By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — In the heart of the historic Burlington Community, a massive piece of Black American history, a part of the underground railroad, originally called the Freedom House stands; waiting to be restored. Greater Warner Tabernacle A.M.E. Zion Church was established in 1845 and is the oldest African American Church in Knoxville. It sits as the gateway in Burlington, a black community rich with history and promise. Pastor Cleo Brooks and Keira Wyatt, Executive Director of C.O.N.N.E.C.T. Ministries have partnered and are working together to create community partnerships to make promises made long ago, come to…
Author: Vivian Underwood Shipe
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — The project that began in the cold of winter is complete. Jayden Bryant, a senior at L&N Stem Academy had created the project to complete his quest to achieve the highest ranking of scouting: the level of Eagle Scout of which only 4 percent of scouts ever attain. Bryant wanted to specifically help refugee families in the East Knoxville community. His research had taught him that these were families who had fled their countries with nothing. They were running from disasters or wars. Bryant knew these families had no money to buy food and…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — It’s an uphill battle that has not stopped. The virus is still here as the country moves into the third Fall of COVID. The need to get people vaccinated has taken on even more urgency as the flu season and the uptick of the new covid variants move into the Fall. The men and women in the ALL!N orange vests seen around Knoxville, Tennessee since the spring representing the Urban League have stepped up their efforts to get ahead of any surge that cooler temperatures may bring. The ALL!N project, part of the national…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — It just makes good sense. Bring into the classroom those who are successfully doing the work in the communities in the field of study being taught to the student. The advantage to the student to learn from the masters along with the theories and models in the textbooks can only make them better in their fields of study. Beginning this fall there is a new course in the University of Tennessee’s College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences and Knoxville’s own Daryl Arnold, founder and pastor of Overcoming Believers Church has been selected to…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — In the 100th year since the execution of Maurice Mays, the Beck Cultural Exchange Center, POP Ten, and Divine Urban Expressions are leading a community effort to right what has always been considered a great wrong – the death of an innocent man. In what is considered the bloodiest summer of riots in the United States; the summer of 1919 saw racial violence in many states. Tennessee was no different. Knoxville was the scene of one of those riots that began when the towns people learned a white woman named Bertie Lindsey had been…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — As they have for the last seven years, the Beck Cultural Exchange Center culminated a weekend of festivities acknowledging the date slaves were freed in Tennessee with the debut film presentation of a film by Emmy Award winner Loki Mullholland. The film did not disappoint. With Civil Rights legend Jo Ann Bland as the film moderator, “After Selma” tells the story of what happened after the Bloody Sunday attempted crossing of the Edmund Pettus Bridge from Selma to Montgomery in a march for voting rights by over 600 people who were beaten during the…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — As she looked out over the crowd of over 6,000 Knoxville Area Urban Leagues, President/CEO Phyllis Young Nichols joyfully remarked that it was the largest back-to-school effort by the organization in the 20 years since they started giving children school shoes. The Knoxville Area Urban League began in Knoxville in 1968. It is a civil rights, economic development and social service organization and is a member of the National Urban League, the oldest community-based movement in the United States, devoted to empowering African Americans. Stretching across the vast entrance way to Caswell Park in…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — What do you do when you learn the numbers are down in the inner city during early voting and you know how critical local elections are? If you are Gail Carter, long time community advocate for over 50 years, you rally the troops. Carter decided that the first Monday of early voting she would remove one of the barriers of trying to vote on the lunch hour by providing a free lunch for those who came out to vote with hotdogs, chips, and drinks. Her dedication to the community and her connections from over…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — As she prepared to retire, Valeria Clark, or “Cherry”, as she has been known in the community for decades, looked around the city in which she worked and realized just how financially unprepared the young generation around her was. Clark has always been involved in the financial field in one role or another and what she saw really alarmed her. With a poverty rate of 42 percent in the Black community of Knoxville; Valeria Clark has stepped up to make a difference with a burning desire to see a change in the community in…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — It was a celebration befitting a King. The festivities were held in the ballroom of the Crowne Plaza, one of Knoxville’s finest hotels. Guest came from far and wide, dignitaries, community leaders, including candidate for Tennessee governor, Memphis Councilman, JB Smiley Jr. It was the celebration of 80 years of an icon. A man of integrity. A walking, living , breathing part of history who, by his courageous efforts during the civil rights movement, has made life better for those living today and for generations to come.