NASHVILLE, TN — The featured speaker at the American Baptist College virtual graduation will be the Rev. Dr. Clifford A. Jones, Sr., Senior Pastor at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, Charlotte, North Carolina. The virtual graduation will be June 11, at 2 p.m. on Zoom. Dr. Jones holds multiple degrees and has written several books. He has organized and led numerous medical and religious mission teams of preachers, doctors, nurses, technicians and teachers to provide needed healthcare, medical supplies and educational training in Jamaica, Africa, and Guyana, South America for children and families struggling in poverty. President…
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By Tracy Connor Executive Editor Daily Beast WASHINGTON, DC — The Catholic archbishop of Washington, D.C., ripped into the Saint John Paul II National Shrine for allowing President Trump to visit on Tuesday—a day after peaceful protesters were tear-gassed to clear the way for a bizarre photo op at an Episcopal church. Archbishop Wilton Gregory didn’t even bother to slam Trump for the new PR stunt—instead training his ire on the shrine itself, which is bankrolled by the conservative Knights of Columbus. “I find it baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused…
NASHVILLE, TN — TNDP Chair Mary Mancini has condemned Governor Bill Lee for spending $8 million on porous socks made with toxic materials. “Republicans can’t be trusted to do the right thing anymore. They can’t be trusted to do their job anymore. This is especially true right now as Tennesseans are dying from a dangerous global health crisis with no end in sight. State government has a responsibility to protect its citizens. Governor Bill Lee has completely failed in his responsibility to do so, most recently by awarding an eight million dollar no-bid contract to an out of state company…
WASHINGTON, DC — Saying people need to “stop rationalizing and excusing criminal activity,” members of the Project 21 black leadership network condemned the politically motivated riots that have erupted across America, and applaud the possibility of Antifa being designated a domestic terrorist organization. Project 21 was founded 28 years ago in the wake of the 1992 Los Angeles riots to highlight black Americans willing to speak out for law and order and to show the political diversity of the black community. On the five-year anniversary of the riots in Ferguson, Missouri, Project 21 members met with the mayor and city…
NASHVILLE, TN — Mayor John Cooper’s Office of Performance Management (OPM) today released a set of newly developed metrics that enables the Mayor’s Office to more clearly and continuously track the productivity of departments across Metro Government. OPM has worked with each Metro department to develop metrics that closely track impactful and relevant operating performance variations, identify items that require immediate attention, and support data-based decision making. It is also developing a system to report and share Metro’s ongoing performance with the public. “While Nashville faces an unprecedented budget challenge, we are also creating innovative solutions to drive new efficiencies…
By Peter White Budget Priorities With Less Money to Spend NASHVILLE, TN – State Comptroller Justin P. Wilson chaired a meeting of the State Funding Board last week for Governor Lee who attended remotely. Lee has to plan for the state’s recovery and figure out what has to be cut from his budget. Five economists gave their forecasts for the state’s economic recovery in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Two of the five analysts said unless the coronavirus is contained all bets are off. They estimated tax revenue shortfalls that ranged from $583 million to $1.7 billion next year. All…
OAKLAND, CA — Noble hadn’t planned to ride her horse, Dapper Dan, into the center of Friday evening’s protests in the city of Oakland. “It wasn’t a very planned thing,” the 25 year-old Bay Area native told the Guardian. “I was just pissed, sitting at home and seeing the video of George Floyd. I felt helpless and thought to myself: ‘I’m just another protester if I go down there alone, but no one can ignore a black woman sitting on top of a horse.’” Noble was among thousands of protestors who had come out on Friday to decry the killings…
By Peter White NASHVILLE, TN — Ethnic Americans start and operate most of the small businesses in the U.S. Many “mom and pop” operations were devastated by COVID-19. Unfortunately, 90 percent of minority and women-owned businesses were shut out of the Paycheck Protection Program. (PPP). The PPP was supposed to keep small businesses afloat during the pandemic and keep their employees on the payroll. But only 12 percent of African American and Latino businesses and 25 percent of Asian business received stimulus fund loans. The Small Business Administration administers the program. The number of applications overwhelmed its automated e-filing program,…
By Marta W. Aldrich A switch to phonics-based reading instruction is the aim of legislation that has resurfaced in the Tennessee General Assembly. Three months after Gov. Bill Lee tabled his comprehensive literacy initiative because of an impending budget crisis, a revised reading proposal has resurfaced and is advancing in the Tennessee General Assembly. But legislators’ expectations to use federal coronavirus relief funding to cover next year’s $36.5 million cost is at odds with the state education department’s plans for that one-time money. And it’s uncertain whether relief funds at the governor’s disposal are available, given all of the needs…
By Reid Wilson The Hill WASHINGTON, DC — Since he rode down an escalator at Trump Tower five years ago this month, President Trump has been at the hub of the American consciousness, driving the news with policies and actions that enrage half the country and fire up his base. Now, five months before voters decide whether to give him a second term, it is Trump who finds himself off balance, beset by two crises that are not of his own making. Donald Trump did not create the coronavirus. Donald Trump did not create the structural racism that has plagued…