In August, I will commemorate 19 years of living in Memphis. Originally born and raised in Mississippi, I moved to the Bluff City at a young age to attend college. After graduation, for reasons I cannot recall at this moment, I stayed; often asking myself ‘Why?’ over the years. Don’t get me wrong. Memphis is a place with much to offer the world and even more that makes it a historical gem, however, my wanderlust has been in overdrive for the past few years, and I’m eager to know what else is out there in the world for me. For the most part, many native Memphians express that same desire, but at the same time, they are equally loyal to the city. TNT is set to premiere one of their newest shows in June, a cop show titled Memphis Beat. I learned about the show while visiting my mother in Mississippi. Immediately, I smelled trouble and sought more info on the show’s website. Memphis Beat stars Jason Lee who portrays a Memphis cop named Dwight Hendricks. Hendricks is supposed to be something of a Southern eccentric like myself, but perhaps with more quirk and less sass. When he’s not busting the bad guys, he’s moonlighting as an Elvis impersonator.
Ummmmmm…..what?
Now, keep in mind, I’ve been in Memphis for almost 20 years. I have yet to see a native Memphian impersonate Elvis. As a matter of fact, there’s a slew of Memphians that have never visited Graceland. That’s right. NEVER. You can count me in that number as well.  The closest that I get to Graceland is passing by it in route to some other destination in Whitehaven (the neighborhood where his mansion is located). To be quite clear, most Memphians spend very little time harping over Elvis; that’s actually a byproduct of his obsessed fan base that journey to Memphis twice a year; once in January to celebrate his birthday and once in August to commemorate his death. You see, because of them, we don’t really have to love Elvis like that because he was here. Furthermore, there’s virtually no reports of random Elvis sightings to prove he’s still alive either. After all, if he was to show up anywhere, it would be Memphis, wouldn’t it?
Instead, a great deal of Memphians take pride in the legacies of Gospel, Blues, and Soul music, and least I forget, BBQ.  Al Green and the late Isaac Hayes are perhaps adored just as much as Elvis. Let me tell you, as a Black woman, it’s a beautiful…and hilarious…experience to see a couple of rhythmless White people sing ALL of the lyrics to Love and Happiness.  It happens, even in Memphis.
Stax Records, Hi Records, the National Civil Rights Museum, Sun Studios, Beale Street, Neely’s Bar B-Que, the Rendevouz, and probably the Peabody Ducks are honored highly among Memphis residents. They’re historical points of reference….which leads to the second problem of the show. Memphis Beat is NOT filmed in Memphis. It’s filmed in New Orleans. Again, what? Shouldn’t the show be called New Orleans Beat, instead? Now, how TNT and the producers of the show are going to be able to pull this one off will be interesting. It’s almost like they sat at the meeting while brainstorming on the show’s concept and said, “Yes, let’s focus on Memphis, but let’s shoot it in New Orleans because we can eat beignets on our lunch break!”***
I just listed a lot of the infamous landmarks in Memphis. When people watch this show, would it be wrong of them to expect to see them, especially if they live or have visited here? Considering that the city has been promoting itself to the motion picture industry as an ideal filming location, how come the show wasn’t filmed in Memphis? While New Orleans and Memphis have a lot in common in many ways, Bourbon Street looks nothing like Beale Street, thus the experience in visiting the Birthplace of Jazz is entirely different from the Birthplace of the Blues.
Memphis could have used that revenue and publicity just as much as New Orleans. Besides, filming the show in Memphis and making sure some of the city’s hot spots get a close up could have enhanced our tourism dollars as well. But this is the kind of breaks that Memphis have been getting off and on for the past several years. Every time it seems like the place will get the opportunity to re-introduce itself to the world, it seems to always end up with the short straw.
