S I N N E R S

xAI | Clayborn Temple | Dr. Feagins

Powerful Symbolism Connected to Current Affairs in Memphis

Left image: Photo of Sammie as played by Miles Caton in the film SINNERS | Right image: Photo of arson at Clayborn Temple by Raymond Chiozza Photography

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After seeing Ryan Coogler’s Sinner’s for the first time, I knew I had to see it again because…YES! Great art disrupts and calls attention to the things our humanity needs to address. It's a keeper of the times and reflection of culture. Sinners extraordinarily disrupted and called my attention to the very things going on in my home city. Through various symbolic themes in Sinners I was awakened to the synchronous happenings in Memphis. And trust, I'm not one to call divine timing a “coincidence”. So what might  Sinners have in common with xAI, Clayborn Temple, and Dr. Feagins?

Okay so boom!

xAI’s landing in Memphis is sucking the life force out of our city. Clayborn Temple, our cultural sacred place, was burned to the ground by arson. Dr. Feagins, former superintendent, a hope for the future of our kid’s education system, was ousted after flipping the lid off the school board’s obscure turmoil. Any bells ringing for you yet? No worries, let’s connect the dots! By the way, if you haven’t seen the movie yet, chiiillleee be prepared to be SPOILED because you done had enough time lol.

Sinners is a masterful fusion of historical fiction, horror, and magical realism. Coogler seamlessly weaves themes of identity, community, music, colonialism, racism, religion/spirituality, black joy and the exploitation of it into an intellectually and emotionally potent vampire film set in rural Mississippi during the Jim Crow era. This movie tells the tale of twins Smoke (Elijah) and Stack (Elias) who embark on opening a juke joint the day they return to their hometown in Clarksdale after seven years in Chicago. What was set to be the grand opening of their dreams turned into a nightmare filled with blood thirsty vampires. 

Sawmill/Slaughterhouse

We’re first introduced to Smoke and Stack during a business transaction to buy property from the owner Hogwood. Hogwood markets this property as a sawmill, which we later find out is actually a slaughterhouse. This is a point of symbolism that speaks directly to “making deals with the devil”. It immediately brought to mind Elon Musk’s xAI project. 

The nature of xAI was seeded in deception. It began as a back door deal last summer without proper permit or truthful disclosure of operations. Musk spun a deal for Memphis to be the face of “ground breaking” technology for only the cost of the city’s soul. How much notoriety is worth the cost of public health and environmental safety?

What was being marketed to our city as a sawmill is actually a slaughterhouse. Fortunately, environmental justice leaders like Keshaun Pearson , LaTricea D. Adams , and Justin J. Pearson saw through the facade. They’re each pushing forth civic efforts to advocate and fight against xAI’s intrusion. This supercomputer is pumping 2000+ tons of pollutants in the air with an expectant water demand of 5+million gallons a day. This would put a major strain on our aquifer and diminish the health of our loved ones. Memphis water is gold and if we don’t protect what’s ours we run the risk of becoming the next Flint, who are still suffering the detriment of water pollution today. Land is to the body as water is to blood. xAI stands as both Hogwood (KKK realtor) and Remmick (Vampire) in this scenario. 

There’s a scene towards the end of the movie that I wanna highlight that connects to the “making deals with the devil” idiom. After Smoke takes down all but the KKK leader, he is shot and nearing the end of his life. The moments before he fully transitions, he is between the physical and spirit realm. This is where the veil is completely shattered and a crossroad is before him. On one end Hogwood’s money and on the other is his wife Annie and daughter. Here he is presented with the question of where true value rests. Will our city have to be taking its last breath to understand where its true wealth resides? Before Smoke crossed over, Annie called him by his true name (Elijah) and told him he could only hold the baby if he let go of the cigarette. In order to inherit the promise he had to let go of the vice. 

Intergalactic Juke Joint

The scene where Sammie’s music in Club Juke initiated a portal through the past, present, and future was astonishing. My jaw literally dropped the first time I saw it, but the second time, I was in teeeaarrrs. Experiencing the magic of his gift liberate bodies into jubilation and welcome the sacredness of ancestral wealth into the space, incited a joy within me that splintered the moment the embers transformed into full flames. In the theater, my eyes grew blurry as the ashes of Clayborn Temple smudged my thoughts. Just two days earlier it was still standing.

Clayborn Temple was the very place the universal symbol (I AM A MAN) for human rights and human dignity was birthed during Martin Luther King Jr.’s last campaign for the Sanitation Workers Strike of 1968. Before the recent arson attack it was in the process of revitalization through the efforts of Anasa Troutman and Clayborn Temple’s community members. Throughout this revitalization journey, Clayborn continued to bring culturally rich, community based programming to the city. It was on its way to becoming a premier cultural arts center in legacy of participants of the strike aforementioned.

What came up for me as I rewatched the scene was the juxtaposition of the buildings within my mind. How a juke transmutes into the sacredness of a temple. How it shows up in the clapping hands and stomping feet of southern black churches. These thoughts brought to light our light. This scene illustrated the power of music and community shared under the roof of a chosen place made sacred by our essence and presence. Like the juke, Clayborn Temple is a gathering place to experience communal black joy rooted in the historical richness that inspires the present and future. This is the wealth sought after by vampires to exploit. 

It’s a target for exploitation because the very nature of these sacred places usher us into spiritual replenishment/remembrance which empowers our human will and further helps us make decisions that benefit our life and future. These spaces inform the culture that informs the art which simultaneously preserve and write new narratives. This is where power lives. What’s more, when we share our gifts amongst our community within sacred space, we pierce veils that heal wounds of our past into our present and future. Though the fire abruptly brought the revitalization process of Clayborn Temple to ground zero, our city is not deterred. Our sacred place will rise again.  

Part 1 of 2