Harfuf, who taught them how to create the “smells of her mother’s kitchen.”

The people were kind and warm and excited to show off their Israel, the Israel where people from a variety of cultural, geographical and religious backgrounds co-exist happily and peacefully. The day to day life in Israel that is often over shadowed by big headlines. The Israel that is an amazing travel destination.

These photo galleries are a showcase of what Israel has to offer and a glimpse of the Holy Land away from the news and politics of the day. It reflects the tasty and contemporary side of this ancient and controversial Middle Eastern country on the Mediterranean Sea.

ENJOY MY PHOTO JOURNAL OF THE HIGHLIGHTS~ BELOW-

Jerusalem~

Tel Aviv and Jaffa~

Mediterranean Coast and Wine Country~

SHORT VIDEO BELOW

ALL PHOTOS ©KAREN PULFER FOCHT Available for purchase and publication.