Donald Trump recently shared a doctored video of his head superimposed on to actor Bill Pullman’s character in the 1996 film Independence Day’s crowd-rallying scene, likening frontline workers to warriors. But it rang hollow for Denita Jones, a Dallas-area call center worker. For many black, essential workers like her, the message is about reopening the economy, but the real meaning is more subtle. “We’re not essential, we’re expendable,” she said. African Americans in Texas are dying of Covid-19 at a rate more than one-third higher than their share of the population. Yet across the country, the protesters who became the…
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NASHVILLE, TN — Delta Dental of Tennessee (Delta Dental) today announced a collective $1.1 million in donations to Tennessee dental clinics via its charitable arm, the Smile180 Foundation. Twenty-four clinics across the state are receiving funds to support operating and capital costs, as well as a separate allowance to purchase dental practice supplies and equipment through an extension of Delta Dental’s Operation #SmilesMatter grant program for dentists. “We know that a healthy smile can be transformative, improving self-esteem, success at work and school, and overall health,” said Dr. Phil Wenk, CEO and president of Delta Dental of Tennessee. “During this…
By Elizabeth Thomas and Dr. Nancy A. Anoruo The most vulnerable: COVID-19’s disproportionate toll on black communities As the coronavirus continues to rip through the nation leaving behind thousands of victims in its path, black communities have been infected and their residents killed at a disproportionate rate across the country, according to several states’ analysis of data. “After this virus is done infecting… it will expose a lot of weaknesses in the health care system. The world will not be the same,” said Dr. Tyson Bell, a pulmonology and intensive care physician at the University of Virginia and medical director…
By Peter White NASHVILLE, TN — The virus doesn’t discriminate but the disease does. COVID-19 is reversing progress on gender equality and women’s rights, according to Dr. Beatrice Duncan with U.N. Women. “We have seen a three-fold spike in the incidence of domestic violence. We are seeing situations in which women are being abused not only by their husbands but sometimes by their adolescent children,” Duncan said. Duncan said women are not getting the protection they need from the police who are frontline workers and unable to respond to their needs. Courts are shut down, too, and women are not…
By Tribune Staff NASHVILLE, TN — Oprah Winfrey’s doing her part to fight the ravages of COVID-19, both nationally and locally, while also giving back to one of the places she considers home. Tuesday she made a $2 million donation that will provide food relief to 10,000 households throughout the Nashville and Middle Tennessee area. It’s part of her foundation’s $12 million COVID-19 Relief fund. The fund covers areas Illinois, Wisconsin and Mississippi as well as Tennessee, targeting such cities as Chicago and Illinois as well as Nashville. The funds are being distributed through a partnership established with two North…
NASHVILLE, TN — U.S. Senate candidate Robin Kimbrough Hayes is urging Gov. Bill Lee and Mark Goins, state election coordinator, to reconsider their decision to prevent expanded vote by mail. “It is unfortunate that, during the national centennial of women winning the right to vote thanks to Tennessee, our governor and state elections coordinator are preventing expanded vote by mail,” said Kimbrough Hayes, a Democratic candidate for the open U.S. Senate seat (robinforsenate.com). “This is what democracy is about – the right to vote. One would think they should be celebrating having more people vote. We need to ask why…
NASHVILLE, TN — The community has likely heard about the illness of local pastor the Rev. Enoch Fuzz, of the Corinthian Church. Pastor Fuzz was admitted to Metro Nashville General Hospital (MNGH) on Monday, May 4 with difficulty breathing. He’s tested negative for COVID -19 twice First diagnosed with pneumonia and the flu, Pastor Fuzz is currently being treated for cancer. “I’m gonna be okay,” said Fuzz. “I’m receiving the best medical care from one of the most devoted doctors at General Hospital, Dr. Rachel Thomas.” Nashville General Hospital is the original community hospital in Nashville. Even as Nashville’s growth…
By Peter White NASHVILLE, TN — A big battle is brewing on Capitol Hill between the Republican super-majority and the Democratic minority over voting by mail in November. On March 19, Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) tried to get the Republicans to agree to universal absentee voting for the 2020 election. “It was on the day that we recessed. They voted to end the discussion, to table it,” Johnson recalled. She said the vote was 60 to 20 something and along party lines. Under current voter election rules you have to be over 60 or have some disability to get an absentee…
NASHVILLE, TN — Public school students are getting shortchanged by a state decision to reroute millions worth of CARES Act grant funding to private schools, Sen. Brenda Gilmore (D-Nashville) said this week. “Right now our public schools don’t have the funding and technology they need to connect with every child during this pandemic and the gap is even greater in areas that have been under-resourced because the state’s broken funding formula,” Sen. Gilmore said. “This decision shortchanges the very public school students who most need our support.” According to Chalkbeat, Tennessee plans to follow controversial guidance from U.S. Secretary of…
By Marta W. Aldrich NASHVILLE, TN — House Democrats called on Gov. Bill Lee and the legislature Friday to reallocate $41 million earmarked for a school voucher program halted this week by a judge’s order. Calling it “fiscally irresponsible” to press ahead amid a severe economic crisis, the minority caucus also urged the Republican governor to avoid expensive appeals of the court’s ruling declaring the 2019 education savings account law unconstitutional. “There is obviously no place for even a dollar of voucher funding in our state budget,” said Rep. Mike Stewart, who chairs the House Democratic caucus. “We’re headed back into…