By Rosetta Miller Perry Tribune Publisher A lot of discussion and rhetoric has resulted from the slogan “defund the police.” Like so many things in today’s social-media driven marketplace of ideas, folks distort or fail to get the true meaning of the phrase. What’s needed is reform, not elimination. Only someone either hopelessly naive or doesn’t live in particular communities would claim there’s not a need for effective, efficient law enforcement. But what too many Black communities have gotten for too many decades are folks who shoot first and ask questions later, cops overly focused on expired license tags and…
Author: Rosetta Miller Perry
By Rosetta Miller-Perry It should disgust every citizen who knows anything about the history of social justice movements in America that Nashville, one of the first places where the fervor and dedication of students and citizens led to the sit-ins and helped elevate the struggle for racial equality to new heights, doesn’t have a dedicated, stand-alone Civil Rights Museum. It’s even more aggravating to know that you can get in your car and drive to Memphis, or Alabama, or even for heaven’s sake Mississippi and visit million dollar buildings that pay tribute to the legacy of African Americans. That’s right,…
By Rosetta Miller-Perry Over the July 4th holiday weekend president Donald Trump made his re-election campaign strategy crystal clear. It’s the preservation and protection of white supremacy. He presented no policy ideas or second term goals. Nor were there new ideas or tactics for fighting the spread of COVID-19, which has already killed over 130,000 Americans, and is spiking in such states as Arizona, Florida, Texas and California. Trump said nothing about the issues of police misconduct and brutality, nor did he present any positive ways of battling economic disparity and the lack of opportunity disproportionately affecting millions of Blacks…
By Rosetta Miller Perry Seldom has the choice of a Vice-Presidential candidate been more important than this time for Democratic Presidential candidate/former Vice President Joseph Biden. He needs a choice who is not only dynamic and extremely competent, but one capable of exciting the elements of the party’s base that did not come out and vote in full force in 2016. Minority voters, especially Blacks, as well as young people and progressives, never warmed to Hillary Clinton in the manner they had twice for Barack Obama. The results delivered an unqualified and embarrassing buffoon who didn’t even want to win,…
By Rosetta Miller Perry The brutal, horrific death of George Floyd in Minneapolis May 25 was shocking worldwide, although for many Black and Brown as well as poor people it was a sight we have seen far too many times in our lives. Floyd’s gasping and crying out “I can’t breathe” has become a slogan for T-shirts and a rallying call at demonstrations occurring not just nationwide, but across the globe. There were incredibly moving and powerful statements made at three memorial services held for George Floyd. Now there are corporations pledging millions to social justice causes, and everyone from…
By Rosetta Miller Perry Rev. Keith Caldwell’s sudden and abrupt resignation as president of the Nashville NAACP comes at a most difficult time in this city’s and nation’s history. Protests are continuing north, east, west and south. Citizens are fed up with decades of police misconduct and brutality, and are rising up to say it will no longer be tolerated. The time to end white supremacist policies is now, not tomorrow, next month, or next year. Yet, while there have been several marches held here locally and numerous organizations are rallying people around the causes of social justice and economic…
By Rosetta Miller Perry By now the entire nation has heard about the tragic and senseless murder (and that’s what it was) of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia. This young man had done nothing except jog through a neighborhood, but two whites saw a Black man running, and assumed he was some kind of criminal. They decided to pursue him and make a “citizen’s arrest,” only what they ended up doing was executing an innocent victim. That the older man was a former investigator with long ties to law enforcement evidently convinced two District Attorneys not to file charges.…
By Rosetta Miller Perry NASHVILLE, TN — Hyundai Motor America hosted a luncheon in Los Angeles, CA recently at the L. A. Sentinel Newspaper in honor of Brigadier General Charles McGee. Brigadier General Charles Edward McGee (born December 7, 1919) is a retired American fighter pilot and one of the last living members of the Tuskegee Airmen, an all African-American military pilot group who fought during World War II (as part of the 332d Fighter Group). He was a career officer in the United States Air Force for more than 30 years and flew a three-war total…
By Rosetta Miller Perry The photos coming out of North Nashville are surreal. People from all walks of life have been impacted by this catastrophic tornado. Some white, some Black, some old, some tenderly young. But Mother Nature isn’t racist. She doesn’t discriminate — our Nashville system does, and especially the mainstream media. When disaster strikes, not everyone experiences the same impact. If you’re a Black homeowner who lives in North Nashville you were ignored by the white press and government, even though Blacks were there before gentrification. This doesn’t mean Blacks won’t suffer, or that this tornado won’t be…
By Rosetta Miller Perry NASHVILLE, TN — Join us at Kingdom Café, 2610 Jefferson Street for Mardi Gras 2020, featuring Ms. June’s Gumbo n’ Greens which brings an authentic taste of Mardi Gras to the historical Jefferson Street Community. Ms. June’s Gumbo N’Greens produces unique Cajun Gumbo, Cajun Collard Greens and a host of other traditional family Cajun dishes and beverages. The Mardi Gras event takes place Wednesday, February 19 through Friday, February 21, Sunday, February 23 and ends on Fat Tuesday, February 25. Come and enjoy a Gumbo Platter for $20. Each platter includes Cajun Gumbo with rice, Cajun Collard Greens, Cajun…