I will probably watch the pilot for the sake of Alfre Woodard. DJ Qualls is also co-starring in the show and, to me, he’s just as out of place as he was in Hustle and Flow. For the most part, I’ll take a pass on Memphis Beat because it just may give me heartburn. After being here so long, I’ve seen enough Elvis worship to last me a couple of lifetimes. I’ll also forego watching the show in a small protest on the city being so undermined in cultural significance and getting the shaft on filming rights.
Oh no, is that my pride showing? Yeah, I believe it is. 
***If anyone has a hankering for beignets while in Memphis, they can just swing by Cafe Beignet downtown and grab an order. Unless you just have to get that Cafe Du Monde experience, these beignets will fit the bill properly.
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I go through extremes to get people's opinion of my blog, for them to send me suggestions, and for them to speak their minds. Most don't, they just read it and that's that, and that's cool. I just do it for fun, to meet people, eat great food and mostly, to promote the local businesses around this awesome city we live in.
Now, to the point of my comment. I find this entire post of yours extremely racist. Although you make some valid points, you are continuously bashing what is KNOWN as one of the biggest staples of the culture of this city: Elvis Presley. I completely agree with you when you say local Memphians do not really follow or worship this man as much as the tourists. I know I don't. What I do know, however, is how much he means to this city and what he contributed when he was alive and that speaks more than anyone else that even comes close to his fame and fortune in our history, white, black, brown, purple, etc. The tourism alone that Graceland revenues could pay the bill to pave every street in Shelby County, regardless of these Elvis fanatics who flock to this city just for his sake, that you speak of. You say you have never been to Graceland. Maybe you should go, you might learn something! Like, how incredible of a man he was and how much he loved our city, how much he contributed and never sold out to the fame of Hollywood. The other names you mention are just as important to our culture too and I take nothing away from them with my above comment. It just sounds like you have an edge against a white man who never had an angry bone in his body. You should be ashamed of that.
Next, I would like to point out your disliking of shows that focus on our great city, regardless of where they are filmed. I personally thought The First 48 was great for this city, regardless of the negative impact it might have had on the locals. Maybe you just didn't like seeing it because it was a reality shocker to you that we actually live in a corruptly-run city that needs a lot more effort and less complaining. I think forcing that crew out of this city just shows what our city is made of: cowards. Run and hide instead of face the reality. To speak about this new show, "Memphis Beat" before ever seeing it shows your negative impact that I just spoke about two sentences ago. Have you seen it yet? Do you have any idea WHY it's not being filmed here? Did you know that a remaking of "Footloose" is in the same boat? Cause: Our state basically ran them out because of this "preservation" that you speak of, while other cities/states welcome it. Why is it that our city is in such a crap hole? Quit looking to avoid the obvious and blaming other people for our own mistakes. Oh, and DJ Qualls happened to fit perfectly in his role in "Hustle and Flow". Why? Because we live in a city that is fully cultured in white AND black race and I happened to have enjoyed every role played in that movie and it represented our city in an amazing way. I believe it won some awards, in case you didn't know that.
To end my long rant reply to your long rant, fictitious, racially biased post, I have no doubt in my mind that you are an intelligent woman. With that said, I encourage you to use your brain and investigate facts before you ramble on your next post and quit contributing to keeping this city in the gutter. I will continue my efforts, as small as they may be, on my blog to show everyone that I possibly can that this city is amazing and the racial hate is only driven by those who wish to do so. I know several people, white and black, who don't, and truly love this city.
-Kevin
No matter how much you liked The First 48, it was an awful show for the image of the city, especially when publications like Forbes Magazine lists Memphis as one of the country’s most miserable places to live. The media has a powerful hold on people’s minds and many draw conclusions and opinions based on what they view or read. I continue to say that the show was bad for the city considering the fact that there are a few organizations such as Mpact Memphis that are working very hard to repair the image of the city. The First 48 was counterproductive to their efforts. That was the basis for my point—not because it’s a ‘reality shocker’. Really, what reality are you referring to anyway, Kevin? Sounds like you have some bias in your statements as well.
On Elvis....
