Thread by @scavendish

In today's New York Times, I've got a story with @RichardFausset about the aftermath of the tornado and fears of gentrification in North Nashville

nytimes.com/2020/03/04/us/…

A couple of extra things about that piece. First, @lukesharrett shot the photos and got so many good images including this one. That's Shirley Brooks, second from the right, who's in the story

It's a hell of a photo because you can see the tensions in Buena Vista in one frame. Brooks one-story wood house has a collapsed roof and front ripped off. The new construction townhouses around it are pretty much fine.

Brooks & her grandkids were out there doing cleanup and packing up their stuff while her husband had to work. She might have been working too if the roof hadn't fallen in on her back. The couple helps support up to 16 family members. If you're poor, it's hard to afford a day off.

It's something to keep in mind in the coming weeks when the initial burst of energy and volunteerism dies down: Many folks are scrambling for places to live AND trying to not miss a paycheck, because they simply can't. That strain is going to be a lot.

Second, when I showed up over at St. John's AME, one of the reasons why Rev. Lisa Hammonds was glad to talk to me was because I told her I was writing for the Times. She was VERY unhappy with the early local coverage ignoring parts of North Nashville that had been hit.

This is something local media need to grapple with pretty hard. We're all guilty of covering shiny objects. It's easy to get to Germantown. It's hard to get up D.B. Todd when there are transformers still dangling on sheared-off light poles.

Hammonds lives in East Nashville. From the early coverage, she had no idea the area around her church had been devastated. That's on us. That's on the media who are insufficiently sourced throughout North Nashville and haven't put in the time covering it.

Third, Hammonds said magic words to me: "They call Nashville the “It City” but who for whom is it the “It City”?"

As someone who has tried to kill that phrase, it made my day. Probably would have been too meta to include in the paper that gave it to us.

nashvillescene.com/news/cover-sto…

Finally, as this powerful African-American woman was explaining the gentrification going on around St. John's, the oldest AME sanctuary in TN, a white woman in yoga pants jogged by with her dog, out for a morning run.

If I had an internal irony meter, it would have exploded.