By Wiley Henry MEMPHIS, TN – If you witnessed the 30-hour siege unfold on Shannon Street on January 11, 1983, or watched the tragedy in real time on TV, it would be dif cult to forget the aftermath. That fateful day a tactical squad from the Memphis Police Department stormed the home of Lindberg Sanders and killed seven black men, including Sanders, after their hostage, of cer Robert S. Hester, was beaten and heard pleading for his life. Hester and his partner, of cer Ray O. Schwill, were dispatched to the home at 2239 Shannon St. to investigate an alleged…
Author: Wiley Henry
By Wiley Henry MEMPHIS, TN — The non-profit Tennessee Beauticians, Barbers and Nail Technicians’ Association (TBBNTA) is hosting its 75th Diamond Jubilee Convention Oct. 14-16 at The Guest House at Graceland, 3600 Elvis Presley Blvd. The theme is “Professionals Creating Beauty in the Industry.” “The Tennessee Beauticians, Barbers and Nail Technicians’ Association has a mission to empower the beauty industry with the knowledge, skills and essential tools to enhance quality customer service,” said Sally Johnson, TBBNTA’s president. The three-day convention is designed to increase awareness of the beauty industry, grow one’s clientele, and expand economic opportunities for cosmologists, barbers, nail…
By Wiley Henry MEMPHIS, TN – When Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland announced in early July that the city would offer $50,000 in tax free grants to the 14 surviving 1968 sanitation strikers, a wave of excitement washed over Baxter Leach. “I feel great about it,” said Leach, who never imagined that he would be compensated nearly 50 years after the sanitation workers opted to participate in Social Security rather than a pension plan offered by the city at that time. “We’re proposing a new retirement plan, an additional retirement plan for all sanitation employees,” said Strickland, making his remarks at…
By Wiley Henry MEMPHIS, TN – The Southern Christian Leadership Conference survived decades of internal discord and instability after its founding in 1957, when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., SCLC’s first president, began leading the organization through the tumultuous civil rights movement. Dr. Charles Steele Jr., SCLC’s current president and CEO, is leading the organization through global discord and instability, and evokes the organization’s creed to “Redeem the Soul of America.” Steele will be in Memphis July 20-23 when SCLC convenes its 59th convention at the historic Peabody Hotel. The theme: “The Hour is Now to: Believe, Empower, Act.” The…
By Wiley Henry MEMPHIS, TN – Tupac Shakur (or 2Pac), a West Coast rapper and actor, was gunned down on Sept. 7, 1996, in a drive-by shooting at an intersection in Las Vegas, Nevada. His fans still mourn his death. The Notorious B.I.G. (or Biggie Smalls), an East Coast rapper, was killed in a drive-by shooting by an unknown assailant on March 9, 1997, in Los Angeles, Calif. His fans still mourn him too. Aiesha Overton, a visual artist known as Naima Peace, was a little girl when both rappers died in the middle of an East Coast and West…
By Wiley Henry MEMPHIS, TN — What Mamon Wilson has been able to accomplish with homeopathic medicine is beyond comprehension – particularly since he’s not a medical doctor or the conferee of a medical degree from a prestigious medical school. What he is credentialed in is treating patients stricken with catastrophic diseases with holistic, natural and plant-based medicines derived from nature’s botanical garden: seeds, berries, roots, leaves, flowers, fruits, herbs, etc. “I never had any schooling. [But] I’ve trained a lot of doctors and medical missionaries,” said Wilson, one of three facilitators focusing on the theme “Better Health & Body,”…
By Wiley Henry MEMPHIS, TN – If it had not been for sheer will power and the determination to finish what she had started 30 years ago, Shalonda Patryce Jackson wouldn’t have been ready to walk across the commencement stage to receive the Bachelor of Science in Education. But she was more than ready for that crowning achievement on the morning of May 13, when The LeMoyne-Owen College kicked off its 147th Commencement ceremony at Mt. Vernon Baptist Church-Westwood in Memphis. Donning cap, gown, tassel and the purple and gold stole, Jackson remembered how far she’d come to this point…
By Wiley Henry MEMPHIS, TN – The Memphis Juneteenth Urban Music Festival is celebrating 25 years of fun-filled, musical merriment Friday through Sunday, June 16-18, on the grounds of the historic Robert R. Church Park on “World-Famous” Beale Street. Juneteenth, the longest-running cultural festival in Memphis, is the go-to place for eclectic music. This year, the legendary Barkays is partnering with Juneteenth on June 16 for a night of live, funk and soul music at the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts. ConFunkShun, another local legendary group, will join the Barkays in concert. The doors will open at 8 p.m.…
By Wiley Henry MEMPHIS, TN – Several police officers from the Memphis Police Department’s Cordova/Appling Farms precinct pulled their cruisers up to the home of Martha Washington-Smith and made a beeline to the front door. The intermittent show of force on May 13 may have drawn gawks and curious stares, and no doubt triggered the gossip mill, but a sign in Washington-Smith’s yard explained the officers’ presence – COP STOP. COP STOP is the brainchild of Bob and Joanna McNeil-Young, a Germantown couple who started feeding police officers in 2015 to show their support for the arduous job they do…
By Wiley Henry MEMPHIS, TN – Several students with varied challenges and one adult assembled around the dinning room table at Dr. Theresa M. Okwumabua’s home in Midtown on May 5 to discuss last-minute details for an upcoming awards banquet. They also went through a dry run to mitigate any problems when they recount how they beat the odds to make life better for themselves and others. “As you share your stories, some young person can say, ‘If they can do it, I can do it, too,’” said Okwumabua, encouraging each honoree receiving this year’s Memphis “Beat the Odds” Award…