By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — It has been a long time coming. The homeless population had been asking for the life saving vaccinations for a while. The problem in Knoxville, as around the country has been how to fully vaccinate a group of people who are transient and have no regular address and can not return for a second shot to the same location to totally protect them from COVID-19. Martha Jane LaRue Baker, owner of Salon LaRue Hair Salon in West Knoxville, as been feeding hundreds and providing clothing the homeless in the north and downtown areas of…
Author: Vivian Underwood Shipe
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — It was a beautiful sunny day and the first time in over a year a large crowd of city and county leaders had been in the same space since the pandemic shut down the city and the world. In a time that has demanded great leadership on many levels in Knoxville and Knox County, it seemed only fitting that the annual Mayors Leadership Luncheon, now in its 12th year, bring great leaders to speak to the 2021 graduates of Leadership Knoxville about community and servant leadership. The event is hosted yearly by the board…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — When this edition of the Tennessee Tribune hits the street this week, it will mark exactly one year ago that an alarm was sounded by two of Knoxville’s most dedicated community advocates. Since May 1, 2020, every Thursday, with the exception of Christmas week, from five to six pm. Cynthia Finch, Director of New Directions Health Care Solutions and Vice Mayor Gwen McKenzie have led a group of faith leaders and organizations that has grown to over 180 state and nationwide in a battle against COVID-19. The group, named the Faith Leaders Initiative, was…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — A community in uproar. The boiling point came a little over a week ago when Anthony Thompson Jr. was killed in the bathroom of Austin- East High School by the bullet of a Knoxville Police officer. The decision by the District Attorney not to charge the officer whose gun killed the 17 year old, was the match that lit the kindling of unrest and demand for change. Despite the blows the community has been taking since January, their toughness and their ability to come together and fight back has never been more evident than…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — A young man who fights for social justice as did Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., while walking in the footsteps of Jesus has been recognized by one of the most prestigious colleges in the United States for his unrelenting efforts to serve his fellow man. Rev. Calvin Taylor Skinner, minister at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Knoxville, was recently inducted into the Morehouse College of Ministers and Laity. The high honor is bestowed only upon those leaders whose works exemplify Dr. King in areas of service and leadership. Skinner, who believes in community…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — The last year has been lived in isolation for the majority of the country. That isolation has resulted in a 14 percent rise in suicide, 31 percent rise in overdoses, and an alarming increase of 70 percent in murders in Knoxville, particularly among the youth. While the police are taken the route of justice; many small groups in the community are taken a preventive and restorative plan of action Pastor Reginald Butler of New Mount Calvary Church which sits in the heart of the area where much of the violence has occurred, open the…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — As the history books are being written about the pandemic of 2020 and the recovery years that followed, many who made a difference will be written up in those pages of history. In Knoxville, these women have made an impact in the midst of a storm that has taken over 500,000 lives across the country. That number, thanks to the efforts of these leaders, is much lower in Knoxville than it could have been. As we celebrate Women’s History Month, we highlight five of Knoxville’s finest, Barbara Kelley, Vice Mayor Gwen McKenzie, Keira Wyatt,…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — It was a different type of email. sent out by Principal Ashley Speas to the parents of every student at West High School on a Sunday night. The email request was in response to a request to provide clear backpacks for all students at Austin-East due to the new requirements put in place after the death of a third student over a three week period. Speas, who has been Head Principal at West for over 5 years, wanted to do whatever they could to help. The students wanted to help their friends also. Technological…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — He was so frail. He was unable to walk and arrived by transport van in a wheelchair. As they prepared to lower the lift at Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in the inner city of Knoxville, where he would receive his first of two vaccine shots, the lift broke. That did not stop the doctors and nurses of the African American Clinicians Workgroup from making sure he got his shot. Upon hearing the broken lift would prevent him from coming into building; the leaders came out to the transport van and gave him his shot…
By Vivian Shipe KNOXVILLE, TN — In one of the smoothest operations seen in Knoxville, over 400 elderly, ages 70 and up were given their first vaccine shot of the Pfizer brand in less than 6 hours. The people will return to the same location for their second dose in about 22 days. Thanks to the belief in their ability to pull it off; Dr. Keith Gray, African American Chief Medical Officer of the University of Tennessee Medical Hospital made the vaccine available. The African American Clinician Workgroup, under the sponsorship of the Faith Leaders Initiative, CONNECT Ministries, and New Directions…