By V.S. Santoni NASHVILLE, TN — In February of 2018 the Tennessee legislature made syringe exchange programs legal. Street Works, a Nashville-based HIV-outreach-centered nonprofit founded in 1997, soon after became Tennessee’s first state-sanctioned syringe service. The years following have seen an exponential increase in opioid and stimulant overdose. According to Lisa Bell, head of Meharry’s MAT (Medication Assisted Treatment) clinic the figures have risen 575 percent in the Bla. Bell points to many factors leading to the lack of drug treatment among Black Nashvillians, among them racial economic and social disparities, social stigma, and the notion addiction is an ethical…
Author: V.S. Santoni
By V.S. Santoni NASHVILLE, TN — Brooklyn Heights Community Garden is hosting an open house Wednesday, April 26. Nella “Ms. Pearl” Frierson founded Brooklyn Heights nearly 15 years ago. After an outburst of gang violence claimed a young man’s life, Ms. Pearl saw the need for a community space to foster healing. The lot where the garden sits stood vacant for some time before Ms. Pearl decided to buy the property and establish the garden. Now Ashley Brailsford and Anne Veal, former volunteers and now co-directors at the garden, want to bring Ms. Pearl’s project into a new era. Brailsford,…
By V.S. Santoni ProPublica, an independent, nonprofit newsroom, held a panel discussion on the current state of abortion rights in the United States since the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) overturned Roe v. Wade last summer. States such as Tennessee quickly moved to place restrictions and bans on abortion. The panel included Ziva Brandstetter, ProPublica senior editor, Jennifer Gollan, ProPublica freelance reporter and writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, Mary Ziegler, author and professor of law at the University of California and Nikki B. Zite, obstetrician gynecologist, professor and vice chair of education and advocacy at The University…
By V.S. Santoni NASHVILLE, TN — Now in its third year of operation, Open Access, a 501(c)3 focused on increasing representation, equity, and inclusion in community development finance, is actively engaged in growing its sponsorships and fellowships and Nashville is one of the prime sites where it is seeking to expand interest. Gina Nisbeth, formerly a director at Citi but now the director of her own firm, and Jeff Monge, managing partner of Monge Capital, founded Open Access in 2020. Since the pandemic’s start, Open Access has sought a highly qualified group of outstanding professionals and four-year college students to…
By V.S. Santoni NASHVILLE, TN — Air Max Day is March 26 and Melissa Watkins, Nashville-based fashion blogger Fabglance, is celebrating it with Nashville’s first ever Air Max Day party. Since 2008, Watkins has been using her blog, Fab Glance, to give people confidence and help them with their personal style. Watkins, a self-described introvert, faced an industry that didn’t look like her back when she started, but she insisted that space be made for her and people like her. For years, she made photo spreads with fellow sneaker heads to celebrate Air Max Day, but she wanted to use…
By V.S. Santoni In 2022, McMinn County schools banned the Pulitzer-prize winning holocaust-themed novel, Maus. It was a move that provoked national headlines and led the Tennessee House of Representatives to pass a bill that would allow school boards to ban books deemed obscene. Under the current law, a parent, guardian, or teacher would launch a complaint about a particular title to their district’s super intendent, who would then assemble the school board to make a determination on whether the book should be banned. School librarian and recently-elected leader to the Tennessee Association of School Librarians Dustin Hensley said book…
By V.S. Santoni NASHVILLE, TN — Growing up the youngest of five boys, Eric Cox knows a thing or two about being the small one in the bunch, the one who goes unseen. Eric, however, won’t settle for invisibility. He took his life experiences and molded a vision for his future, and he wants to teach other people how to do the same thing. Under the supervision of Dwayne Jenkins, he worked for 10-11 years with Nashville Black Pride, where he facilitated spaces for Black LGBT+ people. He also worked 10-plus years on the board at The Little Pantry That…
By V.S. Santoni NASHVILLE, TN — White Americans make up 60 percent of the population but hold 84 percent of total U.S. wealth. Meanwhile, Black Americans languish behind, only holding a miniscule 4 percent of the wealth while making up 13 percent of the population. This staggering wealth gap has social, political, and economic factors. However, according to Alfred Edmond Jr, Senior VP and Editor-at-large of Black Enterprise, a Black-owned multimedia company, Black Americans can breach this economic chasm, but it starts with their health. Since 1970, Black Enterprise has dedicated itself to building generational wealth within the African-American community,…
By V.S. Santoni NASHVILLE, TN — In 2008, a dry red velvet cake changed MoNique Ivory’s life. She decided against buying any more stale baked goods from stores that didn’t care about quality and opted to bake her own. Two years later, she began making cupcakes for her sons’ class events. It was then she acquired the loving sobriquet “Cupcake Lady,” but it wasn’t until 2013, after her husband requested cinnamon rolls for his birthday because he said it’s what his grandmother always made him, that she started her business in earnest. Then going by the name “Grace and Glory…
By V.S. Santoni For 75 years, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee has worked tirelessly with its members and local communities to bring Tennesseans healthcare, especially those in vulnerable populations. J.D. Hickey, president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee stated that his organization has always emphasized diversity and inclusion. In keeping true to that statement, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee has issued its first ever health equity report to highlight healthcare disparities among Tennesseans. They hosted a virtual event on February 13 to discuss the report and their findings. Leading the project was Blue Cross Blue…