Democrats in the House voted this week to make portions of Washington, DC, the 51st US state. It’s important because it is an official step toward creating a new state for the first time in a lifetime, but also no big deal because the proposal is DOA in the Senate, where Republicans have enough votes to block it. This issue is not going away, however. 2021 is the second consecutive year House Democrats have voted to make DC a state. Why do supporters think DC should be a state? The more than 700,000 people who live in Washington, DC, don’t have…
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Nashville, TN (TN Tribune) – On April 23rd, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed a 48-hour mandatory waiting period to take effect immediately in Tennessee. Patients at health centers at the time of the ruling were immediately blocked from obtaining an abortion. This restriction will make abortion harder to access for all patients, especially those who already face barriers to health care. The full Sixth Circuit granted the state of Tennessee’s request to suspend a lower court’s decision striking down the 48-hour waiting period while the state’s appeal remains pending. The order comes after a three-judge panel of the appellate court denied the state’s request in February. The Tennessee law requires patients to make two trips to a provider and wait at least two days to access abortion services after receiving in-person, state-mandated biased counseling. A federal district court struck down the law in October…
The following statement is attributable to: Susan R. Bailey, M.D. President, American Medical Association “The AMA commends the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) for today reaffirming its recommendation on the use of the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine for persons 18 years of age and older in the U.S. population under the Food and Drug Association’s (FDA) Emergency Use Authorization. The population-level data presented during ACIP’s meeting today clearly demonstrates that the benefits of this approach outweigh the risks, which include becoming infected with COVID-19 and the potential for severe illness or death. “The AMA will continue to work with the…
By Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought issues of healthcare equity to the forefront of discussions of racial justice. Even when controlling for factors like age and income, communities of color have been much more severely impacted that white Americans. A recent report by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that “older Black, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaska Native adults were nearly twice as likely to die of COVID-19 as older White adults,” and “cases among Black and Hispanic Medicare beneficiaries were 1.6 times higher than the rate observed among White beneficiaries.” Access to healthcare and health insurance is a…
On Earth Day, the Art + Design lawn at Austin Peay State University had an interesting sight to see. Eliza Evans, an environmental artist of about 10 years, was taking part in a durational performance piece where she spent several hours in a “time machine.” This time machine, a commercial greenhouse, helped to show what the future may look like on Earth. Instead of using statistics and graphs to indicate the changes in the environment, Evans used her body as a proxy. During this performance, Evans stayed in the time machine for seven hours. Through this, the experiment showed how…
Memphis, TN (TN Tribune)–In the first of a weekly series of announcements impacting the city’s arts, cultural and entertainment industries, TJI! is proud to announce the return of the pioneering public access program the Rainbow Connection to the airwaves with an important original documentary chronicling the 1991 People’s Convention. Without exaggeration, it can be considered the most successful grassroots exercise in democracy in the city’s history, and for the first time, many of the original conveners are telling their story on film. This harrowing movement led to the selection of Dr. W. W. Herenton as the city’s first elected African…
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TN Tribune) – The Department of Justice today announced that it is awarding more than $1.3 million to the State of Tennessee to meet critical law enforcement needs in the aftermath of last year’s Christmas Day bombing in Nashville. The funds are made available under the Emergency Federal Law Enforcement Assistance Program administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, a division of the Department’s Office of Justice Programs. “These funds are a welcome relief and come at a most critical time for our partners at the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department”, said Acting U.S. Attorney Mary Jane Stewart. “The…
Washington, D.C.–It’s the second time the House has approved such legislation in two years, but the statehood bill, long a goal for the nation’s capital, faces an uphill climb in a Senate evenly divided between the two parties. Winning a vote in the Senate would likely require ending the filibuster that requires most legislation to clear a 60-vote hurdle. Even then, not all 50 Democrats in the Senate back making D.C. a state. The 216-208 House vote on H.R. 51, named to reflect that D.C. would become the nation’s 51st state, comes as Democrats have stepped up their efforts on a…
By TRAVIS LOLLER Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) _ On April 20, 1960, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., stood at a podium at Fisk University and said he had come to Nashville “not to bring inspiration, but to gain inspiration from the great movement that has taken place in this community.” Hundreds of students from Fisk and other historically Black colleges had been sitting down for weeks at whites-only downtown lunch counters. Many were jailed, and their attorney’s home was bombed on April 19, prompting King’s visit. But the students had also just pressured the mayor to admit, publicly,…
Nashville, TN (TN Tribune)–Church Health Ministry Leaders and others members of faith are invited to the workshop “A Road Map to Establishing and Supporting Health Ministries in the Faith Community”April 26, 2021 – 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm/est. This is a Virtual Panel Discussion Panelists are: Diane L. Adams, MD, MPH and Bridgie A. Ford, PhD, Research Team, Juxtopia The facilitator is : Sandra Burke, Director of Student Career Paths, Rush College, Holly Springs, Mississippi Join the Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85062377274?pwd=SEtSQVJyY3VyR1BvS2R4dGFCRjFTUT09 or contact cynthiajfinch@gmail.com for more information.