If you REALLY want to get deep about it...and this is FACT, not fiction, Elvis Presley swiped a lot of his music and vocal delivery from Black blues musicians. Songs like 'Hound Dog' and 'My Babe' were originally recorded by Big Mama Thornton and Little Walter respectively. Elvis owes much of his success to those broke bluesmen and women as he was groomed by them and then marketed to a White audience. Ponder on that for a spell. Now, I don't hate Elvis, however, I do get quite bothered with the fact that many people tend to think that he is the only thing that makes this city turn. Much of Memphis is built upon the cultural contributions of the Black community. Elvis is NOT the reason why Memphis is called the Birthplace of the Blues; it’s because of Beale Street which was historically a predominately Black district. Furthermore, WDIA was the first radio station in the country to have an all-Black format AND an integrated staff. Stax Records (also ran by an integrated staff during its heyday) has a worldwide impact, especially in the UK; so for a show to focus largely on Elvis when it comes to highlighting a city is just completely unbalanced to me. If you wanna spotlight a city, shine the light on ALL of it, not just one aspect of it. If the producers of Memphis Beat were soooo concerned about worshiping Elvis, they should have called the show Elvis Beat. It would have been fine by me. But they called it Memphis Beat for the sake of exhibiting aspects of Memphis culture. Elvis, regardless of the impact of Graceland's revenue, is only one aspect of Memphis culture, not the whole of it.
Let me point out, too, that there are just as many White people who love and admire Memphis for its Blues and Soul heritage and venture here every year to partake of it. I’ve talked and partied with several who are able to tell you any and everything about Otis Redding, the Bar Kays, Rufus Thomas, and Booker T. and the MGs. To prove my point, go and visit a small blues club called Wild Bill’s on Vollintine. It’s a little hole in the wall spot with a mixed crowd, mainly White people. Every time I go, I have a blast. Whenever I visit the Soulsville Museum, there’s always a mixed crowd and I tend to strike a conversation with people other than those with my skin tone just to get their perspective of the city. So, my points about people holding others things in Memphis with high regard besides Elvis were far from fictional. It may not be based on hardcore numbers, but it is based on experience…and the last time, I checked, I was allowed to write a blog post based on experience.
Now, to your points about Hustle and Flow; I am well aware of the awards it won. Furthermore that Oscar win to Three Six Mafia for ‘It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp’ was a complete mockery of the Memphis music legacy—to Black music, in general, honestly, so forgive me, if I don’t throw a ‘ Whoop Whoop’ in the air cause they won. Hustle and Flow was a cool movie, I’ll give you that, but my point about DJ Qualls has nothing to do with him being a representation of Memphis’ ‘cultured White and Black race’ so much as I just don’t like the dude ‘cause he’s corny.
Now, to you…
While you called my post fictional and racially biased, you did tell me to use my brain as if I wasn’t doing that when I prepared my post. My views are my views…and contrary to what you have posted here, there were many people who read this post on Facebook and AGREED with me and even added to it. Just as you gathered that I was being biased, I could easily say the same thing about you and your slick glorification of Elvis in your comments. What’s supposed to make what I did so wrong and what you did so right? I could also allege that you were being biased as well towards me. I could very easily pull out my ‘Sensitive Black Person’ card and accuse you of saying that Black people don’t use their brains and your ‘reality shocker’ comments about the First 48 were alluding to the so-called ‘Black criminal element’. But, that would be speculation, wouldn’t it? Just like your comments were speculative. My blog is dedicated to all things pertaining to Black culture and social issues because of its limited exposure in mainstream culture. My readers primarily have the same interest. From what I’ve gathered in your comments, you are not a member of my target audience, just like I’m not a member of the target audience for Memphis Beat, apparently, so as I bypass watching Memphis Beat, you can bypass reading any further posts on my blog.
Now, if you want to continue reading it, I would advise you to learn how to disagree with me and do not approach me with such an accusatory and condescending tone.