By Clare Bratten NASHVILLE, TN — Sherry Jones, a plain-spoken and apparently fearless Democrat, is running for Davidson County Juvenile Court Clerk after serving for years as a Representative from district 59 in the Tennessee Legislature. She believes she is a good fit for the Juvenile Court Clerk position because of her commitment to her community, her long service in the Legislature. and in the area of children’s services and issues. Jones got her start in politics when she first ran for Metro council because she thought she cared more about the community than her councilman at the time. She…
Author: Clare Bratten
By Clare Bratten NASHVILLE, TN — An energized and articulate Joe Biden expressed concern about the worsening political climate in Washington last week in a public talk here with Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos on the Vanderbilt campus. He cited as an example the reaction of President Trump to the Charlottesville, Virginia rally by white supremacists. It prompted Biden to write a political column expressing his worry about the deterioration of political relations. “I wrote [the article] because I wanted to remind us of who the hell we are. What we are made of. We are not people that have been divided.…
By Clare Bratten “If you don’t have a plan for you, somebody else will,” says Jonathan Hall about the possible future of Metro Council District 1. “The days of dumping on Bordeaux are long gone, we’re not going to be the place where the city can dump what it doesn’t want,” says Hall who serves on the Beautification Commission for the area. Hall is now a candidate for the Metro Council District 1 position when Council Member Nick Leonardo left to fill a General Session judge position. Hall grew up in District 1. He has worked for years as a…
By Clare Bratten NASHVILLE, TN — Despite medicine that can prevent it, HIV still spreads due to secrecy and shame in the Black community, according to Dr. Wilbert C. Jordan, M.D., a doctor and leader in the treatment of HIV/AIDS in Los Angeles. That’s why the African American community needs to give up the secrecy and stigma surrounding gay and bisexual relations in order to end the pandemic of HIV said Dr. Jordan in a presentation to Meharry Medical staff and community leaders in health and advocacy for the gay community. Dr. Jordan said the culture of sex had changed…
By Clare Bratten NASHVILLE, TN — Time is running out for talented eight-graders interested in science, math or social science to apply for free high school program at Vanderbilt that will accelerate their chances of admission into a good college or university and, potentially, a fascinating career. The link to apply can be found by googling “The School For Science and Math at Vanderbilt” or at the link: https://www.vanderbilt.edu/cso/ssmv/prospective/applicationinfo.php Good students interested in science, math or social science (STEM), who are accepted into the School for Science and Math at Vanderbilt then spend one day a week during their high…
By Clare Bratten NASHVILLE, TN — The Reverend Jesse Jackson, noted civil rights activist and political leader, met this week with church groups, legislators, and Tennessee State University students arguing the urgency of getting out the vote among the Black Community. “I said today to the legislators that across the south today, there’s no Bull Connor to stop us, there’s no George Wallace, and yet there are four million blacks unregistered –2.2 million were registered and didn’t vote. That equals Trump,” said Jackson at a gathering at Capers Memorial CME Church. Jackson, age 76, was diagnosed this past fall with…
By Clare Bratten NASHVILLE, TN — Restaurant workers worried about a threat to their tip income delivered hundreds of petition signatures Friday to the Department of Labor offices here. The petition opposes a proposed rule change allowing employers to use tip income for business expenses. “The Department of Labor withheld an economic impact analysis from the public because it shows an estimated $5.8 billion in wages that would be transferred to employers’ pockets should this rule go through,” said Trish Noe citing a Bloomberg Law report on the rule change (#RIN 1235-AA21). Noe is a service industry spokesperson. The rule…
By Clare Bratten NASHVILLE, TN — Attorney Terry Clayton of the Bellshire community is running for the open seat for the 54th State District as Representative in the Tennessee Legislature. Clayton is a native Tennessean who claims Nashville as home since 1975 when he arrived as an undergraduate at Tennessee State University, and has lived here since except for studies at Howard University when he got his law degree. His education is remarkable given his background. “I was born in Memphis and pulled myself up by bootstraps. I was one of nine children from Memphis public housing,” he says. “Being…
By Clare Bratten NASHVILLE, TN — On the 50th year after the death of Martin Luther King, Nashville political leaders, civil rights luminaries and supporters gathered at the site of the historic Woolworth building lunch counter protests downtown. The restored building highlights the historic lunch counter and is the project of Tom Morales. The MLK breakfast is a long-standing yearly function sponsored by the law firm Bone McAllester Norton. Mayor Megan Barry contrasted the attitudes on race emanating from the White House with Nashville’s efforts to heal from a segregated past. She thanked “the people who opened their arms, they…
By Clare Bratten WASHINGTON, DC — For a small historically black college, Fisk University has outsized representation in the Washington D.C. area so the Washington Fisk Alumni Association Inc., launched an inaugural celebration “Jubilee Day Honors Legacy, Legends, and Leaders” event to honor 167 in the D.C. area who attended Fisk University between 1933 to 1967. The group, which is the oldest Fisk alumni association, also singled out fifty “living legends” among their ranks who gave exemplary service to the alumni group with gold boutonnieres and gold corsages. “We’re talking about people who broke through color barriers in many areas.…