SOUL DEEP: CLIMBING IN THE HEART OF SOULSVILLE WITH MEMPHIS ROX

In the heart of Soulsville in south Memphis, Tennessee, a revolution is happening. And it all starts with climbing.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2020

This is the story of Memphis Rox, a climbing gym that has transcended the classic model of business. With a “pay what you can” approach, Memphis Rox is more than a gym, and bigger than climbing. It’s a glimpse into the future where a climbing gym can become a crucible for diversity, inclusivity and community.

Video: Encompass Films

Taking a break from his daily training session, Aden Conrad stopped to chat with his friend Malik Martin. A talented athlete, this aspiring sport climber needed just a few minutes to rest and allow the lactic acid to ease its way out of his powerful forearms. As they casually spoke, Malik took a quick succession of pictures of Aden with his Nikon camera. Just a few clicks of his shutter and the photojournalist captured a moment in the life of a young man transformed by the power of a thriving community centered around a local climbing gym called Memphis Rox.

As the social media manager for the gym Malik was interested in learning more about Aden’s passion, why he enjoys rock climbing so much. “It’s a good sport that I’m good in,” he says simply. “I used to have friends playing outside with, but I don’t like them anymore. I don’t want to play with them.”

“While a sport such as climbing has considerable power to change, that power is rarely harnessed where it is needed most” said documentary filmmaker Dominic Gill. “So when I became aware of an organization in South Memphis making meaningful change in an often-forgotten community and using climbing to help push against an age-old status quo, I realized it was a story that needed to be shared.”

Though big for his age Aden is a sweet and gentle soul, soft spoken and a bit shy. In the rough neighborhood of south Memphis, Tennessee where he grew up Aden was often picked on and teased by the other kids. They made fun of his unhurried disposition and measured manner of speaking. But the climbing gym established just two years ago, now provides a place where Aden and many other young people in the community are made to feel safe and just be themselves.It makes me feel normal and happy,” he said.

Everyone should have a place where they feel safe and happy, a secure environment where he or she can not only be who they are, but where they are encouraged to become the person they most want to be. In the community known as Soulsville that place is Memphis Rox. Though nestled in a most unlikely location, surrounded by low income housing and dilapidated buildings, this state-of-the-art rock-climbing facility is the home to an emerging generation of young athletes who aspire beyond the heights of the walls they scale with harnesses, chalk and ropes.

Sponsored by Black Diamond, Gill and a small production crew spent a week in Memphis to explore this remarkable establishment in the heart of an historic enclave better known for Soul music, Blues and BBQ than bouldering. Less than 5 miles from the Lorraine Motel where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, Soulsville lies at the crossroads of the last Civil Rights movement and its modern expression known commonly as Black Lives Matter. In the same city where a monument to Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forest, the founder of the Ku Klux Klan, was removed by public demand in January, photographer Malik Martin turns his lens toward an entire social framework defined by White supremacy now in the midst of a massive transition. For a group of young climbers, this gym is the center of that change.

Run as a charitable enterprise Memphis Rox is unique for more than being set in an economically challenged, predominately Black American neighborhood in an urban town of the deep South. Particularly in the time of the COVID-19 Pandemic, this “pay-what-can” operation has also stood as a de-facto community center providing more than a few essential services for area residents, many of whom were put out of work due to the closure of nearby businesses.

“At the height of the pandemic we were giving away 600 meals a day,” said the gym’s operations manager Jon Hawk. “Around here there aren’t a lot of choices. But we did what we could from our kitchen and even invited local chefs to prepare special dishes whenever possible.”