By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN — Local entrepreneur Alexis Hughes-Williams is committed to the community. She found her calling–and the love of her life–in the baking skills she learned from her great-grandmother since she was eight years old. A graduate of Tennessee State University’s marketing program, Hughes-Williams stunned her classmates and future husband Robert Calhoun, Sr. with her confections. For Robert, it was love at first bite when he tasted her Banana Bread. Though Hughes-Williams faced a challenge in balancing classes and her emerging business, she had support from friends and family that was crucial in her success. “Having that…
Author: Ashley Benkarski
By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN — Many people have their lives planned out early on and find themselves in unexpected circumstances, treading paths they never would have considered. For Kerwin Scott, that plan was a future in marine biology, a passion nurtured with career-based programs at Vincent High School of Agricultural Sciences in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. While making decisions for college, a friend suggested Scott to pursue medicine–it would be much easier to work with humans than with the extensive diversity of marine life. But he had no doctors in his family, he said, and didn’t know any personally, so he…
By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN — Election season is coming to a close in the next few months and in a time of uncertainty, unrest and hardship, New Hope Baptist Church’s Senior Pastor, James Turner II, announced his run for District 52’s state representative. Building on the faith-based legacy of his family, he’s a former president of the Civil Rights Organization and the Interdenominational Ministers Fellowship. His campaign focuses on a faith-informed approach to lift the voices of the poor and disadvantaged and ensure justice for his district and the state. “My faith, more than ever, has given me the…
Retired officer recalls racism in ranks By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN — Retired police veteran Officer Reggie Miller of the Metro Police Department was horrified after seeing the gruesome video of George Floyd being murdered on the street in broad daylight by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. “It was such an inhumane, heart wrenching, despicable, and cowardly act. I was angry, frustrated, devastated, and it was almost impossible to watch.” Dѐjá-vu struck: he experienced a similar incident almost 28 years ago on in Nashville undercover. He was working a prostitution sting along Murfreesboro Road driving an unmarked department issued vehicle,…
By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN — Eight minutes and forty-six seconds. That’s how long Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into George Floyd’s neck, killing the unarmed black security officer May 25 as he pled for his life with familiar words: “I can’t breathe.” Those are the words Eric Garner uttered as officers held him in a chokehold in New York years ago, killing him. It’s a story told too often, and citizens across the nation took to the streets in the week since Floyd’s death demanding justice. In Tennessee protests erupted throughout the weekend; Memphis, Chattanooga, Nashville,…
By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN — Dr. James Hildreth, President of Meharry Medical College has been helping officials navigate Nashville’s novel coronavirus outbreak and recently assisted the Congressional Black Caucus in crafting legislation requiring the federal government to collect and release demographic data, including race and ethnicity, of COVID-19 testing, treatment and fatality rates. Research over the last few months revealed a significant impact of the virus on black and brown communities when compared to their white neighbors. Underlying conditions such as hypertension, heart disease and diabetes disproportionately affect these communities, leaving them at higher risk of serious complications caused…
By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN — Meharry’s School of Dentistry gave its graduates an award ceremony that brought them together while staying safe during the pandemic with a parade of cars. Masked school staff lined the outside of the campus cheering enthusiastically with hand-made signs and hearty claps as students drove up to receive their awards. Each graduate stopped to have their picture taken for posterity before staff placed the certificates in their backseat. “In the midst of everything we thought it was important to try and come up with a way to celebrate them,” said Dean Cherae Farmer-Dixon, noting…
By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN — A mother first, CEO of Ibis Communications MaryAnne Howland shares the story of how she provided a community for her son in “Warrior Rising: How Four Men Helped a Boy on His Journey to Manhood” published in January. Born with cerebral palsy and without a father in his life, Howland knew her son Max would face challenges that she wasn’t prepared to help him navigate, she said. She worked hard to grow his confidence but knew she’d someday hear Max say, “You wouldn’t understand.” And like many kids in their middle and high school…
By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN — Franklin native and Public Defender Keeda Haynes is in the running for the state’s 5th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives held by incumbent Jim Cooper, a “Blue Dog” Democrat. Cooper has occupied the position since 2003 and his tenure is set to end next January if he isn’t re-elected. But Haynes thinks it’s time for new representation, and she believes she’s the candidate in the best position for it: she’s a young, black attorney who has seen the criminal justice system inside and out, championing a holistic approach to its reformation…
By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN — Characters of Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire” were brought to life with impactful chemistry and superb acting during the Nashville Repertory Theater’s production at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. Directed by Nat McIntyre, the play embodied the spirit of early twentieth century life in New Orleans’s French Quarter, the set so realistically furnished it beckoned you to take your seat on a bench outside the home of Stanley and Stella Kowalski at 632 Elysian Fields. From the first scene, audiences saw a production that looked different–and more honest–than what has been presented in…