By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN — LaTonya Pegues has held many titles— she’s been a satellite and missions researcher, a low-temperature physics researcher, an account executive, has worked in the entertainment industry and she’s the founder and CEO of a communications and marketing company, Boaz Enterprises, but perhaps most importantly she’s a trainer. It may sound simple compared to her other occupations, but the work she does has the power to change entire companies from the ground up. Pegues, a graduate of Howard University, specializes in unconscious bias training for business employees, teaching them to recognize and combat different types…
Author: Ashley Benkarski
By Ashley Benkarski MURFREESBORO, TN — Five young entrepreneurs featured their products and introduced themselves to the community at the Technology Engagement Center Oct. 28. The Kid CEO Meet and Treat presented the public with an opportunity to get to know these unique and inspiring entrepreneurs, all of whom are girls of color under 14 years old. Kierra Perkins, 13, has been featured in many news reports since her business started taking off. She said she started her candle-making business after receiving many positive responses online about the milk and cookie scented candle she made for Father’s Day. “It has…
Dr. Mitchell Butler, Owner of Integrity Dental Care, Giving Back to the Community for 15 Years By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN — Integrity Dental Care welcomed unusual clientele for Halloween—Wonder Woman, Batman and Black Panther were among the costumed characters found in the office’s hallways for the haunting holiday. The dental office wanted to provide a safe alternative for trick or treating to families rather than the children going door-to-door in the cold and rainy weather. Twenty-five kids brightened the halls that gloomy night while staff gave out candy to put in their buckets—another unusual aspect considering the source but…
By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN — “You can be whatever you prepare to be.” That’s the advice that Dr. Jennifer Jordan and husband Dr. Darryl Jordan advocate, putting a slightly more realistic spin on the comforting and popular saying heard by many children. Yet America’s students are falling farther behind the rest of the world in reading, science and math–a trend that’s continuing to drop, said Dr. Jennifer Jordan, author of The Perfect Student: Lessons Learned from High School to College! The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s triannual data on the cross-national Programme for International Student Assessment scores show…
By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN — Podcast hosts and HBCU alums Sasha Nicole and Starr Barbour kicked off their show’s inaugural HBCU tour at Tennessee State University Oct.10 prior to homecoming celebrations. Their TSU stop featured opening remarks from Dean Frank Stevenson, Associate Vice President and Dean of Students and Metro City Councilmember Erica Gilmore. Dacari Middlebrooks, author of The Depressed Millennial, spoke during the fireside chat. The show, Amerikan Therapy, focuses on mental health in the African American community and features high-profile guests, “occasional spoken word artists” and licensed mental health professionals on every episode to speak on specific…
By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN — Former Metro Nashville Public Schools Director Dr. Shawn Joseph is turning hardship into opportunity, a message extolled in his new book “Finding the Joseph Within” to be released Oct. 28. It focuses on parallels between the life experiences of Dr. Joseph and the Biblical Joseph, particularly on keeping faith and standing firm against adversity in the personal and professional realms. “The longer you live the more challenges you will face inevitably,” he said. Scripture in the book serves to remind that “all hard times are short term and temporary as long as you keep…
By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN — Fisk University men’s basketball coach and former NBA player Kenny Anderson has created the first-ever Coaches’ Corner Fundraising Gala to take place at the college’s Appleton room Oct. 25 with the reception beginning at 6 p.m. Anderson said he’s excited to be able to give back to the university he now calls home as well as his former Georgia Tech coach Bobby Cremins, who is a lifetime honoree of the gala and who Anderson credits for much of his successful athletic career. Dr. Larry Glover, Fisk’s Athletics Director and former men’s basketball head coach,…
By Ashley Benkarski ANTIOCH, TN — Scars Uncovered, a nonprofit organization centering burn survivors in its mission, is celebrating its fifth year with a casino-themed 2019 Fall Soiree fundraiser taking place from 5-8 p.m. Nov. 9 at the Fifty Forward Patricia Hart building in Nashville. The organization’s founder, Andrea Pitts, was 18 months old when she reached for a pot on the stove while her mother’s back was turned and suffered severe burns on over 30 percent of her body. She underwent surgery as well as physical and occupational therapy but her spirited nature remained on full display with those…
By Ashley Benkarski MURFREESBORO,TN — Taiisha Bradley has always been a self-starter and she’s using her ambition and creativity to lift up others, offering other local business-minded individuals the opportunity to bring their dreams to life. Bradley, together with her husband James, created the Rutherford County Black Business Network Oct. 2017 and has grown connections between black entrepreneurs. Her inaugural business showcase in Feb. brought together dozens of vendors and allowed community members to view and purchase their services with no entry fee. The event was a success and Bradley, at enormous request, is hosting another showcase at the Patterson…
By Ashley Benkarski MURFREESBORO, TN — Dozens gathered at Oaklands Park Sunday at 5 p.m. for a candlelit vigil in remembrance of shooting victim Terrell “Tee” Edward Ray, his family asking for information that could lead to an arrest. Nashville and Murfreesboro chapters of gun violence advocacy group Moms Demand Action were in attendance and helped support the event. Ray, 30, was shot at the Villager Condominiums, 2850 Middle Tennessee Blvd. at about 3:12 a.m. on Aug. 2, the day after his birthday. Murfreesboro Police, the city’s fire department and Rutherford County Emergency Medical Services responded to a call of…