Can a Brewery Bring Rival Gang Members Together?

Plus: the continuing evacuation of Afghanistan; Ivan Turgenev’s “Fathers and Sons”; and the monks transforming sacred music. View in browser | Update your preferences Tuesday, August 30, 2022 In today’s newsletter, a brewery hiring rival gang members, and then: • The evacuation of Afghanistan • How Turgenev wrote “Fathers and Sons” • The monks transforming sacred music A Brewery’s Anti-Violence Mission, Complicated by a Killing TRU Colors attracted interest—and investment—by employing active gang members. But a double murder last summer has prompted criticism of its approach. Illustration by Anson Chan The white entrepreneur George William Bagby Taylor, Jr., likes to tell an origin story about his brewery, in Wilmington, North Carolina, called TRU Colors. It takes place in 2015, near his office. “Two days before Christmas, there was a sixteen-year-old that got shot in a drive-by and killed,” he says. The victim was a student named Shane Simpson, and Taylor identifies the shooting as a moment of revelation. “I didn’t even know we had gangs involved in Wilmington.” Out of that awakening came what Taylor saw as a brilliant idea. He would help “reduce gang violence by employing members of rival gangs,” as Charles Bethea puts it, in a disturbing and deeply reported piece in this week’s issue. The catch? “He said he wanted active gang members,” a Blood named Victor Dorm explains. “Kinda spooky.” As the company grew, tension mounted regarding the proportions of employees from two of the city’s rival gangs. Then, in July of last year, two people, including an employee, were murdered at Taylor’s son’s house, raising questions about the company’s methods and aims. Has TRU Colors, which has received millions of dollars of funding, including from P.N.C. Bank and Molson Coors, helped to decrease gang violence? Or did it import existing rivalries into the brewery—further aggravating them? —Jessie Li, newsletter editor Read the story Support The New Yorker’s award-winning journalism. Subscribe today » From the News Desk Daily Comment The Evacuation of Afghanistan Never Ended A year after the last U.S. military flights left, some Afghans who are vulnerable to retribution from the Taliban are being resettled in the U.S. But others are stuck in third-party countries, and many remain trapped in Afghanistan, at great risk. By Eliza Griswold The New Yorker Festival Final week! Get the Eustace Pass, our all-in ticket with ultimate festival access. If you like our newsletter, we think you’ll love The New Yorker Festival, a dynamic mix of live conversations, performances, screenings, and experiences, coming October 7th-9th. When you buy a Eustace Pass, available only through tomorrow, you’ll be able to attend as many in-theatre events as you’d like. You’ll also receive early entry to your events, bypassing the general-admission line; an invitation to a cocktail party hosted by The New Yorker’s editor, David Remnick; a limited-edition New Yorker tote bag; and more. Get yours before the sale ends » Editor’s Picks A Critic at Large Liberals, Radicals, and the Making of a Literary Masterpiece Ivan Turgenev achieved greatness with a novel detested by almost everyone he cared about. By Keith Gessen Dispatch The Monks Who Took the Kora to Church Sixty years ago, a Senegalese monastery gave up the organ for the kora, a traditional calabash harp. The monks’ innovations brought the instrument to the world stage—and transformed sacred music. By Julian Lucas There and Back Dept. Chelsea Manning’s Wicked Beats The WikiLeaks source preps for her first public d.j. set in fifteen years, at a club in Brooklyn. By Nathan Heller Fun & Games Dept. Name Drop Play Today’s Quiz Can you guess the notable person in six clues or fewer? By Will Nediger Daily Shouts Tips for Riding Out the Upcoming Recession Think outside the box for quick cash. By Meghana Indurti Crossword A Moderately Challenging Puzzle Shows evidence of fermentation, in a way: five letters. By Wyna Liu Daily Cartoon Tuesday, August 30th By Pia Guerra and Ian Boothby P.S. “It was on a dreary night of November, that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils,” says Victor Frankenstein, the narrator of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus.” The tale has been interpreted as “an allegory, a fable, an epistolary novel, and an autobiography,” Jill Lepore writes, as well as an inquiry on race and a warning about the dangers of technological creation. Shelley, who was born on this day in 1797, said that the story came to her in a dream: “I saw—with shut eyes, but acute mental vision,—I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together.” Today’s newsletter was written by Jessie Li. Thanks for reading. 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