Joe Pruden looks down as he leans against the counter in what used to be the kitchen in his home on Seven Mile Road outside Midnight, Miss., on March 29, 2023. Recovery efforts continue after an EF-4 tornado came through the area last Friday night. His wife Carmen Pruden said they rode out the tornado in their bathroom with their grandson after their son called them and told them to take cover. “Get your tail in your bathroom and do it now,” said Carmen about what her son told her on the phone.
Dancers from L.Y.E. Academy perform during the celebration for what would have been Tyre Nichols’ 30th birthday at Fourth Bluff Park in Downtown Memphis on Monday, June 5, 2023.
Justin Pearson celebrates with supporters after being reinstated to the the Tennessee House of Representatives by the Shelby County Board of Commissioners in Memphis, Tenn., on Wednesday, April 12, 2023.
An audience member is comforted by Miami Police Chief Art Acevedo during a mini-concert from local Cuban-American artists on Wednesday, July 14, 2021. The event was put on by the City of Miami to show support to the people in Cuba who are protesting for freedom.
Linda Jones has tears roll down her face as she speaks about Tyre Nichols outside the Memphis Police Department Ridgeway Station during a justice for Tyre Nichols rally in Memphis, Tenn., on Sunday, January 29, 2023.
Kendra Barat, a park ranger with the National Park Service, looks up at the solar eclipse on the Arlington Lawn at Hot Springs National Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas on Monday, April 8, 2024. Barat said she is most looking forward to the sense of collective awe that will be shared by all the people watching the total solar eclipse together.
Katelyn Goff holds up Nova Bean, 5, and laughs as they are sprayed by water from a Memphis Fire Department fire truck after the 75th Annual High Point Terrace Neighborhood Independence Day Celebration in Memphis, Tenn., on Thursday, July 4, 2024.
Mikayla Flanders and other members of the DaySpring Missionary Baptist Church Atmosphere Shifters perform during the 105th anniversary celebration at DaySpring Missionary Baptist Church on October 13, 2019 in Gainesville, FL.
Michael Soroka touches his father Dr. Mike Soroka's leg as they listen to a commencement address by the dean of Ohio University's Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine on October 28, 2021. Mike Soroka was terminally ill with cancer. When it seemed that he wouldn't be able to see his son graduate in spring, or likely make it to fall graduation in December, the college arranged for an at-home ceremony. Dr. Kenneth Johnson, the executive dean of Heritage College, and Dr. John Schriner, associate dean, came in full regalia to give Michael a commencement address. His father then presented him with his doctoral hood and led him in the osteopathic oath. Mike Soroka passed away from colon cancer on November 24, 2021.
A member of the Caring and Sharing After-School program sits on stage as others wave flags as part of a performance during the Colonel Charles D. Young Veterans Day Breakfast Celebration on November 11, 2019 in Gainesville, FL.
Stacy Thompson looks out over the wreckage of her mother Lola Weatherly’s trailer and those of her neighbors in Selmer, Tenn., after a suspected tornado tore through the town early Thursday morning on April 3, 2025. Weatherly was convinced by Thompson and other family to leave the trailer and stay with them before the storm passed over.
Jeaneen Tankersly-Jones, the mother of Xavier Tankersly, who was shot and killed in March 2023, walks across the stage and receives her son’s diploma during the graduation ceremony for Melrose High School at Renasant Convention Center in Memphis, Tenn., on Tuesday, May 21, 2024.
Jerry Engelby, from Jefferson City, Missouri, holds a rose and a candle as she sings along to “Can’t Help Falling in Love” in front of Graceland during the “Candlelight Vigil” as part of Elvis Week 2023 in Memphis, Tenn., on Tuesday, August 15, 2023. “It comes to me every year,” Engelby said about the song. “Can’t help falling in love with him over and over and over at the age I am with grandkids.”
A camper from Camp Whitefield looks up at a cast replica of an Argentinosaurus skeleton in the atrium of Fernbank Museum on Thursday, July 14, 2022, in Atlanta. The Argentinosaurus roamed Earth around 90 million years ago, was up to 130 feet long, weighed up to 100 tons and was a plant eater. (Chris Day/Christopher.Day@ajc.com)
Santas wait for the next workshop to begin during the 2024 International Santa Celebration in Downtown Memphis on Friday, April 26, 2024. The event brings professionals working as Santa or Mrs. Claus together to learn, network and socialize.
Ryan Gartley competes in a pawpaw eating contest as attendees watch and cheer during the 23rd Annual Ohio Pawpaw Festival in Albany, Ohio, on Saturday, September 18, 2021. Gartley, who ultimately won the competition, said this is his second pawpaw contest he's taken part in. His main strategy is to get the seeds off to the sides as much as possible while he's eating the remainder of the fruit.
University of Memphis student Arabella Patterson and Paige Seward play tic-tac-toe against U.S. Navy underwater construction divers Keith Reed and Jason Fox as Fox reacts to losing his game outside of Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium prior to the football game between Memphis and Navy in Memphis, Tenn., on Thursday, September 14, 2023.
Dancers from Ballet Folklorico Tradicion Cultural perform as audience members react behind them during Latin Fest 901 at Overton Square in Memphis, Tenn., on Saturday, September 21, 2024.
Jessie West is tackled into the mud while watching the Toilet Bowl outside New Marshfield, Ohio, on February 20, 2022. For over forty years, New Marshfield residents have held a pick-up football game the Sunday after the Super Bowl. The MVP on the winning team is given the purple toilet to hold on to until the next game is held the following year. "You can always guarantee there's a Toilet Bowl," James McCune, a spectator and former player, said. "It was going before I was born and will still be going after I'm dead."
Josephine Hasan-Kerr puts her hands in the air while listening to Deborah Manning Thomas perform during the “Remembering MLK: The Man. The Movement. The Moment.” event to celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr. on the 56th anniversary of his assassination in front of the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn., on Thursday, April 4, 2024.
Yvetta Goodman sits and looks down at her grandfather’s grave after the 2023 Memorial Day Ceremony at the West Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery in Memphis, Tenn., on Monday, May 29, 2023. Goodman’s grandmother is buried on the other side and she said she and her husband Melvin, who is a Navy veteran, come to visit them “all the time.” “Memorial Day especially because I recognize all the military men not just grandaddy but all the people who sacrificed,” she said. “It means a whole lot to us both.”