By Patricia Bates NASHVILLE, TN — Through former UN diplomat Andrew Young, Jr., and environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a cleaner, safer world is possible 50 years after the idealism of 1968 ended with the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Bobby Kennedy, Sr. “More black kids are dying now of brain tumors than bullets,” said Kennedy, of the cancer infiltrating the drinking water of African Americans in poverty-stricken regions of the U.S. “As many as 48 percent of them have lead poisoning, and tests have shown that they have lost five to 10 points from their…
Author: Patricia Bates
By Patricia Bates NASHVILLE, TN — In a night of ovations, U.S. Rep. John Lewis recalled on Dec. 4 how as a young man called to become a pastor here at American Baptist College, he instead answered as a protestor in the Nashville Student Movement, and eventually became a preeminent politician as the “Conscience of Congress.” Lewis was the special live video guest at an “An Evening with The Fred D. Gray Institute for Law, Justice & Society” at the new Woolworth on 5th restaurant during this fundraiser by Lipscomb University. Gray was honored, as were the inaugural five scholars…
By Patricia Bates Part 1 of a 2 Part Series John Hope Bryant wants people of all color and races to become fully integrated into our nation’s economy. He has been a financial advisor to three U.S. Presidents, and motivated the government to rename the U.S. Treasury Annex Building in January 2016 to the Freedman’s Bank Building. The chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE, Bryant immediately started the 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization in 1992 for social investment banking in neighborhoods after the Rodney King Riots in South Central Los Angeles. In December 2016, Bryant was named “Innovator of the Year” by…