By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — Water conservation organization the Cumberland River Compact has announced its Working Lands Program, an effort that will concentrate on mine land reforestation throughout the Cumberland River in Kentucky and Tennessee. The first phase of the project is set to begin in early 2024 with the planting of 35,000 trees, after which The Compact said they will be filling a gap in “small” land reforestation. The reforestation will consist of anywhere from 50-100 acres at a time and is desperately needed in areas around the Cumberland River that have previously been mined for coal. “Basically,…
Author: Logan Langlois
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — The new Tennessee Titans Nissan Stadium has been a hotly debated topic among Nashvillians, with many critics including now-current Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell, saying the time, energy, and money being allocated could serve the city better in other ways. As debates continue, project leaders of the new Nissan Stadium said they are trying to keep Nashville’s Black community in sports by providing long-lasting employment opportunities. One entity at the forefront of this effort is Don Hardin Group, DHG, who has been charged with overseeing the architecture and construction of the stadium and has also…
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — Fayetteville State University professor in the School of Social Work, Erica Campbell, has been awarded a $10,000 grant for simulation-based education. Campbell said the grant provided by the Council of Social Work Education’s Kendall Institute will allow for more impactful education and training regarding spreading awareness of widespread food insecurity, an issue that has become a widespread issue in North Carolina. Campbell said that students will not only be studying of food insecurity but also learning how to assist in adapting to the crises and its ever-changing influences. Campbell said she began her journey…
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — Therapeutic Focus, the self-described “little clinic with a big heart,” has opened a new outpatient location in Crittenden County with a ribbon-cutting ceremony that welcomed several guests, including a speech from West Memphis Mayor Marco McClendon. Practice owner and operator LaTeasha Gaither-Davis said she has been practicing occupational therapy since 2008 and opened Therapeutic Focus in 2011, only recently deciding to open a practice around the same area she grew up in. “I am ecstatic, I’m very, very excited,” Gaither-Davis said. “I’ve been in the West Memphis, Tennessee community since 2011. But it feels…
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — Tennessee State University’s Avon Williams Campus will be hosting the 13th bi-annual Southern Human Rights Organizers Conference, SHROC, this December 14th through 16th. SHROC founder Jaribu Hill said the conference allows workers struggles activists to exchange ideas and network. Hill said topics for the weekend will include institutional inequalities which consolidate wealth, workplace systems Hill said enslave workers and abuse Black and Brown citizens, and the prospect of a ‘Cop City’ being built in Nashville. Hill said since SHROC is a Black-lead organization they wanted to uplift a college historically important to the Black…
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — The doors of Muse Conservatory of Dance haven’t been open for long, but in their short time, they have amassed a reputation as a well-respected Nashvillian-owned studio. So much so that co-owner and operator Mekaylah Gilbert said Muse has been able to participate in traveling performances for the past three years. This Winter, Muse is staying in Music City, however, and will be delivering their rendition of holiday classic White Christmas for Nashvillians on December 16th. Themes behind studio performances typically coincide with the time of year and holidays taking place. Dancers usually train…
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — Black Santa has always been a hotly debated holiday figure in the American consciousness. Many of his critics often forget, or maybe never learned, that the image of Black Santa was originally meant to mock the Black community until he was reclaimed as an inspirational figure. In the 1950s and 60s, the image of Black Santa evolved to become a civil rights figure. Today Black Santa continues to inspire hope, joy, merriment, and anger in the hearts of many, though the image of Santa himself was originally brought to America to help businesses pursue…
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — The first African American woman ever elected to the United States Congress in 1968, the first woman and African American to seek presidential nomination from a major American political party in 1972, and co-founder of the National Women’s Political Caucus in 1971, Shirley Chisholm’s birthday yesterday is most certainly one of importance. On November 30, 1924, Chisholm was born in Brooklyn, New York, as the oldest of four daughters to her mother Ruby Seale St. Hill, a seamstress from Barbados, and father Charles Christopher St. Hill, a factory worker from Guyana. She received her…
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — One famous dish during Thanksgiving, macaroni and cheese, is an often-forgotten contribution of Black Americans. It was James Hemings who would bring the dish to America from Paris in the 18th century while enslaved by the 3rd president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. During his enslavement, Heming would be sent to France and bring back with him a phenomenon. According to the historic house’s website, Heming would be brought to Monticello as a part of the Wayles estate, which came into Jefferson’s possession as a portion of his wife’s inheritance while Heming was…
By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — As Americans continue the tradition of celebrating bountiful harvest and family on the Thanksgiving Holiday, many share foods popularized by African Americans without even realizing it. One such food, now identified as a soul food staple, is the ever-better-served with bacon dish, collard greens. The oldest leafy green in the cabbage family, collard greens originated near Greece and came to America in the early 1600s when the first Africans arrived in Jamestown, Virginia. According to the LATIBAH Collard Green Museum in Charlotte, N.C, “collard greens were just one of a few select vegetables that…