By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — An over 500-person strong crowd marched its way peacefully under the musical accompaniment of a small band up Deaderick Street and to the War Memorial Plaza last week in protest of the recently passed anti-immigration bill HB2124/SB2576. Sponsored by Rep. Rusty Grills, R-Newbern, and Sen. Brent Taylor, R-Memphis is meant to mandate local law enforcement to work with the federal government in separating and detaining illegal immigrants and their families. The protest organized by the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) consisted of immigrants, refugees, friends, family, and allies who called the bill…
Author: Logan Langlois
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — Did you catch the last Nashville boat rowing race by chance? Neither did any other Tennessean you’d try and ask probably, but what if you found out that this under-celebrated sport could be the gateway to bettering the lives of many of Nashville’s inner-city kids? That’s what author, mentor, professional chef, and former captain of America’s first all-Black high school rowing team, Arshay Cooper, said soon after he visited the Nashville Public Library to talk about his book A Most Beautiful Thing. While touring the city, Cooper said he was also able to visit…
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — During the height of lent, a period of reflection on wrongdoing and a desire to change for Christians internationally, faith leaders and clergy with Middle Tennessee Christians for Justice in Palestine (MTC4JP) gathered for a “service of repentance” outside of the offices of U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty. Event organizers estimated hundreds of Christians in different cities nationwide organized on Monday, March 18th to protest in solidarity to “highlight the harm and violence caused by ‘Christian Zionism.” The group said their repentance was for all Christians, including the aforementioned senators, who “have…
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — Nashville-based conservative media outlet The Daily Wire published an article last week misrepresenting the fundraiser concert ‘Trans Day of Vengeance’ meant to raise money for low-income trans people, hosted by local non-profit Boro Fondo. In the article, Daily Wire writer Luke Rosiak connects the Murfreesboro benefit to the anniversary of the March 27 Nashville Covenant School shooting, highlighting the benefit’s March 31 show date. Though Boro Fondo responded to Rosiak’s email asking “the meaning of ‘trans vengeance,’” Rosiak’s originally published article claimed Fondo did not respond for comment, which he later stated was because…
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — The average unhoused person must walk between 10 and 15 miles a day in Music City, and Open Table Nashville (OTN) is trying to make that journey a little easier. The outreach and advocacy group will be hosting a one-mile walk to raise $20,000 for their daily efforts on Saturday, April 6th at 9:30 a.m. at Cleveland Park. The fundraiser named Walk With OTN will be a family-friendly event meant for community building, and for supporters to talk together while enjoying popsicles in the park. As a part of the event, OTN challenged its…
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — On Tuesday, 500 people committed to mobilization outside of the United States Supreme Court building for the “Bans Off Our Mife” action organized by Women’s March as SCOTUS began hearing oral arguments challenging the FDA’s 20-plus legal authorization of the drug mifepristone. Women’s March Executive Director Rachel O’Leary said among other things, mifepristone is used in over half of medical abortions because it is the least complicated and least painful available option. O’Leary said this case is just the latest fight in the overall conservative agenda targeting control over women’s right to abortion, and…
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — In the wake of an economic downturn during which the price of care for pets is skyrocketing, Nashvillian non-profit Paws Angels Dog Rescue continues to call out to its army of volunteers to give as many animals a second chance as they can. The rescue’s founder and owner Crystal Parman said animal homelessness has been growing increasingly severe and shows no sign of slowing without direct action. “I think every day it gets worse,” Parman said. “Every shelter and rescue in Middle Tennessee and every state beyond is completely overfull. The shelters are tragically…
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — The first man to win the Country Music Association’s male vocalist award two years in a row, one of the first Black members of the Grand Ole Opry, and one of the most successful country music singers ever, Charley Pride’s legacy befits legend in Music City. At the time of his death from complications from contracting COVID-19 at the age of 86, Pride would have 29 No. 1 country hits, 52 Top 10s, and twelve gold albums. Pride would see himself inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2000, though his legacy…
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — “Beyond the Bars’’ is a first-of-its-kind, app-enabled escape room that puts participants in the shoes of one of the 80 million Americans navigating today’s already tumultuous job market with an arrest or charge on their record. In the escape room that debuted Sunday at Austin Texas’s SXSW, participants are charged with navigating the various pitfalls that prevent people from securing life-changing employment. Ken Oliver, the man who took the SXSW stage to announce Beyond the Bars’ debut alongside his employer Checkr, said Beyond the Bars is meant to build empathy for workers who are…
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — On March 7, 1965, the late Reverend, Civil Rights Leader, and future U.S. House Representative John Lewis marched just a few feet from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. As the Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) he walked in front of the 600-person march alongside the demonstration’s leader Hosea Williams of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The march protesting for the voting rights of African Americans was met at the end of the bridge-named after a Confederate general and reputed Ku Klux Klan…