By Tony Jones MEMPHIS, TN — Nationally respected activist minister Rev. Rev. Dr. William Barber II told supporters at the Memphis Community Against The Pipeline (MPAC) sequel rally Sunday, April 18th that black companies, churches and organizations that have accepted money from the proponents of the Byhalia Connection Pipeline are doing the same work as the biblical Judas and they need to publicly give the money back in support of MCAP’s fight and to do it publicly. The sequel rally was planned to urge a citizen blockade to flood the City Council with support for an ordinance to be voted…
Author: Tony Jones
By Tony Jones MEMPHIS, TN — Life’s irony has come to full bloom in Memphis as Boxtown, a centerpiece of one of the city’s numerically poorest zip codes, has arguably become the city’s most important neighborhood as a frantic fight ensues to save the famous Memphis Sand Aquifer artesian well water supply. The alleged environmental threat comes from the Byhalia Connection Pipeline, a 49-mile joint venture of energy giant Valero Energy and Texas-based Plains All American. Community activists and environmentalists say is classic racist corporate malfeasance that is simply too dangerous to proceed. The pipeline snakes through the nearly blanket…
By Tony Jones MEMPHIS, TN — The “Don’t Be McFooled” protest campaign alleging the McDonald’s Corporation redlines black franchisees is going national. Slated to hit McDonald’s Atlanta region office Thursday, April 1st, spokesperson Kahari Nash reports a 17-city itinerary has been confirmed for the “rolling protest rally” created to generate support for a class action lawsuit grouping 77 current and former franchisees. Says Nash, “We intend to shake up the McDonald’s corporate world, and there are ramifications beyond that. We are intent on educating the 186 Black McDonald’s Operators around the country on the economic benefit and protection of being…
By Tony Jones MEMPHIS, TN — A call-to-action rally at the National Civil Rights Museum (NCRM) Tuesday, March 2nd moved next to Nashville and Atlanta to bring attention to a nationwide protest tour calling attention to a class action lawsuit suit challenging how the McDonald’s Corporation treats its black franchise owners. Created by McDonald franchisee sibling team Darrell and James F. Byrd Jr., Memphis was the second stop for a 90 day “rolling protest” tour the brothers are conducting to create a nationwide front to generate awareness of collective legal actions and their own plight claiming the global fast-food giant’s…
By Tony Jones MEMPHIS, TN — New Chicago Community Development Corporation Executive Director Dr. Carnita Atwater has filed a $20 billion dollar class action lawsuit charging a consortium of government officials with genocide due to noninvestment in the New Chicago neighborhood. The suit alleges continued generations of neglect to its needs. Filed Dec. 15, 2020 in Chancery Court Div. 13, the suit’s intent is to reveal how government funds and incentives support gentrification in some areas while siphoning hope, health, dreams and money out of New Chicago like using a vacuum cleaner on crack. “Take a ride through New Chicago…
By Tony Jones MEMPHIS, TN — Marshal Tyreece Miller, Tennessee’s only African American U.S. Marshal in the Western District, says he tries to honor the obligation he feels to black history every day. Appointed by 45th President Donald Trump, Miller was sworn to the post in July, 2020, after his career rise to Deputy Chief of Police in Jackson, Tennessee. He graduated into the post when two incidents in Memphis put the service’s usual behind the scenes presence in an angry spotlight before the general public. He touches upon the hot button issue in this Black History Month spotlight profile.…
By Tony Jones MEMPHIS, TN — Nationally respected workplace health expert Dr. Anthony Harris is issuing a plea to black communities everywhere to not let fear of the past jeopardize their future by refusing to take the recently approved Covid-19 vaccine. Dr. Harris is the Chief Innovation Officer and Associate Medical Director-Onsite Clinical Operations, for WorkCare, a physician directed occupational health outreach company. It helps corporations fight infectious illness in the workplace, and their website lists experience directing workplace battles against the SARS and H1N1 pandemics. He leads their Covid-19 response team. Featured on CNN and others, Harris’s urgent alarm…
By Tony Jones MEMPHIS, TN — Meharry Medical College, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare Systems, the University of Memphis and Church Health Center have formed a ground breaking collaboration to develop more black doctors and health care professionals in Memphis. The partnership is “truly exciting and historic news,” Meharry President/CEO Dr. James Hildreth said to begin the joint Zoom press conference announcement Monday, Dec. 14th. “This will expand opportunities for education, training and research for black medical students across our state and beyond.” Dr. Hildreth said the paperwork is being finalized daily, meaning student intake could begin as early as…
By Tony Jones MEMPHIS, TN — The Memphis Branch of the NAACP held a COVID-19 resistant membership drive Saturday, Dec. 5th at the black-owned Southbrook Mall. The location was an apt choice. Like the mall’s nearly completed renovation, the NAACP nationally and locally has found the need to spruce up its image due to loud criticisms of its relevance in wake of the “woke” protest movement that has gripped America for the past couple of years. Or does it? That was one of the questions posed to Memphis Chapter President Van Turner in a conversation before the drive started. …
By Tony Jones NASHVILLE, TN