This story was updated on May 27, 2025, with the correct spelling of Tyré Nichols name.
My colleague, my friend and MLK50’s visuals editor, Andrea Morales, is what you’d call a soulful person. She feels things deeply. She was born in Peru and grew up in Miami, but I could make an argument that — because of her passion and her heart — her true hometown is Memphis.
“Memphis became a home very quickly, and I feel like that was on Memphis’ terms,” Andrea told me recently. “I landed here after a decade of bouncing around and felt quickly grounded by the self-determination of the people in the community. You can be who you are here. I spent another decade stepping into who I am with the support of people who said in an authentic way: ‘Come as you are, we’re lucky to have you here.’”
See what I mean? Andrea found something priceless in Memphis: herself. And I believe that’s why she captures such powerful images for MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. There’s agape love and care in what she produces.
I asked Andrea why she thought she was inspired by the city because an exhibit of her work is at the Brooks Museum. “Roll Down Like Water” runs through January 2025 and includes 65 images. It’s a kind of love letter to the city she’s adopted and has returned that claim.
Andrea told me she believes the practice of photographing in community is romantic. “It is an inherently hopeful act looking to communicate things that matter to someone, anyone, who might hold it,” she said. “Working with these images was like casting these parts of living in Memphis in bronze for myself, so putting them in a show is an unexpected level of vulnerability that I hope folks will step into and share to see the abundance of beautiful things that this place contains.”
The multitudes Memphis contains. We know that abundance lies in this city’s people. One thing I love that Andrea always does in her work is, even in helping to tell the toughest stories, capture moments of joy and of the ordinary. Too often working people, Black people, LGBTQ people are posited as “other.” Andrea’s work confirms their humanity.
“There is definitely not any difference between my work for MLK50 and the show. The work and its accompanying archive are the visual foundation for our organization.
“This work developed as we dreamt of MLK50’s potential seven years ago,” Andrea said. “Some of the images on the wall (like the one above) that only ran online are going to be printed at 40 x 60. The stories take on their own life at that scale.”
I don’t mean to brag, but basically, this means that, on the regular, MLK50 publishes museum-quality images!
Head to the Brooks and see Andrea’s work. Take someone with you. Because, to paraphrase Bobby Byrd: I know you got soul. If you didn’t you wouldn’t be reading this.
Adrienne Johnson Martin is co-executive director of MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. Contact her at adrienne.martin@mlk50.com
This story is brought to you byMLK50: Justice Through Journalism, a nonprofit newsroom focused on poverty, power and policy in Memphis. Support independent journalism by making a tax-deductible donation today. MLK50 is also supported by these generous donors.