The crowd was still filing in nearly 45 minutes after the scheduled start time Mayor Paul Young’s State of the City address.
By the time Young took the stage Tuesday night, Feb. 10, at First Baptist Broad, the energy inside the sanctuary felt more like a pep rally than a policy briefing. Video testimonials from local entrepreneurs rolled across large screens. Youth performers lifted the room in song. The theme — “Memphis Rising,” stylized as “MemphIS Rising” — flashed repeatedly as speakers invoked pride, progress and possibility.
And then the heckling began…