By Wiley Henry MEMPHIS, TN — Dr. Erma Clanton had one life to live. Much of it was devoted to teaching, nurturing, mentoring, developing and illuminating the artistry within young people – whether it was in song, public speaking, or onstage in the theatre. Her reputation was widespread. She was known to bring out their best and shaped many of them into professional singers and actors on the local and national stages. A lyricist, playwright, stage director, and educator, she was their guiding light. Dr. Clanton was born in Memphis on Feb. 5, 1923. She was 98 when she died…
Author: Wiley Henry
By Wiley Henry MEMPHIS, TN — Dr. Charles A. Champion is not shy about praising God for longevity and the path he took that led him to become the quintessential pharmacist and herbalist in Memphis and Shelby County. He’s 90 years old, married 64 years to Carolyn Bailey Champion, and has two daughters – Dr. Carol “Cookie” Champion and Dr. Charita Champion Brookins, both pharmacists, holding down Champion’s Pharmacy and Herb Store since their father is semi-retired. His grandchildren – Charles Edwin Champion, a chemist; Jessica Champion, a financial adviser; and Rikki Brookins, an assistant – are integral to the…
By Wiley Henry MEMPHIS, TN – Dale McNair is struggling to keep his blood oxygen level from cascading down into the danger zone. To help him breathe, he ambles along each day with two oxygen tanks in tow. Reginald Johnson struggles too, but in a different way. His wife Shirley was deprived of oxygen and struggled mightily to breathe in the ICU at Methodist North Hospital. She didn’t make it. COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on both families. Dale McNair, however, is fortunate to be alive. His wife Secelia prayed that God would restore his health. He still struggles, though. The…
By Wiley Henry MEMPHIS, TN — Before COVID-19 unleashed malady into the world, the city of Memphis had already in place an initiative to keep the city’s 8,300 employees safe from a wide array of safety hazards. The initiative was actualized July 16 at the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, where more than 1,800 citizens – including 700 city employees, more than 350 youth, and 65 vendors – gathered under a glistening sun for the City of Memphis Workplace Safety & Compliance Safety Fair. “The main purpose of it [safety fair] is to make sure that we’re providing up-to-date information to…
By Wiley Henry MEMPHIS, TN – Coming to grips with the death of a loved one could be described as an emotional rollercoaster ride that will eventually subside. Then you will smile again, Dr. Marcia Demarjé Adair Smith promises. In fact, Smith writes about the stages of grief in “You Will Smile Again, I Promise,” a 38-page book that was published in February by Predestined Productions and illustrated by Rhonda Shaw. Written under Demarjé Adair, a variant of her name, the book was written specifically for five-to 12-year-olds who grapple with death and can’t express themselves without some form of…
By Wiley Henry MEMPHIS, TN – Dr. Jane Abraham grew up in the late 1950s and ‘60s when animus towards Black people was as American as apple pie. “It was horrific,” she said. “I’m 72 years old and I grew up in the middle of all that mess.” It may come as a surprise, but Abraham is not Black. Her father was full-blooded Lebanese and her mother had come from the oil fields in Louisiana, she said, adding they were very poor. “We’re brown skins,” Abraham, a licensed clinical social worker specializing in addictions, noted. “The Middle-Easterners have no designation.…
By Wiley Henry MEMPHIS, TN — There is some irony in relocating the Memphis Juneteenth Festival from the historic Robert R. Church Park on “World Famous” Beale Street to Health Sciences Park, where Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest and his wife, Mary Ann Montgomery Forrest, are entombed. The move is official after Telisa Franklin, Juneteenth’s president, announced April 30 that the festival has partnered with Memphis Greenspace, Inc., the non-profit organization that maintains the park. The new location is deemed a fitting move for the annual festival in Memphis, Franklin pointed out, which is a national holiday in the United…
By Wiley Henry MEMPHIS, TN – On April 27, 1991, a group of young Black political strategists and activists convened the African American People’s Convention at The Mid-South Coliseum and changed the paradigm of Memphis politics forever. To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the People’s Convention, noted documentarian Chuck O’Bannon was tapped to produce a 60-minute documentary to preserve that moment in history. Entitled “Reflection and Reconnection,” the documentary chronicles the grass roots strategy and the successful outcome of the People’s Convention as told by the pioneers who convened it. One of those pioneers is Anniece Robinson, project manager for…
By Wiley Henry MEMPHIS, TN – Thelma Robinson has had some good days and she’s had some bad days, according to her granddaughter, Joycelyn Simpson. But what do you expect from someone who recently celebrated her 105th birthday? Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Robinson celebrated her birthday on April 10th via Zoom with her family: children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great great grandchildren. At her advanced age, everything may not be as clear as, let’s say, when she was 100 years old. Nevertheless, she is a trooper whose longevity no doubt is factored into her DNA. “She is declining a little,”…
By Wiley Henry MEMPHIS, TN — During the turbulent 1960s, Whittier Alexander Sengstacke Jr. wrote cutting-edge news stories for the Memphis Tri-State Defender. If the surname sounds familiar, it’s because the name speaks volumes. Sengstacke was the eldest son of the late venerable newspaper publisher Whittier Sengstacke Sr., and the nephew of the late publishing magnate John H. Sengstacke, who founded the Defender in 1951. Sengstacke had been ill for a while and died the morning of Feb. 20 at Midtown Center for Health and Rehabilitation. He was 76. In the late 1960s and early ‘70s, the respected journalist held…