By Natalie R. Bell NASHVILLE, TN — The changing landscape of Nashville threatens to exclude, even erase some of the city’s African American history, said Dr. Doretha Williams, center director, Smith Center for the Curation and Digitization of African American History, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). Preservation of family heirlooms is crucial right now, she said, and local families need to take action to save their historical treasures. Williams leads a team of curators from the Smithsonian NMAAHC in Washington, D.C., who’ve come to Nashville and been here several weeks now, providing preservation services and…
Author: Natalie R. Bell
By Natalie R. Bell NASHVILLE, TN — Families that have resided in the Nashville, Tennessee region for multiple generations are likely to have items of historical and cultural significance tucked away in attics, closets, and basements of their homes. Now, local residents can bring those items to be reviewed directly with staff members of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), from Washington, D.C., plus receive advice and assistance on best methods to preserve those items for the future. A series of community engagement events will be held over the next six weeks, with the first…
By Natalie R. Bell NASHVILLE, TN — The third annual Rep. John Lewis Way March grew, this year, from a dedication of the renaming of Fifth Avenue to a full weekend of events, celebrating the legacy of the late congressman and other icons and foot soldiers of Nashville’s Civil Rights Movement. On the evening of Friday, July 14th, committed champions of social change joined the faithful, along with public officials and historians, to kick off the weekend at Gordon Memorial United Methodist Church, 2334 Herman Street in North Nashville. There, they dedicated a historical marker named for the late Freedom…
By Natalie R. Bell NASHVILLE, TN — The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), the trade organization of more than 200 African American corporate media owners across 36 states, will hold its annual convention in downtown Nashville, June 28th-July 1st. Dr. Benjamin Chavis, NNPA president and chief executive officer, speaking in a virtual interview from his office in Washington, D.C., hailed Nashville’s growth and development into a world tourism destination, as well as its status as “one of the rare cities with four HBCUs,” drawing thousands of young Black college students from around the nation every year. Notwithstanding those attractions, Chavis…
By Natalie R. Bell NASHVILLE, TN — The chairman of the Tennessee House Democratic Caucus, Rep. John Ray Clemmons, of Nashville, says in the days after the tragic Covenant School shooting, he started gaining attention from his colleagues across the aisle. He established bipartisan talks on gun control with a group that includes Rep. Bob Freeman, whose district 56 includes the private Christian school. “Most of my GOP colleagues have only been listening to five-percent of the people in their districts,” said Clemmons, adding that it’s only those smaller constituencies, the “Maga Republicans,” who insist on gun rights for law-abiding…