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…
Author: Vivian Underwood Shipe
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…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — Almost nine months to the day it shut down – on January 3rd, – the community room at the Residence at Five Points reopened under the direction of Mr. James Thompson. It had been a long journey to get him to the helm of the senior living space that houses seniors up to the age of 94. Seniors that had been isolated from society due to covid- 19 but longing to rejoin the rest of the world that was opening back up. The outcry from the residents and the public in support of the…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — As Knoxville celebrates Black History Month, several young African Americans are making new history locally and on the national scene. Let the history books reflect the following: Elston Turner Drive was formally unveiled as one of the new streets in the old Austin Homes area where the former NBA star grew up playing street ball. Say the name Elston in Knoxville and you will invoke stories of one of the greatest basketball teams to ever come out of Austin East High School. Born and raised in the inner city, Turner was a basketball natural.…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — The requirements were simple, if you were a church, day care, or nonprofit in need of masks, sanitizer, hand soaps and wipes, all you had to do was show up at noon, sign in and haul away cases of free supplies. Partnering with DAY ONE Relief, an organization based in N.C. that works to serve marginalized communities, along with other local organizations – Keira Wyatt with C.O.N.N.E.C.T. and Cynthia Finch of New Directions Healthcare Solutions, made sure everyone who came got what they needed to keep their businesses safe as the pandemic takes its…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.” Malcom X said, “Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.” The need to educate was important to these great leaders over 50 years ago…. it’s still important to these leaders featured this week who have spent decades successfully molding the minds, teaching skills, and preparing today’s youth for tomorrow’s challenges.…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — Men of Valor have been defined as men with three distinct characteristics, strength, courage and passion. During this Black History Month Celebration, several of those mighty African American men will be recognized in this space. Asking no one’s permission, they have been influencers, change agents, and visionaries for decades. we begin our series with three of Knoxville’s entertainment legends. Cylk Cozart, a man who will be the first to tell you how much he loves and honors his mother; wears many hats. Knoxville’s own actor, director, writer and producer, he recently was recognized for…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — Children of God Church of God in Christ, a long time member of the Faith Leaders Church Initiative, recognized members of the community who had been helping in the fight against COVID including the co founder of the organization, Cynthia Finch during their annual Mission Day. Finch was also the featured speaker during the event which drew dignitaries and community leaders. The church presented Finch , essential worker nurse Samara Ramsey, and youth leader Kaden Shipe with the James Allen Legacy of Hope Award. After giving the history of the Faith Leaders Church Initiative…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — As the pandemic ends, another pandemic has slowly been building like a tsunami after an earthquake. Homelessness numbers are the new surge as the effect of lost wages, inability to pay rent and utilities and the soaring real estate market are taking a toll on the country. A January 2021 published by the United Way indicates more people than ever before are at risk of being homeless as evictions across the country continue to rise. The same is happening in Knoxville also. People need help more so than ever before. One place they have…