Remember Young Dolph as a Memphis music king and staple in the community | Opinion

Like many Memphians I was shocked and saddened this week to learn of the tragic passing of Young Dolph. He was a beloved Memphian whose influence stretched far beyond our city limits.

Dolph showed us all what it meant to give back, and he remains a shining example of what we should all strive to achieve to help our local community. His legacy weighs heavily on my mind, especially in the context of the holiday season.

As we move towards Thanksgiving, my family has been preparing for the holidays just like thousands of other families all across Memphis.

For the most part, that means that we’ve been ordering too much online, planning some time off, and getting excited to spend time with loved ones we haven’t seen in a while.

But apart from the hustle and bustle of a busy holiday season, we’ve also spent some time reflecting on the greater meaning of the holiday season, and how its lessons might help us to process trauma that we cannot understand. With that in mind, I invite you to reflect with us on Memphis as a story of The Three Kings.

When Young Dolph hit the charts with his debut Album “King of Memphis,” the cover art made it clear that he was inviting comparisons with Biggie, the King of New York. But for those of us at home, he naturally drew comparisons to other musical Memphians, The King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley and the genre-defining legend B.B. King.

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Young Dolph's legacy in Memphis

Now that Young Dolph is gone, and national news reports another soul lost to senseless gun violence in Memphis, the king who more naturally comes to mind becomes The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

To be clear, I am not comparing these men to each other. Their individual lives, struggles, influences and accomplishments are, to put it simply, not the same.

Instead, I’m trying to make sense of what it means to be a Memphian by looking at Memphis through the lens of these kings; who each traveled here from as far as Tupelo, Atlanta, and Chicago, and imparted us with a gift before going home.

I’ve been asking myself, and encourage you to ask yourself tough questions like, What do I have to give back to the community? What is my gift, and how can I use it to improve the lives of those around me? And finally, why is success just as deadly as poverty for talented Memphians and what could we have done differently to prevent this?

I don’t have the answers to these questions, but I take comfort in the thought that other Memphians might be asking the same questions with me, and I look to our traditions for wisdom at a difficult time.

At Halloween, we acknowledge death. At Thanksgiving, we celebrate life, and everything that makes us Thankful in our lives. In Hanukkah, we remember the battles we should have lost, but won anyways. And at Christmas, just like the kings, we give gifts.

So let’s do that for Young Dolph.

Let’s acknowledge and mourn his passing. Let’s be thankful for his legacy and for the opportunity we still have to make an impact. Let’s remember that this city, for all its troubles, has won so many battles that it might have lost.

Let’s honor his memory by coming together as a community that gives back to those who need it most.

Stephen Barnes and Daniel Lenagar are partners in a law firm practicing criminal defense and family law.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Honor Young Dolph's legacy by providing a helping hand to the community