By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN — Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake’s first months as the department’s head haven’t been easy. His term saw Nashville decimated by tornadoes in early March, followed by the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in the city days after. Months later, demonstrations following the George Floyd murder erupted, exacerbated by more cases of police brutality and systemic injustice. Then there was the Nashville Christmas bombing that left a crater in the heart of the city and knocked out service for emergency communications and AT&T users, even affecting a few neighboring states. All this considered, it’s…
Author: Ashley Benkarski
By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN — Meharry Medical College’s Building Resources and Initiatives to Develop Growth and Enrichment to Success (B.R.I.D.G.E.) Program has been a valuable resource to Davidson County residents, but the crises of last year’s storms and COVID-19 pandemic have significantly increased the community’s need for assistance. B.R.I.D.G.E. is a four-year program seeking to change the overall dynamics of the families they serve by focusing services around four core components: education, workforce development, health and wellness, and social change, said Program Director Tarryn Bell. Honing in on middle and high school students, the program helps participating children and…
By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN — A little over four decades after its installation in the Tennessee State Capitol the bronze bust of Confederate general, Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan and slave trader Nathan Bedford Forrest will finally be relocated. “It’s long overdue,” said District 19 State Sen. Brenda Gilmore of the removal vote. She spoke Tuesday morning before the Tennessee Historical Commission made their final decision on the long-embattled presence of the seditionist’s likeness. “When we install memorials in our public spaces, which are made possible and maintained by the taxpayers black, white and brown, those monuments…
By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN — One year after storms devastated North Nashville, the scars left upon the landscape may be fading but those felt by the community are much deeper and more visible. The city was already struggling to reconcile its budget before the March 3, 2020 storms and was further thrust into turmoil with the COVID-19 pandemic that reached the state just over a week later. Embodying the essence of “Nashville Strong,” residents of the community banded together with a massive number of volunteers to hand out food, clothing and other necessary items to those in need. “There’s…
By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN — In America there’s a fervor for the Civil War that glorifies one side of the story while ignoring its atrocities. It’s a common argument: “heritage, not hate.” The problem is the two aren’t mutually exclusive. There’s so much heritage for the South to be proud of, but slavery and treason are stains on our history. Journalist Connor Towne O’Neill set out to reckon with history in his book “Down Along with That Devil’s Bones.” Traveling to places speckled with the glorification of this antebellum antagonist O’Neill found that, despite his northern roots, the South’s…
By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN — Civil Rights legend and Georgia representative John Lewis was posthumously honored Jan. 14 with the installation of temporary street signage bearing his name in the historically Black neighborhood of North Nashville, the Rep. John Lewis Committee announced. Though the signage was installed at the intersection of 5th Avenue and Jefferson Street the renaming is not official yet, said Zulfat Suara, Metro Councilmember At-Large and Committee Chair. For now, the signage installed is only to accommodate emergency vehicles. The official, permanent signage will be unveiled during a community-wide celebration July 17, one year after his…
By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN — Popular home improvement business Lowe’s Companies, Inc. is making moves to help local minority businesses as well as rolling out plans to remodel rural stores to meet the needs of its customers. Of the Tennessee minority-owned small businesses Lowe’s helped through their Small Business Grant Program, three are located in Nashville: Vest Pocket Cleaners and Tailoring, Veggie Village and Threads by Dreads, LLC. “The bottom line is that it was a lifeline for my business and countless others,” said Vest Pocket Cleaners and Tailoring CEO Kevin Robertson. “It’s really drastically affected not only our…
By Ashley Benkarski She’s known as a dentist to most, an employer to a few, a sister to some, and a mother to some, but a friend to all. A 1995 alumnus of Nashville’s Meharry School of Dentistry and the founder and owner of Integrity Dental Care, Dr. Jacqueline Butler Mitchell is all these things and more. For one, she’s the first Black woman to open and run three general dental practices simultaneously in Tennessee. She’s been a teacher, served in the military, held leadership positions in various organizations and is a published writer in The Tennessee Tribune with her…
By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN — Dr. Brian C.B. Barnes, speaker, writer, and TandemEd co-founder and CEO is publishing a series of writings titled “Eradicating Their Harm while Reclaiming our Health” focusing on reframing the lens through which the Black community sees race relations and adopting different perspectives for sustainable change. He pointed to backlash against the protests that uplifted the names of Black Americans killed by police in recent years as a continuation of the same calls for justice that have been ringing in the streets for generations. “There’s a permanence of those same elements that existed in the…
By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN— If you’re missing a taste of home this year, chances are you’ll find some comfort in the newly-opened A&M Marketplace inside the Nashville Farmers’ Market. Owner and operator Martha Lupai opened the store when her primary business, S&E African Hair Braiding, was put on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With a love for the North Nashville community she’s served for over a decade and possessing flexibility in entrepreneurship, Lupai opened the grocery store in early November to offer fresh vegetables and fruits, local products and ingredients found across the globe. You can find it…