By Thomas Sellers Jr.
The year 2021 is coming to a close.
Thank goodness because maybe the past nearly 365 days have been worse than in 2020. The global pandemic left a dark mark on the world and the previous year. All our hopes were up when the calendar turned to 2021.
Trying to neutralize COVID-19, get the job market back on track and reinstitute annual events, Memphians felt the new year was going to be a lot easier. With a couple of highs, the Memphis area has seen its share of memorable lows in 2021.
I pray with a couple of weeks left in the year we don’t have any more entries to The Best Sellers’ List. But here is my list of the top 10 events in the Memphis area for 2021.
10. Ja Morant Nike Commercial
When we look back on 2021, we will say that was the year Memphis had a professional sports superstar born. Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies is on the brink of being a nationwide figure.
No. 12 jerseys are popping up all around the city and soon children in Utah, New York and Texas will be wearing a Memphis 12. I am confident about this because the Nike brand is going to assist in the effort.
The No. 2 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft had a chip on his shoulder and has to prove himself to the world he is worthy. Just like his adopted city of Memphis, Ja is an underdog.
The new Nike commercial that debuted in November illustrates Ja forming a bond with the Bluff City. Morant is on a mission to prove Memphis is not the NBA’s purgatory. “Says Who?” is an awesome representation of Memphis and it’s budding superstar.
9. Penny Hardaway Recruiting Class
Still in basketball news, the University of Memphis Tigers made national news for the No. 1 recruiting class in America. Head Coach Penny Hardaway did it again back in August. Since being hired in 2018, Hardaway has nailed down two top classes. The prospects that came to the M-Town in 2021 were five-star center/former No. 1 Class of ‘22 prospect Jalen Duren. Duren reclassified and committed to Memphis for this season. Then about three weeks later, Emoni Bates made the commitment to the Tigers.
Now we have a nationally ranked basketball team and a good chance at playing in April 2022.
8. CJ Davis Hired
The first female police director in Memphis history was hired in April. Welcome to town Cerelyn “CJ” Davis. Earlier this year Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland announced her at the next Memphis Police Department director. Davis replaced Michael Rallings.
Davis’ previous stop was in Durham, N.C., as police chief.
7. Shelby County Schools vs. Gov. Bill Lee
With children heading back to school in August, it appeared Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and Shelby County Schools Superintendent Joris Ray had conflicting opinions on opening schools, mask manidates and how to handle sports. Back in November, SCS filed an emergency motion a day before Gov. Lee was expected to sign sweeping legislation essentially banning mask mandates in Tennessee public schools.
Shelby County was seeking clarification as to what continuing obligations it has?”
The county would like to continue to oversee COVID-19 mitigation efforts, and the emergency motion argued that if Lee signed the bill, the county’s authority will be greatly reduced unless there is legal intervention.
6. Dr. Alisa Haushalter resigns
Throughout 2021, one of the familiar faces of the pandemic on Memphis television was Dr. Alisa Haushalter. Then in March she was suddenly gone. Dr. Alisa Haushalter announced her resignation amid the investigation involving wasted vaccine doses and improper record keeping prior to her departure.
Dr. LaSonya Harris Hall served as interim director of the Shelby County Health Department until a permanent director was named. That name was Michelle Taylor. Dr. Taylor confirmed as Shelby County’s new health department director. The Shelby County Commission voted 13-0 to confirm Taylor as the county’s new health director.
5. Blue Oval City Announcement
In October, a historic announcement came down from the Ford Motor Company that will impact all the municipalities in Shelby County. The HTL Region, West Tennessee, and the state as the Ford Motor Company and SK Innovation announced their selection of the Memphis Regional Megasite for one of the largest battery and vehicle manufacturing campuses in the U.S.
Ford and SK Innovation will invest $5.6 billion to build a 3,600-acre mega campus called Blue Oval City on the Memphis Regional Megasite, where production of next-generation all-electric F-Series trucks will begin in 2025. The project will result in the creation of 5,800 new jobs in West Tennessee.
The project is anticipated to generate more than 27,000 new jobs, both directly and indirectly, to support the site’s operations. This will result in more than $1.02 billion in annual earnings.
4. Days of snow
February was cold. That is an understatement. The second month of 2021 was freezing with 9 days of sub-zero temps. The Mid-South and Memphis area was digging out from the Snowstorm of 2021.
Between 2 and 6 inches of the flaky white substance covered most of the area. The Memphis Airport at first reported 7.2 inches of snow. I think we’re officially settling on 5.7 inches of snow, one of the worst winter storms in Memphis history.
3. Young Dolph Murder
The murder of Adolph Thornton, Jr. better known as Memphis rapper Young Dolph shocked this city. Dolph was shot and killed in his hometown of Memphis on Nov. 17.
Dolph was murdered at one of his favorite spots in Memphis, Makeda’s Butter Cookies. The 36-year-old was ambushed after stepping into the establishment by two gunmen.
Semi-automatic rifles blasted the glass of the cookie shop and ripped the life out of Dolph. A citywide manhunt began and a serious conversation about the direction of our city’s safety began.
Dolph has a family that he tried to protect by moving them away from the mean streets of Memphis. Family and the family unit is the solution to most of these problems. We have to recreate a sense of family throughout our communities.
2. Memphis Bridge Closure
This spring Memphis made national headlines literally with a crack in our infrastructure. A major bridge connecting Memphis to Arkansas finally reopened to traffic in both directions. For almost three months the Hernando DeSoto Bridge was closed because of a crack. The Arkansas Department of Transportation announced in a tweet after an inspector spotted the issue.
The Hernando DeSoto Bridge, which carries Interstate 40 over the Mississippi River. The 3.3-mile bridge was built in the late 1960s to early 1970s and, as one of only two Mississippi River crossings in the Memphis area, carries about 60,000 vehicles daily, according to the Tennessee Department of Transportation.
1. Collierville Kroger Mass Shooting
Back on September 23, Uk Thang’s took a life, destroyed several more and shocked others in the Mid-South area. But Thang’s mass shooting of the Collierville Kroger united a community, strengthened bonds and illustrated the preparedness of our public safety officials.
Police say Thang pulled up to the front of the Kroger, armed himself with three guns, entered the store and started shooting at customers and employees.
Thang also exited through the back of the store and started shooting at customers and employees. Police say Thang then returned to the back receiving area of the store and took his own life.
Fifteen people were shot. One of them, Olivia King, later died.
THOMAS SELLERS JR. is the editor of The Millington Star and both the sports editor and a weekly personal columnist for West 10 Media/Magic Valley Publishing. Contact him by phone at (901) 433-9138, by fax to (901) 529-7687 and by email to [email protected].
