By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — It was 50 years ago on August 11, 1973 when young Jamaican-born New Yorker DJ Kool Herc was throwing a house party in the South Bronx. It was his sister’s graduation party, and in providing music for the event, Herc began playing on a pair of turntables. As the party flooded with people around him, Herc would isolate and repeat musical breaks, as well as provide spoken word over the tracks. The party was when Hip-Hop would be formally established and laid the bones for what the genre would be during its early days—…
Author: Logan Langlois
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — The state of Tennessee has just received a lawsuit accusing the Tennessee State Legislature of violating the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendment rights of “Black voters and other voters of color.” The lawsuit claims that “the state’s Congressional and State Senate districts make unlawful use of the race and subordinates traditional redistricting principles to race,” therefore violating basic rights guaranteed to all Americans by the Constitution. Spearheading the lawsuit are several social rights advocacy leaders working in tandem with one another, including the Tennessee State Conference of the NAACP, League of Women Voters of Tennessee,…
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — Lovers of independently owned Nashville Black Business celebrate the second release of the Nashville Black Business Coupon Book with a kickoff party filled with families, fun, music, and, naturally, small businesses selling their unique items. The coupon book provides buyers with a wide array of coupons available to spend at over 75 businesses spanning a variety of industries and offers a total of over $800 worth of savings. The project is a joint effort between two locally beloved Nashvillian entrepreneurs, Thomas Kelly of Creative Soulz and Danielle McGee of Black Business Boom, who together…
By Logan Langlois MURFREESBORO, TN — Civil rights representative Sheryl Huff of the National Action Network, has sounded the alarm around a Department of Child Services case quickly being revealed as a possible violation of local Murfreesboro resident, Brenda Johnson’s, civil rights. Her questions begin with the department’s taking of Johnson’s children, since which Huff claims, Johnson says she has not received regular updates regarding their well-being, nor consistent communication as promised by state agents. Huff also claims that DCS has been consistently changing their reasons for keeping Johnson’s children based on what charges they feel they can best make…
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — In 2022, Mayor John Cooper announced his upcoming Prosper Nashville: Building an Economy for All, a plan that has the goal of bringing together Nashvillian stakeholders and closing some of the wealth disparity which has grown more dramatic as the city itself has grown in size. This coming together will hopefully inspire an action-oriented and forward-moving community who are more reflective of Nashville’s increasingly diversifying communities and will help build an economy that is resilient and bountiful to all who make it up. The plan is in response to alarming statistics regarding the inclusivity…
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — OZ Arts Nashville welcomes Past, Present, & Afrofuturism, a visual art exhibit featuring works by XPayne, a well-accomplished artist whose work can be found across the country, from Slim and Husky’s Pizza Beerias to HBO’s Insecure. In the journey that XPayne has carefully crafted together throughout the exhibit, visitors follow him while he explores the Black American narrative. Visitors begin their journey at the narrative’s inception and are taken through how it’s been influenced by modern times and what it faces during an unknown future. The exhibit is separated into three parts; Past, Present;…
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — Meet Burkley Allen, Nashville Metro Council Member-at-large running for her second consecutive term at the upcoming August 3, 2023, Metro general election that will be deciding the next mayor, vice mayor, Metro councilmember at-large, and district council members of Music City. Beginning her career representing Nashvillians in 2011, Allen served as the Belmont-Hillsboro area’s District 18 Councilmember for eight years until she was elected to her current council member-at-large position. During that time, she has sponsored legislation improving stormwater regulation in neighborhoods, protecting sidewalk and bikeway access in construction zones, and has been actively…
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — History is made in the Tennessee Donor Services building as two revered medical institutions join forces to establish a program that is the first of its kind in our nation. The event celebrates the establishment of the TDS-Meharry program, with which Meharry Medical College and Tennessee Donor Services (TDS) seek to address disparities in organ donation and work to further diversify the donation workforce. The TDS-Meharry program plans to do this by providing young medical students with foundational experiences early in their medical training in an effort to help attract new talent to the…
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — When navigating within today’s socio-political landscape, nonprofits are often faced with the increasingly difficult task of raising money to fund greater amounts of relief needed within their local communities, through donations that are continuously shrinking. During this time, organizations such as the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee under its Give Back Give Black program work in assisting grassroots nonprofits with raising money and give larger corporations looking to establish a local presence more encouragement to give consistently to assist new sets of challenges that are being laid out in front of modern citizens. Both…
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — Nashville’s closely followed race which will determine Music City’s next mayor continues to ramp up as the candidates met Saturday at the city’s public library for their most recent debate sponsored by non-profit outreach Open Table Nashville. In this session, candidates passionately discussed each other’s plans on how to help relieve the city’s overflow of unhoused people, an issue that has been long-standing and only exacerbated by the city’s growth. The discussion between candidates was often contributed to by a lively crowd. The candidates that were present in the debate included Natisha Brooks, State…