By Clint Confehr COLUMBIA, TN (TN Tribune) — Another controversy arose since a music video’s background was recognized as the scene of a 1927 lynching here; notable since Ku Klux Klan recruiting fliers were posted July 9 at Black churches. The video’s “imagery harks back to vigilantism,” says Russ Adcox, pastor ofMaury Hills Church. As a local Stand Together Fellowship leader, Adcox says“Our objective is to bring people together,” but social media comments about JasonAldean’s country music video has caused “a fracture in the community.” Now, instead of only addressing KKK fliers — they were posted at four churches,a pizza business…
Author: Clint Confehr
By Clint ConfehrNASHVILLE, TN — The Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics are being revived locally by NAACP Branch leaders who invite adults to help students succeed. The Rev. Venita Lewis, president of the Nashville Branch, assigned John Little to chair acommittee that’s organizing the return of ACT-SO. Little has been leading committee meetings every Wednesday evening. “We’re looking for mentors and judges, depending on the category” of what’s beingaccomplished in the program, Little said last weekend.Little encourages potential mentors to contact him at mrjohnlittle@gmail.com or (615) 584-4616. High school students in ACT-SO “sharpen their skills” during a 12-month program…
By Clint Confehr COLUMBIA, TN — The complex life of a Tennessee slave owner and his contributions to Civil Rights after the Civil War are being considered by the African American Heritage Society of Maury County. Samuel Mayes Arnell was elected to the state House in 1865 as an “Unconditional Unionist” who worked to “secure voting rights for the formerly enslaved,” according to the Heritage Society’s announcement that Maury County Archives Director Thomas Price will discuss Arnell’s “complex life” at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 21, in the archives building, 201 E. 6th St., Columbia. Arnell served two terms in…
By Clint Confehr NASHVILLE, TN — The NAACP’s next branch president here slept on concrete for nearly two months to protest George Floyd’s murder. Demonstrators called her Queen Mother at Tennessee’s Legislative Plaza. On-line balloting Nov. 16-17 elected the Rev. Venita Lewis to succeed Nashville NAACP Branch President Sheryl Guinn. Lewis’ term starts Jan. 1. Davidson County General Sessions Court Judge Rachael Bell was chosen to administer Lewis’ oath of office in Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, 2800 Buena Vista Pike, at 6 p.m. on Dec. 29. Lewis has been an NAACP member four decades. The “I Will Breath Rally” attracted…
By Clint Confehr COLUMBIA, TN — The African American Heritage Society of Maury County is set to hear its featured speaker on Saturday when she will discuss “Black Law for White Order.” “The collective impact of African American lawyers on Civil Rights legislation in Middle Tennessee from 1865 to Now” is the subtitle of the presentation by DeLisa Minor Harris at the Maury County Archives, 201 E. 6th St., at 10 a.m. July 23. Harris is the assistant director of the John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin Library at Fisk University where she’s an adjunct instructor for the W.E.B. Du…
By Clint Confehr COLUMBIA, TN — A Mt. Pleasant woman studying to become a registered nurse has succeeded her sister as the Maury County Fair’s Fairest of the Fair, officials report. Columbia State Community College student McKenzie English, 20, is already a certified nursing assistant at Life Care Center of Columbia, a rehabilitation facility and nursing home. Maury County’s fair was during the Labor Day weekend. McKenzie succeeds her 17-year-old sister, Graciee, the first African American to be Maury County’s Fairest of the Fair, according to Mandy McClaren, director of the county’s Fairest of the Fair. State competition outgrew the…
By Clint Confehr NASHVILLE, TN — At-Large Metro Councilmember John Cooper’s campaign for mayor reemerged Monday. In February, Cooper decided against running. He changed his mind because “So many people told me we need a choice in this election and we can’t wait four years,” he said, adding he’s dismayed with Mayor David Briley. “I felt like I gave the administration as long as you could to show that we are going to get on the right track,” Cooper said. “There are too many issues.” Cherry Blossom tree removal to accommodate NFL draft events “may be our symbol,” he continued,…
By Clint Confehr COLUMBIA, TN — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination is “misdiagnosed and miscommunicated,” nearly 40 people were told before criminal justice students reported conclusions from their research. Conclusions include: The KKK, John Birch Society, mafia, and federal agencies are implicated in the murder; James Earl Ray didn’t act alone; King was killed by an expert; and Ray lacked the skills to commit the crime. The conclusions are from Garland Brown’s students at Columbia Central High School. “James Earl Ray was a knucklehead,” Brown said Friday last week. Well before the assassination, “He robbed a grocery, went out…
By Clint Confehr NASHVILLE, TN — More than 2,000 people are coming here for an “anti-corruption movement” conference March 29-31, organizers say of their “UnRig Summit” in the Music City Center. “I guarantee you, this is one of the most diverse conferences ever to come to Nashville,” former Congressman Zach Wamp recently told The Tennessee Tribune. Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who’s running for president, and Our Revolution President Nina Turner, a “firebrand progressive activist” from Ohio, are two notables Wamp names as headliners. Others include March for Our Lives activist Emma González. [Sen. Kamalla Harris was reportedly coming. She’s…