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Nashville–The Board of Trustees of Fisk University has named Dr. Vann Newkirk Sr. as Interim President. Dr. Newkirk received his doctorate in history from Howard University and has been a proven leader in higher education for more than 20 years. Dr. Newkirk served as Provost for three years at Elizabeth City State University before joining the Fisk team as Provost in 2018. Dr. Newkirk has held numerous senior administrative and academic positions throughout his outstanding career. His expertise in accreditation matters and programmatic development is nationally recognized, and he has established himself as a leader in the education technology space.…
By Peter White NASHVILLE, TN — Senator Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis) and Representative Harold Love, Jr. (D-Nashville) are the only Democrats in Governor Lee’s Stimulus Accountability Group. Other members of the group are department and agency heads, most white and mostly male. Both Akbari and Love believe the Medicaid program should provide coverage to the 1.2 million people without health insurance. They also believe the punishment for protestors who vandalize property should get less than six-year prison sentences. Regardless of the reason or choice neither lawmaker thinks women should go to jail for having an abortion. Akbari and Love strongly support…
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — September marks six months since a series of tornadoes swept through Tennessee, leaving behind a path of death and destruction. The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT) recently released a six-month report to the community that summarizes and details the progress of its Middle Tennessee Emergency Response Fund, it established just hours after the tornadoes struck in the early morning hours of March 3. Twenty-five people died — 19 of them in Putnam County, including five children — and 310 were injured in the series of tornadoes that stretched from West Tennessee through Northern Davidson County, North and East…
NASHVILLE, TN — Jon Meacham will serve as a visiting professor at American Baptist College for the Fall 2020 semester. Meacham, a presidential historian and award-winning biographer, will teach on the life and legacy of Congressman John Lewis. A contributing writer to The New York Times Book Review and a contributing editor to Time magazine, he is a fellow of the Society of American Historians and chairs the Board of trustees of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello. Meacham is a highly regarded researcher. He has authored or edited 13 books, five on U.S. Presidents; his biography of “Andrew Jackson, American Lion,”…
By Peter White NASHVILLE, TN — Metro’s track record for letting city contracts to African American businesses is dismal. According to Alex Coure with the local NAACP Economic Development Committee, Metro’s total spending with ethnic minority businesses has been less than 5% since 2013. Coure and former Councilman Don Majors made a presentation to Metro Council’s Minority Caucus last month highlighting the lack of progress in awarding more contracts to Black businesses. Mayor Cooper attended the virtual briefing. “Metro spends $1 billion a year. Only 6% have been reserved for minorities and it’s been going on for years. That drives the…
By Peter White An all-volunteer group stages online debates with resolutions like “Have President Trump’s policies been good or bad for Black America? A moderator calls on a speaker who argues one side and then answers two questions before moving on to a speaker who takes the opposite position. The event lasted one and a half hours. It was not actually a debate. There was no back and forth, no rebuttal segment, no presentation of evidence, and no cross-examination. It’s a sanitized debate format and there is no winning side. The panel is a mix of independents, conservatives, and liberals. …
NASHVILLE, TN — Tennessee’s online and in-person voter registration deadline is Monday, Oct. 5, less than a month away. This deadline is for registering to vote online and in person. If you register by mail, your mail-in registration form must also be postmarked by Monday, Oct. 5, 2020 as well. “The Tennessee Democratic Party’s goals over the next month include making sure as many people as possible register to vote or double-check their current registration, as well as understand that the two weeks early voting period between Oct. 14 – 29 is the safest, quickest, and easiest way to cast…
By Julianne Malveaux On the Friday before Labor Day, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its monthly report, The Employment Situation. It reported good news – the unemployment rate dropped to 8.4 percent, higher than in February before the pandemic hit. We added 1.4 million jobs last month, the highest gain since the corona virus recession began. But while this is progress, it is no cause for celebration. The Black unemployment rate remains double-digit and has not dropped as rapidly as either the overall rate or the white rate, 7.3 percent. Eleven million fewer people held jobs in August than in…
Gov. Bill Lee has appointed two new members to serve on the THDA Board of Directors, Joann Massey of Memphis and Matt McGauley of Chattanooga in August. Massey, a Memphis native, currently serves as the City of Memphis’ Director of Business Diversity & Compliance where she supports the growth and development of small, minority and women-owned businesses. McGauley is the fourth-generation president and CEO of Fidelity Trust Company. The company manages and owns a portfolio of commercial properties in Chattanooga and features development, brokerage and management divisions.