By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — Dr. William Arnold wants to be a bridge builder. As the Director of the newly formed Office of Re Entry for the state of Tennessee, Dr. Arnold heads the only program in the United States not connected to a department of corrections. OOR seeks to look at those returning to life after prison through a new lens with focus on work and good jobs to lower recidivism. The program has three objectives, increase awareness, track the data, and increase use of services. To reach his goal and to create a model for the nation,…
Author: Vivian Underwood Shipe
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — In 2020, COVID shut down the initial plans for the celebration of the 100-year anniversary of womens’ right to vote. However, just as women were persistent to get that right, so too were they determined to celebrate that centennial victory. After several delays from Covid and subsequent outbreaks of variants – the parade stepped off in downtown Knoxville on a cloudy Saturday afternoon. While many were watching the Kentucky Derby, others gathered on the mall after the parade to hear a proclamation from the mayor and hear about leaders in the suffrage movement -…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — Charetta Jones looked at the beautiful rainbow of children playing before her. Forgotten children in a forgotten part of town. Montgomery Village sits across the bridge in South Knoxville. Ironically, as South Knoxville continues to rapidly expand with new businesses and apartments and housing; the small area across the tracks where the marginalized live seems stuck in time. Old buildings, sparse services, and crime abound with very little concern or love shown. Jones knew she had to do something to show the children, all between the ages of 3 and 14 that they too…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — She steps out into the night. It’s 10:30 pm. A cold dark rainy night. There is no shelter. She draws her infant closer to her body to shield him from the rain. She is so tired. The baby needs changing but where? The gas station is locked up and there is no dry place to lay the child. Her eyes follow the Greyhound bus that has dropped her off across from the interstate entrance. Alone, afraid, she looks around, not even knowing the connecting bus has been delayed and she will be here another…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — The Tennessee Education Association is over 46,000 strong. The organization is very diverse with educators from the public and private sector with more than 150 local associations across the state. The TEA is a very powerful organization. Tanya T. Coates is well able to take over the leadership role having recently been elected as the new state president. President Elect Coates has served as the Knoxville President of the local for several terms and has been a strong advocate for teachers and students, especially during the pandemic years, working to ensure the best…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — How good it must have felt to Ronni Chandler, Executive Director of Project Grad, head held high, smiling, marching across the stage of the Knoxville Convention Center; confidently leading into their future, the college bound 20th class of Project Grad graduates. For over two decades Chandler and her highly competent team have served the students who have come through their program with great dedication. In spite of an effort by some to end the program a few years ago, ( which was met with such a historic pushback from the community that the effort…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — Good news continues to pour out of Austin East Magnet High School as former and current students make headlines both on the national and regional stage. For the second consecutive year, Bianca Belair, A-E graduate has won the national WWE Women’s Wrestling Championship. Belair won the championship belt in a highly anticipated bout, in Arizona this past week, walking into her second year as the top female wrestler in the country. Current students in the A-E Robotics Club, known as Robo Runners showed they too can represent, finishing in the top 20 of the…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — Educational inequity versus educational inequality. These two completely different terms hold so much confusion for members of the Knox County School board that several members suggested they don’t know the difference and several expressed the desire to go back to policy review to get a better understanding. In spite of the evidence and a study conducted, even after suggestions brought before the board by one of their own board members and several points brought up before the board during public forum; like a scene from the great movie, Gone With The Wind, like Scarlett…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — She is 11-years-old and by all indications is going to be a great legislator in the very near future. Nia Vaughn created a bill to make the financial burden on the lives of teachers across the state of Tennessee much lighter. The Teachers Promise Bill will ensure teachers have the supplies they need to stock their classrooms. for the year. Vaughn testified before the legislature in December and spoke of the needs of the teachers and how covering the cost of the supplies the 78,000 teachers across the state have to purchase with their…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — There are fifty of them. One top honoree selected from every state. Women who have made a significant impact on the lives of others across the nation. Meet the top woman selected for Tennessee. She’s African American, born in a little town called Newport. She is a go getter, high energy and a power house. A proud member of the AKA sorority. Meet Cynthia Thomas Finch. A woman who made a decree and and the nation watched it manifest. In 2021, on a cold blustery winter morning, Cynthia Thomas Finch stood on the steps…