Vol. 9, Issue 2 | Fall 2023

made in jackson

CITY OF JACKSON | UNITED WAY OF WEST TENNESSEE | LEADERS CREDIT UNION

FIND A COPY AT TURNTABLE COFFEE COUNTER OR THECO

editor's note

In 2014, I was a cliché of a recent college graduate working as a barista, feeing simultaneously lost and like anything was possible. A few of my friends, who were designers and writers and photographers, thought maybe we could make a publication like the ones we admired, but right here in Jackson.

I’d heard a friend of a friend was making a podcast called “Our Jackson Home,” and took a chance on asking the podcast co-host Luke Pruett if we could get involved one day when he came in for coffee. Before I knew it, I was pulled into a group photo and among a ragtag group of folks assembled in Luke’s living room. What was a podcast became a blog, and what was a blog became a magazine for Katie Howerton’s senior art show. What was a senior art show became a full fledged program under the wings of theCO and Katie's talent.

I wrote and volunteered for OJH through my first full-time job, and then I became Program Director in 2020. Since then, I’ve seen it continue to grow as we are able to create events and films and stories in collaboration with our community.

I share this story because nothing rings more true to me than an issue about the people who make our city. What I have had the privilege to see behind the scenes is that Our Jackson Home only exists as a product of you, the readers, the stories told in the pages, the volunteer writers and photographers who generously share their talents. At theCO, we have a mural that says, "Better Together,” and OJH is a product of that ethos.

I am deeply grateful for every person who has given their time and talent to this space. I think it's a powerful force because as Ross Gay says in his book "Inciting Joy," “It might depolarize us and de-atomize us enough that we can consider what, in common, we love. And though attending to what we hate in common is too often all the rage (and it happens also to be very big business), noticing what we love in common, and studying that, might help us survive."

Every issue and event we’ve done has shared the same sentiment — what is Our Jackson Home about? Who makes up Our Jackson Home? How might listening more attentively and looking more thoughtfully at our community give us the chance to grow? How might noticing what we love in common and sharing it together make our home a better place?

As this is my last issue as the Program Director and Editor-in-Chief of Our Jackson Home, I can’t think of a better note to end on. I hope that this issue, full of stories chosen from community nominations and selected by community members, reminds each of us the important role we play in shaping our community.

Courtney Searcy, Editor-in-Chief

details

64 pages | perfect bound | full color
Printed in Jackson, Tennessee, at Tennessee Industrial Printing, Inc.

featured writers

Lizzie Emmons
Julia Ewoldt Stooksberry
Hannah Gore
Darin Hollingsworth
Matt Marshall
Ross Priddy
Courtney Searcy
Maddie Steele

featured photographers

Trunetta Atwater
Mirza Babic
Dan Battle
Hannah Gore
Cari Griffith
Courtney Searcy
Maddie Steele

click the title to read each piece

COMMUNITY MAKER: BETHANY LUTZ

deserving of beauty

STORY AND PHOTOS BY MADDIE STEELE

COMMUNITY MAKER: DAVID MCCALL

a home in theater

BY JULIA STOOKSBERRY | PHOTOS BY DAN BATTLE

CULTURE MAKER: SAMANTHA WOOD

making art work

BY LIZZIE EMMONS | PHOTOS BY maDDIE STEELE

CULTURE MAKER: SHELBY TYRE

taking art to the big screen

STORY AND PHOTOS BY HANNAH GORE

CULTURE MAKER: ONTONI REEDY

creating culture together

BY TRISTA HAVNER | PHOTOS BY TRUNETTA ATWATER

ChANGE MAKER: WENDY TRICE MARTIN

a beacon of hope & empowerment

BY MATT MARSHALL | PHOTOS BY CARI GRIFFITH

CHANGE MAKER: PAUL TAYLOR

vision in action

BY ROSS PRIDDY | PHOTOS BY couRTNEY SEARCY

CHANGE MAKER: DARREN LYKES

connecting to change

BY DARIN HOLLINGSWORTH | PHOTOS BY COURTNEY SEARCY

CUISINE MAKER: CODY STOOKSBERRY

brewed with authenticity

THE greater Jackson chamber

CUISINE MAKER: REBECCA CREASY

together at the table

Story and PHOTOS BY COURTNEY SEARCY

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT: LEADERS CREDIT UNION

Leaders Credit Union is proud to be “made in Jackson” and be our community’s financial champion for life. The mission of Leaders is to power your passion and make lives better, and they do this by being involved in the surrounding community as your trusted financial partner. Whether your financial goals are big or small, Leaders is there to walk with you every step of the way and be involved in the story of your life. If you’re a member of Leaders, you are a part owner in a not-for-profit financial cooperative, meaning you’re more than a number.

Leaders was started in Jackson in 1957 with a mission to provide area teachers with a convenient way to save and borrow money. Since then, they have expended membership to include healthcare and communications, and today we have over 70,000 members and branches in Memphis, Dyersburg, Union City, and Milan. Members know that the financial champions who work at Leaders will be there for them through every financial decision life brings.

Thank you, Leaders, for your support of Our Jackson Home and your commitment to Jackson and the surrounding areas. If you’d like more information about membership at Leaders, visit leaderscu.com.