By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN— Quin Evans-Segall is one of eight candidates vying for one of four at-large Metro Council seats. She said she’d bring her experience as an infrastructure attorney and Vice Chair of the Industrial Development Board to the role, a perspective she believes is key to helping craft solutions to multiple issues ailing Nashville, such as transit, predatory development and affordable housing. “I’ve also seen other governments fail to make really smart infrastructure choices and we just have to be a lot smarter about how we do things in Metro right now,” she said. As Nashville sees…
Author: Ashley Benkarski
By Ashley Benkarski Nonprofit Blacks In Technology, LLC and the Blacks In Technology Foundation (BIT) is holding its fifth annual BITCON in Music City September 5-7. Aimed at bringing together “Black IT professionals, entrepreneurs, gamers, afro-futurists, and technology enthusiasts,” the conference (BITCON), held at the JW Marriott Nashville, will feature speakers, workshops, panels and networking and recruitment opportunities. More than 1,000 people are expected to attend. BIT was founded by Greg Greenlee, a 20-plus year veteran of the tech industry who started off doing help desk work before eventually becoming a senior engineer. Greenlee has an extensive background that includes…
By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN — Nashville Organized for Action and Hope (NOAH) held a Run-Off Election Public Meeting on Sunday, August 27 at Fifteenth Avenue Baptist Church featuring mayoral candidate Freddie O’Connell and Metro Council At-large candidates Delishia Porterfield, Howard Jones, Burkley Allen, Quin Evans-Segall, Olivia Hill, Jeff Syracuse and Chris Cheng. Mayoral candidate Alice Rolli declined NOAH’s invitation to attend. Metro Council candidate Russ Pulley was unable to attend due to a family issue. Candidates fielded questions from the audience and NOAH’s four task forces: Affordable Housing, Education, Economic Equity and Jobs/Transportation, and Criminal Justice. “This is NOAH’s…
By Ashley Benkarski MURFREESBORO, TN—Mothers Over Murder (MOM) held a meet-and-greet for their new Murfreesboro chapter at Patterson Park Community Center in Murfreesboro on Tuesday, August 1. Attendees also celebrated the life of Terrell “Tee” Ray, who was murdered after celebrating his 30th birthday at the Villager Condominiums in Murfreesboro at approximately 3 a.m. on August 2, 2019. He was remembered with his favorite gospel song, “Praise Is What I Do,” sung by his loved ones, birthday cupcakes, and a release of butterflies. Ray’s mother, Trina, is involved with the organization that includes moms–and one dad–that have suffered losing their…
By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN — Jamal Knott has put in the time and the work to make amends and a new future for himself, landing a position with Music City Construction after his graduation from the Gang Resistance and Intervention Program (GRIP) program held July 18, 2023, at the Davidson County Juvenile Court. Knott, 17, is GRIP’s newest graduate, having completed a construction apprenticeship. GRIP “was created to assist Davidson County youth engaging in high-risk, gang related behaviors by addressing the needs of these youth and involving them in positive community activities. The GRIP program teaches our youth a…
MURFREESBORO, TN.— Gun violence awareness and healing/support group Mothers Over Murder (MOM) is celebrating the creation of its new Murfreesboro chapter with a meet and greet at Patterson Park Community Center on Tuesday, Aug. 1. The event takes place from 5:45 p.m.-8:45 p.m. and is open to the public.It will allow the community to get to know the members in their newly-established local Chapter. A celebration of the life of Terrell Ray, a young father who was murdered in Murfreesboro in the early hours of August 2, 2019 after celebrating his 30th birthday, will take place and culminate in a…
By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN — Terrence Jenkins, known as Terrence J, is an actor and journalist who has been partnering with Chevrolet as an Ambassador for their Discover the Unexpected program for the last three years, a position he embraces wholeheartedly. The program is a partnership between Chevy and the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) that connects selected HBCU students with Black-owned publications through a 10-week, hybrid-virtual journalism fellowship. The students are given a $10,000 scholarship and an $8,000 stipend as they travel throughout the nation in a Chevy Trax provided by the auto manufacturer to seek out and…
By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN — Jeff Preptit, the son of Haitian immigrants and a Nashville Public Defender and Nonprofit Civil Rights Attorney, is running to represent District 25 on Nashville’s City Council in the upcoming election. He’s been endorsed by Bob Freeman, Caleb Hemmer and Collective PAC. Preptit said he’s always felt called to some form of political involvement, driven by one goal: That the work he does makes his community—and the world— a better place. A Milligan College graduate with a degree in political science, Preptit served on a number of student organizations and, after graduation, worked as…
By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN — The fate of Nashville’s historic Morris Memorial Building has been unclear for some time, but the building once slated to become a boutique hotel still has a chance to be preserved. Councilmember Zulfat Suara proposed legislation that would allow the City to use excess funds to purchase the building; that proposal was heard by Metro Council Tuesday, June 20. The vote failed, with 23 members voting ‘yes’ and 24 voting ‘no.’ Undeterred, Suara said the movement will push on in email Wednesday. “We will be looking at other options. Most spoke about saving the…
By Ashley Benkarski NASHVILLE, TN— State Senator Charlane Oliver will be holding the first of four planned town halls beginning Tuesday, June 6 and again June 12-14. Tuesday’s town hall will be held at Meharry Medical College’s Cal Turner Family Center (1011 21st Ave N, Nashville) at 6 p.m. The event will give entrepreneurs and small business owners information about new funding under President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act that is being provided for Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Individuals (SEDI) and Very Small Business (VSB) owners. Tennessee has been allotted $116.9 million under the State Small Business Credit Initiative(SSBCI…