MEMPHIS, Tenn. (TN Tribune) – The Urban League of Memphis is beginning another session of NextLevel, a business development program offered in conjunction with the Tennessee Urban League Affiliates, Tennessee Valley Authority and Interise. The purpose of the seven-month program, scheduled to start on April 15, is to support small business owners who wish to efficiently pursue their goals of business growth. “NextLevel is an enormous opportunity for established business owners in the area to build a roadmap that turns plans into success,” said Tonja Sesley-Baymon, president and CEO of the Urban League of Memphis. “We deeply appreciate our community partners,…
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By Hazel Trice Edney (TriceEdneyWire.com) – John E. Thomasson was a hero in his hometown. As a member of the board of supervisors in Louisa, Va., he was the county’s first African-American elected to public office. He built a successful realty company. He helped to save mortgages and paid for college scholarships among other charitable giving. He also owned the local funeral home for 53 years, working and driving a car well into his 90s. When he died of an age-related illness at the age of 98 on July 22, 2020, there was hardly anyone in the county of Louisa…
Nashville TN (TN Tribune)– Marsy’s Law for Tennessee is lighting the state purple in recognition of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week (NCVRW), Sunday, April 18 through 24. The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the need for Marsy’s Law for Tennessee. A recent TBI report shows the violent crime rate soared in Memphis in 2020 compared to 2019 – up nearly 25 percent. Knoxville Police reported a 40 percent increase in shootings resulting in injury in 2020. And in Chattanooga, police said there has been a sharp increase in gun violence. Marsy’s Law for Tennessee is a constitutional amendment making its way…
(AP) The president of the Southern Baptist Convention, America’s largest evangelical denomination, posted a photo on Facebook last week of him getting the COVID-19 vaccine. It drew more than 1,100 comments — many of them voicing admiration for the Rev. J.D. Greear, and many others assailing him. Some of the critics wondered if worshippers would now need “vaccine passports” to enter The Summit Church in Durham, North Carolina, where Greear is pastor. Others depicted the vaccines as satanic or unsafe, or suggested Greear was complicit in government propaganda. The divided reaction highlighted a phenomenon that has become increasingly apparent in…
By Adelle M. Banks (RNS) — Black adults attend church and participate in Bible studies more than other U.S. adults, but younger Black Americans are less likely to identify with the Christian faith than older generations, a new Barna Group report shows. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, half of Black church attenders estimated they attended services weekly, compared to 29% of the general Black population. Boomers tended to be the most engaged in weekly worship compared to younger generations. The California research firm on Friday (April 16) released a new segment of its “Trends in the Black Church”…
PUBLIC NOTICE Nashville, TN (TN Tribune)–The Metropolitan Board of Parks and Recreation is seeking community input on a request to change the name of Hadley Park to Kwame Leo Lillard Park. The proposed name change would honor Kwame Leo Lillard, a local civil rights activist who died in December. The Parks Board will accept public comment for a 30-day period beginning Monday, April 19, 2021 and ending at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 18, 2021. The Board is soliciting public input before taking a formal vote to determine whether to petition the Tennessee Historical Commission, the governmental body that will…
FRANKLIN, Tennessee (TN Tribune)—Tennessee State Historian Dr. Carroll Van West, leaders of the African American Heritage Society of Williamson County and other community partners in historic preservation announced details of a campaign to acquire and save 264 Natchez Street. The African American Heritage Society of Williamson County plans to purchase and restore the historic Merrill-Williams House with the goal of turning it into a public learning center. The home is one of the oldest landmarks in the Natchez community listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The society is aiming to raise the $1 million needed to purchase and…
By John Howser Walter Clair, MD, MPH, who earned his bachelor’s and medical degrees and Master of Public Health from Harvard University, is one of three 2021 recipients of Harvard University’s highest honor, the Harvard Medal. Clair, professor of Clinical Medicine and vice chair for Diversity and Inclusion in the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, will receive the award virtually from the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) at its annual meeting on June 4. “This is a wonderful recognition for Dr. Clair, who is a leader in the Medical School, the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute,…
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Nashville Fire Department added 37 new firefighters to the department during a graduation ceremony at Madison Church of Christ on Friday, April 16th at the Madison Church of Christ. NFD Director Chief William Swann and Chief Training Officer Commander Need Picture – Lively presented each of the graduates with a certificate of completion and their official badge. Family, friends and fellow NFD personnel celebrated Battalion 83’s accomplishment following the ceremony. Battalion 83 completed more than 1,000 hours of an intensive curriculum, including classroom lectures and hands on training. Their hands-on training included live fire training, swift water rescue training…
Ryan Suddath, Staff Writer April 6, 2021 On April 5, Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) capped off a nearly year-long project to change the name of Dixie Place to Vivien Thomas Way. Running from 21st Avenue South to VUMC’s Central Garage, the street honors the life of Vivien Thomas, an African-American lab technician who worked at VUMC from 1930 to 1940 and developed a novel procedure for the “blue baby” surgical operation. Roots of Change The idea for changing the name of Dixie Place originated from the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, per second-year medical…